2014 Surly Troll Electric Assist Bike - Meet The iTroll
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The iTroll is a custom single speed Surly Troll with a BionX electric assist motor. It's also the only bike I own that can connect to the internet. It is my custom built prototype of the future of electric bikes.
I purchased the frame from Box Dog Bikes and the BionX system was purchased from The New Wheel, San Francisco's premier electric bike shop. Most of the components were stripped from a Kona hybrid bike that I had purchased for initial testing. It was assembled with the help of Justin Aguinaldo in The Sandbox, home base of both Ride SFO and Bicycle Fabrications.
The freewheel adapter (which was necessary in order to run the BionX system on a single speed bike) was custom machined by Cameron Falconer of Falconer Cycles.
The standard BionX motor control system has been replaced by an Arduino. Another engineer and I reverse engineered the stock system and built a custom controller. Our controller exposed sensor data like speed or rider effort over a Bluetooth API so mobile developers could build apps that integrate into our controller system. (more on this soon)
My primary objective when designing the iTroll was to maximize safety. The fat Schwalbe tires, upright posture and my custom motor controller all play a role in making the iTroll the safest bike on the streets.
To compensate I virtually never ride with my hands on the handlebars.
1 speed 4 life
