On Thu, 16 Jul 2015 04:12:19 +0000 (UTC), John Doe
wrote:

Ed Huntress wrote:

John Doe wrote:

Using a 18-20V DeWalt cordless drill, it works okay driving a 24 inch
bicycle with a 160 pound rider.

Currently using the DeWalt DCD780. If it's not powerful enough, I will
move up to the DCD990. If it's okay, I will just upgrade to the
brushless DCD790. DeWalt claims that brushless provides up to 57% more
runtime. That's huge as an electric bike motor.

With the clutch setting on maximum (but before the no-slip drill
setting)... It pushes me easily along flat terrain. It slips going up
hills (maybe greater than 5°). The drill hasn't gotten hot, but it's
expected to go up hills. I will get around to stressing it that way.
It's slow, about 12 mph maximum.

It still surprises me, and that performance actually sounds pretty
good. We have a licence class (actually, a no-license class) of power
"assisted" bicycles in New Jersey, and your bike has about the same
performance they have.

Turned the clutch up about 30% towards the no-slip drill setting and it
did not slip going up the same hills today.

Next is to rebuild the sprockets so they are centered and then see how
long the drill lasts. And see how far a 5 AH battery takes me. I might be
mistaken, but the battery or the switch might have a current overload
limiter. Seems that it momentarily shut down when the trigger was pressed
too quickly. I've used cordless drills enough, I should know but I don't
recall. Better would be for the clutch to slip at the higher setting.

It's an interesting experiment. I hope you'll keep us informed of your
adventures.

--
Ed Huntress