Success !!
. . . I think this "might" be a world first . . a CycloTricity-powered Electric Donky Bike compact Cargo-bike, and it's an absolute beauty to ride, so I can't wait to load it up with my Bristol Buskers amplifier and other bits. Luckily, I have loads of nuts & bolts, washers, bits of wood, aluminium strip etc, in my garage, so it's a little over-engineered, as I didn't want that heavy battery dropping off while riding over Bristol cobble-stones. If I had access to a welder, I could have made it more compact, as a thin steel-sheet becomes a piece of 5mm ply to cope with the stresses.
This was the neatest place I could find to locate the CycloTricity battery on the frame of the Donky Bike, but it wasn't the easiest place to mount, as it's underslung, but I didn't want it above the crossbar, as it would reduce the ease of stepping-over for my wife and daughters when they use it, and would also make the bike a little top-heavy. The control box is fitted in front of the steerer-tube, as I want to make a custom lockable 'carry-box' to fit in that triangle behind, to carry my sandwiches and the bike lock . . (oh . . and my prescription tablets to stop me doing even crazier conversions).
Because the CycloTricity battery is underslung, it had to be supported with aluminium strips around the frame (which I will tidy up). Also on the bottom of the battery base-plate I fixed it to a long piece of 5mm ply which wraps around the sides of the crossbar, and is secured with cable-ties at this prototype stage, to prevent the heavy battery sliding down the sloping tube.
I tried 'Photoshopping' various CycloTricity battery positions, and although this looked feasible, and would have been the simplest way to attach to the Donky Bike, it would have made the bike even more top-heavy and have made it more awkward to do an elegant step-through to get on board. When I carry tall items on the rear rack, even I have to do a step-through.
The original handlebars on the Donky Bike were 27 inches wide, which I felt uncomfortable with when riding on 'shared' paths, as my hands were stuck out wide. I've now fitted a pair of 20 inch wide ones (as I prefer riding with slim bars anyway) and that means on crowded shared-paths I can now ride through the narrow gap between lamp-posts and the road to bypass those walking and not inconvenience them. There's lots of convenient ''slim'' passing points like this around on the shared-paths in Bristol.
This was the neatest place I could find to locate the CycloTricity battery on the frame of the Donky Bike, but it wasn't the easiest place to mount, as it's underslung, but I didn't want it above the crossbar, as it would reduce the ease of stepping-over for my wife and daughters when they use it, and would also make the bike a little top-heavy. The control box is fitted in front of the steerer-tube, as I want to make a custom lockable 'carry-box' to fit in that triangle behind, to carry my sandwiches and the bike lock . . (oh . . and my prescription tablets to stop me doing even crazier conversions).
Because the CycloTricity battery is underslung, it had to be supported with aluminium strips around the frame (which I will tidy up). Also on the bottom of the battery base-plate I fixed it to a long piece of 5mm ply which wraps around the sides of the crossbar, and is secured with cable-ties at this prototype stage, to prevent the heavy battery sliding down the sloping tube.
I tried 'Photoshopping' various CycloTricity battery positions, and although this looked feasible, and would have been the simplest way to attach to the Donky Bike, it would have made the bike even more top-heavy and have made it more awkward to do an elegant step-through to get on board. When I carry tall items on the rear rack, even I have to do a step-through.
The original handlebars on the Donky Bike were 27 inches wide, which I felt uncomfortable with when riding on 'shared' paths, as my hands were stuck out wide. I've now fitted a pair of 20 inch wide ones (as I prefer riding with slim bars anyway) and that means on crowded shared-paths I can now ride through the narrow gap between lamp-posts and the road to bypass those walking and not inconvenience them. There's lots of convenient ''slim'' passing points like this around on the shared-paths in Bristol.
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