EBikeRider

Testing the stock Tidalforce motor

2012-02-02T12:18:00.001-05:00

I tried running the stock motor that came with my new S-750 bike last night and I found out that it is a stock non-X version. In fact, when I pressed the Turbo button and tried the throttle, the motor did not increase in RPMs at all. Both settings were around 260 RPM. I'm disappointed, however, I'm still overjoyed that the new unmounted motor IS an X version. I've got a lead on a spoke and rim set for the TF motor out in California and hopefully, will be able to get that and mount my new X motor.

I'm now also hoping to buy a throttle and console for the TF to fit to my M-750 which I haven't even started working on yet!

More later,
Ambrose

Testing the new Tidalforce motor in TURBO mode

2012-01-31T01:46:00.000-05:00

I forgot to test the new motor in Turbo mode. The previous video and test was done in Standard mode so wasn't very spectacular. I averaged right around 260 rpm with the battery fresh off the charger and with the throttle wide open. With this test shown below, I used the motor in Turbo mode. The batteries were slightly used so they didn't have quite the same punch as when they're fresh off the charger.

I was surprised at how fast it was. 830 rpm is shockingly high compared to 260 rpm!!! :)

I can't wait to put it in a strong rim and with some great tires! I've wanted an X motor for a very long time and am overjoyed that I finally have one!

More later,
Ambrose

Testing the new Tidalforce motor and batteries Part 1

2012-01-31T00:56:00.001-05:00

I put the motor onto the Tidalforce S-750 frame to test them this evening. This is a quick video of how they perform in standard (non-turbo) mode. I used my Cycle Analyst Standalone and a digital tachometer that I saw on Mythbusters and just had to buy one after that! It's VERY handy.

Be sure to check out my next post. There's a HUGE surprise. Don't go until you see this video though. :)

Ambrose

New Tidalforce Batteries and Motor!

2012-01-30T01:20:00.000-05:00

I bought 2 new Tidalforce front hub batteries and a Tidalforce motor over the weekend for an excellent price. All are in excellent physical shape, except the batteries are missing axle spacers which I didn't photograph. Kind of critical, however, I'm more interested in using them for spare parts. The motor is complete and in excellent condition. I plugged it into a working battery and it spun up very powerfully. I'm wondering if it could be an X version. It would be wonderful if it was. I will put a skewer on it and compare it to the stock 750W motor to see if I can spot the difference. I believe it is an X motor because of the added stickers on it. Here are some pics.

The Tidalforce motor is on the left. One battery, missing the wire guide is in the middle and the other battery is mounted to my new red Tidalforce S-750 fork.

The working Tidalforce motor with the 7 speed cassette.

The Tidalforce motor has an unusual sticker on it. It has "122510-01 A" and what looks like a serial number of "00429".

The first Tidalforce front hub battery missing the wire guide.

The sticker on this battery states "122508A" "03190 PCB REV 3 05/31"

The other battery states "122508 A" "03260 PCB REV 3 05/31"

Here's the second battery mounted in the S-750 for testing. If either one is working, I'll probably remove the guts and put it into one of the other two TF front batteries that is dead.

More later,
Ambrose

For Sale: My Tidalforce S-750 with 9C motor and Lyen 35A controller

2012-01-24T17:32:00.002-05:00

Since I've purchased 2 Tidalforce bikes recently, I've realized that I need to sell my current ebike in order to have room to work on the two new bikes. So, I've decided to sell my favorite bike and power system.

Here's what I'm selling. I'm breaking into two separate group of items.

First, the bike:

Tidalforce S-750 frame 18" frame
e-BikeKit.com 9C motor with disc brake rotor (nominally rated at 500W)
Lyen's 9 FET 35A mini-controller
Manitou Trance DH fork
Bontrager front wheel with disc brake rotor
Avid BB-7 and BB-5 disc brakes
Topeak MTX disc brake compatible Expedition rear rack
Schwalbe Big Apple 26x2.5" balloon tires
Shimano Tiagra 52T front crank
Planet Bike 2.5" rear fender
Kick stand

Then, the power system:

8 Bosch Fat Packs batteries (72V 6AH or 37V 12AH)
2 Bosch Fat Pack chargers (one for home, one for the office)
1 Cycle Analyst SA
1 Topeak MTX DX trunk bag
All necessary cabling to hook everything up both for charging and riding

Please contact me if you're interested.

ambroseliao AT gmail DOT com

(Replace the AT with the @ symbol and a "." for the DOT. Also, remove all spaces)

Tidalforce S-750 frame (18") with a Manitou Trance DH fork.

Lyen Edition Infineon 72V 35A 9 FET controller.

9 Continents Rear Disc Brake Motor (500W nominal, but can do 2,000W with the Lyen Edition 9 FET 35A controller)

Bontrager front wheel with disc brake rotors and the Avid BB7 disc brakes.

What looks like scratches is actually Gorilla Tape residue, which is very challenging to remove!

8 Bosch Fat Pack 37V LiMN batteries, 2 Bosch Fat Pack chargers, 1 Cycle Analyst SA and all necessary cabling (not shown)

In this picture, you can see the Topeak MTX DX rear bag.

Stolen Paratrooper Bike!

2012-01-23T14:19:00.001-05:00

This is quite despicable. I saw this on my local Craigslist and had to repost it. It seems that we have an active duty army soldier who had his Montague Paratrooper bike stolen from the metro. It's pretty obvious that it's a military bike since it has the very large "Paratrooper" logo painted on the frame!

It should be fairly easy to find and return if the thief doesn't alter the look of the stolen bike.

Here's the wording:

email this posting to a friend washington, DC craigslist > northern virginia > for sale / wanted > items wanted

please flag with care: [?]

miscategorized
prohibited
spam/overpost
best of craigslist

Avoid scams and fraud by dealing locally! Beware any deal involving Western Union, Moneygram, wire transfer, cashier check, money order, shipping, escrow, or any promise of transaction protection/certification/guarantee. More info

Montague Partrooper Mountain Bike - $1 (Dunn Loring Metro)

Date: 2012-01-21, 3:21PM EST
Reply to: sale-nx6e3-2811291082@craigslist.org ^{[Errors when replying to ads?]}

My Mountain bike was stolen from the Dunn Loring Metro Station yesterday and I would like to have it back. I deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq several times and used the bike as part of my assigned mission. This is very sentimental. No harm no foul. I live in vienna and will let you know where to drop it off.

A picture is attached below for anyone who sees it or knows who has it.

My Bike has the large Black Paratrooper letters on the side.

thanks

Location: Dunn Loring Metro
it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests

PostingID: 2811291082

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More pix of the RED Tidalforce S-750

2012-01-12T15:00:00.001-05:00

I have a few more pictures of the bike. The pictures don't really show how intensely red the bike is. You have to see it in sunlight or at least bright light to believe it...

First shot of the RED S-750

2012-01-12T03:07:00.000-05:00

Here's the first raw picture of the very red S-750 complete bike I picked up today! I haven't cleaned it up yet. It was raining pretty hard and there are specks of mud on the frame and tires. It's also missing the seat post clamp that holds the seat up. Otherwise, it looks pretty complete.

Picked up my 2 new Tidalforce bikes today!

2012-01-11T16:59:00.000-05:00

I went out to Dulles, Virginia today and picked up my two new Tidalforce bikes today. The M-750 frame is essentially brand new. It still has the shipping wrapping on it. The S-750 is slightly used and the bike has some surface scratches on it. However, the color of the bike is absolutely beautiful and radiant! I don't think it will show well in pictures, but it is a deep luxurious red. I knew I should have built my first S around the red frame! :)

Pictures to come shortly.

Short ride on my Tidalforce iO

2012-01-10T01:02:00.000-05:00

It was a beautiful and warm Saturday here in the Washington, DC area. I took my Tidalforce iO cruiser out for a spin around the neighborhood in the late afternoon. The iO is so smooth and quiet, although you'll hear an annoying rattle in the video because I didn't mount the GoPro tightly on the handlebars. I hope to pick up the S-750 and M-750 on Wednesday.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZbp2LFt6U8

West Mountain CBA II

2012-01-01T13:42:00.001-05:00

Well, I decided that I needed the West Mountain CBA analyzer I sold recently after all. It's a single purpose device, but it gives you a complete documented result of the battery's performance that is hard to match for the cost. I found a CBA II along with the accessory temperature probe on an RC board and bought it. It should be here mid week.

My Tidalforce stable has grown, thanks to eBay!

2011-12-19T00:44:00.001-05:00

This was a very exciting and productive weekend for me. I was able to win a couple of Tidalforce bikes on eBay.

First was the one that I had wanted for quite a while: the Tidalforce M-750 frame with the front fork and no motor or battery. The condition was stated as NOS (new old stock). This is a very rare find in my experience. The markings are pure Tidalforce and Wavecrest Labs, however, the components are all Montague Paratrooper. The Montague Paratrooper is the legendary bike designed to be dropped from aircraft and deployed in battle. The Paratrooper's best known feature is it's ability to fold into a compact size which allows for easier transport and storage. Here are a few photos of the frame I won.

The second eBay win was a red Tidalforce S-750 with the 750W motor and a non-functioning front hub battery and a charger. I already have an S-750 in the darker gray color I bought from Deerfencer1 (Larry Hughes) as a frame only and built it out to be the bike I ride today, however, I've always longed for a red one since red is my favorite bike color! The motor supposedly works well but the front hub does not work. We shall see. Here are some photos of the red S-750 bike.

I'll probably be doing the hub battery upgrade on this hub and getting it back on the road!

More later,
Ambrose

Good news GoPro!

2011-12-03T09:58:00.001-05:00

I've been patiently waiting for my new GoPro HD Hero 2 to arrive. What I thought was a shipment notification to me was actually a shipment notification to my dealer in the mid-west. Oh well, you know what they say about a watched pot... As for the camera, it turns out I am getting the Motorsport model rather than the Outdoor model. The only difference is that the Motorsport model has a suction cup mount versus a Head strap mount with the Outdoor edition. I conjured up an inexpensive suction cup mount very similar to the official GoPro version except mine uses the GoPro tripod mount. I never used the head strap mount and my cheap suction cup mount wasn't very stable so I'm okay with getting the suction cup. The main problem with my mount is that it mounts the camera farther away from the base which allows the camera to bounce a bit more and introduces some jitter into the captured video. I hope the shorter GoPro mount will be more stable. More later, Ambrose

GGoodrum's BMS shipped!

2011-11-23T10:27:00.001-05:00

The much-awaited Gary Goodrum BMS which can be configured for 5S is finally ready and should be on it's way to me. Once I receive it, I can continue working on the front hub upgrade on my Tidalforce iO cruiser bike! The BMS will be used with 2 Turnigy 8AH 5S1P 30C batteries in series to produce the desired 37V voltage for the TF bike. I have big plans for this kit. I may do some mods on the front hub as well to make it really sparkle!

More later,
Ambrose

GoPro HD Hero2 is on the way!

2011-11-18T14:41:00.001-05:00

Just received a confirmation email that my GoPro HD Hero 2 camera has been shipped. I hopefully will receive it by next weekend. (I know, I chose the cheap shipping method!) :)

The Big Reveal will be posted when it arrives.

Ambrose

Ride home from Dr. Glassers office

2011-11-03T15:04:00.001-04:00

I rode my ebike down to Dr. Glasser's office to pick up my new contacts and vidoed the trip back. I forgot to clear out the memory so ran out of room on the way down so I only have the return leg. I had my usual power interruption after going over a big bump. I have to tie my connectors together or replace them with new ones that don't separate so easily. I also ran out of juice close to home so had to baby the throttle. I didn't have enough to ride up the last hill so had to walk that. Pedaling the ebike on human power alone is an unpleasant task!

This is the last video taken with my GoPro HD Hero. I hope to have the Hero2 by the end of the month...

Here's the a snapshot of the route I tracked with the WinPlus Beacon GPS Tracker I got on Woot.com.

Click here to see it in Google Maps.

More later,
Ambrose

GoPro HD Hero2 Professional

2011-11-02T16:38:00.001-04:00

Having heard the news of new GoPro HD Hero2 Professional camera, I've decided to order one. The final straw was seeing the quality of the video compared to the original HD model. Thanks to ConradB212 for taking this comparison video. Be sure to check it out directly on Youtube.com and be sure to select the larger 720P size. The differences between the two are startling.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aoo3W-DLIDk

Colors are more saturated, there is much less blowout, and there is much less stair-stepping. The camera now captures 11mp stills and can do 3 angles for the 1080P videos instead of only the 127 degrees of the original HD camera. The low light performance is particularly better.

Take a look at this image and you can really see the improved sharpness of the GoPro HD Hero2 on the right. Be sure to click on the image to see it full size. Thanks Alex84 for the image below.

1. No stairstepping in the GoPro Hero2 image on the right.
2. The building is MUCH sharper on the right.
3. Everything in the block is sharper on the right.
4. Finer details in the branches in the GoPro Hero2 image on the right.

http://img18.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=249399543_GoProHeroHDvsHD2test720P_122_30lo.jpg#

I won't get it for a few weeks but I've already sold my current camera so can't wait to get the new one!

More later,
Ambrose

Ride into DC to see my eye doctor!

2011-10-27T17:20:00.002-04:00

I had to go into downtown Washington, DC this Wednesday and decided to ride in and to film it with my GoPro HD before I sell it to upgrade to the new GoPro Hero 2 Pro. Be sure to watch it in 480 only. The 720 version flips itself over for some strange reason.

It was a beautiful day and the ride in is lovely. It's mostly down hill. I tried mounting the camera on top of my helmet and realized afterwards that you need to be very careful how it's mounted so your video doesn't look crooked and you need to tighten it down so that it doesn't vibrate much! :)

I'll have the ride back video up shortly. I visit some monuments on the way back.

More later,
Ambrose

Look what GoPro's gone and done! GoPro Hero 2 Pro

2011-10-25T14:12:00.000-04:00

So as soon as I order a stereo recorder for my GoPro, GoPro introduces a new model camera with a stereo microphone input! Looks like I'll need to sell my GoPro and Sanyo Xacti recorders now to buy a GoPro Hero2 Pro along with a small stereo microphone!

http://gopro.com/hd-hero2-cameras/

Ambrose

SANYO Xacti ICR-XPS01M Digital Sound Recorder

2011-10-19T16:43:00.004-04:00

I've loved using the GoPro HD Hero to capture my rides, however, there's one area where the GoPro falls short. It captures mono sound. The three dimensional realism of stereo sound is absent standard in the device! I've been looking for an inexpensive solution for this and found a WOOT.com sellout for the SANYO Xacti ICR-XPS01M Digital Sound Recorder.

It's a stereo PCM or MP3 capture device that will allow me to add stereo sound to my video captures. It's straightforward to use, records for many hours on the included 2GB microSDHC and most importantly, captures high quality stereo sound!

Here's a shot of how small this device is. I've got a life-size paper cutout of it sitting beside my GoPro HD Hero. The trick now is to mount them together so that I can synchronize them fairly easily. I know to record a hand clap at the beginning of the recording so that I can visually line them up...

More later,
Ambrose Liao

High speed ride through Kensington and Bethesda

2011-10-13T16:14:00.000-04:00

I played hookie last week and rode my bike around the neighborhood. The bike worked very well. Here's the video. I recorded it in 1080p so it's huge. It actually split into two segments automatically. Here's part 1 which is 34 minutes long. Select 720P and go full screen to enjoy the best viewing experience.

Here's part 2 which is 3 minutes long.

More later,
Ambrose

WinPlus Beacon GPS Tracker for $20 + $5 for shipping

2011-10-11T14:19:00.001-04:00

http://sellout.woot.com/ for today (10/11/2011) is the WinPlus Beacon GPS Tracker. It's an "after-the-fact" GPS logging system that lets you see where you've been. It's perfect for logging the position, speed, and altitude of your ride. Think of it as a GPS capture device kind of like the GoPro is the HD capture device.

I just ordered one so will let you know how well it works.

More later,
Ambrose

Two front hubs with different configurations

2011-10-10T21:06:00.000-04:00

When I started on the front hub battery replacement project, I had planned on just replacing the battery in the Tidalforce iO since that pack was starting to act flakey and not always be ready for riding when my wife and I were. However, after working on it a while and brainstorming, I realized that I could configure my other front hub battery for my S-750 so that the front hub battery would be half of a xxV pack. I could fit half the pack inside the hub and the other half either in the frame or below the downtube.

The iO version would be 2S1P consisting of two Zippy Flightmax 5S 8000mAH packs for 37V 8AH.

The S-750 version would be 4S1P consisting of 4 Zippy Flightmax 6S 8000mAH packs for 88.8V 8AH.

The front hub on the S-750 would add some significant mass to the front wheel which feels very light and feathery now with the Bosch Fat Packs over the back wheel and making it top and back heavy.

More later,
Ambrose

Zippy 8000mAH Batteries - Will They Fit?!?!?

2011-10-01T01:52:00.003-04:00

I took some cardboard and made two mockups of the Zippy 5S 8000 mAH LiPO batteries to see how they would fit in the hub.

They certainly are thin enough to fit into the clamshell without too many modifications in terms of depth. I would probably need to trim about 1/4" from the shell. You can see the gap between the screw posts which needs to close completely.

Then there's the matter of the packs fitting within the rim of the shell and much more importantly, within the rim of the wheel!

The packs look as if they would fit inside the wheel, but would they clear the thick axle and still clear the inside of the wheel???

Looks very close!

There's about a quarter inch to a third of an inch to spare so it looks as if it will indeed fit!

I'll need to remove 4 of the 6 screw posts which is kind of troubling but I think I can still support the shell in place so that the batteries don't shift. I need to think about this and try a few other configurations to see if I can keep more screw posts. Otherwise, I'm very happy!

More later,

Ambrose

The chosen one... (Hobbyking.com battery)

2011-09-29T15:01:00.002-04:00

After checking just about every possible configuration of Hobbyking.com LiPO batteries to try and fit them into my Tidalforce front hub, I've come across one that would work. It's not quite up to the AH that I was hoping for, but it will definitely fit and reduce the weight of the front end of my iO without affecting the balance of the bike by placing the battery over the rear wheel.

It's the Hobby King 8,000 mAH 5S Lithium Polymer battery.

http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=16227

With a pair of these packs, for an equivalent 10S1P, I can get 37V 8AH which considering the cost ($74 each, $148 a pair) is quite an amazing bargain. They are also capable of very high current output and can be charged with the pair of balance plugs. Gary Goodrum's BMS should be perfect for this setup when configured for the 5S packs and it can simply be placed into the hub with only the power plug extending from the hub itself. Very neat and very powerful considering the cost and size...

More later,

Ambrose