Electrom at the Movies
I took the Electrom downtown the other night to see a show. I sure like just rolling onto the sidewalk to park.
Vancouver Bike Show
On the weekend of March 3-4, the Electrom made an appearance at the Vancouver Bike Show. The show was very well attended and the exposure for the Electrom was very good. As an ironic twist, the booth I was given was right next to the Trials demo area. Boy did that take me back a few years. Thanks Elisha Burrows for the photos
Camosun Technology Access Centre
Made the trip out to The Camosun Technology Access Centre (CTAC) http://camosun.ca/innovates/ on Monday. What a great experience! They are a technology start-up services provider that includes the Babcock Canada Interaction Lab. They will be able to help me with the plug’s and molds for the bodywork on the Electrom production vehicle. They have some very cool and usefull tech, such as a massive foam CNC machine for mold making.
Electom in the Media
I got my first article about the electrom published. It’s pretty well written by Ben Coxworth.
MTB Tow
One of my criteria when I built the Electrom was that I wanted to be able to use it to get my mountain bike to our local off-road riding areas. I live in Victoria BC, and sadly, while we have some of the best off-road cyclists in Canada living and training here, our city has not seen fit to allow riding in any of the local parks. As a result we have to put our bikes in vehicles and drive half an hour to ride. I know that doesn’t seem like a big deal, but I just can’t get used to the idea of driving a car to ride my bike. I could get an electric MTB going I guess, but for some reason I still prefer legs-only power for off road.
So, enter the bike-tow system for my electric machine. I’ve fashioned a quick install mount that receives the front axle of my Norco Sight mtb. To install it I simply take out one of my tail-box mounting bolts and fasten the bike-tow with a slightly longer bolt. It takes only a minute to install. Then I can attach the front fork of the mtb, strap the front tire on, and go. It works really well.
you could make a similar system that could fasten to a rear-rack on an upright bike.
A first-timer on the Electrom
I took the Electrom into Vancouver a few weeks ago and one of my main goals was to get a few people whose opinion I really value to ride it for an extended period of time. My Friend Robin and I took it out for a pretty decent ride (decent for him he was on the Electrom, I was busting my ass on an un-electrified bike). We adjusted the seat to accomodate his greater height and took off on the streets and bike paths of Vancouver. He had some several observations that I’m taking into consideration, but one of the big ones turned out to be easily solved. He found the throttle to be a little jerky.
Later in the trip I took the Electrom down to Grin where Robbie showed me the benefits of switching the throttle control mode on the CA V3 to Power instead of Speed. It completely smoothed out the throttle response and opened my eyes to a whole new world of possible adjustments in the CycleAnnalist. I feel so lucky to be close to the incredible resource that is Grin. I do miss being able to set the Cruise-Hold based on desired speed instead of desired power, but that only comes up on long trips and I can always switch back to speed mode for those.
Electrom Generator Drive Explanation
I’ve done up a video that explains how the Electrom’s generator drive system works. Check it out if you’re curious
Happy Halloween
Happy Halloween everybody
Night ride on the Vancouver seawall.
I did some late-night experimenting with the Electrom on the seawall while I was in Vancouver. What a fun place to ride when there’s less pedestrian traffic. I was riding at about 11:00 pm on a Friday night so the few pedestrians I did encounter were pretty happy and very into the Electrom.
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