A Builders Mindset

For all its virtues, living in the Southern USA is an eye opening challenge during hurricane season. Preparation is key. To this end, we decided it was time to replace the windows in our home with the latest hurricane rated impact resistant windows. It's not easy or cheap to do. Nor is the actual installation a DIY project due to the warranty and insurance requirements. Still, there were some things I could do myself. The process of replacing the windows required the removal of all the window trimmings including the blinds. This was a perfect time to do a deep cleaning of the blinds. Pre-soaking the blind cords in a solution overnight, for whatever reason, resulted in a tangled, knotted mess that put the attached image to shame. I still have no idea why this happened, but it needed to be undone. All I could do was start the process of untangling the mess, line by line, bit by bit.

As I worked through the maze of entanglement, I focused my efforts on staying patient, watching the clump become smaller and smaller. Slowly, I started to see a relationship to the many times I had built an electric bike or recumbent, either for myself, or for clients.

As with any project, patience and focus are primary components to success. Building an electric bike from scratch includes many pieces that have to be integrated together in order for the whole machine to operate properly.

Going back to that clump of tangled cords, I found that taking a 30 second break to look for progress went a long way toward decreasing frustration and increasing perspective. So it goes with a lot of projects including building an electric bike. Little things like stripping and prepping the chassis for motor installation is relatively easy to do, especially with the proper tools. Receiving that all important motor package in the mail and laying out all of the components on a table is exciting to say the least. Fitting up the motor to the bottom bracket for the first time... nice. Laying out the cabling, sensors and controls in their proper places takes a vision and patient perspective to get it just right, often realizing there is a better way and having to do it all over again. That's okay, it's part of the process. One of the big components is locating just the right battery pack, realizing it fits just as you had hoped. Really nice.

Is it always going to go smoothly? We all know better than that. There are always challenges. Maybe a cable run is too long, or too short, and has to be dealt with. Maybe the chainline is not ideal on that brand new mid-drive. Maybe the battery pack is not fitting as hoped or the whole system is just not starting up right. Perhaps some customization of components comes into play. Like an ultra tight knotted area on that simple cord entanglement, this is where focus, patience and perseverance come into play. Some serious pre-planning goes a long way. Careful selection of components is paramount in the creation of any project, as is expert support from your parts sources. We are never really alone in something like this, nor should we want to be. Whether it be an e-bike friendly local bike shop that helps you to remove that bottom bracket assembly or tunes up your wheel assemblies, or an online forum that can help answer those nagging little issues that always arise. And finding a quality factory authorized dealer for that ToSeven mid drive you have picked out is all important. A good dealer will be responsive and helpful in answering questions not only in the research process, but also during the install and set up of your new system.

One final note - any process or project does not normally complete itself. It requires action and attitude with an eye on not only the pathway, but the goal. Enjoy!

Through the 14+ years I have been in the electric bike business, I have found the assembly process of an electric bike to be particularly rewarding, not only in the process of putting the whole assembly together, but also in that first ride. There is simply nothing like that first time the motor kicks in. It seems to just make any issues along the pathway fade away.