Author Archives: Nola Wilken

About Nola Wilken

Cycling enthusiast and owner of Restoring Vintage Bicycles; CPA/Founder of Wilken & Company, P.C., CPAs

An E-Bike Update

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I’ve been experimenting with e-bikes over the past several years, with mixed success.  As an older cyclist I’ve found e-bikes as a way to continue cycling on a regular basis.  While I still prefer to ride my regular bikes, I’ve found it handy to use an e-bike when I’m not quite feeling up to climbing the hills which are part of my daily commute, when it’s too hot for a regular ride, and when it’s too rainy to enjoy a ride.

I remain concerned about the e-bike industry:  toxic consumer waste when low-end e-bikes fail and are too expensive to repair so are dumped instead; unsafe batteries which can catch fire while charging; the environmental devastation of harvesting of rare precious metals needed to build batteries: the billions of pounds of greenhouse gas emissions generated each year by the bicycle industry. This is why, whenever possible, it’s best to bring your old bike back to life and ride it instead of buying new.  However, as an alternative to cars, e-bikes win hands down.

With this in mind, here’s a brief synopsis of my tentative foray into the e-bike world:

Brompton C-Line Electric

Since purchasing the Brompton C-line Electric bike in May of 2022 (think: pandemic), it has been my frenemy of sorts.  The quality of the components and frame are mostly good-to-excellent and it has been 100% reliable.  The fact that it can fold up into a squarish package for easy transport is a plus.  But, its lack of important features, cacophonic drive train, and spine-numbing ride quality make the bike a mixed bag for me.

The 2022 C-line Electric model was built with a 3 speed wide ratio Sturmey Archer hub mated to 13/16T cogs and a 50T chainring, providing a gear inch range of roughly 33-100 with 6 speeds overall.  The 250 watt front hub electric motor provides the propulsion, powered by a 300 watt battery.  Front and rear lights, as well as full coverage fenders, are part of the package. The bike was built on the same steel frame used for all of its models (all of which are folding bikes), except that the fork blades were enhanced to handle the extra torque from the hub motor.  Overall weight is about 38 lbs when using the small battery bag (which holds pretty much nothing else), making it much lighter than most e-bikes.  However, here are some of this bike’s short-comings:

There are no quick release levers on the brake calipers, nor on the levers.  That means deflating the tires in order to install them.  If you are like me, inflating the tire to check the bead seating BEFORE putting it back in the frame is generally a good, and time saving thing to do.  That is not possible with this bike, so if you have just changed out a tube or installed a new tire, it must be inflated AFTER putting it into the frame.

The maintenance on this little bike is also more involved than is typical on a regular bike, and is also needed more frequently due to the drive train’s close proximity to the ground.  The above parts must removed in order to to properly cleaned.  There’s a learning curve as well, as the “chain pusher” and chain tensioner (with its plastic, noisy pulleys) will be unfamiliar to those used to a derailleur-geared bicycle.

The indicator spindle on the Sturmey Archer hub also occasionally works its way loose due to the bumpy ride, so a bit of loctite under the knurled nut is a helpful way of keeping the hub shifter cable tension in the proper position.  The internally geared hub is also much louder than older SA hubs, and has a lot more friction.  I periodically add a few drops of oil to the hub via the indicator spindle opening, which has helped a bit.

The biggest obstacle for me has been this bike’s ride quality.  Obviously, smaller wheels mean less shock absorption.  So, in addition to adding a cushier saddle, I swapped out the harsh riding Schwalbe Marathon’s for these much more comfortable Continental Urban Contact tires.  They absorb more road shock, look much nicer, and have transformed the ride quality from unbearable to tolerable.  With addition of these tires, I’ve been riding the Brompton with more frequency.

Swytch E-bike Conversion Kit

I installed the Swytch e-bike conversion kit on my 1980’s Bridgestone MB-3 back in December of 2023.  The installation was fairly easy, taking only a couple of hours.  I then rode the bike for several months, but then began noticing spoke sounds while braking, indicating loose spokes.  I contacted customer support and was promised a new wheel, which never arrived.  Subsequently I was ghosted by the support rep and never heard from the company again.  While I did re-tension the wheel, I have since stopped riding the bike as configured.  The poor quality of the wheel build, the fact that the system operates more like an on-off switch meaning that I end up using only one gear for most of my riding, and the weight of the battery/controller on the handlebar which affects the bikes’ handling have made it an unenjoyable ride for me.

I’m planning on removing the kit and exploring the idea of using the Bridgestone for a mid-drive conversion which I think will provide a more enjoyable and safer riding experience.  I am a big fan of conversion kits because you use your existing bike (no further CO2 emissions for the manufacture of a new frame), and you already have the correct bike fit dialed in.

Tern HSD Compact Cargo Bike

This spring I had the opportunity to test-ride a Tern HSD cargo bike for several weeks.  It’s an older model (I think 2021?) that a family member was planning on selling.  It’s a one size fits all “lightweight” cargo bike with a Shimano 9 speed drive train and Bosch mid drive motor.

Lightweight the bike is NOT, weighing in at about 60 lbs.  While I have never wanted a cargo bike, I thought it wouldn’t hurt to try one out.  At the time I was thinking about replacing my Brompton with a Tern Vektron which is a folding bike with 20 inch wheels, so I was a little bit familiar with Tern’s model line-up.  

Fit adjustment is made possible by a quasi-recumbent slack seat tube angle, long telescoping seatpost, and clever adjust-on-the-fly stem.  The handlebars are enormously wide, and there are some front shocks which you can lock out to reduce bouncing while getting underway (which I did).  The large diameter rear rack tubes mean that you can really only use Tern’s custom luggage for panniers (hence the rack trunk pictured above).

The riding position is upright, like sitting at a desk, and you really do need all the torque the motor provides to get up steep hills.  I found shifting to be mostly smooth, but sometimes balky when shifting into lower gears for climbing.  This is a common issue with mid-drive motors paired with derailleur type drive trains.  The ride quality is decent, and a bit station-wagon-like in that uninteresting kind of way.  However, the bike was easy to get used to even if not to my liking.  Now I know that a cargo bike is not in my future.

Portland’s Bikeshare E-Bikes-New Model

Portland launched its e-bike bikeshare program (dubbed Biketown in fealty to its original Nike sponsor) in 2020 with just 500 e-bikes.  Now there are 2400 e-bikes in the program which covers 45 square miles.  A newer model was introduced in 2024.

No longer “Nike orange”, the bikes are gray with orange accents and now require no shifting.  The chaincase is fully enclosed, there’s an improved display and what appears to be an even beefier fork.

Having ridden the previous model I will say that while it is nice to not worry about shifting, this model rides more harshly and feels even heavier than its predecessor.  Consequently, I actually prefer to take the bus or walk rather than mounting one of these monsters.  Nonetheless, I do see people riding these, although not as frequently as one would think.  They are ridden much less than e-scooters in Portland (about 1/2 of total rides compared to e-scooters), according to PBOT.

That wraps up my e-bike update.  It’s a mixed bag for sure, but there is no question that the industry is here to stay.

Feeling Tense?

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Spoke tension isn’t something I’ve spent much time worrying about.  Mostly, I ride on wheels that I have built, and mostly those wheels have stayed true and problem free.  I haven’t ever had a broken spoke on any wheels I’ve ridden. The vintage wheels I use are usually well built but sometimes need some truing and dishing.  So, I’ve never had to re-tension a wheel…until now.

The wheel in question is the Swytch e-bike front motor wheel which I installed about 7 months ago on my Bridgestone (see previous post).  A few months ago I began hearing some strange noises from the wheel when braking hard or when going over a bump.  It was a noise I recognized as a spoke noise.  Spoke noises should not be ignored, as they could indicate a wheel on the verge of failure.

On the roadside after a particularly concerning noise, I flipped the bike over and spun the wheel to see if it was true – it was. Then I began looking at the spokes and found one spoke VERY loose – almost just hanging there.  So, I did a quick tightening job with the adjustable wrench I carry and got it up to the same tension as the other spokes, and then rode home.  Unfortunately, that fix did not cure the spoke noises.  So, once home I again examined the wheel by plucking the spokes and became concerned when noting that the right side spokes were way less tense than the left.  It look me a moment to realize that this front wheel is dished. The above photo shows that the flanges of the hub are not centered, to allow for the wheel magnets on the left side motor to have room to spin.

I didn’t have my wheel building tools at home, only a very basic spoke wrench of the wrong size (the spokes are 2.3 mm diameter  – meaning a 13 gauge nipple).  After squeezing pairs of spokes on each side of the wheel and observing a great deal of movement in the spokes, I realized I needed to up the tension to a minimally acceptable level in order to safely ride the bike over to my shop.  Using my adjustable wrench I turned each spoke a quarter turn.  I played a “G” note on my phone to aim for a reasonably correct initial tension, based on past wheels I have built.  To achieve this I needed another quarter turn on all the spoke nipples.  The wheel stayed fairly true, even after another round of “stress relieving”.

(C) Avocet, Jobst Brandt, the Bicycle Wheel, p. 57

What is stress relieving?  According to bicycle engineer Jobst Brandt (RIP) in his famed classic, the Bicycle Wheel, “stress relieving is one of the most important operations in wheel building”.  He goes on to argue that failure to relieve spoke stress is the most common cause of spoke failure.

To perform this procedure, you place your hands opposite each other on the wheel and grab pairs of parallel spokes, and then squeeze hard, continuing around the wheel until all the spokes have been stretched.  If the wheel goes out of true in “two smooth waves” after this it means that spoke tension was too high.  Brandt recommends getting spoke tension as high as possible, just short of causing rim failure.  This will create the strongest wheel.

While I have always performed the stress relieving procedure on the wheels I have built, I haven’t considered that I should up the spoke tension to the absolute maximum.  Instead, I have aimed for a musical note – somewhere between F and G – and also use a Park tension meter and chart to check my work.

When you buy a Park Tension Meter, you are also supplied with their handy tension guide which is organized by type of spoke (round, butted, bladed, etc.) and spoke diameter.  So, once I was in the shop I located a correct spoke wrench, then determined what meter reading I was aiming for – the middle range for a 2.3mm spoke – which is a reading of about 27 or 28 on the Park Tension Meter.  My initial reading was about 21, which did not even register on Park’s chart, being below the minimum recommended kgf of 54.  This was after tightening the spokes 1/2 turn while at home!  After continuing 1/4 turns around the rim, I was able to bring the tension up to the mid range of the recommended kgf of about 92, equating to a reading of 27 on the tension meter.  After this, I performed the stress relieving operation, then did some minor truing.  I checked the dish which remained correct, and then began riding the wheel again.

The wheel seemed fine for awhile but now I am hearing spoke noises again, meaning that the wheel is continuing to de-tension itself.  I am going to guess that possible causes include bad spoke threads and low quality nipples.  I’ve notified Swytch and they are sending me a new wheel.  But will this solve the problem?

Jobst Brandt had a number of strong opinions about machine built wheels, arguing that the wheel building process for machine built wheels is essentially incomplete.  An archive of his on-line writings can be found here.  I’m going to research this issue further and may end up rebuilding the old wheel with my own choice of spokes and nipples.  At a minimum I will perform the stress relieving and re-tensioning procedure on the new wheel to insure that I start out at the correct tension.  And, I may consider upping the tension to the higher range on Park’s tension chart, just to be on the safe side.

Honey, I Built an E-Bike: the Swytch E-Bike Conversion Kit

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My introduction to e-bikes has been a mixed bag.  The first e-bike I rode was Portland’s own Biketown model – a giant clunky bike meant to be shared and abused by the masses.  While the e-bike version of this bike was a vast improvement over the analog version, it is an unwieldy beast with a rough ride on rough pavement.  Later, I purchased a Brompton e-bike (C line electric model), and have had mixed feelings about that riding experience.  Earlier this year I bought a used e-bike from an acquaintance and the bike motor failed on my second outing.

So, it was with some trepidation that I decided to order the Swytch ebike conversion kit – a “universal” front hub motor kit marketed as lightweight and easy to install – with the added benefit that if I didn’t like the system, my chosen bike could be simply restored back to its previous (and glorious) human powered version.

The Swytch Technology Company is based in the U.K. and is relatively new on the e-bike scene.  It uses a “customer funded” purchase order model, and appears to carry little if no inventory on hand.  From a purely machiavellian perspective, this is a great business model if you can pull it off.  From a customer service standpoint, it leaves much to be desired.  But with demand exceeding supply, this is a business model that appears to be working for them, for now.

It’s important to know key details about what you want to order before placing your order:  wheel size in ISO, rim drilling (Presta vs. Schrader), front dropout width (must be 10mm), desired battery range (10 miles for the Air and 20 miles for the MAX versions), whether you want brake/motor cut-off, whether you want a throttle, what kind of display you want.  The process for ordering is strange:  first you get yourself in line for a “batch” by paying a down payment consisting of the price of the basic kit.  Later, you are “invited” to complete the order with all of the details noted above and paying any extra cost for ad-ons.  Orders are shipped on a schedule, which appears to currently be about two months out.

I scoured on-line forums and customer reviews before taking the plunge and based on what I had read, was prepared for the worst:  orders with missing parts, orders with extra parts, orders with the wrong parts, orders that never arrived.  But I did place my order back in October and received the kit two months later, as expected.

When the kit arrived I was pleased to see that it was well packed, and with almost no plastic, meaning that I could recycle about 99% of the packaging.  All the boxes were labeled, making it easy to unpack and check off the items in the box, carefully comparing them to my order.  There were only two minor mishaps:  I had ordered an extra battery charger with a U.S. power cord, but it was shipped with a U.K. power cord.  And, I ordered my rim drilled for Presta, but received a rim drilled for Schrader valves.  Both problems were easily solved:  the charger power cord port is the same as my Brompton’s so I can easily swap them, and I often use Presta valves in Schrader rims.  My process for doing so involves cutting out a small collar from cloth rim tape to fit over the valve stem.  This provides extra protection from the tube attempting to herniate into the larger Schrader hole and also guards against the valve hole cutting into the base of the valve stem.  You can do the same thing with a small piece of extra tubing.

I had decided to order a 26 inch/559 wheel for my kit since I have 3 bikes with that wheel size.  The 1980’s Bridgestone MB3 was my chosen bike for the installation. I followed the steps in the instruction manual carefully, and read it through a few times and also looked at a few videos before starting the process.  Since the kit is advertised as being easy to install with no special tools, I did not take it to my shop but instead assembled it in my office, turning the bike upside down to begin, and using the small set of tools that I keep on hand there.

The first step is to remove the existing front wheel and swap out the tire and tube from that wheel to the Swytch motor hub wheel – a 36 hole rim with machined sidewalls laced in a 2 cross pattern.  I weighed the Swytch wheel before installation and compared that to the weight of my existing wheel (sans tire and tube) – the weight difference was 4lbs. 3 oz.  I also weighed my MAX battery (2lbs 9 oz) as well as the other components and came up with a total added weight of 8 lbs 8 oz – higher than the advertised claim of 5-6 lbs. but still reasonable.  Obviously, weight will vary based on wheel size and battery size as well as any extra accessories.  The wheel appears well built and spins perfectly true.

The front wheel installation went fine once I finally got my Kojak tire off of my existing rim.  After much frustration trying to get the bead off, I finally resorted to using my metal tire levers which are both narrower and stronger than my plastic ones but also run the risk of puncturing the tube.  Fortunately, the Kojak tire mounted easily to the new rim.  Once the anti rotation washers were secured in the proper position and with the motor cable pointed downwards (toward the ground when the bike is upright), I secured the axle nuts and pushed on the covers.

The next step is to install the magnetic disk and pedal sensor.  This kit does not include a torque sensor, and so is activated and controlled only by the rotation of the magnetic disk attached to the left side crank arm as it passes over the pedal sensor, mounted to the frame.  I found the instructions for this part of the process somewhat confusing and ended up dismantling my first attempt and starting over.  The magnetic disk needs to face in the correct direction (noted on the disk) toward the frame.  The inner connecting pieces are meant to grab onto the axle and center the disk so that it stays in the same position while rotating.  There are two hinges on the crank arm attachment that allow you to adjust the plane of the disk so that it is parallel to the frame, and once done should be tightened down with a 3mm allen key.  But, I learned that it’s best to zip tie it to the crank arm first, and then adjust the angle, and then tighten the hinge bolts.  Next up is the pedal sensor which when correctly positioned needs to be 3mm away from the magnetic disk. The sensor has an adhesive backing plus additional adhesive spacers (of which all were used for this installation).  I used the 3mm allen key to perfect the distance from the sensor to the magnetic ring, then zip tied it down using the supplied ties, after tightening down the angle bolt and nut.  I did not have any clearance problems because this is an 80’s mountain bike with a long bottom bracket spindle and plenty of frame clearance.  Modern “road” bikes may have significantly less clearance and thus require more problem solving for this step.

Off center clamp
Cables – a bit messy even after clean up.

Next up was installing the battery clamp (which houses the controller), installing the base display, and then hooking up all the cables, which are all color coded.  The battery clamp/controller comes with 3 different sized shims to accommodate different bar sizes.  I ended up needing to position the clamp off-center because the clamps fell directly on that spot that is between the stem clamp and the bar.  So, I used one set of shims for the bar portion and one set for the stem clam portion.  It all worked out fine and the clamp feels very secure.  I jammed my cables behind the clamp to get everything to fit. I took a little more time to adjust my zip ties and clean up the cable routing.

Now it was time to set up the base display.  You need to enter your wheel size and maximum desired speed (15 mph for the UK or 20 mph for the US), as well as the initial power level.  That’s when I discovered that the display shipped was not the same display as pictured in the manual.  It is smaller and operates differently.  So, I needed to download the pdf for that component, which I quickly found on the Swytch website.  After some fiddling I managed to get my wheel size set and to select my maximum speed (20) as well as the initial power level.  Then I lifted up the front wheel, turned the crank, and behold, I had power to the front wheel.  Whew!

On the first test ride, I noted that it takes several rotations of the crank before the power kicks in.  Likewise, it takes several seconds for the power to turn off once you stop pedaling.  Since the bike is slow off the mark, this means that you need to shift down before stopping at intersections, a bit of a feat with a derailleur geared bike because while you are slowing down for a stop you also need to pedal to shift down which means the motor is propelling you forward and your brakes need to be strong enough to bring you to a halt while the motor is moving the wheel forward.  I had not purchased the add-on brake/motor interrupter but in retrospect believe this could be a good idea if you are installing it on a derailleur geared bike.  Probably, I will learn to adapt to this by downshifting a little earlier. Internally geared hubs would be ideal for this system because you can shift without pedalling.

There are 5 power levels for this little 250 watt motor, which I think is overkill.  3 levels would probably be fine.  I started out on level 4 and it was way too much power for riding on flats.  I quickly overcame my maximum cadence in my top gear (45/12=92) at 20 mph, so I backed it down to level 2 and found that to be about right for general riding.  The power delivery feels smooth and the motor is nearly silent.  The motor has been proclaimed “free of drag” but I did find the drag noticeable when coasting and when pedalling with no power.  Not daunting, but noticeable.

On my first test ride I rode from my office to the top of Mt. Tabor (8 mile round trip).  What a blast!  But, I discovered it is really necessary to shift down while climbing as well as to increase the power level on steep hills.  Even so, it was really fun to cruise up to the top without feeling fatigued.

I purchased the “Max” battery for this kit which has a purported range of 20 miles.  On the first test ride I noticed that the battery charge level lights (5 total) and the display battery bar (4 lights total) did not seem to match up.  When climbing, after just 4 miles of riding, the lights on the battery went down to 3 of 5 and the lights on the display went down to 1 of 4.  When descending, the lights all returned to full power level.  This made me think that the charge level may be difficult to determine with any accuracy while cycling.

After 7 miles – battery charge level says 100%
After 15 miles – battery charge level says 25% (display) vs. 60% (battery)

To further test battery range as well as reliability during inclement weather, I took the bike out on a 15 mile round trip in a Portland late December rain storm.  My chosen route had several steep hills and their accompanying descents.  I started out in level 2, and increased the power to level 4 on climbs.  The display unit is meant to allow one to change the power levels on the fly by cycling through each level until you arrive at your chosen power input.  Unfortunately, with only one button controlling all operations on this display, I found that once I reached power level zero, I could not get the power to change while underway.  I had to stop, turn the display off, back on, and then select my power level.  I’m not sure yet if this is “operator error” or a malfunction in the unit.

While cycling the route, I noticed again a real disconnect between the battery level displayed on the battery and that shown on the display, plus the freaky zero power displayed on my climb back to my house.  Once I arrived home, I again found an extreme variance between the battery and the display, as noted in the photo above.  So, at this point I’m going to assume that it’s not possible to determine with much accuracy how much battery power is remaining.  With only 20 miles stated as the maximum for the largest battery offered, it might be wise to purchase several batteries so that you can install a spare if one wants to go on longer jaunts.  Battery maintenance instructions advise charging after every ride, and I think that is good advice given the lack of accuracy in the charge levels displayed.

So, how did this kit perform in inclement weather?  Well, just perfectly.  I found it wonderful to be out on a day I would not normally ride, and even though under power I still felt like I did something of a workout.  I had been concerned about how the magnetic disk would handle rain and road debris, but thanks to my mudflap everything stayed clean.  One thing I did notice is that I need to upgrade my brake pads for better performance in the rain.  The NOS Suntour pads are not up to par, and so I’ll probably install some KoolStop rain pads to insure more confidence for inclement weather.

I love how stealth the kit is – the bike barely looks altered from a distance and the motor is quiet.  I think the Swytch kit is a viable option for those not wanting to spend a small fortune on a quality e-bike, given its ease of installation (I spent $618).  I think converting an existing bike to an e-bike is an ideal way to go since you already have a bike that fits you, works well, and is beloved.  For older cyclists, I think conversion kits are a fantastic option to allow continued cycling without fear of fatigue or other health issues.

I’d love to see the Swytch Company “normalize” itself by stocking inventory for its kits and accessories and by making the ordering process equivalent to that of other online retailers.  It would be nice if the kit offered a lighting accessory, or at least a cable for it.  There is a way to hack the installation of a lighting kit, but probably most consumers will not be up for that.  The kit is probably ideally suited for 3 speed bikes, which are generally geared higher than touring or mountain bikes.  I’d also like to see the warranty/product registration process streamlined.  Currently, in order to secure your 1 year warranty, you must submit photos of your installation and receive approval from the company before the warranty is activated.  I submitted this documentation 5 days ago but have heard nothing back from company.

Overall, I’m happy with this conversion kit.  The upsides are the low cost, ease of installation and reasonable range with the Max battery.  The downsides are the lack of a longer range option, a torque sensor, lighting option, and a normal customer interface. The fiddly display is also a problem.  But, for my purposes – grocery hauling in my hilly neighborhood and general commuting – this kit is fine.  I love that I’m still riding a 37 year old bike and that with each grocery haul I’m not using my car.  That’s a real win.