ZBike Roll-Call

[AussieSteve]

I bought a ZBike Panther a few weeks ago, (pic attached), and was wondering who else has one and how they fare with time.
Briefly, the motor is 200W, frame is alloy, the battery is 36V, 10Ah Lithium, it pulls to 30km/h and has a 32km range.
Out of the box, everything was loose on mine, including the rear spokes. After going over it all, tightening and adjusting, it's been great so far and since I only weigh about 50kg I rarely need to pedal. I love the almost inaudible whirr of the electric hub motor, although more power and a higher top speed would be good. (250km on the clock to date)

N.B. Also have a new ZBox 66cc on a Malvern Star 'Octane' frame. Faster and more fun but more crude to ride. (Done 190km so far)

... Steve

 

[johnrobholmes]

Should be pretty reliable over the long term, as long as you don't start messing with the controller or voltage.

So can you ride a wheelie on that long rear end?

 

[AussieSteve]

No monos

If by 'ride a wheelie' you mean mono, (getting the front wheel in the air), an emphatic NO. It IS very long and measures 10 inches longer in the wheelbase than my HT MTB. That does make it very stable, although you have to take tight turns a bit wider than usual. A couple of times on tight left-hand turns I've found my rear wheel started rubbing on the gutter. Also, the pedals can get VERY close to the ground if you pedal while cornering and happen to hit a bump or pothole. (I've got one very bent pedal to prove it.)
Regarding the controller and voltage, why fix something that ain't broke?
Mind you, I've spent my whole life designing and repairing electronic circuits and wouldn't mind designing and building a regenerative controller. (Need to brush up on brushless motors, no pun intended.) In my area, there are lots of hills and it would be good to regain some of the power used in hillclimbing while rolling down the other side.
... Steve

 

[johnrobholmes]

Some people like to add more voltage. Then it may need fixing

 

[AussieSteve]

Yeah. These things aren't like a standard DC motor. You can't just increase voltage to boost power output. Components in the controller are selected to suit the intended operating voltage, so increasing that will see capacitors and MOSFETs etc. dying. Also, the controllers are current-limited so the extra voltage won't produce a corresponding increase in output power.
The only way to get more power is to buy a larger output hub motor, 400W or 1000W. The controller in my bike is rated at 14A, (~ 500W), so a 400W motor would go straight in. The top speed wouldn't change, though, only the available torque. These controllers are limited to ~25kph. I get 30. To get more speed, the controller would need to be re-designed for a higher output frequency.
... Steve

 

[simonjohnwilmer]

Hey Steve , I was looking at eBikes over the last few weeks and the Zbike site aint there , anyway I am getting the new eLation kit , you may have seen them , its going on my 3spd alloy Schwinn , I wanted a motor that uses the bikes gears and I feel this is the best way to go kit wise , I still like your Panther tho and probably would have bought one if they were still around .

 

[heathyoung]

I have the 'red dragon' found that it was a bit slow for my liking and so upgraded the controller to a 48V 40A controller, upgraded the phase wires, gave it a whole lot more battery capacity (52V nominal, 15Ah) and added a cloned cycle analyst.

The motor needed ventilating at ~2KW so I ended up drilling holes in the covers as well. The dropouts have also been increased to handle the force and also to take the regen braking as well.

Front brake got upgraded to an avid juicy 3 with a 7" rotor due to increased speeds (speed due to higher voltage - torque from current)

I noticed that the Zbike site is down... Darn - I wanted to get some parts for mine...

 

[AussieSteve]

G'day guys, I just emailed Steve to see what's happening with ZBike. I'll be #@&$ed off if I can't get parts.
I'll post here when I know what's going on.

 

[AussieSteve]

Just got a reply from Steve. He didn't know the ZBike site was down and is looking into it. Meantime, parts etc can be ordered by phone:- (07) 5592 5660

 

[sangesf]

Also, he wouldn't want to change the power output, because Aussie-land's law is 200w max