Having bought the 36V 200W front wheel mini motor and battery, I found myself wishing I had purchased a more powerful motor for the 50km per day commute. Rather than start again, I put a 1KW motor on the rear wheel and ramped up the voltage to 48V by purchasing another 36V and 12V battery to give me both range and speed.
The result: a range of 50km with light pedalling when using the front motor (which cruises at 33kph) or a range of 35km with light pedalling when switching to the rear motor on long straights (which cruises at 60kph). Essentially, using a combination of the two allows for the open road with the rear motor, and around town with the front motor give the best results. Common sense must apply – cars and people do not expect a cycle to come towards them at high speed so the rear motor is reserved for special circumstances – no traffic / cyclists / pedestrians in sight!
I have recommended Solar Bike to a couple of people who have taken the plunge and wished they had done so sooner. Some people may argue that this type of conversion distorts the definition of cycling, but I still pedal, and I am sure other cyclists would rather see me on the bike instead of breathing the fumes from my car. Now, where did I put my radar detector…
