The last 2 mornings I’ve gotten up extra early to ride my Sun Kiss build in an inch of powder before the sun came up and melted the snow. Being in the woods in the early morning light has been nothing short of magical and has restoked my personal passion for fatbiking in the snow. I took that energy and spent 6 hours completely redesigning the website last night so that it’s more of what I envision that it should be. The new format shows a lot more articles in a much smaller area and also still looks very good on tablets and phones. Although the blog has been quiet for a week or so, I have been working on some amazing articles that are coming out in the next few weeks.
- 2 BBSHD 1000W drive units are on their way to me flying directly from the Bafang factory. I plan on ripping them apart and evaluating the guts before I mount them and test them. One is 68mm the other is 100mm +/-.
- I’ve got the programming software from Bafang already for the BBSHD and will be doing an article soon after I get it. If the settings suck I will be fixing them.
- The 68mm BBSHD is going on my carbon fiber forked racing road bike and I’m going to don my motorcycle racing pads and see what the BBSHD with the stock controller is capable of. I should be able to break our favorite Aussie speed freak, Bruno’s 53mph record on the BBS02 750W
- I’ve been obsessed lately with IGH and CVTs. I have a N171 built up and a N380 on order. The N380 is going to go on a de-tuned BBS02 750W, the N171 is going on my Lightning Rods Big Block 3000W nominal 6000W peak torque sensing cargo fat bike from lunacycle.com .
- I also have purchased a 3 speed Nexus which will be mounted on the Sun Kiss build along with a BBSHD. It got built up last night on a rim for a Deadeye Monster. I was able to reuse the same spokes by going from double cross to triple cross on the Nexus.
- I’m looking to find something to test the Snowshoe 2XL tire 5.05 with (~5.2 inches wide when mounted on 100mm rim and a MUCH larger diameter). It is much larger than a Lou or Bud and won’t fit on most of my bikes. If you have a fork or bike that it fits in that isn’t insanely expensive like this one is, please let me know. These newly designed bikes will not fit the BBSHD because the wheel intrudes too much into the BB area.
- I’m working on a post that will organize Bruno’s Youtube channel and links. If you haven’t checked this guy out you should. He’s going to be a major player because he is more insane than I am.
- I have a 26f cell 20Ah triangle pack coming from Lunacycle.com which I plan on tearing apart to do an article on their pack construction.
- There are several fat bikes I’m considering purchasing to test with the BBSHD. The optimal number of bikes is always N+1 where N is equal to the number of electric fatbikes you already own. Right now N=13 and I’m running out of space to store them all. The biggest contenders right now are the Framed Minnosota 3.0 XWT, Mongoose Hitch, Sturgis, Titanium Bluto forked Stugis Bullet, RST forked Bullseye Monster Comp and the Soul Stomper Cruzer. Input is always welcome on how I should spend my hard earned cash. Poll below, what bike would YOU most like to see with a BBSHD?
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Ride On.
ElectricBike-Blog.com 
I am looking forward to your review of the 3 speed IGH being used with the HD 1000. I am making the switch over to Fat Tire Rigid bike as I like the simplicity of Rigid and the older I get the slower I actually like to ride. I have a question regarding tire size. The bike I will be getting will top out for tire clearances around 3.5″ for the rear and a bit bigger on the front. It will be fun to use this bike in the snow and sand but it will only be on the rare occasion I figure. I am wondering if not being able to use the full on huge tires like 4.5″ pluse will compromise the snow and sand experience that much. Because I am only 135lbs I am hoping the 3.5″ tires will work for regular trail duties and also the snow?
Thanks for the great tips on your site, I have been learning lots as I research the switch over to fat tire……….wayne
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The actual tire width varies wildly based on the size rim it is mounted on and the manufacturer. There are tires that are quite accurate like the Nate 3.8 which is pretty close to 3.8 on a 100mm rim and Vee Rubber which tends to be the biggest exaggerator, their original 4.5 2014 snowshoe is not even close to 4.5 inches on a 100mm rim, it’s much closer to 4.
Your best bet is to find someone knowledgeable or post on msg boards with what tire you want to mount on which frame and see if anyone has done it.
For snow I find that I want the widest tire I can fit on the rim without rubbing.
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Ebikes seem to exist in an alternate universe when it comes to the battery. GM is launching the Bolt next year, and they claim the battery pack will be around $145 per kwh. The trend does not seem to be moving very fast with ebikes. What Luna Cycle is doing is very refreshing, and all anyone can hope is that the packs are going to hold up, and be as safe as possible. I think they are using spacers, which is supposed to isolate a cell in thermal runaway, but I don’t know exactly what they are trying to do. The safety obviously starts to drive the cost of shipping. I hope you find a lot of reassuring things when you tear that pack apart. Thanks for doing that.
I saw a web page with Bafang battery packs. They look like a lot of Alibaba packs, but I wonder if Bafang will start bundling this stuff, or selling ‘sets’ (their term) retail? If Bafang had an Aliexpress site and sold kits with batteries, who knows how quickly they might build a retail presence.
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Karl,
I’d love to see your next bike be something people couldn’t help drooling over. For instance, the Ice Fat Recumbent equipped with a Rohloff, Schlumpf, and Lightning Rods Big Block powered by Luna Cycles 60v 25ah battery. A build like that would be fast and versatile.
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