29mm to 35mm to 50mm -> My evolution to the Cromotor

[methods]

I actually saw one of Luke's ebikes run once - so it is not true that all of them are broken all of the time. Once a month there is a race and he stays up for 36 hours straight to get one wobbling down the race track... like those bikes at Maker Faire with the wheels laced 3" out of round.



I can totally picture you and this guy riding tandem with a tow strap on my bike

-methods

[John in CR]

I don't know where the comedy show of you two has been, off the board I guess, but I'm glad it's back for a good laugh. LFP led with a nice sucker punch, but Methods definitely wins that round with a solid liver punch. Not like Fabio, but I love you guys.

[methods]

Ok - been packing up my shop 24-7 but I have made some progress on this build

Controller - it is here.
16hp monster from Farfle

This is the first time I have seen a 24 fet in person - they are way smaller than I pictured. When mounted sideways these will totally fit in the frame... 24 fet for the win!

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KMX is here - we will call it the GreyMX

This solves all those pesky 20" problems we have been fussing about. This machine right here loves taking 20" in the back and it is all steel so I can easily mod it up.

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Before I retired it a year or so back I had some custom aluminum pieces machined up that adapt the 1/2" KMX axle to a standard 20mm hub. Now I can bolt on anything I want. This may not sound like a big deal but before I was having to re-lace 32 hole rims every time I wanted to change The wheel on the left is an ebay special. The other one taco'ed. The one on the right is off of a zero motorcycle.

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And look what I found....
A 9C motor laced into a Big City rim with stainless spokes that I cut myself. This is a drop in replacement for the Cro and I will just move the spokes over (after I f'ing destroy this Chinese rim/spoke combo for the camera). I wont be using that tire...

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While taking a ride today I picked up a cheap $10 freewheel. This should do it. It is 16T but I have a 54T on the front so it wont be completely useless.

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I found this HS3540 20" with the KMX trike. Apparently I had put it on there for a test fit and forgot about it. Brand new hub. Being exposed caused some of the axle to rust. It is on the Poor Mans Corner now.

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My office/shop is now completely packed. The only stuff that is left is what I need to do the most basic repair and business stuff. My goal was to be able to fit all of it in the back of my Jeep if I needed to. I think I got there. MethTek Mobile.

The place I am moving to is 12 minutes (by car) down a windy one lane road. My goal is to do this in 5 on the KMX and live to tell about it. We will see.... Has anyone done a GreyMX yet?

-methods

[Farfle]

Oops, forgot to tell ya; the shunt in that thing us somewhere around .5 Mohm, not the 1 Mohm written on the case, you may want to verify that tho. And as far as programming goes, IIRC it runs about 2x higher values than it's set for. That trike is going to be a monster with that many phase amps into a cromotor.

[pelle242]

What are you using to cut your own spokes? Hozan?

[methods]

Yep - the Hozan
I purchased a box of 14G spokes with the largest heads I could find - I think they are 3.5mm. This helps them sit in the hub flange better. I do the math with the spreadsheet calculator found on sheldon brown's (RIP) website. I then tape all of the spokes together can cut them with my chop saw. Round each tip with my grinding wheel, then run them into the cutter.

It is hard grueling work....

These days I would be more likely to just build replacement spokes as it is only $36 for a set cut to length from the LBS. That is basically how much I paid for my spoke blanks so...

For the record I have never broken one of my 14G spokes. Not on the radial laces, 1 cross, or even the crazy 2 cross with bent nipples. Everything that is known about cheap Chinese spokes must be forgotten when dealing with "real" spokes. They tension well, stay tight, never break, lace up evenly, never bind up... they are a dream to work with.

If you are serious about expanding your personal skill set I recommend buying one of these. It is hard work but rewarding. Leaves me feeling like a bike builder instead of a bike victim (after being raped at the Local Bike Store!)

-methods

[Ypedal]

not sure if that freewheel will be the same as the clyte provided one's but the chain on my KMX would not seat deep into the teeth and would skip when pedaling with the least amount of pressure.. i had to red-neck it and use an angle grinder to narrow it down...

viewtopic.php?f=4&t=38428&start=60

..

can't wait to hear your opinion on the cro

[Alan B]

not sure if that freewheel will be the same as the clyte provided one's but the chain on my KMX would not seat deep into the teeth and would skip when pedaling with the least amount of pressure.. i had to red-neck it and use an angle grinder to narrow it down...

viewtopic.php?f=4&t=38428&start=60

..

can't wait to hear your opinion on the cro

Sounds like 1/8" tooth freewheel on 3/32" chain..

[RichiePA]

The place I am moving to is 12 minutes (by car) down a windy one lane road. My goal is to do this in 5 on the KMX and live to tell about it. We will see.... Has anyone done a GreyMX yet?

-methods

Cant wait to see that video!

[nechaus]

A good song for a good ebike video would be the aphabeat ..

[Ypedal]

alright.. so what's the holdup ? .. you in a body cast or something ?

how un-methods like to take this long getting a motor bolted up to something.. anything.... at least for a test ride.. heh heh..

[methods]

My kid came out 3 weeks early and caught us by surprise
We were trapped in a hospital by psychopaths for 5 days
I am frantically trying to pack up my house and shop to move it 1.5 hours away... to a house that is not yet built~! Just a gutted out trailer in the woods.

All of my stuff is currently in a pile under a tarp in an old burned out greenhouse.
The mother in law has been here for 2 weeks
I am buried in emails and orders

that pretty much sums it up.
Oh yea - I have a newborn that keeps me up all night, I am totally broke (because I have not had time to take many new orders), and it is frigging nice outside.

Just soaking up the sun here in California. Eat your hearts out again this year Canadians.

-methods

[TylerDurden]

Congratz, DeviousDad.

(Dibs on a cigar.)

[Ypedal]

wow.. now that's a very valid excuse !!!!

Congratulations on the new baby !!!! ... must take after his/her dad.. sooner rather than later !

[nicobie]

2 weeks?

You poor man!

Congrats on the kid.

[GCinDC]

holy crap. awesome! congrats! sounds messy!

wondering if the thread title should be ... My Evolution to Cro-Magnon Man

[methods]

Its about time for a few updates.

Everything is moved to my new shop in Santa Cruz. The trike, motor, wheel, tire, spokes, controller, wiring, batteries - everything. So in good historical standing we start with one of my awesome lunches

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Some of my fine prototype work

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And the f'ed up dump that is currently serving as my office and will later serve as my home

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So I broke down that controller that I got from Farfle which was originally built by Stevo. It was a bad ass proven controller - but damn ugly

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I dont want to hurt your feelings guys... but a little bit of alcohol goes a long way (and not just on a first date!) Look at how pretty this is now - all ready for some 250V 1.2uF ceramic capacitors.

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The thing I love about these caps is how much power they punch in such a tiny package. You can just sprinkle them around for good measure - here I sprinkled 6uF around in parallel with the poly caps on the other side of the board.

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Then I started experimenting with making up some super low profile caps. You cant tell from this picture but this ceramic is half as thin as the 250V AC, has about the same capacitance but much lower ESR. This will be a lot cleaner when we spin the PC boards and they will do up to 5 in parallel for 6uF. Double sided will get you 12uF. Easily fit between 8AWG cables and the case and has heavy 12awg legs.

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Anyways I then conformal coated the controller and cleaned up some of the other wiring/switches. It is pretty much ready to go.

-methods

[hjns]

Hi Methy,

Nice work! And contrats with the now one month old brat. Is the mum ok?

[Farfle]

That thing is going to be scary power in a 20" kmx looking forward to trike power wheelies

[methods]

And contrats with the now one month old brat. Is the mum ok?

The kid is being a total brat and mum just wants to dote over him 24/7. I think I am starting to learn why men build their shop on the other end of the property - and it has only been a few weeks!

That thing is going to be scary power in a 20" kmx looking forward to trike power wheelies

I am getting really frustrated and excited. I KNOW this thing is going to be insane - even the 8x8 9C in the trike was an amazing thrill... I cant imagine. At the moment I am debating between a slick rear tire and a 16" motorcycle tire. All of our roads out here are dirt with rocks so I am afraid that with anything slick I am just going to lose traction. But... I dont know how much I will be riding this un-suspended monster on the dirt roads - may only ride it on the paved roads in which case the 16" motorcycle would just be a mess.

There are a few miles of amazing windy road just calling me - f'ing death trap but calling me.

Latest hangup is filing the drops on the trike. I thought I was just going to be able to hack in there but it turns out that on one side there is a solid 10mm of material but on the other it is pretty thin... maybe 5mm... and that is both the trike frame and derailer bits

Anyway - I need to quit being a puss and just go do it no matter what the result.

-methods

[liveforphysics]

If you're local right now, I can just set this wheel on the back of my insight in the parking lot and you can swing by and grab it.

16" Pirelli diablo tire on a 20" rim. Stickier and longer lasting than any bicycle tire, and you won't be able to get a flat.

[methods]

Stop temping me Forker.... damn that is a sexy tire... but the reality is that I cant even afford to pay a bum to punch me in the face so taking that tire would just spoil me'self.

I have my $20 bmx tire to run

Hey - you have a good idea for getting this insane 16" knobby tire off of my BMX rim? My tire levers just break - they are the black plastic covered metal ones. Usually they do good for everything up to extreme downhill tires. Maybe I can bring the tire by your shop and you can pop it off the rim for me? I put a trailer on the wifes bike... I can ride it over there. Imagine that... ride an ebike

I am doing eagle layout for my Arduino Shield right now. Stealing parts from LadyAda... she is a very clever designer.

-methods

[Ypedal]

I've resorted to using kitchen butter knives ( if you got the thick stuff and an understanding wife .. or better yet, dont tell or ask her ) as tire levers !

I finally got a good set of motion-pro levers, that rock everything else on earth ...

Damn luke.. that tire looks tasty.. i suspect it wont clear the KMX frame tho.

[liveforphysics]

Come get this tire/wheel buddy. I'm tired on banging my shin against it sitting under my desk.

[bigmoose]

methods, sorry I missed the big news! Congrats on your new addition. I was going to ask if it is a boy, girl or a FET; but I see you mentioned your son above.

Just wait in a few months you will be building eStrollers for him with a joystick to control it. The joy is in the journey... and boy are you about to go on one!