eZee motor kit build

As I mentioned in the XB-300 Li thread, I bought a cheap Hebb Electroglide. Upon closer inspection, it turns out the frame is cracked on the top tube, which explains why it was so cheap. So now I basically have an eZee front motor kit that needs a new home, and a better and worse option as I see it:

1. If possible, locate a frame for an eZee bike so I can move over the battery box into the space behind the seatpost and keep it in the same place. This would be ideal, but so far my search has turned up nothing and I don't know whether it's possible to buy just the frame, although I did e-mail Hebb bikes about it.

2. Get a 26" mountain bike frame and move over most of the components from the Hebb. I could use a full-suspension frame and not be stuck with the Hebb's suspension forks that everyone complains about, but I would need to find a new place for the battery and it might need to be wired differently. I'm guessing a triangle bag would be the best option, although a rear suspension might complicate things.

The other consideration on this bike is the Shimano Nexus Inter 7 that is laced into the rear wheel. It shifts fine but makes a slight grinding noise when I am not pedaling, and I'm guessing that is related to the roller brake. The rest of the wheel is quite good (Marathon Plus tires, good rims, etc.) so if there's an easy way to fix it I'd take it. I've seen it mentioned that a person can basically replace the guts of a Shimano IGH and not the housing, but haven't found anything about how to actually do it. Could I leave the housing and replace the core with a like replacement or even an 8-speed Alfine?

Your guess is right, the best option is a triangle bag.
Next best option is some panniers on the rear rack to stash the battery, you are going to be rocking a ezee front motor.
Be sure to get some Torque Arms.

If you do buy a bicycle, go for an all steel frame, a steel front fork would be a must.

Check out you local online classifieds such as Kijiji in Canada, and Craigslist worldwide, but another great resource is Pinkbike.com click on Buy/Sell and take a peek.

Have you thought about perhaps a cruiser bicycle?

SF has some pretty gnarly potholes that are sometimes hard to spot, so the more I think about it, the more I want a full-suspension frame. The easiest thing to do would be to order a BikesDirect bike and take off the derailleurs and chain and swap in the wheels from the Hebb (complete with motor on the front and Nexus IGH on the rear), then buy a new single-speed chain as I'm sure the one on the Hebb needs to be replaced. I would mount the rear rack from the Hebb and put the battery there, get some torque arms for the front fork, and call it a day.

The question is whether the BD bike would let me down. I know that they are usually badly set up, but if the frame, fork, and front and rear shocks are decent enough quality that won't matter for this build. If those components are not of decent quality, then I'd probably be better off buying a 26" FS bike or frame second-hand instead.

You'd have to ask an expert like Chalo, if I remember correctly he said Bikes Direct is sorta the minimum you should go for. Stay clear of BSO's (Bike Shaped Objects) at Walmart and department stores. Huffy is bad. I forget what else he states as awfully bad there was one name that didn't ring a bell to me. Magna I found it. Of course you know NEXT means DO NOT BUY!!! NEXT!!!!!!!!!!


Here is the search function for user = Chalo and search word = BSO

So I use the search function and here it pops up shit Chalo states, which is good shit.
https://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=89206&p=1301286&hilit=BSO#p1301286

https://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=89206&p=1301269&hilit=BSO#p1301269

Roadmaster, Magna, and Next.

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Thanks for the links!

I was looking at this one: http://www.bikesdirect.com/products/windsor/windsortrailfscomp-full-suspension.htm

It's got FS and hydraulic discs, so as long as the quality of those two components are acceptable and won't need constant maintenance and as long as the frame and fork are good quality then it looks like a winner.

How will you fit a battery on the FS bike? Not much room for a triangle bag big enough to hold the boxy Hebb battery,

You may wanna rethink that bike, the reason is where the rear suspension is located.
You'd ideally want something with more Triangle Room, for perfect placement of the batteries.

$699-$999 region - http://www.bikesdirect.com/products/mountain_bikes.htm
Perfect rear suspension layout. But if I were you, I would seriously think about looking used. Even if its a bit of a drive in Cali to get a known good quality bike.


Check out Pinkbike.com and buy a used full suspension with that rear shock layout.
This search link of Pinkbike is all MTB in Cali -> https://www.pinkbike.com/buysell/list/?location=194-18-*&page=2&category=2,1,75,6,5,76&price=200..750
...and a couple of the first ones I saw, below.
https://www.pinkbike.com/buysell/2167903/
https://www.pinkbike.com/buysell/2208055/

I was planning to mount the battery on the rear rack with the FS bike. I'm also considering just picking up any old frame and moving the existing forks to it. It's the front that takes most of the punishment, after all, so maybe a hardtail is the way to go. It would certainly be a lot cheaper, and the Hebb forks already have the reinforced arms.

Depends what you riding, potholes and such you need FS.

The battery is only 36V and the controller is 20A, so I'll probably be maxing out around 25 MPH. That's still hardtail territory, I think. If I do go FS, I'll probably get an EEB frame from EM3EV for ~$640 shipped with the suspension shock and pedals (existing ones are plastic crap), but that's not in the budget right now and I'm not sure it's necessary.

How would I wire the battery? Right now it connects metal prongs on the Hebb / eZee battery cradle.

Aside from opening it up and seeing what them connectors are hooked up too.
Find something that fits snugly inside, copper would be best, then a permanent solution is to solder the copper, your iron and solder would touch the outside of the battery connector and securely connect it. Then solder on your wires to the copper, and figure out how to strain relief the wires.

... it turns out the frame is cracked on the top tube ....

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Another option is to find a good tig welder (person not the machine). That has got to be cheaper than $450 for a new bike.

It's aluminum though. Doesn't the whole frame need to be heat treated?

arthurtuxedo said:

It's aluminum though. Doesn't the whole frame need to be heat treated?

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Negative. I used to work for a company that built multi-million dollar ROVs with welded aluminum frames. In over 30 years I never saw them heat treat one. The real question is the thickness of the metal at the break and that question is best left to the welder. You will need new paint. If you live i an area where there is custom bike shop then they are probably the best answer. Otherwise just be sure to find someone with a tig welder and years of experience welding aluminium (as opposed to someone that just found out they make aluminum wire for mig welding machines).

Oh ... one other thing to avoid. There are some speciality metals and flux created for flame brazing (oxygen-acetylene and/or propane). In my experience those are very unreliable. One time I did built a motor bracket for a small lathe with that stuff but it took several attempts (failures) before I got it to hold.

EDIT:
You might find this list helpful ... "SF Bay Area/NorCal Bicycle Frame Builders"
http://yojimg.net/bike/sf_framebuilders/

Awesome, thank you! It looks like fixing the Hebb frame is the way to go since it already has the correct size of battery box and everything is wired up. I'll get some quotes.

Turns out eZee will sell me a Sprint frame (identical to the Hebb) for $150 plus shipping, which is about what the welding job would have cost.

Shipping is $400, so that idea is out.

Does anyone have experience with the Vector light frame? That looks like a good FS frame for this build.

http://vectorebike.com/images/f8.jpg

arthurtuxedo said:

Shipping is $400, so that idea is out.

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Are they trying to Air Mail it ?

LewTwo said:

arthurtuxedo said:

Shipping is $400, so that idea is out.

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Are they trying to Air Mail it ?

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Presumably, he used a DHL quote. When I asked about cheaper options he said that he could knock off $50 or I could arrange my own shipping. Every welder I've contacted has refused to work with aluminum, so it's looking like the Hebb / eZee frame idea is not going to be viable. I'm now torn between a standard mountain bike frame with triangle bag and the Vector light frame. Either way will entail a significant wiring job that I'm not looking forward to. The Vector has rear suspension and a battery box, but a standard frame would be hundreds cheaper and I might not need the suspension at the 700W I'm planning to run it.

If I could temporarily hook up the eZee battery to my other bike and demonstrate that it still has ~80% capacity, what would it be worth second hand? I'm thinking it would be easier to mount a new Dolphin battery than try to jury rig the old one for a placement it wasn't designed for.

https://www.pinkbike.com/buysell/2196690/?directtofirstphoto

This looks like a frame that might fit the bill. Rear suspension, a large triangle, and not too pricey!

arthurtuxedo said:

... Every welder I've contacted has refused to work with aluminum....

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Hard to fathom that SF is so lacking in competent TIG welders ... oh well.

Even though it was more than I wanted to pay, after consideration I went ahead and ordered the eZee frame. I know nothing about EBike wiring and guides for noobs that go into a useful amount of detail don't seem to exist. With the eZee frame I can just move the existing professional wiring job and battery cradle over.

arthurtuxedo said:

Even though it was more than I wanted to pay, after consideration I went ahead and ordered the eZee frame. I know nothing about EBike wiring and guides for noobs that go into a useful amount of detail don't seem to exist. With the eZee frame I can just move the existing professional wiring job and battery cradle over.

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It is pretty much like a duck learns about duck hunting: from getting shot down a lot :wink:

Well, it's only money. You'll probably find that fishing those wires thru the holes in the ebike frame a lot harder than draping cables around a beater bike, but you will get stronger dropouts, etc.