CroBorg Commuter

[Alan B]

I do need to put up pictures. Have a bunch.

I made some measurements of the axle and rear dropouts. The Cromotor 16mm threaded axle ends are 1-1/4" long from the disc brake mount on one side, and from the freewheel threads on the other. Some spacer washers will be needed on both sides to prevent rotating parts from touching the dropout.

The Nut is 5/8 thick, so uses about half the available thread space when fully engaged.

The rear tubular swingarm dropouts are slightly more than 3/8" thick.

There is not much room for a torque plate, and Accountant indicates one is not needed if the Cromotor is seated fully into the dropouts. Excellent!

The Cromotor with 16mm threads and 10mm flats has a substantial area of flat to resist the torque. Very nice.

[Alan B]

Here are the requested unboxing photos:

https://picasaweb.google.com/Alan.Biocc ... directlink

[ryan]

Wow, were all of your boxes dragged here? They should actually put them on the truck instead of dragging them behind.

Can't wait to see this come together.

[Alan B]

Shipping is tough on boxes. Hopefully having a US dealer and shipping in larger containers will help.

I'm going slow on this build. I want it to be a really good one.

Collecting all the parts is a bit of a chore. The details are slowly coming together.

It appears that the Turnigy 6S 5AH battery bricks will fit nicely, though the wiring wil be snug. The Zippys don't fit well at all. So I'm getting more Zippys and will put 18S 16AH of zippys on the mountain bike, and take all the Turnigys for the Greyborg. But for next weekend I'm taking both and lashing them together temporarily on the BikeE. So that will be 18S 31AH. The Zippys are a bit optimistic on their amp hour rating so in reality probably more like 29AH.

I was going to put more Turnigy on the mountain bike, but the Zippys fit a little easier and a lot fewer wires are required, so I'll go with 6*3=18S 2P 16AH Zippy on the Mountain Bike. The Turnigy I have, plus more will go toward the Greyborg. The BikeE will get a smaller pack. Not sure what at this point, but if I can fit a pack inside the frame that will determine what batteries to use.

I'm trying to make all three of my ebikes be 18S. That makes chargers easier to manage, especially since I want to have them at home, work, and portable.

[Alan B]

Ebikessf.com repaired the Schlumpf drive for me. Thanks Ilia! It suffered some shipping damage, one of the ears for mounting the chainring was bent, but it is much better now.









The above drive is a licensed variant of the Schlumpf drive that takes standard chainrings and crank arms. I obtained this one from Accountant.

This is a "speed drive" model that shifts between 1:1 and 1.6:1 by pushing the button in the center of the hub left or right with your heel. When in 1.6:1 the chainring turns 60% faster than the crank, effectively making the chainring equivalent to one having 1.6 times as many teeth.

This is important since the Cromotor is so wide it doesn't leave room for a wide freewheel. Usually only a single speed freewheel is used, and the smallest units have 16 teeth. So the front chainring needs to have a lot of teeth to pedal along with the motor at speed. This gives two gear ratios, one for pedaling without motor at low speed, and another for pedaling along with the motor at cruise speed.

[chroot]

Make sense about the CroMotor better off use single speed with combine Schlumpf drive. Thanks for details and I might get Schlumpf drive for my CroMotor. Problem is they are cost ridiculous - I checked Google search.

[gensem]

Make sense about the CroMotor better off use single speed with combine Schlumpf drive. Thanks for details and I might get Schlumpf drive for my CroMotor. Problem is they are cost ridiculous - I checked Google search.

Accountant/Zombies do have a good price on the speed drive.

[chroot]

@gensem - Really, I'll check with zombies later after I meet up with ilia and Lyen in SF today.

[Alan B]

I obtained the drive photographed above from Accountant (the Greyborg people) for a good price.

[MattyCiii]

@gensem - Really, I'll check with zombies later after I meet up with ilia and Lyen in SF today.

Chroot,
Did you get to talk about price, or availability of the Speed Drive? Speed Drive seems like just the ticket for pedal-augmented e-power!

[zombiess]

@gensem - Really, I'll check with zombies later after I meet up with ilia and Lyen in SF today.

Chroot,
Did you get to talk about price, or availability of the Speed Drive? Speed Drive seems like just the ticket for pedal-augmented e-power!

I've got one for my bike and will eventually have more in the future (don't ask now), but I need the tool to cut the bottom bracket so it will fit and I don't have that part yet. Supposedly one of the guys I know here in town has access to the tool so I'm going to try and get my race bike to him so I can get it installed.

[Alan B]

I received the chainring and bolts for my ATS Schlumpf drive.

Unfortunately the bent ear on the drive is not ye straight enough to take the bolt, and it causes the chainring to wobble. So I'll have to see if I can straighten it out better (or break it ). Wish me luck.

[Alan B]

Also received the seatpost. But it won't fit into the frame tube. Have to look into that more carefully. Hopefully it can be coaxed in without a lot of trouble.

[Philistine]

I had to sand inside the seat tube a bit for the post to fit. It ended up being such a tight fit, that I don't have a clamp on my post (it just stays stuck), and I wouldn't be able to move it without a lot of trouble. That was because I didn't sand all the way through the seat tube (very hard to do that), so be aware that the suggested tube is a very tight fit.

[Cicada]

I went trough this same issue:)
Easy fix (30 minutes), drill a screw (hexagonal head is best)into a shorted piece of broom handle,
cover the piece of wood with enough sand paper to make it spin (hold with tape at the extremities)
and rub the inner seat post tube with a drill.
Easier than what you think.

[Alan B]

Thanks for the tips. I will give them a try.

[motorino magnet]

I had to sand inside the seat tube a bit for the post to fit. It ended up being such a tight fit, that I don't have a clamp on my post (it just stays stuck), and I wouldn't be able to move it without a lot of trouble. That was because I didn't sand all the way through the seat tube (very hard to do that), so be aware that the suggested tube is a very tight fit.

no sexual innuendos....

[BATFINK]

Thanks for the photos, do you mind Giving a few cost details for such a build. Interested in price of frame mostly. Looks amazing. I visited greyborg site but his online shop seems to be offline

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[Alan B]

Probably best to get costs from Zombiess or Accountant. I don't have the numbers handy and things are changing.

[Alan B]

Received Pedals and Chain.

Need to package hubs (front and rear) for shipment to wheel builder.

[cassschr1]

Alan, what are you using for the rear freewheel.

[Alan B]

Haven't chosen one. The White is the best, but it appears that it won't screw all the way down. The Dicta has threads all the way through but reviews indicate it isn't as good quality. ACS also may have quality issues.

One concern I have is if the freewheel fails the pedals will start spinning. That would create a major problem at speed.

So I have not decided. I would like to use the White Brothers unit. To get it all the way down might require shortening the threads on the motor. The fully threaded freewheel is the easiest route.

Shortening the 24FET controller

My 24FET controller is about 1/8" too long. The extrusion is longer than it needs to be, so my plan is to shorten it. I was wondering how I was going to clamp it in my small mill to shorten it. Recently I got a 120 tooth 12 inch non ferrous blade for my chop saw. It cuts aluminum like butter. So I think I will use that on the controller extrusion. I'll work up some clamping, but with this blade there is no vibration or noise cutting aluminum. So that's the plan at the moment.

[cassschr1]

can a regular free wheel be disasembled and used ?

[Alan B]

I've never tried to disassemble one. I think they are not easy to take apart, and we need a small cog and narrow width, so the design is likely different.

[cassschr1]

Do you know if 20a pouch cells fit in the frame....how many?