Carl Chatfield home page | Getting from A to B |  Electric Bicycles | EBikeE

Carl's BikeE Power-Assist BikeE Recumbent: the EBikeE

In 2000 I purchased a BikeE AT recumbent. This is the mid-line BikeE, and generally the nicest riding recumbent I test rode. 

Here are some photos of the BikeE before I loaded it up with accessories and added the Currie electric motor (same motor as I have on my upright e-bike ).

(Click thumbnails to see larger images)

Here you see the unusual profile of the BikeE, and the very noticeable high-back seat. Also notice the small wheels: 16" in front and 20" in back.

Among recumbents, the most unusual design aspect of the BikeE is the boxy aluminum frame. All other recumbents I looked at had a tubular frame or boom. The BikeE's frame is simple and light, and provides a good platform for the rest of the bike. I especially like the seat rail design, which is far simpler than some other recumbents I looked at. The Vision recumbent, for example, extends its boom in a telescopic fashion and requires removing or adding links to the chain when resizing the bike. 

The main benefit of the recumbent design is of course rider comfort, and I find the BikeE extremely comfortable. I found on my upright bike that I frequently felt fatigue in my neck and shoulders, and on long trips numbness in all kinds of areas one doesn't want to be numb. Not so on the BikeE. I call it the Barcolounger on wheels.

Power-Assist BikeE: the EBikeE?

Here is some additional information about my now-faired, power-assisted BikeE.

The bike in profile. On the back of the frame (behind the seat) is the top portion of a Blackburn rack, and to that is strapped the 7-amp battery to power the Currie US ProDrive motor. Above the battery is a tail bag made specifically for the BikeE by Radical Bags in Holland (I purchased mine from Calhoun Cycle). It is very voluminous, and carries all my raingear, tools, and so on. When I need to carry more, I attach small panniers to the rack mid-frame.

Here are some close-ups of the handlebars and view out the fairing, the back end, an the ProDrive motor. As you can see I don't have a kickstand that will fit on the bike--the BikeE's stock kickstand had to come off to make room for the motor, and the BikeE clamp-on kickstand won't fit on the swingarm now. If anyone has any kickstand ideas, send them my way.

Here are pictures of the Schlumpf Speed Drive (just tap the base of the crankarm on either side to switch between lower and higher gears, and my (so far) average speed after about 50 miles on this setup.

I'd had my unassisted AT for about 2 years, and really liked it. More to the point, I loaded it up with some rather expensive accessories, such as the Lexan fairing, so I was fairly invested in the BikeE brand. The AT has the SRAM 3x7 gearset: a 7-speed cassette plus a 3-speed internal hub in the rear wheel. This gave me pretty good gear range, and with the fairing on I could really fly--especially considering the small wheels of the BikeE. As with all recumbents, the BikeE is not great up hills, so I'd had my eye on a power-assist option for it for some time (I've had a Currie on my upright bike for a few years).

The big drawback with the Currie+BikeE AT is that the Currie is absolutely incompatible with internally-geared hub, and the radial spoke arrangement on the AT's stock rear wheel. So the plan I came up with was this:

• Swap out the internally geared hub and stock rear wheel, replace it with a more standard, gear-less wheel. Temporary result--a badly geared 7-speed (but hold on...)
• Attach a 400-watt Currie motor to the swing-arm.
• Mount the top part of a Blackburn rack (easily produced with a little jigsaw work) to the very back of the BikeE's frame, and strap a Currie 7-amp battery onto it.
• (and here's the nifty but spendy part) Install a Schlumpf Speed Drive in the front drivetrain, resulting in a well-geared 14-speed.

My local e-bike shop, Electric Vehicles Northwest, did the the whole job. I used the BikeE accessory mounting brackets to secure the top of a Blackburn rack to the rear of the frame, on which the 7-amp battery mounts nicely.

The Speed Drive is very nice. The stock BikeE AT was a 21-speed with a 23-108 gear-inch range. After the conversion, I have a 14-speed with as 29-121 gear-inch range. I encourage everybody involved with recumbents, folders, and any other bikes where a front derailleur would be awkward to investigate the Speed Drive.

The Currie motor hangs quite a bit lower on the BikeE than it would on an upright, but I tested it and I don't think there's any chance I could scrape it on an extreme left turn--I'd lay the bike down before I reached such an angle.

The riding experience is very good on the EBikeE. I get very quick acceleration from a stop, and just enough assist up hills. This bike and my e-bike upright have the same motor, but the difference in wheel size (20" vs. 26") means that the motor "tops out" more quickly on the BikeE. On level ground it will push me along at around 13 MPH, while the same motor on my upright bike will do 18 MPH. Still, I find the riding experience on the recumbent much more fun and comfortable.

Other recumbent links

• E-bent online magazine.

• Bent Rider, another e-mag devoted to recumbents.

• Human Powered Machine, an organization out of Eugene, Oregon, that builds some pretty amazing (and useful) recumbent bikes, among other things.

• Another electrified BikeE by a guy named Rob Cameron. Quite a project!

• A very good introduction to recumbent riding from a newspaper in Indiana.

 Updated 07/09/06