Three Wheel Electric Bikes

I am a great fan of Electric three wheel bikes, my step mother drives one everywhere she goes. Most three wheelers that I have seen are 24" wheels and very expensive, Normally they run from $400.00 to $600.00.

I really like the Schwinn Meridian, it's the only 26" - 3 wheeler that I know of.  It has the largest wheels that I know of and a longer wheel base which gives it a better ride.  If you feel like you need a bigger bike, you can raise the seat as high as it will go or even buy a longer seat post.

The same can be done for the handle bars, either raise them to the highest or extend the gooseneck.
The best place to buy this is at Walmart for $249.00 delivered to your local store for free or for a few dollars more, they will deliver it to your home.

We carry the Wilderness Energy electric bike conversion kits, which I think are the most reliable and market proven kit on the market, The motor is part of the front wheel which give you three wheel drive. The front wheel driven by the motor and the rear driven by the pedals. There are a couple of options available for power, the 600 watt motor with a 36 volt power system which is good for driving around town (on a three wheel bike) with speeds up to 16 miles per hour on a three wheel and 20 mph on a two wheel bike.

If you live in an area with hills or strong headwinds and need more power, the

T 800 is available with a 48 volt system which will give you more distance between charges and speeds around 20 miles per hour.

Costs

1 Schwinn Meridian         $249.00
600 watt motor kit           $425.00
                                       $674.00


Schwinn Meridian          $249.00
T 800 Motor kit            $485.00
48 volt option                $79.00
                                    $813.00

You can see these kits at pegasuspowersystems.com
If you have more questions, send me your phone number and I will call you

or you can call me at 562 818 3437.

You can also e-mail to  dalesbest4bikes@aol.com

Thanks for checking us out!
Brenda

Electric Bicycles, What’s best for me?

Volts, amps, watts, power

Most people when searching for an Electric Bike Motor want to know How Much? How Far and How Fast? The truth is that due to variables there are no straight forward answers to those questions.

It’s a natural human response to want a pre-calculated idea of the return we’ll get back on our investment.

Before you invest money in a stock, you want to have an idea of what the stock price will do in the future so you can pinpoint how much you can expect to earn back. Oftentimes, these types of questions have complicated answers because there are typically a lot of variables involved. Yet despite the variables, we all still want to know what we’ll get for a return on our investment. This is good and this is true, it’s not just about stocks, it’s about any investment that you might make. This could be about a car, home or even food, right now this is about Electric Bicycles.
A look at the variables: The maximum performance for your bike will be determined by the power that you supply through the batteries. Another factor is to make sure that your equipment will handle the voltage that you decide on such as the motor and controller.

Are there hills in the area that you need to climb? how long are they? how steep are they? are you facing head winds? What is your tire size and are they smooth, knobby, wide, thin, maximum tire inflation. How much do you weigh? How much does the bike weigh? Do you pedal? If so, how much?

Without getting to technical, basically the voltage affects the torque (power) and the amp/hrs supply the distance traveled between charges.

There is an accepted industry standard for the most popular motor kits. It’s a good idea to check with the seller to see if their product will live up to this as a minimum.

Standards, using a 600 watt motor, 36 volt battery system on a 26” two wheel bicycle. Assuming you weigh 175 lbs., no headwinds, on flat land and few stops and starts you can expect 20 to 25 mph and 20 miles between charges. In real life, I would expect 16 to 18 miles between charges. These are the ideal conditions.

A Simple un-Scientific Description of volts and amp/hrs and watts

Volts could be translated to power or strength. A big strong guy (high voltage) can push a car easier than a small guy (low voltage), therefore high voltage is more efficient.

Amps can be compared to, how many of those guys you have? They can’t move those cars any faster

but, the more you have, the farther you can move those cars. A lot of Volts can move you up hills and fast. Amp/hrs will determine the distance. Amp/hrs is determined by drawing 1 amp continuously until the battery is completely discharged. If the battery lasted for 12 hours, this battery would be rated at a 12-amp/hr battery. If you really want to get technical, here is a wonderful site
 http://overlandresource.com/what-is-an-amp-hour-and-how-to-calculate-battery-capacity

Watts are the combined power of volts and amps, volts x amps = Watts. Watts are used to determine the total available energy that is supplied by your battery. If that hasn’t confused you enough, the wattage of your motor doesn’t give you more power, it simply is the capacity that tells you how much of the watts supplied by your batteries, this motor can use efficiently.



For products and more information click below

Courtesy of pegasuspowersystems.com

What's Watts

What does it all mean?

Here is a misconception of what watts do for you. Some people think that the higher the watts, the faster and farther you will go. Basically, your voltage, amperage and efficiency (quality) determine your speed and distance between charges.

The wattage rating of your motor really means how much power your motor can handle efficiently without overheating, burning out your motor or overtaxing your battery.

The formula for watts is, Amps x Volts = watts .i.e. 36 volts x 12 amps = 432 watts. Your 450 watt motor should handle this very well, considering that only about 60% of the power generated by the amps x volts ever reach or is taken advantage by you motor.

The gauge and the quality of the material of the wiring and connectors between the power source and the motor come into play with the efficiency of the power generated, (using the power that you paid for).

Now here is the kicker, QUALITY. Generally, the quality of a brushless motor is defined by the characteristics of the casting design, material, the precision and the quality of the bearings and magnets.

High quality bearings reduce friction, vibration and therefore less wear and less resistance. The magnet quality is responsible for power (torque). This is what gets you moving from a dead stop, climbing a hill or facing a headwind. Since there are no moving parts in a brushless motor except the bearings, this is where the quality of the bearings really count. There are some cheap motors manufactured with low quality bearings and magnets.

You need rare earth magnets or other quality magnets such as neodymium which are relatively expensive, plus quality bearings in the motor that you buy. Don’t be shy about asking your seller questions, check out his reputation and ask other bloggers about their experience with them.

The reality is, you get what you pay for. Buying quality once is usually cheaper than buying inferior products twice … or……. more.

Why would you want a high wattage rating? Due to amperage draw created by the hills or dead stop starts could cause your motor to overheat if it is underrated, and reduce the longevity and productivity of the motor, not to mention stealing the distance from your battery that you could travel.

If you want to see more information take a look at http://www.pegasuspowersystems.com

What will the Rain do to my Electric Bike?

Most systems are pretty good about holding up in the rain. The hub motors that I know of are sealed and are not affected by just rain. I suppose if you let them set in a tub of water, it just might get wet inside.


I live in Southern California and not confronted with that problem as much as some, but I live near the ocean and the fog rolls in at night, if I leave my bike outside, it will get just as wet as if I left it out in the rain.

Most wire terminals have a plastic insulator and give a certain amount of protection. On some systems the controller might be affected by the moisture but you don't want to wrap them in plastic or in any way seal them from getting ventilation. They can get hot and need to ventilate.

If you have a thumb throttle, a plastic sandwich bag works to keep the water out.

An old trick for protecting connections under wet conditions is nail polish, clear or colored, what ever you prefer. Even if the terminals are enclosed in plastic, a certain amount of moisture can enter where the wire enters the terminal insulator. If this appears to have a large gap, silicone sealer, available in a tube at almost any hardware store is probably your best bet.

Moisture on any exposed connection can cause corrosion and corrosion causes resistance. The result of this is usually intermittent or permanent loss of power or signal and be difficult to locate.

For some people, there is a certain joy about riding in the rain

In any case, while riding a bike in the rain, electric or not, be especially careful. The roads are slippery and visibility is limited to you and everyone else.

Electric Bicycles and Other Stuff

Electric Bicycle Motor Kits

Motor Size, Battery Voltage, Controller Capacity

What you need to know befgore you buy

Battery Power Kits
The heart of the system, the power you put in, is the power your get out.  The next focus should be, will the motor and components handle the power that you supply.

There is a simle foumula for determining the size or capacity of the motor which is measured in watts.  The formula is this. AMPS x VOLTS = Watts.

Now, what power do you need?  24 volts, 36, 48, 60?

Questions you need to ask yourself. How far, how fast do I want to go?  How much do I weigh? Am I going to encounter hills and headwinds?

The more voltage you supply, the further you get and the faster you get there.  This comes with a price add lead acid batteries and you get more weight, add lithium batteries and you spend more money.  There are so many variables and there isn't room here so you might want to check out http://www.pegasuspowersystems.com/id140.html for semi-complete information sheet.

Lithium Batteries

Are they right for you?  They cost a lot more money, are they worth it?  Maybe, the life span is about 3 to 4 times longer than the lead acid type and weigh about a third as much.  Lead acid batteries require charging after every use or they will deteriorate.  Lithium-ion batteries are not as sensitive to this.

New T-800
This powerhouse brushless hub motor with 48 volts for a new experience on a bicycle. Exercise is encouraged because you never have to worry about getting home without a sweat.  Not registration, drivers license or insurance required.
Hmmmm. this might work.

Wilderness Energy

One of the original electric bike motor kits have been around for years with their 600 watt brushless electric bike motor kits.  Their kits today are powered by 36 volt lead acid or lithium-ion battery systems.
Known for their simple installation, reliability and affordability.  Based on your wants and needs, they should certainly be considered.

See our chart http://www.pegasuspowersystems.com/id140.html   
Check out our website http://www.pegasuspowersystems.com/

How do I choose an Electric Bike Conversion Kit?

How do I Choose an Electric  Bike Conversion Kit?

Questions you need to ask yourself

1. How far do I want to go?

2. How fast do I want to go?

3. What about hills?

In order to determine the right size electric bike motor for your bike as well as for your usage, it is best for you to know some important facts. We decided to make a graft for you to show some reference guides.

Due to so many variables, these are estimated numbers only. Some of the variables, flat land and or steep hills, distance,  how much do I weigh, the weight of my bike, if any extra load, how much pedaling, how many gears, tire tread smooth, if inflated fully.

Check out our page in our website: http://www.pegasuspowersystems.com/id140.html

I hope this is helpful for you.

Brenda Turner

48 volt Battery Diagram



Schwinn Cruiser with T-800 Electric Bike Conversion (48 Volt Battery Pack)



http://www.pegasuspowersystems.com/

We love to add new ideas and creations from our customers.  Send us your photos too!

Convert your own bike to a powerful fun cruiser!

Pegasus Power Systems On a budget, don't need the extra's? Get the Economy System

Gotta have it all? Get the Premium System The new T-800 Electric Bike Conversion Kit (click the link to our home page and on the left navigation bar, click on T-800 kit to learn all about it!)

http://pegasuspowersystems.com/

Electric Bikes are Here to Stay!!

An Important message from my dad at Dalesbest4bikes

It's Here NOW, Yes, Right NOW

An electric what? You're kidding, A bike that runs on a battery?

There here to stay, they really are. Just a year ago, most people that I talked to, had never heard of an electric powered bicycle. Well things have certainly changed; I see more and more of them on the road every day and now, most people that I talk to, do know about them and many are considering them, not just to ride around town or occasional trips to the store. There are some serious riders who depend on their E Bike to get to school or work and back without the added cost of  fuel, insurance, registration and maintenance of an extra car in the family.

Some even think about the Planet, keeping green!

What do I need a motor for, it has pedals doesn't it?

Yes, bicycles have pedals. Actually to legally qualify as a bicycle by law, they have to have pedals to avoid licensing, driver's license, insurance, bike paths and bike lanes etc. And maybe, you don't Need a motor, but you might just want one. You might just want one to avoid that struggle up the long hill, to conquer the headwinds, or travel a little further than usual. You might want one to help out with those older knees, (like mine).

  

I'll bet those are expensive, right? right?

It isn't necessary to go out and buy an expensive new electric bicycle with a motor already installed; in fact, you will get more for your money and usually higher performance by buying a kit and installing it on your own bicycle, the one that's just setting in the garage. If you don't have a bicycle now, there are thousands of available, suitable bikes at very reasonable prices. You might even consider garage sales for some terrific savings.

What about maintenance, am I going to be a slave to this electric bike?

You charge the battery, that's it. Other than maintaining a regular bike, adjusting the brakes, replacing the tires once in a while, that's it. Of course you might want to wipe it down now and then.

You will need to keep those batteries charged, that means plugging in the automatic charger after every ride. Most new chargers are automatic shut off, when the batteries are fully charged the charger shuts down. Batteries do wear out over time and with usage you will need to replace them. SLA (sealed lead acid) batteries have a normal lifetime of about 300 to 350 cycles. One cycle is one charge and one discharge. Lithium batteries have a much longer lifetime but are also much more expensive. As with all batteries you will get the most out of them by religiously charging them after every use. Other than the wheel bearings, on a brushless motor, there are no moving parts, nothing touching, and nothing to wear out.

OK, OK But I don't balance to well, will these fit on a three wheel bike?

Absolutely, three wheel bikes are bigger, heavier, and harder to pedal. This is where an Electric motor really comes in strong. You will be able to travel farther get there sooner and with a whole lot less effort..I love a three wheel bike with a motor, just for its hauling capacity if nothing else. Just a personal story, my wife rides hers everywhere. Every Sunday, she takes it to the local farmers market and usually fills two baskets. One day she brought home a tree. ...yes a TREE. The rest of the week, she is like a little gadfly, running from one end of town to the other.

I almost never start my car on weekends, I go to the hardware store. the market and even to the pier with all of my fishing tackle. I take her 3 wheeler and buzz around the traffic, never have a parking problem, plus they won't let me park my car out on the pier.

Tip:

Check this out, Walmart has a Schwinn Meridian three wheel bike for $249.00 delivered to your local store for free. They will even assemble it for you if you have a way to get it home. For a fee, they will even deliver it to your home

Disclaimer; I don't work for Walmart, or own stock or have family that works there. This is just a tip for you. A great bike, a great price.

UPDATE: This bike is on sale right now for $229.00 11/30/2010

Are some electric bikes kits better than others?

Of course, just like anything else, cheap is cheap, expensive is expensive, sometimes outlandish. Sometimes, cheap is expensive.

There are dozens of Electric bikes kits out there, starting at $200.00 and all the way up to $1,500.00 and even more. Now, if you have been looking for a motive for me to write this, Well I am going to tell you. First of all, I am looking out for me. Maybe I should have said for you, but that would be a lie, it's for me.

Now, IF I look out for you, I think I am also looking out for me. If I don't look out for you and get the best value for YOU, I'm going to lose business. See, it's all about me again. I was one of the early ones getting into the Electric Bike Motor Kits and my suppliers were in it quite sometime before I was.

I was always have and still am looking for a better value and have researched literally dozens of motor kits and components. I have found more expensive products and cheaper products, but never a higher value than what we are listing today.

Some of the components are possibly overbuilt like the controller. I have not seen a 50 amp controller for a bicycle motor other than ours anywhere on the internet. Maybe you don't need a 50 amp controller for 36 or 48 volt motor kit, but I don't want to see it fail under load or extreme stress.

We recently passed the 2,000 mark of these units sold and I have found only 1 failed motor, and that was due to a broken wire. We do occasionally have minor problems, but that is probably due to the fact that these kits are made by human beings. If you have any comments or questions, please feel free to post them or e mail me at dalesbest4bikes@aol.com

You might as well check out our web site http://www.pegasuspowersystems.com LiveJournal Tags: Electric powered bikes,electric bikes,bicycles,motor bikes,electric bike motor kits,ebikes



Electric Bike Power - Misconception of Watts

Misconception of Watt Power

What does it all mean? There is a misconception of what watts do for you. Some people think that the higher the watts, the faster you will go or the farther you will go. Basically, your voltage, amperage and efficiency (quality) determine your speed and distance between charges.


The wattage rating of your motor really means how much power your motor can handle efficiently without overheating, burning out your motor or overtaxing your battery.

The formula for watts is, Amps x Volts = watts i.e. 36 volts x 12 amps = 432 watts. Your 450 watt motor should handle this very well, considering that only about 60% of the power generated by the amps x volts ever reach or is taken advantage by you motor.

The gage and the quality of the material of the wiring and connectors between the power source and the motor will increase the efficiency of the power generated, (using the power that you paid for).
Now here is the kicker, QUALITY. Generally, the quality of a brushless motor is defined by the characteristics of the casting design, material, the precision and the quality of the bearings and magnets.

High quality bearings reduce friction, vibration and therefore less wear and less resistance. The magnet quality is responsible for power (torque). This is what gets you moving from a dead stop, climbing a hill or facing a headwind. Since there are no moving parts in a brushless motor except the bearings, this is where the quality of the bearings really counts. There are some cheap motors manufactured with low quality bearings and magnets.

You need rare earth magnets or other quality magnets such as neodymium which are relatively expensive, plus quality bearings in the motor that you buy. Don't be shy about asking your seller questions, check out his reputation and ask other bloggers about their experience with him.

The reality is, you get what you pay for. Buying quality once is usually cheaper than buying inferior products twice ... or....... more.

Why would you want a high wattage rating? Due to amperage draw created by the hills or dead stop starts could cause your motor to overheat if it is underrated, and reduce the longevity and productivity of the motor, not to mention stealing the distance from your battery that you could travel.  Having a higher rated motor also allows for increasing the voltage and amperage if you decide to do this later.
Our New T-800 Conversion System is here, so click http://www.pegasuspowersystems.com/ and see something different. I'm sure you'll be impressed with these new features.

Brenda

Decide on a quality electric motor for your bike.

Many people want to learn about electric bikes and conversion kits before they invest. So where do they start. After hearing about them, they want to ride one to get the feel of it. Now they inevitably want to own one. So should they get

Regenerative Braking for Electric Bikes

Regenerative Braking -

If you really want to know!

This guy has the answers to the most common questions and them some. He doesn't sell anything, he's not promoting anything.
A lot of people inquire about regenerative braking. Hybrid car manufacturers often tout the ability to reclaim electrical energy when the car is going downhill. I don't know how much energy they are getting back in a car, but on a little electric bicycle, it is almost certainly never worth the added trouble, expense, and operational hassles. You would be much better off with a freewheeling setup. Let me explain how I've come to this conclusion. The speed controller I use has regenerative braking available.

After trying it out for a while, adjusting it and testing it every which way, I ended up disabling it. Regenerative braking means that as you brake or coast downhill the controller will use the motor in reverse as a generator to re-charge the batteries. On my route to the market, for instance, I am on flat terrain for a while and then go downhill for about a mile to reach the store. Conceivably this could mean that I arrive at the store with nearly full batteries, which would make the ride back less likely to drain the batteries completely. However, the regenerative braking is a function of the speed controller.

If you have the regen set up for maximum regeneration, the throttle can be quite touchy. And if you just suddenly release the throttle, which is fairly normal behavior, the braking effect would be full. It is really not very good to have the throttle set up to brake that hard. I found myself about launching over the handle bars every time I lost forgot and snapped the throttle off. Also, this is a good way to have other people ride you bike and crash it.

Note there is no freewheel on the electric side of my bicycle. A custom freewheel is yet another surprisingly difficult mechanical part to machine or to buy. Of course the pedal-drive freewheel still works, which means that you can motor without the pedals being forced to turn. However, it you pedal the motor will necessarily be turning, which is a drawback if the batteries die. The regenerative braking function requires a solid connection to the wheel. However, after some time with this bike, using the regen function of the special speed controller, I came to a surprising conclusion against using regen. As I say I bought a controller with regenerative braking. With this set-up, I could basically use the thumb-throttle carefully as a fairly powerful rear brake.

The amount of braking could be adjusted to make it less grabby, but I never could get it to the point where I liked it at all. It was obtrusive and difficult to control. I suppose if you could hook it up to a pressure sensitive brake lever, it would work better, however, that is a bit beyond the level of sophistication I think is really necessary on a little electric bike. Luckily the regen function can be defeated which is what I finally decided to do.
Realize, all vehicles are "regenerative" going down a hill.

Turning the engine off down a long hill in your car and coasting - this is reclaiming the energy spent to climb the hill. Unless the vehicle is very heavy and/or has great aerodynamics, most of the energy going down a hill will just be used to overcome air resistance, with little left over to recharge the batteries. Normally on a bicycle, very little braking is ever necessary, and top speed down most hills is quickly limited by poor aerodynamics. The net result, I felt, is that the regen on my e-bike was just slowing me down and creating heavy back loading on the drive train needlessly. It would be better to put the motor on a freewheel and adopt a method of getting up to speed and coasting as often as possible with the motor shut off. This riding technique is apparently very effective at extending your range, probably more so than having regen.

Many people who deal even with larger E.V.s and hybrids have also formed the opinion that a pure freewheeling function would be better in many instances than regenerative braking. The regenerative braking function of hybrid cars, for instance, is vastly overstated. Hybrids work by generating their electric power onboard using the gas engine; they have a power generation function built-in, it is central to the entire concept. So why not use it for braking as well? Sure, but in reality this produces very little in the way of reclaimed power. The batteries in hybrid cars are charged at least 95% by the using the gas engine as a generator; and the reason they are so efficient in city driving is simply because they can run at slow speeds very efficiently on predominantly electric power. It is only while driving at higher speeds down long steep grades that any decent power is truly regenerated to the batteries. How much of this describes typical driving conditions?

Coasting with minimal drag from the motor is actually much more efficient. While coasting the vehicle uses no juice whatsoever. It is common practice during mileage or efficiency runs with a hybrid like the Honda Insight, to accelerate to speed, then go into neutral and coast for a while.

This actually produces the greatest mileage and efficiency. On an electric bike it is undoubtedly most efficient to pulse the motor on till you get up to speed, and coast on downhills, or pedal on the flat to maintain speed. Having the motor freewheel would be a big advantage.
Http://www.Pegasuspowersystems.com Questions? email to Dalesbest4bikes@aol.com