Topic: Ideas for Hill Starts & Hill climbing

[mhurt]

Right, I really need to get off my backside and sort out a way I can use my C5 more than 2-3 times a month, so I'm looking for ideas that could work but wouldn't break the bank.

I live in quite a hilly area, but on top of that due to an illness I don't have as much strength or stamina as I used to. If I stop on anything more than a small incline, I can't get going again, and I can't pedal uphill once the motor stops assisting, and at that point I'm a bit stuffed because I can't walk far either
I need something I can just use to get up hill, however slowly.

I've considered a mobility scooter motor, but that has the problem of having a brake built in, so as soon as power is cut, the brakes kick in, and I doubt 24v would help in that area. I'm not sure that a front hub motor would do the job either but I don't have any experience with them.

Anyone got any ideas (other than moving to somewhere flat) ? To be honest, I'm much better at PC related stuff than I am at anything mechanical!

[thedesigntailor]

I'm also interested in this

[coverman]

Why would the electomechanical brake be a problem on a mobility motor.? Such a drivetrain is designed to work from lock,(ie stationary) so pedal starts would be unecessary as you wouldn't be using the fragile plastic Sinclair reduction gearing. The C5 would however be illegal for road use though as the motor power would exceed 250W and the unladen weight would probably tip over the legal maximum(which a C5 only just meets anyway) with a heavier drivetrain.
Mobility scooters are geared for much lower speeds than a C5's legal maximum of 15mph so you would need to calculate whether the larger 16" rear wheels of the C5 would compensate for the smaller mobility wheels in respect of top speed- although as said before it would already be contravening legislation.

[mhurt]

The idea is to only use the second motor (whatever it is)  to get uphill,  so you don't want the brake the brake on the rest of the time.  I'd also wire it so that using one motor disabled the other.
On the legality,  I'd imagine a hub motor,  24v kit etc would all contravene the laws in some way or other,  but I'll worry about that once I come up with a solution.

[coverman]

But why have two motors?

[mhurt]

Do you know of any low cost motors that can do both jobs? Reach 15mph on the straight and get a C5 and rider up a fairly steep hill?
Admittedly,  mechanics and motors aren't my thing (I'm much happier with PC's and electronics)  but I haven't seen anything - I'd certainly appreciate any suggestions on a single motor solution.

[danny7147]

My personal thoughts would be to look at installing a Sturmey Archer 3 speed on the back axle. This would serve a dual purpose, enabling a very good ratio for hill starts but also really kick up the top speed too.

As for the "not mechanically minded" part, most of my repairs I started going to Halfords for... even the basic stuff. You'd find that after your first visit (mine was just for a brake cable tightening) the staff become fascinated by the C5 and very friendly towards you. That really would be my suggestion because I'd put a quid on them taking your C5 and doing the work needed in their spare time!

The guy who originally repaired mine has now become our unofficial mechanic. He lives a stones throw away and gets all of our bike jobs 

Anyway, that's just my two cents!

[mhurt]

Does the 3-speed really make that much difference?

[rekooh99]

I m busy converting mine to 3 speed have a look at the thread for fitting gears and chas section pictures tell the whol story

[mhurt]

I've seen the threads etc,  and I know it makes it easier to set off and you can get higher speeds by pedalling,  but I've not seen much about the effect on hills and whether it's a significant enough improvement.
Maybe it's something to try,  as I imagine adding a second motor if required would be easier if there's already another spindle and cog on.

[baselpat]

On the legality,  I'd imagine a hub motor,  24v kit etc would all contravene the laws in some way or other,  but I'll worry about that once I come up with a solution.

I ran 2 motors for a short while for some testing only and while it did help a bit, it was not worth the effort or weight of double sets of the batteries etc.  Why double? I found that the controller for the hub motor I had installed was very sensitive to voltage drops (ie when using the other motor or even just the lights  ...) and eventually gave up the ghost completely after one dropout too many.  I have since ordered and installed a new "better" controller for the motor and removed the old "non hub" motor. 

So if you do go down the hub motor route - make sure you have a reliable controller for it

[mhurt]

I was thinking about just a relay setup for the second motor. 2 batteries isn't too much of an issue as I have a beast of a battery in already - 17kg weight 76Ah, I could easily use both my wheelchair batteries and have less weight (but also less range, but I've never really come close to using even half the charge)

[coverman]

The 3 speed conversion will only affect pedalling speeds,;the motor is not affected.

[mhurt]

I know that the 3-speed only affects pedaling, what I meant was that if I'm adding a second chain, spindle etc, then it's not that much harder to add a second motor at the same time and do both jobs at once.