{"id":14074,"date":"2025-04-30T23:27:19","date_gmt":"2025-04-30T16:27:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/?p=14074"},"modified":"2025-04-30T23:27:19","modified_gmt":"2025-04-30T16:27:19","slug":"electric-recumbent-adventure-continues-bionicoldguy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/?p=14074","title":{"rendered":"Electric Recumbent Adventure Continues \u2013 BionicOldGuy"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"post-12562\">\n\t\t\t<!-- .entry-header -->\t\t<!-- .entry-meta --><\/p>\n<div class=\"entry-content\">\n<p>I have finally gotten my recumbent back on the road in electric-assist mode. This turned out to be quite an odyssey. I pursued two parallel approaches. First I tried to fix the wheel with <a href=\"https:\/\/bionicoldguy.home.blog\/2025\/04\/21\/non-electric-recumbent-for-a-few-days\/\">broken spokes<\/a> It turns out you can get custom spoke lengths online so I got replacements in 228 mm. Then I swapped out the five broken spokes with new ones, and tried to tighten them by feel so they matched their neighbors.The wheel appeared pretty true so I took it for a ride to try it out. It was badly out of round, meaning there was a very noticeable up and down motion of the front wheel. So I took the wheel into my local bike shop. They were unable to fix it because they found there was a permanent bend to the rim causing a flat spot. Remember that I had first discovered 5 broken spokes at once. Whatever I did, like hit a really bad pothole, that popped the 5 spokes must have also bent the rim.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"12579\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/bionicoldguy.home.blog\/2025\/04\/30\/electric-recumbent-adventure-continues\/image-392\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/bionicoldguy.home.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/image-14.png\" data-orig-size=\"727,353\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"image\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/bionicoldguy.home.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/image-14.png?w=300\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/bionicoldguy.home.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/image-14.png?w=727\" width=\"727\" height=\"353\" src=\"https:\/\/bionicoldguy.home.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/image-14.png?w=727\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12579\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><strong><em>Mine wasn\u2019t quite this bad. <\/em><\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/wheelbuilder.co.za\/broken-spokes\/\">https:\/\/wheelbuilder.co.za\/broken-spokes\/<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>So that wheel must be rebuilt. This is not something they do at my local shop so I\u2019m nosing around for a custom wheel builder. Alternatively I could just get an inexpensive truing stand and a new rim, and rebuild the wheel myself. This doesn\u2019t look too difficult for the standard \u201ctwo-cross\u201d method based on what I\u2019ve read and seen in videos.<\/p>\n<p>Fortunately, there was the parallel path. Last November, the makers of my ebike kit, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.swytchbike.com\/\">Swytchbike<\/a> had a great sale on their kits. I wanted to get some spare batteries, and it turned out that with the sale a replacement kit was no more expensive than just getting the batteries, so I ordered one. When it arrived a few months later I put its batteries into service but set the kit aside. I finally got around to trying fitting it on my recumbent when I had the broken spoke problem. Unfortunately the wheel did not quite fit in the dropout slots on the bike. I contacted customer service, and they told me I was outside there return window (that\u2019s what happens when you wait two months before actually trying a product). But fortunately I could just file the wheel so it fits in the dropouts (for which they had a brief video). This turned out to be quite a workout. I think my right arm is bigger than my left after the filing. It was very satisfying when it finally fit.<\/p>\n<p>The new wheel worked like a champ plugged into my existing controller. The only adjustment was setting the wheel size on the controller to 20\u2033 instead of 26\u2033. I took the bike for a test ride and it was delightful. <\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"12568\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/bionicoldguy.home.blog\/2025\/04\/30\/electric-recumbent-adventure-continues\/image-389\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/bionicoldguy.home.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/image-11.png\" data-orig-size=\"926,511\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"image\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/bionicoldguy.home.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/image-11.png?w=300\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/bionicoldguy.home.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/image-11.png?w=926\" width=\"926\" height=\"511\" src=\"https:\/\/bionicoldguy.home.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/image-11.png?w=926\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12568\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><strong><em>Recumbent with 20\u2033 front wheel<\/em><\/strong> <strong><em>(pardon the messy garage)<\/em><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>This matches the configuration of my previous recumbent, the 26-20 Bacchetta Giro. I had forgotten how comfortable that was. So this is my ride for the foreseeable future, though I\u2019ll consider to pursue getting the 26\u2033 motor wheel rebuilt.<\/p>\n<div id=\"jp-post-flair\" class=\"sharedaddy sd-like-enabled sd-sharing-enabled\">\n<div class=\"sharedaddy sd-sharing-enabled\">\n<div class=\"robots-nocontent sd-block sd-social sd-social-official sd-sharing\">\n<h3 class=\"sd-title\">Share this:<\/h3>\n<div class=\"sd-content\">\n<ul>\n<li class=\"share-linkedin\"\/>\n<li class=\"share-facebook\"\/>\n<li class=\"share-pinterest\">\n<div class=\"pinterest_button\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/pin\/create\/button\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fbionicoldguy.home.blog%2F2025%2F04%2F30%2Felectric-recumbent-adventure-continues%2F&amp;media=https%3A%2F%2Fbionicoldguy.home.blog%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2025%2F04%2Fimage-14.png&amp;description=Electric%20Recumbent%20Adventure%20Continues\" data-pin-do=\"buttonPin\" data-pin-config=\"beside\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/assets.pinterest.com\/images\/pidgets\/pinit_fg_en_rect_gray_20.png\"\/><\/a><\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"share-end\"\/><\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><h3 class=\"jp-relatedposts-headline\"><em>Related<\/em><\/h3>\n<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p><!-- .entry-content --><\/p>\n<p>\t<!-- .entry-footer --><\/p>\n<div class=\"entry-author-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"entry-author author-avatar-show\">\n<div class=\"author-avatar\">\n\t\t\t\t<img alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/2.gravatar.com\/avatar\/25e2835f41aad499102b7dccdf750ee9842e9a75fa2931cd1ba6fa84c47eafd5?s=80&amp;d=&amp;r=G\" srcset=\"https:\/\/2.gravatar.com\/avatar\/25e2835f41aad499102b7dccdf750ee9842e9a75fa2931cd1ba6fa84c47eafd5?s=80&amp;d=&amp;r=G 1x, https:\/\/2.gravatar.com\/avatar\/25e2835f41aad499102b7dccdf750ee9842e9a75fa2931cd1ba6fa84c47eafd5?s=120&amp;d=&amp;r=G 1.5x, https:\/\/2.gravatar.com\/avatar\/25e2835f41aad499102b7dccdf750ee9842e9a75fa2931cd1ba6fa84c47eafd5?s=160&amp;d=&amp;r=G 2x, https:\/\/2.gravatar.com\/avatar\/25e2835f41aad499102b7dccdf750ee9842e9a75fa2931cd1ba6fa84c47eafd5?s=240&amp;d=&amp;r=G 3x, https:\/\/2.gravatar.com\/avatar\/25e2835f41aad499102b7dccdf750ee9842e9a75fa2931cd1ba6fa84c47eafd5?s=320&amp;d=&amp;r=G 4x\" class=\"avatar avatar-80\" height=\"80\" width=\"80\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\"\/>\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p><!-- .author-avatar --><\/p>\n<p><h2 class=\"author-title\">\n\t\t\t\t\tPublished by <span class=\"author-name\">BionicOldGuy<\/span>\t\t\t\t<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<p><!-- .author-heading --><\/p>\n<p class=\"author-bio\">\n\t\t\t\tI am a Mechanical Engineer born in 1953, Ph. D, Stanford, 1980. I have been active in the mechanical CAE field for decades. I also have a lifelong interest in outdoor activities and fitness. I have had both hips replaced and a heart valve replacement due to a genetic condition. This blog chronicles my adventures in staying active despite these bumps in the road.\t\t\t\t<a class=\"author-link\" href=\"https:\/\/bionicoldguy.home.blog\/author\/richardking2213\/\" rel=\"author\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\tView all posts by BionicOldGuy\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p><!-- .author-bio -->\n\t\t<\/div>\n<p><!-- .entry-auhtor --><\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\t<strong>Published<\/strong><br \/>\n\t\t\t<time class=\"entry-date published\" datetime=\"2025-04-30T06:24:00-07:00\">April 30, 2025<\/time><time class=\"updated\" datetime=\"2025-04-29T15:28:27-07:00\">April 29, 2025<\/time>\t\t<\/p>\n<p><!-- .site-posted-on -->\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><script>(function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src=\"https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/sdk.js#xfbml=1&amp;appId=249643311490&version=v2.3\"; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); }(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk'));<\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/bionicoldguy.home.blog\/2025\/04\/30\/electric-recumbent-adventure-continues\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I have finally gotten my recumbent back on the road in electric-assist mode. This turned out to be quite an odyssey. I pursued two parallel approaches. First I tried to fix the wheel with broken spokes It turns out you can get custom spoke lengths online so I got replacements in 228 mm. Then I &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14074","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fitness"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14074","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14074"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14074\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14074"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14074"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14074"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}