BigB
New Member
Hello, from Washington state. I've been lurking for a while.
Anyway, I am an avid hiker. In my area there is a large number of Forest Service roads which have wash outs far from trail heads. They have been washed out for years and will still be years to fix them. I've bicycled some of them. Then i had the thought, maybe i could motorize a bicycle, to save my energy for hiking. During my research of what is available i discovered this site.
I've identified some must haves.
1. Light weight. As i will be traveling washed out Forest Service roads, they have not seen any maintenance in quite a while. Sometimes there is a tree of dozen fallen over the road.
2. Frame mount, not rack mount. A frame mount will allow the use of rack for cargo.
3. Must be able to climb a 15% grade maybe more on a rough road.
4. Must retain petal function
I've settled on two options. A Chinese two stroke\sickbike parts shifter kit. And a kit from the Scooterguy.
From what i can see. It appears the sickbike parts kit, offerst the best opportunity for some extreme gear reduction. Which i see as an asset on steep rough roads.
But i am leaning on the Scooterguy option, because it has fewer moving parts to break in the middle of nowhere.
With the scooter guy option, will i be able to gear the thing low enough for my requirements? I weigh 270lbs, plus i will likely be hauling 30 to 40 lbs of back packing gear.
Anyway, I am an avid hiker. In my area there is a large number of Forest Service roads which have wash outs far from trail heads. They have been washed out for years and will still be years to fix them. I've bicycled some of them. Then i had the thought, maybe i could motorize a bicycle, to save my energy for hiking. During my research of what is available i discovered this site.
I've identified some must haves.
1. Light weight. As i will be traveling washed out Forest Service roads, they have not seen any maintenance in quite a while. Sometimes there is a tree of dozen fallen over the road.
2. Frame mount, not rack mount. A frame mount will allow the use of rack for cargo.
3. Must be able to climb a 15% grade maybe more on a rough road.
4. Must retain petal function
I've settled on two options. A Chinese two stroke\sickbike parts shifter kit. And a kit from the Scooterguy.
From what i can see. It appears the sickbike parts kit, offerst the best opportunity for some extreme gear reduction. Which i see as an asset on steep rough roads.
But i am leaning on the Scooterguy option, because it has fewer moving parts to break in the middle of nowhere.
With the scooter guy option, will i be able to gear the thing low enough for my requirements? I weigh 270lbs, plus i will likely be hauling 30 to 40 lbs of back packing gear.