Built for comfort, speed, and distance

This bike was bought specifically to be motorized.

. It was decided that a Recumbent would be best. BUT in spite of it's high level of comfort, they have a few too many shortcomings (like motor right behind head; loss of speed / momentum on corners; heaviest of weights on small motors = early rebuilds and slow slow slow acceleration).

. It was also decided that standard street & city bikes are designed too upright for long periods of riding time. They are designed like this specifically because they have to be completely pedal-worthy. Hey, don't get me wrong, if you're pedaling they are a great way to go.

. Lastly it was decided that dual suspension mtn bikes, while they do add comfort, they are primarily more comfortable over your city bike ONLY during bumps and the like. And one is still stuck sitting in a "pedal-worthy" riding position with too much weight on hands and wrists. Basically the extra money suspension costs could be spend on a better designed frame.

So, enter the Electra Townie. Can you see how comfortable this bike is to sit on, and ride all over town just for the fun of it? It has over 700 motorized miles on it so far, and will continue to get used throughout the winter months.

We have more pics, and a video clip too.
 

Attachments

  • DSCN2800.jpg
    DSCN2800.jpg
    276.6 KB · Views: 818
  • DSCN2810.jpg
    DSCN2810.jpg
    237.9 KB · Views: 1,000
Last edited by a moderator:
The Townie has been copied by most major bike manufacturers now (in some form). Electra created that market segment with the Townie. Excellent choice!
 
I have tried a seat very close to this one, it's like sitting on a small chair and there was no where near the amount of (crowding) in the crotch area as there was on a regular seat.
 
With a 26" (diameter) wheel, 24" of travel is less than 1/3 of a revolution of the rear wheel. That means that you would have to turn the crank more than three times to travel less than seven feet.

Usually bicycle gearing is referred to in "inch gears".

Agreed. Or the gearing can be related directly to inches traveled.... which is what i thought peoples were doing now a'days. Perhaps you and i are talking about the same thing though, too. Freak'n.... i dont know.

Anyway, i didnt calculate it out, but the front is 28 teeth, and the rear 34 - which is "reduction gearing" so i know it travels less that the 26" of the wheel diameter.

Oh well, now i wanna know what it is .... 28/34*26= 21.4
.. 21.4 inches of forward travel per pedal revolution.

Ah ha!! Thanks Smitty!!


pics to follow.
 
Last edited:
yes -- thank you

It is a great question as the standard mounting rack, as supplied by vendor, has been modified. Why; because the bike frame is diff enough from standard to make doing so worth it.

hi flailer -- yes -- thank you -- that's why I was asking

I had looked at those bicycles a few times -- I like those THINGS

but -- the mounting point held me back a little

for sure -- they are a cool looking bike

ride that THING
 
Pics of how a Staton direct drive was mounted on a Electra Townie ~

No big deal, at all, as the way the kit came worked just fine.
But in order to level out the mounting plate (channel iron) so it could be used as a rear rack, a simple extention was added: Two peices of flat steel bar (sorry, i dont know what else to call 'em) approx 4 inches long were used to kick the whole rig back about 3 inches.

Check it out. the pics are self explanatory ~



1st pic: You can see the side view, and how a 4" piece was added to the standard mounting (added to U shape piece, that mounts to the bike's seat-stays)
Also note how my Brother painted the Robin's yellow engine cover black
(i am thinking that he saw someone else on this forum do that, and he liked it - THANKS)

2nd pic: with tape measure showing that approx 2 7/8 inches added to lenght.

3rd pic, just for giggles, showing how far forward (of the seat) the bottom bracket is. The black mark on the tape is a foot, so the seat is just over a foot behind the pedals


Peace, and good will unto all (wo)men
 

Attachments

  • DSCF0120.jpg
    DSCF0120.jpg
    96.4 KB · Views: 233
  • DSCF0128.jpg
    DSCF0128.jpg
    94 KB · Views: 241
  • DSCF0125.jpg
    DSCF0125.jpg
    100.4 KB · Views: 229
Last edited:
Alas the calculation is not correct, you should have multiplied the result by Pi (3.14) and would get: 28/34* 3.14* 26=67" per crank revolution, or a bit less than 7'.
 
You really made me question my calculations - so i when out to the garage and started to do a direct measurement the inches of travel with one pedal revolution, and ...... noted that, of course, that my Brother has the bike as his place. Duh. :eek:

Anyway, a direct measurement on the garage floor should support the fact that the gearing is a simple ratio of one to the other. And that travel is a direct function of the wheel size. But as my brother has the bike i cannot measure the accuracy of my numbers.....

BUT NEVER MIND THAT.... why do it the true and simple way when you can refer to Sheldon Brown!!!

There are many diff ways to report gearing - check out what Sheldon Brown has to say on the topic. And note that this guy's work is impeccable
http://sheldonbrown.com/
(look at gears and drivetrain)

Cause i don't have the bike here I ran the gearing in Sheldon's calculator and came up with 21.4. But, that is NOT to say that I am right, as I note that Sheldon is talking about Gear inches. But I think that is the same thing, maybe. Maybe.

But who am i?
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I only rode it for about 30 minutes, it was on a friend's bike. And it was pretty comfy, but it takes a little while to get used to.
 
Inch gears refer to the calculated DIAMETER of the wheel. The distance traveled is the CIRCUMFERENCE of the wheel. So if you want the distance traveled you need to multiply the diameter by Pi (Pi = 3.14159265...). 21.4 x 3.1416 =67.23024". A bit more than 5-1/2'.
Still a VERY low gear.
 
Back
Top