Project bike

Now that there is snow on the ground most Mountain bikers can’t get out and ride much. We look at videos, we start planning next summer biking trip or we start thinking about upgrading/buying new parts and or in some cases a new bike. Well in my case, I did not want to stop riding. The problem is I live in Calgary where the winters can get cold… very, very cold. I had to walk to work about 12 year ago in minus 36 Celsius and that’s without taking into account the wind chill factor. The cold months, December, January and February can see days where it will drop below minus 20 Celsius and stay there for a few days. So what to do? Commuting to work for me means 23 kilometers each way and during the cold months that also means riding in the dark morning and night. I did it last year when the weather was ok and I found that when it got below minus 15 Celsius, I would start to freeze after 45 minutes on the bike and it made it rather unpleasant, especially when my toes and finger would begin to thaw when I would start work. I am lucky to have great facilities with indoor parking for bikes with showers and lockers right next to it but I needed something more to motivate me to commute full time and really keep on riding all year long.After a visit at the motorcycle show last winter, I noticed an electric assist bike made by Ultramotor (www.ultramotor.com) called A2B Metro. I was surprised as this was the first full suspension electric assist bike I had ever seen in person. Upon closer inspection, the bike had a single pivot type of suspension, Avid mechanical disk brakes, a no name fork and the possibility to extend the range from 20 kilometers to 40 kilometers with an additional battery. I must admit at the time I was curious to know if this would get me to and from work on a single battery, especially in winter. I commuted on my 29er for the better part of the year and this November I reached a wall. It dumped a foot of snow and the temperature dropped to below minus 20 Celsius. I had to take transit to get to work. For me this means a bus ride followed by a train ride and it takes about 1 hour to get to work that way. I was always happy to commute in most conditions as it would take me about 50 to 55 minutes to commute if I rode my bike. In the winter, due to more clothing and studded tires, it would take me about an hour or more depending on how snowy the paths would be (this is where I began to hate snowdrifts). I was ready to go down to the motorcycle dealer that had the A2B Metro and plunk down some cash to get one. The day before I was supposed to go and do that, I stopped by Power in Motion in Eau Claire market as I knew they had electric assist bikes and I wondered if they had something similar to offer that could be better than the A2B Metro.
This is where the Project bike started, after talking with Jack at Power in Motion, I discovered that the A2B metro looked good but had some downsides. The motor is a brush type motor and it requires a lot more energy to function that a brushless motor. More energy equals less distance and I quickly understood that I would have to get another battery if I wanted to use this as my commuter. The wheels were 20 inches in diameter and there are very few studded tires that exist for that size. Finally the nail on the coffin was the fact that the A2B weighs 72 pounds and that’s without the additional battery.
Talking further with Jack I quickly realized that I could convert one of my bikes into an electric assist. He discouraged me from turning my 29er into one because commuting in winter with skinny tires (even if they are studded) doesn’t work really well. So since the only other XC mountain bike that I own is a Trek with the ABP pivot that can’t accommodate a solid axle, the only solution would be to buy myself a hardtail to convert it to a commuter. The beauty of converting a Mountain bike is that I could also use it to go trail building and even pull my BOB trailer, now you’re talking my language!

Since I know a lot of people at the bike shops in town, I thought I would just get something at a decent price since the shops are not selling a lot of bikes in December and there had to be a deal somewhere. After talking with a few people, I quickly realized that I would have to drop about $700 minimum to get an ok bike with disc brakes and most where mechanical. That turned me off a bit since I know that cable actuated brakes in winter get full of dirt and doesn’t work very well when you add humidity on top.
So I did what a lot of people do and I went searching for a bike on the net. I went on the buy and sell on Pinkbike and I typed what I thought would be a good choice as a solid full suspension bike, with a coil fork, hydraulic brakes and a decent suspension design. The bike I was looking for is a Specialized Pitch, I had ridden one a few years back and I was pretty impressed with how fun it was and it was at a decent price even brand new.
So I found a few online from all over North America and the only one that was in Calgary was actually a brand new one! It was a 2008 Specialized Pitch Comp. The bike had been sitting at Tuxedo Cycles for 2 years and it was a smoking deal, $1225 instead of $2000. I just walked into the shop said to the employee I would like to buy it and left the store with it right away. There are deals to be found, sometimes it just takes a bit longer to find a really good one!

I brought it back to Power in Motion and got it converted to an electric Assist bike. The kit is made of a Bafang motor, Crystalite controller and twist Throttle and a 48 volt, 10.5 Amp hour AE Battery. Once the bike was ready they handed me back my real wheel as the kit comes with its own rear wheel that houses the motor and since there is a lot more weight there, they supply you with a 36 hole Alex rim and straight gauge spokes to keeps things nice and straight. I bought a set of Schwalbe Ice Spiker Pro studded tires in 26 x 2.1 and mounted them on the bike.
Now to see if I can use this bike for commuting to work every day. This is where I am going to test the limit of the equipment and my own limits