Older chap thinking about moving to Pedelecs

[Big Vern]

Morning folks,
I have been cycling for years but, after the removal of a tumour inside my spinal cord at T6, I am having problems with coordinating legs.
To date, I have locked my feet to pedals; unfortunately when I have an episode (legs stop working for a millisecond) I tend to fall over . My wife is getting worried as I have spondylitis etc in neck and lower back .
We live in rural France. I don’t want to give up as I love the fresh air and exercise (I can’t walk very far as my legs suddenly switch off with no warning), currently I manage 15-20 miles every other day.
We have a camping car, I am thinking about a pedelec to extend my range. I am pretty relaxed about style ... Cube Kathmandu thru to R&M Rohloff E14 (being an ex-technician I love the engineering). My Thorn had a Rohloff, had to swap the rotary knob cos I couldn’t turn it.
Looking for advice please. Very interested in thoughts about IGH, especially Shimano Inter-5, Enviolo Harmony Sync and Rohloff E14. Ability to choose fully automatic would be very useful in busy areas, so I can concentrate on not falling over!
Cheers, Vern

 

[Woosh]

Have you thought about converting one of your bikes? Something like the Tongsheng TSDZ2 would go well with a RH hubgear.
http://wooshbikes.co.uk/?cdkit#tsdz2
I send often kits to France.

 

[scotsguy00]

It wouldn't help when going camping, but for every day use what about a trike? At least you know you aren't going to fall over when your legs stop working.

 

[Woosh]

It wouldn't help when going camping, but for every day use what about a trike? At least you know you aren't going to fall over when your legs stop working.

I agree.
This is Duncan's posh trike, fitted with a Woosh TSDZ2 48V kit:

https://etrike.net/250w-tongsheng-tsdz2-install/

 

[Big Vern]

It wouldn't help when going camping, but for every day use what about a trike? At least you know you aren't going to fall over when your legs stop working.

I have considered one, also thought about stabilisers (but haven’t found any for road/trekking bikes). I am ex-military and want to continue as long as possible on 2 wheels (I know ).

 

[vfr400]

A bicycle is self-balancing due to the gyroscopic effect of the wheels, which is controlled by hands on the steering.

On a normal bicycle or an electric one with a torque sensor control system, you'd lose drive and speed if your legs stopped working, which will make you stall and fal off in some circumstances. Nearly all the more expensive electric bicycles have torque sensors, so forget about anything fancy.

The cheaper Chinese electric bikes have control systems that give power regardless of how hard you pedal. Some of themm have motors that run on a bit after you stop pedalling, so a temporary interruption of pedalling has no effect, or you can fit a throttle to keep the drive going when you stop pedalling. Throttles are not allowed in France at the moment, but I don't know if anyone is checking.

 

[Big Vern]

I do like the Ice trike. Had a quick look at Ice Trike with E8000 & Rohloff ... €8800!

 

[Big Vern]

I agree.
This is Duncan's posh trike, fitted with a Woosh TSDZ2 48V kit:

https://etrike.net/250w-tongsheng-tsdz2-install/

Cracking video, thank you.

 

[Big Vern]

A bicycle is self-balancing due to the gyroscopic effect of the wheels, which is controlled by hands on the steering.

On a normal bicycle or an electric one with a torque sensor control system, you'd lose drive and speed if your legs stopped working, which will make you stall and fal off in some circumstances. Nearly all the more expensive electric bicycles have torque sensors, so forget about anything fancy.

The cheaper Chinese electric bikes have control systems that give power regardless of how hard you pedal. Some of themm have motors that run on a bit after you stop pedalling, so a temporary interruption of pedalling has no effect, or you can fit a throttle to keep the drive going when you stop pedalling. Throttles are not allowed in France at the moment, but I don't know if anyone is checking.

My wife is getting worried about the damage I am doing to my vertebrae so she is content with anything that enables us to trek 40-80 km per day when using Camping Car. Having just bought a CCT4 for bikes and Piaggio, at least they deal with trikes.

 

[Fat Rat]

Hi welcome to the site
I hope you find your solutions soon

 

[Big Vern]

Have you thought about converting one of your bikes? Something like the Tongsheng TSDZ2 would go well with a RH hubgear.
http://wooshbikes.co.uk/?cdkit#tsdz2
I send often kits to France.

Hi Woosh,
I have had a look in the garage and I have a Decathlon Triban 520 Trekking bike with Ultegra R8000 F & R derailleur and chainring/cassettes that appears to be suitable donor. Obviously very happy to lose front derailleur (will keep as spare for Merida 900 or Lynskey).
The Triban is BSA 68.
Sadly I can’t use the motor on the Thorn Mercury Rohloff because of the bottom bracket.
Question: Will the kit work on Triban? How is the power applied? With throttle, do I need to pedal (occasionally my legs don’t work).
Probably not a long term solution but I would rather spent less now and make mistakes, rather than a lot now and regret at leisure!
kindest regards,
Vern

 

[Eagle]

Big Vern,

Here is an ICE Q recumbent with a Dillenger 48volt 1000w rear hub motor kit:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ICE-Recumbent-Trike-With-Electric-Assist/202620660815?hash=item2f2d21ec4f:g:0pgAAOSwGhFcdE1f&frcectupt=true

 

[Woosh]

Hi Woosh,
I have had a look in the garage and I have a Decathlon Triban 520 Trekking bike with Ultegra R8000 F & R derailleur and chainring/cassettes that appears to be suitable donor. Obviously very happy to lose front derailleur (will keep as spare for Merida 900 or Lynskey).
The Triban is BSA 68.

yes, it'll work.
I have a similar test bike, yours has better equipment but the principle is the same.
If you have a dual ring in 130 BCD, you can change the 42T ring on the TSDZ2.
Just remember that stress goes up with the number of teeth on the ring, so don't run 52T on hills!
http://wooshbikes.co.uk/cart/#/product/uid-207-tsdz2-12ah/tsdz2-cd-kit-48v-12ah
http://wooshbikes.co.uk/cart/#/product/uid-133-eu-zone1/delivery-of-kits-to-eu-zone-1-channel-islands-benelux-france-germany-spain-poland-etc

 

[WIGHTDIAMOND]

Cracking video, thank you.

Hi Vern. I'm the owner of that trike and also the author of the video and etrike.net. Feel free to shoot me any questions if you'd like to know more. The trike is a cracking way to get round and very comfortable and with the e-assist in place hills become flat. Sound to me like a trike would suit you well.

 

[Big Vern]

Thanks everyone for your help, this sort of positive response is heartwarming.
I am trying to avoid a trike for now (but I was sorely tempted) because it would complicate matters with the Camping Car. I believe that down the road I will have a trike.
I have just bought the Tongsheng 250W crank motor with throttle from Tony at Wooshbikes. I’ll fit it to a new Triban 520. The Triban has R8000 gear fitted so I will source a <50T chainring for the front; the motor may be too strong for the R8000 gear ... if so, I’ll revert to the 44T chainring supplied by Woosh and 9 spd cassette supplied by Decathlon.
Tony, at Woosh Bike, has been extremely helpful throughout the process (despite the odd switch pigs by me); I suspect that my wife will require the same setup shortly!
I’ll bore folks with info & photos during installation and first ride (if appropriate to forum?), then follow up with info after 4 months (2500 km).
Again many thanks Tony,
Vern

 

[Eagle]

Big Vern,
Well done for coming to an informed decision very quickly.
We look forward to seeing your installation photos of the Tongsheng TSDZ2 with appropriate captions (expletives deleted) and follow-up reports.

 

[Big Vern]

Big Vern,
Well done for coming to an informed decision very quickly.
We look forward to seeing your installation photos of the Tongsheng TSDZ2 with appropriate captions (expletives deleted) and follow-up reports.

Skinned knuckles notwithstanding
Thankfully we have a full spares bin, I have downgraded the Triban to a 10 spd XT System (still better than Deore 9 spd originally fitted). There was some discussion that TSDZ2 chainring would be OK for 10 spd - if not, I’ll put the XT outer chainrings on the motor.
Tony thinks we’ll have the motor on Friday, that’ll be impressive.
Anybody with thoughts on matching of chainring with 10 spd please?
Cheers, Vern

 

[WIGHTDIAMOND]

Thanks everyone for your help, this sort of positive response is heartwarming.
I am trying to avoid a trike for now (but I was sorely tempted) because it would complicate matters with the Camping Car. I believe that down the road I will have a trike.
I have just bought the Tongsheng 250W crank motor with throttle from Tony at Wooshbikes. I’ll fit it to a new Triban 520. The Triban has R8000 gear fitted so I will source a <50T chainring for the front; the motor may be too strong for the R8000 gear ... if so, I’ll revert to the 44T chainring supplied by Woosh and 9 spd cassette supplied by Decathlon.
Tony, at Woosh Bike, has been extremely helpful throughout the process (despite the odd switch pigs by me); I suspect that my wife will require the same setup shortly!
I’ll bore folks with info & photos during installation and first ride (if appropriate to forum?), then follow up with info after 4 months (2500 km).
Again many thanks Tony,
Vern

Vern, ICE (in Cornwall) do a fold-able trike. Just a thought.

 

[Big Vern]

Sssh don’t tempt me. There will come a time, but hopefully not too soon

 

[MikelBikel]

Hi Vern. I'm the owner of that trike and also the author of the video and etrike.net. Feel free to shoot me any questions if you'd like to know more. The trike is a cracking way to get round and very comfortable and with the e-assist

I like the tidy idea of mounting the HL battery side-saddle, as it were. I expect you wanted to keep your existing top box. Did the zip ties hold up?