What did you work on today?

[juddspaintballs]

Get a Mr Buddy heater and see if that will keep you warm enough before you insulate. I've heard a few people say that the little bit of insulation you can fit in the walls doesn't do a whole lot.

[beejaytee]

Get a Mr Buddy heater and see if that will keep you warm enough before you insulate. I've heard a few people say that the little bit of insulation you can fit in the walls doesn't do a whole lot.

Already got one. It works great but I don’t want it running all night and the trailer looses heat pretty fast. The plywood on the walls is pretty thick so I’m gonna try and insulate the roof first and see how that goes.


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[Wingfixer]

Get a Mr Buddy heater and see if that will keep you warm enough before you insulate. I've heard a few people say that the little bit of insulation you can fit in the walls doesn't do a whole lot.

That was definitely not my experience. Before I insulated it the heater could barely keep it warm, especially of it was windy. After I installed the 1" high density insulation I could heat it with a candle! Yes, insulating the roof and adding the luan probably made the most improvement.

[juddspaintballs]

Definitely insulate the roof. For the cost, insulating the walls isn't that expensive whether it works or not. It's just a matter of whether you want to do the work or not if a heater would be sufficient without it.

[smdub]

Quick backstory: The Sur-Ron stock motor controller died at Mountain Ridge a month+ ago. I've been in line for a Russian made Nucular 24F controller and my number was about due so I contacted them and waited for it vs buying a replacement oem.

It finally came in this week. Had some time to put it 'together enough' today. Wires are still dangling about, a lot of screws need to go back in, and more settings programmed but it is rideable. It's a yard destroying wheelie machine off the line now I've configured it as torque mode to mimic a gas bike response. It also has an 8-point throttle curve to be able to dial in the feel (the SLOW ramp up of the stock throttle & controller was one of my biggest complaints.)  
The OEM battery has a built in BMS (Battery Management System) with overcurrent protection that trips around 110A (~6kW) so that limits fun as speed increases and you need power and not just torque. Still messing w/ the settings and dialing it in.   I may have to start thinking about an aftermarket battery w/ higher quality cells that can output a lot more amps.. (Litespeed makes 300A & 400A capable batteries )

My Webasto gas heater that shipped from Russia also came in this week. That may be tomorrow's project if I don't kill myself on the Sur-Ron first.

[Bucho]

Quick backstory: The Sur-Ron stock motor controller died at Mountain Ridge a month+ ago. I've been in line for a Russian made Nucular 24F controller and my number was about due so I contacted them and waited for it vs buying a replacement oem.

It finally came in this week. Had some time to put it 'together enough' today. Wires are still dangling about, a lot of screws need to go back in, and more settings programmed but it is rideable. It's a yard destroying wheelie machine off the line now I've configured it as torque mode to mimic a gas bike response. It also has an 8-point throttle curve to be able to dial in the feel (the SLOW ramp up of the stock throttle & controller was one of my biggest complaints.)  
The OEM battery has a built in BMS (Battery Management System) with overcurrent protection that trips around 110A (~6kW) so that limits fun as speed increases and you need power and not just torque. Still messing w/ the settings and dialing it in.   I may have to start thinking about an aftermarket battery w/ higher quality cells that can output a lot more amps.. (Litespeed makes 300A & 400A capable batteries )

My Webasto gas heater that shipped from Russia also came in this week. That may be tomorrow's project if I don't kill myself on the Sur-Ron first.

Pretty cool Stephen. I was riding Sam's SurRon the other week. His is feeling much better with full sized wheels and a proper trials tire on the rear. I didn't ride a super hard trail, but it felt pretty good just riding around on some of the easier stuff.
I like to hear about electrics getting better. I appreciate guys like you and Sam fine tuning this product. So maybe in a few years I may buy a fixed one.

[gots_a_sol]

Rode a buddy's electric pedal assist mountain bike yesterday for a little bit on some trails. Definitely just shot that up to the top of my list of things to buy


Since we allegedly getting a bunch of snow this week, today I swapped the snow tires on to my GTI. Also drug out the snowblower and got it started. I had remembered to dump in stabil for the small bit of gas that was in it but forgot the tender so it was a bit grouchy and needed a jump pack to get going. Hopefully with the tender on it now I won't have to buy a new battery. Fired up the HF predator generator also just because I was out in the shed.

Mr. Overkill.




On the not snow related list I adjusted the front shifter/derailleur on the girlfriends mountain bike as it was throwing the chain off occasionally. Would have been a warranty adjustment but the DAMN shop I bought it from went out of business like 3 months after I bought the bike for her I also see why the industry trend is 1x drivetrains, the front derailleur seemed a lot more finicky compared to the rear.

[Firebolter]

Pretty cool Stephen. I was riding Sam's SurRon the other week. His is feeling much better with full sized wheels and a proper trials tire on the rear. I didn't ride a super hard trail, but it felt pretty good just riding around on some of the easier stuff.
I like to hear about electrics getting better. I appreciate guys like you and Sam fine tuning this product. So maybe in a few years I may buy a fixed one.

I rode Dave's Alta when we were at Brown Mountain 2 weeks ago and it is a little weird! He and I swapped bikes, he took the 300 and I broke off with the Alta and worked my way back to camp at 28 miles in to the ride. The one shortcoming I see is how (and I know it is controller specific and needs to be dialed in) the power is applied. On step ups, slick rocky or rooted ledges, you can't "modulate" the throttle like you can on a typical gas bike. It is kinda on and off and that makes it a bit tough on those kinda obstacles. That makes it harder when you get to the step kinda stuff. Dave did 32 miles at Brown and had 25% battery when I got back to camp. Overall if they could design the controllers to be more gradual with the application of the torque and maybe make some kind of "electronic" clutch to be able to feather power, that would be awesome.

[smdub]

Which version of the Alta was it? I used to write motor control software for EVs so I'm sensitive to the 'feel' and know what is possible. I haven't ridden an Alta yet :(

The torque can definitely be controlled VERY smooth and linearly if the software is good and tuned. I know you can get a laptpo for the Alta that allows you to adjust things. My new Nucular controller is, so far, very much what I was expecting. I need to slow the torque response a little as I can skip the intermediate shaft belt teeth if I'm too hard on it (or just replace that w/ the chain upgrade.) I also still need to map out the non-linearity of throttle. The controller is linear but I've measured the throttle and its got a backwards curve in its output. I'll set it up to more match a gas bike.

One of the neat things you can easily do w/ an electric bike is traction control. If the wheel is accelerating faster than the bike you can instantly dial the torque down. The new full sized Sur-Ron Storm Bee (that isn't avail in the US yet) is doing this. Their implementation sounds a little jerky in the videos I've seen so its not as tuned as it could be. I have the throttle control knob for the GET ECU on my KTM500 now but haven't installed it yet to see how that compares. It should work similarly but electric motors have much faster control and should be much better in the long run.

When I made the big wheel conversion to my SurRon I don't think the diameter made a huge difference other than raising up the bike to be more 'adult height' (which was my main goal). Larger volume tires can be run at lower pressures so thats a difference but big 19" tires exist even though I never tried them. The fork replacement was a much larger improvement IMO. Zipping through my small back yard over roots I'm getting some rear end loose/chatter now. I haven't touched the rear shock setting up until this point but it clearly needs to be dialed in better now. I really haven't had a chance to ride it in full anger on proper single track even w/ the old controller.

[smdub]

Since we allegedly getting a bunch of snow this week

Good point. I should dig my snowblower out and put the parts on it I bought last year that averted all the snow :)

I also see why the industry trend is 1x drivetrains, the front derailleur seemed a lot more finicky compared to the rear.

They are going to 1x because its cheaper. It doesn't solve the cross chaining problems (though the new thinner chains help that.) You also may still need to run a front chain guide. IME, those are more fiddly than a derailleur. Kid just lost his guide somewhere :( For all the years I've ridden mtbs, rear derailleur problems are 10x+ more common.
One real advantage that a 1x does have is you can tuck the rear tire closer to the seat post which will shorten the wheelbase if using 27.5" or 29" tires on the smaller frames.