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Pfiff and GenZe update
Jun. 17th, 2019 11:59 amThe GenZe arrived and is a hit. Many friends have ridden it. Though Steve reports that the pedal assist is disconcerting; he likes the throttle mode better. I even got my dad to ride it and I think he liked it, though of course he would never admit it.
Many parts for my Pfiff trike have arrived, but two essential items are still a problem:
1. The new wheel has a 9-speed cassette and needs derailleur, chain, and shifter to match. The derailleur is here and installed, and the chain is ready to go on. But the shifter I ordered fouls on the throttle, so I had to order a different shifter. It is supposed to be here today, and hopefully it will work. FedEx tracking says it is out for delivery, and I saw a FedEx Ground truck a little while ago but it didn't stop. The neighborhood is super busy right now with an event at the library. Maybe FedEx couldn't find a parking place and gave up - hopefully he will try again later.
2. The battery is still not here. I ordered it from a site that has a very good reputation but it is still coming from China and it's slooooow. And it has to be signed for, so I hope there is not a problem with that.
The battery mounts to water bottle bosses, but my bike doesn't have any. I have ordered a kit for this, but there are several possible locations to put it - I am not committing to a location until I have a battery in hand to play with. And until I commit to a battery location I don't want to commit to a spot for the controller box. I have however been installing things like the ebrake lever with the motor cutout switch, and the handlebar display. And I have laid out the wires; they are more than long enough for any of my possible locations. Once I commit to it I'll hafta figure out how to tidy it all.
Over the weekend I worked on the pedal assist sensor. This has a disk about 4" across that has 12 magnets on it. Actually there is a choice of several disks with different configurations. You figure out which one you can attach to your bike, and get to spin with the pedal. I figured out how to do this. Then you have a sensor which must be mounted in the right orientation, because it is a directional pickup; it is only supposed to fire when you pedal forward, not when pedaling backwards. Steve cut out a little piece of aluminum plate to use for mounting it. I think it will work but cannot test until I get the battery.
The biggest problem, though, is that I don't like the way this wheel is dished. It is off center. I have double checked everything and it's the wheel dishing, not an assembly error. I really don't want to try to adjust the spokes to re-dish the wheel! I am going to write to the company I bought this wheel from and see if they can do anything for me. And I am going to try to adjust the brake to work with it even though it is not quite centered. This is a trike not a bicycle, so it's not like the handling isn't already wacky anyways.
Many parts for my Pfiff trike have arrived, but two essential items are still a problem:
1. The new wheel has a 9-speed cassette and needs derailleur, chain, and shifter to match. The derailleur is here and installed, and the chain is ready to go on. But the shifter I ordered fouls on the throttle, so I had to order a different shifter. It is supposed to be here today, and hopefully it will work. FedEx tracking says it is out for delivery, and I saw a FedEx Ground truck a little while ago but it didn't stop. The neighborhood is super busy right now with an event at the library. Maybe FedEx couldn't find a parking place and gave up - hopefully he will try again later.
2. The battery is still not here. I ordered it from a site that has a very good reputation but it is still coming from China and it's slooooow. And it has to be signed for, so I hope there is not a problem with that.
The battery mounts to water bottle bosses, but my bike doesn't have any. I have ordered a kit for this, but there are several possible locations to put it - I am not committing to a location until I have a battery in hand to play with. And until I commit to a battery location I don't want to commit to a spot for the controller box. I have however been installing things like the ebrake lever with the motor cutout switch, and the handlebar display. And I have laid out the wires; they are more than long enough for any of my possible locations. Once I commit to it I'll hafta figure out how to tidy it all.
Over the weekend I worked on the pedal assist sensor. This has a disk about 4" across that has 12 magnets on it. Actually there is a choice of several disks with different configurations. You figure out which one you can attach to your bike, and get to spin with the pedal. I figured out how to do this. Then you have a sensor which must be mounted in the right orientation, because it is a directional pickup; it is only supposed to fire when you pedal forward, not when pedaling backwards. Steve cut out a little piece of aluminum plate to use for mounting it. I think it will work but cannot test until I get the battery.
The biggest problem, though, is that I don't like the way this wheel is dished. It is off center. I have double checked everything and it's the wheel dishing, not an assembly error. I really don't want to try to adjust the spokes to re-dish the wheel! I am going to write to the company I bought this wheel from and see if they can do anything for me. And I am going to try to adjust the brake to work with it even though it is not quite centered. This is a trike not a bicycle, so it's not like the handling isn't already wacky anyways.
