Upgrades

Things done recently:

A- Replaced the front hub motor
B- Added right and left side mirrors
C- Added a front faring

Things to come:
A- Charge the tires to be more "slick" style.
B- Figure out a way to raise this rear rack

Battery reconfigued

I abandoned the water bottle concept for the battery holder and decided that a detachable bag on the back and a single charger would be better for what I do.  I went from a 12ah to a 30ah battery, so I am able to charge it once and bike over 80km with out needing to charge it. 

It may seem like overkill for my use but I never have to wonder if the battery will die on me.  After 80km I still had more than 50% available.

Fat Bike rider in Canada

It wasn't more than a week ago, I had shoveled 4 feet of snow out of my drive way twice, in two days. The snow was to much to be biking in as under that snow was a thick layer of ice that could cause any rider to wipe out.  That was a week ago.

This week, it's been so mild, I am seeing grass and the streets are dry.  All the hidden ice is under snow still but the snow banks are reduced and there is plenty of dry road to bike on.  My favorite part was on the weekend, it was +7c and my wife announced she wanted to sun bathe in this heat!  She must be Canadian...

So here comes spring and summer.  Let the every day biking start!

Can't breath

Sometimes the days are -25 and I can't breath.  I picked up this mask, I thought it would be amazing.  Covers my nose but allows me to breath with all the mesh holes.

After trying it out, 5min into biking I couldn't breath!  I was gasping for air and I felt almost like fainting.  My conclusion is, my head was just to darn big for this XL mask.  Now to find someone with a smaller head to give it to.

Now I am just using two buffs.  One for my neck/lower part of my face and the other to cover the top of my head.  It works much better and way easier to adjust.

I also do have another mask that I have used, where I have a snorkel mouth piece attached to the front of the mask, allowing me to breath but that's for -30!

Feb 2017 bike

I've changed a lot of things in the last little while. First, I changed the entire front motor.  I got hit slightly, I didn't get hurt, heck I didn't even fall off the bike but after trying to take off again, my motor gave up, found a nice dent in the motor which now, is cooked!

So I purchased a kit from goldenmotor.ca, front motor already on the rim.  Lot more expensive but it saved me a lot of hassle and I got the motor with in 2 days of ordering it, which means I got back on the bike a whole lot faster than I thought.

At the same time, I pulled off the wind guards, they did nothing!  In fact, I would say they caused more wind to build up behind the guards.  I also added a second mirror, one on the right and one on the left.  Right side is just a nice to have and pushed up my mudguard way up.

So this is the bike as of today.  I hope to stop pouring money into this soon.  As I really like this configuration and now I just need to keep myself going.

Studded

The ice has been bad this year and I decided to finally install my studded tires.  I have to admit that I put them on, facing the wrong direction the first time... Felt like an idiot.  Anyways, they are on the right way.  Dillinger 4s and damn, I am gripping onto ice as if I was on dry pavement.  
This doesn't help with slushy snow.

The hum off the tires, is a very gripping sound when on pavement.  Almost like it's sticking rubber and peeling.

I keep these around 15psi instead of my normal 30psi, giving it a bit of a bloat at the bottom.

Lights!

I can't tell you how many USB rechargeable front lights I have gone through in the last 2 years.  Either they

•  Fell off and I didn't notice;
• I misplaced it;
• Batteries won't charge;
• Bulb burned out;
• Broke the USB port, etc..

But this one is 1000 lumin and I decided to try something a little different.  I took handle bar extensions and reversed it and placed it in the middle.  Now my light is over my front bag, easy to see/control and isn't in the way.  Why didn't I think of this sooner!

So I decided I would try some wind guards, to help me deflect some of the wind off my hands and not to tempt me to go to pogies.  I have a pair of pogies and I really can't stand them, I can't see my handle bards, grips, gears or breaks.  

I picked these up online for about $10, which is much cheaper than $75 from a motor bike store.  I like the idea but it really makes the bicycle look more like a motor bike, than I want it to.

XT60 Connectors

 One thing I have learned from e-biking all year round, is that not all connectors are made equally and many people want to have their own type of connectors.  When ever I get a replacement part, one of things I do is cut off the proprietary connector and replace it with XT60 connectors.  Makes life easier and these little suckers also stop shorts from being generated.

I was a fan of Anderson connectors but they aren't that easy to find.  Most hobby shops carry these and ordering them online is even cheaper.

The cable shown on the left is, a male XT60 connector with shrink tube around it, with a extra layer of black gorilla tape for extra weather protection.  Winter is murder if you don't take these per cautions.

Bike by the numbers

I get asked at times how much it cost me to put this bike together and I really don't think of it that way at all.  I think of it as a work in progress.  I've learned alot of the years driving this beast.  I'm going to attempt to break down the bike in it's add-ons.

1. USB Rechargeable 550 lumin light, $100
2. Bag and controller, bag $45, controller $45
3. Long/Wide Ulock $150
4. Side front fork bag $45
5. Front motor $250
6. Daves mudshovel $20
7. Large tooth crank (replaced the default Norco one) $200
8. Blinking lights $5x2 (One on each side)
9. Rear bag $40, battery inside $500
10. Rear rack $50
11. After marked kick stand $25
12. Norco bike $1000
13. Seat $100
14. Big claw pedals $50

Skipping the gas station while on a 60km bike ride.

So in total, I've easily spent 2600 on this bike and really, compared to many other people with bikes, I know.. I spent next to nothing.  

I use this bike as a daily commuter, getting exercise and not having to waste time in a gym.  I'm well ahead of the game.  

I save on parking, gas, insurance, car maintenance and over all peace of mind.  If I would do it all over again, I would do the exact same. No regrets!

Winter is coming... Wind Deflector for hands

I've been looking for something to block the wind from my hands that can attach to my handle bars.  I think I found something that will work for me at a motor cycle shop.  I haven't mounted them yet but this maybe the exact addition I need to my heated gloves.

I tried a pair of pogies but I couldn't stand it.  I have some black calking, so I may just plug up those holes shown.

1. I couldn't see my gauges, break handles, etc.
2. I couldn't release from my handle bars quickly, which in an emergency could lead to more risk than it's worth.
3. Looks ridiculous. Normally I don't care about how I look but I had to draw the line somewhere.

Winter is coming..Studded Tires

I've had my eye's on some studded tires for a while now.  Last winter, there was a huge thaw and then it all froze, creating a skating rink under all the snow.  Being a utility fat bike rider, this caused me to stop riding for a few weeks and I kept wiping out on the ice.  On a Facebook group, I asked what people thought of the studded tires and found someone who just upgraded from Dillinger 4 to 5's and luck would have it, they had not sold their Dillinger 4!  So I now have what I think might be my best option for riding this winter.

I am actually a bit excited about winter coming now..  but I'm hoping I don't have to pop these on until late December.

Quest for a seat 3 fo 3

 So this one was a long shot.  13" wide bottom, adjustable rear support.  I thought maybe if my lumbar would have some support then my coccyx wouldn't be taking all the pressure. 

This seat came with no shock, springs, and almost no gel.  When I had the seat mounted, I couldn't mount the bike as per normal.  I swing a leg over the back side and go.  This seat sat high enough to stop me from doing that, which made this seat the biggest failure of my ideas yet.

The seat also sits much more forward, so even with the seat post at the most end position, the seat was still feeling like it was forward. 

So the bike seat quest continues...

Quest for a seat 2 fo 3

 
I decided next to go unconventional.  This had some promise with no nose (don't think about going hands free with out that nose cone).  This was a hard plastic with no gel, split seat and hard metal with a single "shock" on the back to help with the bonce.
 
I really, REALLY, wanted this one to be awesome. I tried this one on and off, when ever I felt more adventurous I would try this again... and again and it's a crazy feeling, as if your just sitting on a bar.  I'm sure there is some magical angel that I need this to be at that makes it comfortable but this didn't do it for me..

Quest for a seat 1 fo 3

I've accidently moved into a weird quest for a comfortable seat.  I sit upright and rider for more than 1hr at a time.  So when I get off I can feel my Coccyx (tail bone) aching.  If I can ditch that feeling, I could ride for hours with no issue.

First seat, had a wide 12" rear with tons of gel.  Had to rear springs on the back for a little more bounce but damn, it hurt still. So I decided that I needed to find a seat that was split into two, giving my tailbone somewhere to fall with out pressure being pushed onto it.

The seat didn't do it for me.

Summer Joy!

I've been driving like crazy on my bike this summer and man I have been enjoying my ride more than ever.  I'm still doing 25km twice daily and the other day I was able to complete that with in 36min!  Which is insane... and I was pushing my fat bike almost at a constant 30km non-stop.


I've made some modifications to the bike:

• Bigger peddle sprocket.  Went from 22 tooth to 26, doesn't seem like much however it made my ride faster and harder. 
• I've tried a few different saddles.. some traditional and some not so much.  I plan on writing that up.. 
• Put in some nice peddles that are smooth and have replaceable bearing
• Made a useful modification to the Dave's mud shovel

In the mean time, I'm biking daily in this 30+ heat and won't stop...

Large wheel parking

Issue I have with riding a fat bike as a commuting bike, is parking the beast.  

Almost no bike rack can hold it, unless I park beside the rack.  I found this spot be a perfect spot and at the same time, make me laugh.

At the time same I would also mention that I moved the controller again, this time from the middle to the front bag (yes, this makes the front bag near useless now but it's cleaner looking). And I replaced the rear rack with one that doesn't hold onto the seat post.

Full on!

With all the ice, I've only been able to commute half way of my normal route but today I did the entire ride. 1hr 35min bike ride and I made it from home to work with minimal ice.  With in a weeks time I think all the ice will be off the bike paths.. until then, it's slow and steady.

End of last year: 25km 48min

Today: 25km 1hr 35min

I have some time to make up.  It's never been about speed for me but almost double the time is pretty bad. But by the time I got to work, I was tired!

Time to get serious

I'm rather upset with myself, as this winter I wasn't nearly as productive has I had hopped. 

To much ice on the ground, which leads to unpredictable movements.  Snow, 1 feet deep.. No issue! 1 square inch of ice on the ground, boom.. I can slide out!

So now that spring is almost here, I've decided for the next month I'm going to be taking a different approach with my habits and removing the thought of eating out of my mind all together.  This is just going to be for a month long.

I'm doing a full month long Soylent 2.0 meal replacement.  Starting March 17th, as the products should be coming in only today.

The PLAN:

• 1 before leaving the house
• 1 after I get to work
• 1 at lunch
• 1 before I go home 
• And have a normal dinner at home.

Currently back up to 315lbs (I gained 15lbs since December! 5lbs per month..)

Each bottle is 400cal, my size requires 3000-2500 per day.  So in drinks alone, it's 1600 cal, leaving me with 1500cal for dinner.  I'm not going to go crazy and count every cal but it's something to keep in mind as I do this.

Fat Bike Rack

This winter has had a lot of challenges.. mostly a certain area that has been less than safe to travel by bike.  So I'm now a proud owner of a fat bike bike rack.  This sucker holds 2 fat bikes!

So now I am driving part of the way to work and then dropping my car off and biking the rest of the way in.  I'm still getting about 2 hrs of biking in daily, I just don't take the direct route into work.