RAT Electric Bikes

Following are two presentations delivered to members of the Center for Learning in Retirement program at the Delaware Valley University on February 26, 2024.

E-Bike Presentation

Bike Trails in Bucks County

Updated E-Bike Presentation for CLR (9/23/2024)

Have you found any e-bikes with 4″ (fat) tires that aren’t ‘knobby’. What’s with that? Considering that most of these bikes will never see dirt or sand, wouldn’t a quieter ‘street’ tire make more sense? So I have been on a quest to find the perfect 4″ street tire for my Northrock XC00 fat tire custom e-bike.

This 26″ x 4″ Origin 8 Supercell wire-bead tire is my first experiment. This tire was purchased from Carson City Bike Shop for $50 per tire, plus $15 shipping. It’s really quiet, and tracks well ‘in a straight line’. However, max pressure is 20 psi. Also, in profile the tire isn’t round into the sidewall which creates interesting moments when turning. I’m still impressed with the tires now that I’m used to them, but I’ll be looking for other options. Here’s a picture of this tire:

A couple of other options that might be even better due to the fact that tread-to-sidewall profile is more round than the Origin 8s, and these tire can be pumped up to higher tire pressures which are appropriate for the kind of riding I do. However, none of these have wire beads, which I prefer. These are ‘folding’ tires, which might be OK. Time will tell. Here they are:

The first one is the Hycline E-Bike Fat Tire, 26″ x 4.0″ Folding E-Bike Fat Tire available on Amazon for $41.04 each. This tire should handle well, but has a 20 psi max pressure rating which is not ideal.

This next tire is the HEB ENDUROMAX 26″ x 4″ E-Bike Fat Tire. It’s expensive at $89 each, but looks like it’ll be fairly quiet and the round profile should handle well. It also appears to have a 30 psi max pressure rating which is a good thing.

Here’s another ‘street’ tire currently on my radar. It’s the Vee Tire Co. Zigzag Tire 26″ x 4.0″ with a wire bead. These are pricey at $80.74 each, and they appear to have a 30 psi max pressure rating.

And finally, a relatively inexpensive 20 psi max pressure folding street tire. This is the EERONS 26″ x 4″ Fat Tire 60 TPI, Zero-Rolling Resistance, Folded Replacement E-Bike Tire, for the low low price of $79.99 for a pair! Not bad… Just don’t over inflate these or you’ll have problems, so I have been told.

So that’s it. I have another Northrock XC00 that hasn’t been electrified yet. I need to decide which ‘street’ tire is going to work best on this bike. But in the meantime, I plan to wear out the Origin 8s on the electric XC00. No more 4″ knobbies for me!

Here’s a list of bike shops in our area that service Aventon e-bikes:

1. Max’s Electric Bikes – 807 N Easton Rd, Doylestown, PA 18902
2. Voltage Bikes Warminster – 362 Nina Way Warminster PA 18974
3. Redline E-Bikes, LLC – 3169 County Line Rd, Chalfont, PA 18914
4. Circle Cycle – 2525 Huntingdon Pike Huntingdon Valley PA 19006
5. Newtown Bicycle Shop – 30 N State St Newtown PA 18940
6. Voltage Bikes Washington Crossing – 1077 River Rd Washington Crossing PA 18977
7. Germantown Bicycle Supply – 5901 Wayne Ave Unit 3 Philadelphia PA 19144
8. Princeton eBikes – Lawrence Shopping Center (Unit 13) 2495 Brunswick Pike, Lawrence Township, NJ 08648

Notes: Circle Cycle is listed on Aventon’s site as a shop that will receive and assemble your new Aventon e-bike. However, I don’t know what level of service they’re able to provide after that. If interested, call them at (215) 938 8646. Also, Redline doesn’t carry Aventon e-bikes, but they sell and service several other brands so are familiar with the technology and might be able to help in a pinch. Their number is 267-576-2545.

** update **

I had a chance to stop by Voltage Bikes in both Warminster and Washington Crossing and I have to say “I’m very impressed”. Not only do they appear to be the go-to place to buy your new Aventon e-bike, but also your source for parts and service. Chris Arndt and his wife Mary are the owners and they’re really great folks. Also, they have plenty of bikes you can test ride if you’re not quite sure which e-bike will work best for you. So check them out if you’re in the area. For the Warminster location, call 215-962 4555 for an appointment. For Washington Crossing, call 215-377-9888 to schedule your test ride. And tell Chris “Glen sent you.”

** update **

Max’s Electric Bikes opened recently in Barnaby’s Plaza at 807 N Easton Rd, Doylestown, PA. You can get more information about John Clauer’s new e-bike shop here:

There’s a NEW E-Bike Shop in Town

Perhaps you have had an opportunity to read my previous post entitled “An EBike for My Wife” where I talk about her new Aventon Pace 500.3 Step-Through Ebike. Prior to taking this bike out for a test ride this morning, I knew nothing about TAP or TOD, but now I do, and I think you should (know a bit about it) too.

TAP stands for “Throttle After Pedal” which is a typical controller function whereby you need to ‘pedal at least a quarter rotation to activate the throttle’. This is considered a safety feature that stops someone from accidentally activating the throttle while walking their ebike, and having it run off on them. Personally, I consider TAP to be an inconvenience and find it’s much safer to be able to start out with some throttle, then start pedaling once the bike is up to an appropriate speed and in an appropriate gear.

It wasn’t immediately apparent in Aventon’s description of the Pace 500.3 if it came standard with TAP or TOD, but after digging a bit I discovered that Aventon customers wanted TOD as a standard feature on their e-bikes, over TAP. So as of March 2021 TOD became standard equipment on Aventon ebikes. I consider this a good thing, and am really glad the 500.3 has TOD, and here’s why.

TOD stands for “Throttle On-Demand” and is very handy while starting out on a slight incline where obtaining the quarter rotation may prove to be difficult or the rider has neglected to gear down before stopping (which happens a lot). Therefore, TOD removes the regulation to pedal a quarter rotation to activate the throttle, allowing you to use the throttle from a dead stop. Yeah, good move Aventon!

Still, ALWAYS think about what you’re doing and don’t accidentally tweak the throttle or you might find you have launched your shiny new e-bike into space without you onboard. Better still is to simply put your ebike into PAS 0 when you’re walking it and the throttle will be disengaged. That’s what I would do.

I hope this clears up the question about TAP and TOD. I’m definitely a TOD fan and wouldn’t think of leaving home without it…

Just a side-note about the Pace 500.3, TOD and torque sensing: TOD and torque sensing used together provides the smoothest and most predictable acceleration I have seen with any ebike. It works really well and makes this ebike a joy to ride!

As you may know, I really like building e-bikes. Well, when faced with the prospect of creating an e-bike for my wife, I took the easy way out. I purchased a factory-built e-bike. More specifically, an Aventon Pace 500.3 Step-Through Ebike – Blue Steel:

For the kind of trail riding my wife and I will do together, this is (almost) the perfect e-bike for her. The 500.3 has torque sensing, which I think is important, especially for less-experienced e-bike riders. And all the other tech specs look good. In fact, I would be hard-pressed to build a bike for her for the price I paid for this bike.

Having completed the set-up process for the new e-bike, I’d like to share the ‘unboxing’ experience, and my first impressions. First, unboxing:

Here’s what the FedEx driver will deliver to your home (all 78.2 lbs of it).

Once the white retrainer plugs at the bottom are removed, the box can be lifted off its base, and this is what you’ll see.

And I am very impressed! The packaging engineers went above and beyond to create a compact package with excellent protection. And in addition, everything used to protect the bike is recyclable. Good job Aventon (or whoever does your packing).

When inspecting each item as I broke down the packing materials, I noticed this, which is not the fault of the packers. This is mostly a cosmetic issue related to the way wires need to be fed through the rear axle to power the hub motor. I have seen worse, and functionally this is a none issue. Also, a plastic cap is provided that covers this up when the bike is assembled.

And now for the final unpacking step before assembly begins.

Again, great job Aventon! The bike arrived in excellent condition, and it looks great too…

Assmbly is straightforward, with good instructions provided. I also found that the brakes and rear derailleur were well adjusted. This demonstrates that care was taken during bike construction and tuning prior to shipping. This isn’t always the case with factory bikes, so it was good to see that Aventon cares, and went the extra mile for their customers.

Here are a couple pictures of the final assembly. Additions to what Aventon provided include a handlebar mirror (left side only), and a jell seat cover. The only other thing I’m still searching for is an inexpensive fender set. Maybe something like this… And I’ll add the essential bell to the right side of the handlebar. For some reason I thought this bike came with one integrated into the right handbrake – not so. Oh, and I’ll be adding 4 ounces of FlatOut to each tire to help prevent flats while we’re out and about…

So here it is, ready to roll!

And an image of the handlebar layout.

Thumb throttle and control buttons on the left. Headlight and display in the center. Shifter and soon-to-be-added bell on the right.

One last thing before I end this. I’m a firm believer that charging your Lithium-ion battery to 80% five or six times, then to 100% periodically is best for the longevity of your battery. To do this effectively, you’ll need to buy a different charger than the one provided with your e-bike. This is the charger I have been using for some time and can recommend highly:

https://lunacycle.com/luna-charger-48v-advanced-300w-ebike-charger/ ($99)

Knobs on the side adjust rate of charge and percent for max charge. Most of the time, I have this set to 2 amps and 80% charge. This is a 48 volt charger. If your battery is different than this, you’ll want to buy the specific voltage charger that works with your battery.

By the way, it’s important to note that if you do decide to purchase the 48v Luna charger shown above, you’ll need to build an adapter cable to charge the battery that comes with your Pace 500.3 e-bike. You’ll need two parts to do this. First, order a 12v DC Power Cord 5.5mm x 2.1mm Male Plug to Pigtail Cable Adapter 6″ from eBay for $3 plus tax. This is what it looks like:

And your charger should come with a spare female XT60 connector that you can use to build your adapter cable. This is what the connector looks like:

A little solder and electrician’s tape, and test to verify proper polarity and you now have an adapter cable for your Luna charger that will work with your 48 volt Pace 500.3 battery.

This is an ‘-ish only because this XC00 is not yet ready to be electrified. It’ll stay a plain old fat-tire bicycle for a while, and what a great bike it is. I bought this bike a while back, while it was still on sale at Costco for $400, and just now got around to putting it together. The photos below show to unboxing process and the parts I added, which was pretty minimal considering what I add to most of my bikes.

Photo 1 – Fatty III’s box and the parts I added. Here’s the list of add-ons:

• Adjustable stem
• Slime – 8oz for each tire
• Mirror
• GUB cell phone mount
• Seat – need a bit more padding for my bum
• Peddles with half toe clips
• Fenders
• Lights (rechargeable) and bell

Photo 2 – A look in the box before unpacking to make sure everything looks original and undamaged. The outside of the box looks a bit crinkled, but everything inside looks fine.

Photo 3 – The bike is out of the box and is ready to be assembled. Assembly is fairly easy, though replacing the handlebar stem required reconfiguring the headset spacers to provide proper tension on the headset.

Photo 4 – Also, the rear brake cable (this bike has mechanical disk brakes) had a nasty bend that I corrected by rerouting the cable, which required removing the brake caliper. This is what the cable looks like after rerouting.

Photo 5 – And thankfully they use great care (and a whole lot of padding) to make sure the bike arrives in good condition. The only downside is you’re left with a whole lot of trash (and a really big box) to dispose of.

So, now you’re probably interested in seeing the end result – me too! Introducing Fatty III – pre-electrification…

Photo 6 – Left-side profile

Photo 7 – Right-side profile

This is a great bike! It would be a shame to mess it up with a 1000w Bafang rear-hub motor.

Thanks for listening!

Not long ago, I wrote a post entitled ‘The E-Bike Rack I Would Buy!‘. That rack was the Hollywood Racks Destination E Bike Rack for 2 e-bikes. It’s a great rack with a loading ramp and everything. Even the weight of this rack is reasonable at 46 lbs. The only reason I didn’t buy this one was because of the $700 price tag.

So the rack I DID buy is this one:

Hollywood Racks Sport Rider SE Bike Rack for 2 Electric Bikes – 2″ Hitches – Frame Mount for $500. This rack is $200 less expensive, is 8 lbs heavier than the Destination E rack, and does NOT include a ramp. For me, this rack will work fine and I’ll reinvest the money saved in a future e-bike build. But for one who is less concerned about finances, cares more about their back, and still want a great rack, stick with the Destination E. Your e-bikes are heavy enough. You shouldn’t need to worry about hefting a heavy rack onto your receiver, then your bikes up onto your rack. By the time you have done all that, you’ll have gotten your exercise and might decide you really don’t need to go for that bike ride after all.

This 2″ hitch bike rack makes it easy to take 2 standard or fat e-bikes to the trail. Ratcheting hooks hold bikes securely by the frame and lock to deter theft. Wheel hoops adjust for different wheelbases. And the anti-rattle system reduces wobble and sway.

Features:

• Platform bike rack carries 2 standard tire or fat tire e-bikes using your vehicle’s hitch receiver
• Ratcheting hooks on center mast hold bikes securely by the frame
• Adjustable wheel hoops with ratchet straps slide back and forth to eliminate bike-to-bike contact
  • Hand knobs allow for easy adjustments – no tools required
  • Adapter included for 20″ bike wheels
• Spring pins and removable snapper pin allow rack to tilt and fold
  • Tilts down with bikes loaded to access cargo area
• Welded stop plate automatically aligns shank and hitch pin holes
  • Eliminates need to get on your hands and knees to align hitch pin holes
• Anti-rattle handle reduces movement of rack in hitch receiver – no tools required
• Keyed-alike hitch lock, frame hooks, and security cable deter theft of your bikes and the rack
• Bolstered steel construction with black powder coat is rust resistant

Specs:

• Application: 2″ x 2″ trailer hitch receivers
• Carrying capacity: 2 electric bicycles
• Weight capacity: 80 lbs per bike
• Maximum tire width: 5.0″
• Maximum wheelbase: 60″
• Distance between bikes: 10″
• Shank rise: 7″
• Distance from face of hitch to:
  • Closest part of rack when folded down: 7-1/2″
  • Closest part of rack when folded up: 5″
  • Farthest part of rack when folded down: 27-1/2″
  • Farthest part of rack when folded up: 16-1/4″
• Carrier weight: 54 lbs
• Limited lifetime warranty

This is a 3-session seminar being offered by the Center for Learning in Retirement at Delaware Valley University during the Spring 2023 semester. Slides in .PDF format will be provided below prior to each session.

Slides for session 1 of 3: https://ratelectricbike.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Trails-in-Progress-041023.pdf

Slides for session 2 of 3: https://ratelectricbike.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Bike-Trails-in-Bucks-County-041723.pdf

Slides for session 3 of 3: https://ratelectricbike.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Bike-Trails-Resources-and-Demos-042423.pdf

And a (silent) video that walks through the ‘Resources and Demos’ links one by one on the web: https://ratelectricbike.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Biketrailsites2023-1.mp4 (~24 minutes)

Oh, how I miss my Northrock XC00 e-bike conversion! A friend asked if I would sell my Build #4 fat-tire e-bike (aka Fatty I) to him, so I did. Then I waited for Costco to put the XC00 on sale again, which they did last week. It’s on sale for $399.99 (plus tax, free shipping) until 2/28/23, then the price goes back up to $499.99 (which is still a pretty good deal for this bike).

This will be my sixth custom e-bike build, if you consider the Silver Phoenix frame swap as Build #5 (which I do). And although it’s too early to tell if I’m actually going to receive the Bafang 1000W rear-hug motor instead of the Sutto motor, this build will mostly follow the same path as Build #4. As I get going on the build, I’ll let you know if I make any significant changes. But really, why would I if the original Build #4 was so good? I loved that bike and now I get to build another. I’m a lucky guy!

Starting point:

And, as of March 6, 2023, this was the end result (and yes, I did receive the Bafang 1000w motor this time):

Since this picture was taken, I have upgraded the headlight and taillight. Turns out this headlight was DOA so I replaced it with a rechargeable Blitzu which I think I’m going to like a lot better. Fenders were the other change from the Fatty I build. I thought I would try out a budget fender set from Vbestlife, and so far I’m impressed. Installation was easy, they seem durable enough, and I think they look great on this bike! Granted, coverage isn’t as good as you would find on say a RadRover 6 Plus, but it’s good enough for the kind of riding I do.

Final build cost, including PA sales tax was $1524.54. Note, this is also a ‘throttle-only’ build, which is my preference. At this point, only Build #3 (Blue Wave) with its mid-drive motor uses PAS (which I have mostly disabled). I just find that PAS gets me into more trouble than without it.

Here’s my build parts list for those that find this sort of stuff interesting:

** Update **

One and a half upgrades to report. The first upgrade was this:

BAFANG Twist Throttle for eBike ($20)

Here’s a photo of it installed:

Looks nice enough, BUT not only is the downshift trigger no longer accessible but I just really dislike the twist throttle action. It’s hard to use effectively and still have a positive grip on the hand grip. So off it came shortly after my test ride and I’m back to the left-hand thumb throttle pictured above, which I like a lot and have on all my e-bikes. So that’s the half upgrade.

The full upgrade which I have yet to install and test is this:

Suntour SR SP12 Suspension Seat Post (~$90)

This is not a cheap upgrade but one that my back will thank me for since Fatty II has no suspension to speak of. I’ll take a picture of this installed and give you first impressions then. I expect it will make a big difference in ride comfort and, if so, will be well worth the price.

** Update **

Well, that didn’t work. Turns out a 31.6mm seat post won’t fit into a 30.9mm hole. Go figure! So, what to do. Well, here’s your justification for having several self-built e-bikes. 31.6mm is the standard for most mountain bikes, just not the Northrock XC00 fat-tire bike, and Suntour doesn’t make a suspension seat post between 27.2 and 31.6mm. So this amazing suspension seat-post is going on my Trek 4500. It fit perfectly, and here’s the proof:

My quick test ride was enough to convince me that this is a good upgrade for the Trek, perhaps better than using it on Fatty II which already has the benefit of large, low pressure tires.

** update **

After a bit more investigation, I found a 30.9mm Suntour SR SP12 Suspension Seat Post on eBay. It shipped from China so took some time to get here. But it was almost $20 cheaper than the one purchased on Amazon, and it fit without the use of a shim. Turns out there is no source for the 30.9mm version of this seat post available anywhere in the US. And the post length is 350mm, which is fine for my application, though 400mm might be better if you can find it. Here are some images of this suspension seat post:

I’ll provide a picture of the seat post installed on Fatty II in the future, but suffice to say, if you have back problems that are exacerbated by your bouncy bicycle, this seat post is for you. It makes a big difference in the quality of the ride and is well worth the money!

I just can’t leave well enough alone! My $80 Trek frame has been fine, so why upgrade? Well, here’s the thing; I have been wanting to build a ‘full-suspension’ e-bike ever since Matt Robertson built his full-suspension e-bike. It’s just something I have to do! And since I built the Rat Bike from the ground up, I’m thinking I can just strip Build #2 down to the bare frame and put all the components on the new frame. So, here’s what I’m starting with:

From the photo, the frame appears I’ll have enough room to mount the battery and Epessa bag. This spacing was a critical decision point when choosing this type of frame. Most full suspension frames leave little room in this area for e-bike components. Once I receive the frame, I’ll need to measure everything to make sure head and crank bearings are transferrable, and verify that the frame is serviceable. It looks great in the picture, but…

This is a big project that will take several weeks to complete, and some will think I’m loony bins for attempting it. But here we go. I hope you’ll accompany me on this next journey!

Monday 11/28/22

In anticipation of the full-suspension frame arriving today, I completely disassembled the Build #2 ‘rat’ e-bike. This was the build using an $80 Trek frame with all new components and the 1000w Voilamart rear hub motor.

Thought process: move all the new components from the old Trek frame to the new (to me) full suspension frame.

Issue: the new frame arrives, but the steering head on the old Trek frame is 3.5″ and the new frame is 5.5″. The fork tube (aka ‘steerer’) is too short. Drat! So I ordered a new front fork, which won’t be here for a few days.

Tuesday 11/29/22

New plan: completely disassemble Build #1, the red rocket, which now has the new 500w Bafang motor, and move all those components over to the new frame. Turns out the fork tube is the right size and everything fit (rear disk brake adapter, cassette clearance, seat tube, etc.). Then move all the rat bike components back to the red rocket.

Build #1 is now completely disassembled. It got to keep its crank bearing, pedals and chainring, but that’s it. For those keeping score, I now have two of my 3 e-bikes completely disassembled and am now in the process of building another from the ashes of the other two. We’ll call this one the ‘Silver Phoenix’.

Wednesday 11/30/22 (rainy day)

What else to do on a rainy day except build e-bikes? So that’s what I did. Here’s Build #5 about 75% complete. I will replace the front fork with the new one in a could weeks, but otherwise all that’s missing is a chain, plus cable and wire management (oh, and a battery, though the battery mount is installed and tested for clearance). I also needed to build an extension cable that connects the battery to the controller. Otherwise, everything fit up really nicely!

Next: Cable and wire management, replace the front fork when the new one arrives, rebuild the red rocket with the 1000w Voilamart motor, give Build #3 back her kickstand, etc.

By the way, I think I need to start naming my builds. Here’s a start:

Is this a ridiculous idea or what?

** Update **

And the moment you (or at least I) have been waiting for:

Next, test ride and tweak…