Lectric XP Trike ghost pedaling at max speed

[Mayhem56]

I had a Below the knee amputation last november. Now that I have my prosthetic. I am now using the electric XP trike to get around town to run my errands and also go to work. My only problem with this trike is that I do not like the ghost pedaling that I'm encountering when at max speed.

My question to this forum is has anyone ever tried putting on a larger crank arm set? I believe it's got a 36 tooth on there now. Can a 42 or even a 52 fit on there or has anyone tried or does anyone have any idea whether it would work or not?.

Michael

 

[HumanPerson]

Welcome to the forums!

Yep it'll help stop ghost pedalin, at least it did for me

So here is the first pic without the 52th chainring,

Then with the 52th chainring

That little bit will certainly be noticeable by you

 

[HumanPerson]

Well mine isnt what yur ridin so ya have any pics?

 

[Mayhem56]

I have the Electric XP Trike, it looks like there is not enough clearance towards the back where the red arrow is. I don't if I can put in a wider bottom bracket or not. I just need a half inch of clearance and I'm golden.

 

["A"]

As long as the cranks can spin freely, and your heels are not striking the frame (or chainguard), you're fine.
Wider bottom bracket may cause knee issues, maybe with prosthetic it's fine.
You can swap the bottom bracket for a longer spindle, as long as you have the proper tool to remove the original.
And you may need to mess with the cadence sensor.

You can fit a larger chainring with original crank, that would allow the gearing to be taller, may need to adjust the chain tensioner or even add a few links to the guide chain on the trike.

 

[Smaug]

I think you should leave it alone. If you ghost pedal at top speed, that is a small price to pay for actually being able to pedal it home in low gear if you run it dry. They can only provide so much gear range, but on a heavy trike like this, low should take precedence.

Also: at higher speeds, your pedaling is not contributing much to the overall power. Want to confirm? Go to a PAS setting where you're NOT ghost pedaling in top gear. Press the Power button to cycle through the parameters displayed until you get to current. Now get going at that speed with throttle only and make a mental note of the current. (Amps) Then, start pedaling and see how much that motor current decreases. Hardly at all, right? The bottom line is that the motor's doing most of the work. Your not ghost pedaling may make you FEEL better, but it doesn't make a practical difference. Lectric knew what they were doing.

You may want to consider just going slower most of the time, where you are NOT ghost pedaling. You'll get more exercise AND more range on a charge.

 

[dburt]

I had mentioned to Lectric in different emails that it would be nice if they could have two sizes of crank arm 'sprockets' so a person could have two pedal gear options. I don't know if that is even possible, but there are times I wish I had a higher or taller pedal gear option.

 

[Smaug]

I had mentioned to Lectric in different emails that it would be nice if they could have two sizes of crank arm 'sprockets' so a person could have two pedal gear options. I don't know if that is even possible, but there are times I wish I had a higher or taller pedal gear option.

Typically, the bottom bracket (which houses the crank) is too wide on eBikes for multiple front sprockets to be a reasonable option. There are some Trek eBikes with dual chainrings, but I haven't seen others yet. (I'm sure they're offered by other high-end eBike manufacturers)

 

[LastButNotLeast]

You may want to consider just going slower most of the time, where you are NOT ghost pedaling. You'll get more exercise AND more range on a charge.

And it's safer. Turning a trike at high speed is fraught with danger.

 

["A"]

I replaced the OEM crankset on the XP Trike for my in-laws to shorter crankarms, so they can pedal smaller circles due to short legs and limited range of motion so the knees don't have to come up so high during the upstrokes.
The replacement crank can accept different chainrings, larger or smaller than OEM.

As Smaug mentioned, maybe consider riding at slower speeds, since the XP trike is designed for lower speeds.
Riding a trike at higher speeds really increase the danger of the trike tilting while cornering.

 

[MrPolak]

On my father's trike, I ended up upgrading to a 54 tooth front chainring with an integral guard, and replaced the front cranks with 165mm long arms. The 130bcd keeps option open for the future, as it's the same bcd size used on road bike cranksets. I had to install a longer single speed chain, which being Sram brand, is higher quality and quieter. While I was there, I aligned the chain idler/keeper. This combination resulted in a reasonable cadence at 15mph and a leasurely mash at a more reasonable for a trike 10-12 mph. Taking off from a standstill is no problem with some throttle.

On another note, I replaced the silly knobbies with puncture resistant, quiet, and more efficient 20x2.4'' Schwalbe tires.

 

[Pluto]

Thanks so much for posting this! I’m going to clone your “build” for my wife. Do you happen to remember how long the chain was that you used or perhaps the model number? Thanks again!

On my father's trike, I ended up upgrading to a 54 tooth front chainring with an integral guard, and replaced the front cranks with 165mm long arms. The 130bcd keeps option open for the future, as it's the same bcd size used on road bike cranksets. I had to install a longer single speed chain, which being Sram brand, is higher quality and quieter. While I was there, I aligned the chain idler/keeper. This combination resulted in a reasonable cadence at 15mph and a leasurely mash at a more reasonable for a trike 10-12 mph. Taking off from a standstill is no problem with some throttle.

On another note, I replaced the silly knobbies with puncture resistant, quiet, and more efficient 20x2.4'' Schwalbe tires.

View attachment 14643View attachment 14644

 

["A"]

Maybe it's just me, stability of the XP trike is really not meant for higher speeds.
Even with slight crown on the roadway, speed above 15 mph can have a rider feel uneasy.
With a 54T chainring, you can easily exceed the speed that the XP Trike was designed for.
Trikes like the XP Trike is just dangerous at higher speeds.

 

[Pluto]

The goal here isn’t going fast. It’s about reducing ghost pedaling. We also ride motorcycles, so as long as we are careful, I’m not worried.

 

["A"]

54T chainring is not going to be fun to pedal at low speed, it would take significant leg muscles to turn that big chainring.
I've been riding motorcycles for nearly 30 years, there are certain equipment/component that are just not meant to do.
56T chainring will have similar effect as really low teeth count rear sprocket, you'd be lugging the engine most of the time at lower speeds.

 

[Pluto]

Sounds like I might want to try a couple different chainrings and see which one works best. In retrospect, I probably should have gotten her a trike with gears. Thank you for the tip - I forget which ratios are good/bad for this type of problem. I’m messing with a cadence calculator at the moment.

 

[MrPolak]

Maybe it's just me, stability of the XP trike is really not meant for higher speeds.
Even with slight crown on the roadway, speed above 15 mph can have a rider feel uneasy.
With a 54T chainring, you can easily exceed the speed that the XP Trike was designed for.
Trikes like the XP Trike is just dangerous at higher speeds.

Have you tried it? Do you own a bike with 20'' wheels? I've tried a 48T chainring and determined it was too small for my dad to comfortably pedal at 10mph. The rear sprocket on the trike has 18 teeth, if I counted correctly on my picture. The 54T chainring translates to about 10mph whilst pedaling at 60rpm.

 

[Pluto]

I noticed on the photos, the chain is going above the tensioner as opposed to below it, was that an oversight or intentional?

 

[dburt]

On my father's trike, I ended up upgrading to a 54 tooth front chainring with an integral guard, and replaced the front cranks with 165mm long arms. The 130bcd keeps option open for the future, as it's the same bcd size used on road bike cranksets. I had to install a longer single speed chain, which being Sram brand, is higher quality and quieter. While I was there, I aligned the chain idler/keeper. This combination resulted in a reasonable cadence at 15mph and a leasurely mash at a more reasonable for a trike 10-12 mph. Taking off from a standstill is no problem with some throttle.

On another note, I replaced the silly knobbies with puncture resistant, quiet, and more efficient 20x2.4'' Schwalbe tires.

View attachment 14643View attachment 14644

This is very helpful, I would like to do this on my trike also! Thanks for posting this!