Mission Endure 78: 15 Round Trips on the DIY E-Bike
I posted earlier about the E-Bikes that my son and I built. We both had old bikes that we no longer rode that we decided to build our own DIY battery-powered E-Bikes. I thought I would give you an update. This year the weather has been unseasonably cold and rainy here in the St Louis area, so I haven’t rode my bike as much as I wanted, but I recently completed my 15th round-trip between home and work. The E-Bike is working like a champ. It is fast (I normally average about 15 miles per hour for each leg of the trip), it doesn’t take much longer than driving (it takes me about 15 minutes to drive the 5 miles, and only takes 20 minutes to bike it using neighborhood streets and bike trails), it saves me a lot of gas (we buy our gas in Missouri for under $4.00 per gallon, so our gas isn’t very expensive here compared to the coasts), and it provides me with the opportunity to combine exercise with my commute to and from work. That’s a lot of great reasons to ride my E-Bike.
One of the other best reasons for building a DIY E-Bike is the challenge of learning something new. Knowing that I am learning something and creating a piece of new technology helps me feel young at heart. So, here is a list of what I have found in riding my E-Bike to work off and on for the last 2 months:
I charge the battery when I get to the office and when I get back home. It takes me about 2 hours of charging for every 20 minutes I ride
I can easily ride for 40 minutes or about 10-12 mines between charges
The bike is very consistent. It has been very reliable and has not given me any problems mechanically
I enjoy riding with some pedal assist, but not the maximum amount. With a pedal assist of 1 you receive minimal pedal assist, with a pedal assist of 5 you receive a maximum pedal assist. I normally ride with a pedal assist of 3. This means I pedal to start up after stopping at traffic signals, and on any hills, but only about half the time on flat terrain.
I understand that electricity isn’t free, but with the cost of gasoline I believe I am saving a lot of money from not driving my Jeep into the office every day
The extension cables for the hub motor finally came in and last week I attached them, which meant I could move the controller, the battery, and all of the wiring into the bike pack in the back. it helped clean up the bike a lot and the pack protects all the valuable electronic items from the weather.
I still have one major problem on the ride into the office, school busses. Many times I get behind a school bus and it doubles my commute time. I have been working to find alternate routes to take that the school busses don’t use. This will help me to get to work more quickly and much more safely.
I am looking forward to the weather warming up a little bit so I can enjoy the commute better. Most of the morning rides have been in sub 40 degree weather. I would rather have that than the 90 degree days we have in summer. Hopefully you will try to build your own E-Bike and commute to and from work this summer.