StudEbiker's S-750 build- Almost done.

[DervAtl]

Nice work StudEbiker. I'm gonna take a look at El Steaks thread on the rear brake. I'm builing a TF too. If the weather ever gets better here, I'll post some pics. I seriously thought about the 9C, but in the end went with a BMC. Unfortunately, I had to send it back after 2 days due to a faulty clutch. It was a V1. I went ahead and upgraded to the V2. Hopefully better luck this time.

I'll be watching for more pics!

[StudEbiker]

Had a maiden voyage on this beast of a bike today! I think I am going to call this bike, "If it's worth doing once, it's worth doing three times." It fought me all the way but now that I am getting pretty close to being done with it I have to say I am pretty pleased with how it has turned out.

I had to take JRH's challenge (planned on being as clean with the wiring as I could anyway ) I still have a couple of things to work out, but here is where it stands right now. The covering over the rack mounting bars is some heavy gauge vinyl type stuff I had laying around. I ran out of black zip ties. The white ones will be replaced soon. All the connections for the throttle and the wheel are wrapped in there. I ran the controller power wires out of the opposite end of the controller. Minor modification compared to some of the things that happen on the Sphere, but I feel like that was a big thing for me to do. I am not terribly comfortable with the electronics and opening this stuff up. The old saying about a little knowledge being a dangerous thing comes to my mind all the time when I am tinkering with that kind of stuff. The key switch on the battery powers the controller only. Which is kind of a good news bad news situation. The good news i I don't have a huge spark in the switch every time I power on, the bad news is I always have two hot posts on the bottom of the battery whenever I take it out of the rack. Shouldn't be a big deal, but Murphy can show up when you don't expect him. I put the andersons between the controller and the battery so I can plug in the watt meter and maybe parallel my other battery for longer rides.

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The bike rides well and the dual discs should be nice...not to mention a front suspension. I still need to put the grips and computer on it and get a good light. I am also going to pad the battery rack some because the battery does flop around in the some. That will drive me crazy. I am looking forward to getting to know this bike, and it just started getting real nice weather wise here so hopefully I'll be racking up many miles soon. My first impressions of the motor from the short test ride I took today is that this motor climbs well. I was a little concerned about having all the weight on the rear wheel, but it really didn't seem to handle much differently than my front hub rear battery bike. Thanks for all your help everyone, this forum ROCKS!!!!!

[oatnet]

NICE!

[mikeross]

Veeeerrry Nice! I hope mine turns out half as good. It is very impressive the way you were able to clean up all the wires and cables. It is good to see that such a neat build is possible. Keep us up to date on the particulars such as top speed, miles per charge, and how that BMS holds up. By the way, I'm waiting on a cassette for the rear motor from ebikes.ca plus a BMS and charger from Ping, then I'll be tackling my own build. Great bike!

Mike

[StudEbiker]

So after a couple of longer rides I am truly amazed at how smooth this bike is. The big tires and the front suspension make a huge difference!! I thought my last bike was quiet and rattle free, but this one is like riding on a cloud!! There is one pretty brutal set of railroad tracks that I have to cross a few times a week and on the Trek I had to slow to a walking pace and they would still rattle my bones. I took them this morning faster than I thought I should just to see what it would feel like and I was startled at how smooth and rattle free this bike is. I put a small piece of the closed cell foam between the battery and the rack from the battery kit packaging and it stopped all flopping of the battery in the rack. I need to get a chain guard fro the rear stay but other than that (and the freewheel) there are really no noises coming from this bike. AMAZING!!

[chroot]

I have a question, I have same kind frame and everything like your bike. I am in process buy a 9c kit and Can I able fitting the 7 speed freewheel on 9c motor hub - Freewheel from ES sale http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=164988#p164988

Let me know, Lastly Whats the volt capped on E-Bikekit controller 36/48v, What if I have 66 volt norminal and will it blow up the E-bikekit controller?

[ambroseliao]

Hi chroot,

Despite my signature below, I'm still running the front hub and plan on switching to the rear motor shortly. I ordered my rear e-bikekit.com motor with the 6 speed freewheel. In practice, I NEVER use any gear lower than the top 3 in my riding to and from work. I don't have any huge hills, but there are a couple of moderate hills and I usually don't even drop down 1 gear for those with the e-bikekit motor.

I wanted to chime in on the max voltage of the e-bikekit controller. The caps inside are rated for 68V maximum so with a fully charged 66V battery, you will probably blow the controller. I am now running at 48V nominal and my setup is at 54V fresh off the charger so the standard Infineon controller from e-bikekit.com handles that just fine.

Ambrose

[StudEbiker]

I agree with Ambrose about the freewheel. 6 is too many if you ask me. Is there such a thing as a five spd freewheel? If there is, I think I would have gone with that because I think I would not have needed to spread the rear stays as much as I did. I'm also going to defer to Ambrose on the controller question as that is not my strong suit. I think I understand what he is saying though and I agree with it.

[vanilla ice]

I just bought a cheap 5 speed from niagara. Or here is another that looks a little nicer..
http://store.icyclesusa.com/fw-multi-su ... p7579.aspx

[chroot]

Thanks for the info regard freewheel, I guess, I will go for 5 spd freewheel and I might go for 15 cells LiPo with hot charged set at 4.1 x 15 cells = 61.5v as you mentioned the Ebikekit's controller's capacitor rated at 68v. Should it be allright? (I'll ask Methods before doing it with the 15 cells LiPo)

I was gonna order a 9c kit today but have no time. I probably going do it by tomorrow.

-c

[vanilla ice]

Love the color of this frame btw.. great shade of grey.

[mikeross]

This may be too late, but I was able to get the 7 speed cassette mounted on my 9C/S-750 build. I bought the cassette and a $5 spacer washer from Ebikes.ca. The 7 speed is nice because it has the very small 11 tooth gear, which will allow you to pedal at higher speeds. Here is a photo of the way it works out - you need to spread the rear frame about 1/8th of an inch - it is really just a very snug fit.

[johnrobholmes]

Boy that did turn out clean! Great job!

[StudEbiker]

Thanks John. It was definitely a labor of love on this one. Looking forward to some warmer weather to really put some miles on it.

[tritonwow]

Very good looking bike. I bought a red and a gray frame with the intent to sell the gray one. I put it up for sale but really haven't pursued it and a build like yours re-affirms I need to keep it.

[mikeross]

Hey, Stud: Got a couple questions for you - is that a 20 amp or 35 amp controller you have? How's the performance - are you happy with it? I've got the 20 amp and it is kind of slow on acceleration, although top end is about 24 mph, which is fine with me.... Second question: Did you tighten up your spokes any from the way they came? Mine are kind of loose and make a weird noise like the spokes are flexing when I'm riding (I weigh 225, so yeah, with me, rear motor, rear battery it's got a good load on it ).

Sorry about messing up your thread with that huge picture of the cassette - I'll fix that.

What are your next planned *improvements*??

Mike

[studes4ever]

Hey, Stud: Got a couple questions for you - is that a 20 amp or 35 amp controller you have? How's the performance - are you happy with it? I've got the 20 amp and it is kind of slow on acceleration, although top end is about 24 mph, which is fine with me.... Second question: Did you tighten up your spokes any from the way they came? Mine are kind of loose and make a weird noise like the spokes are flexing when I'm riding (I weigh 225, so yeah, with me, rear motor, rear battery it's got a good load on it ).

Sorry about messing up your thread with that huge picture of the cassette - I'll fix that.

What are your next planned *improvements*??

Mike

It is a programmable Infineon that is currently set to 22 amps. I have the stuff I need to program it, but I just haven't done it yet. If I opened it up at all I probably wouldn't go past 30-32 amps to stay within the limitations of the Headway BMS. I am pretty happy with it. I really like how smooth it is. Top end has gone down considerably from the Aotema front drive I was using, but everything else really makes up for it. Did I tighten the spokes.......uh yeah, many times. I wanted to have matching front and rear wheels so I unlaced the motor from the wheel it originally came in (which came to me out of round, out of true, and out of dish, but hey it was free so that kinda made up for it!) Since I have been riding the bike I have tightened them up once and now they seem to be holding pretty good, but I still don't have very many miles on it. Don't really have anymore improvements planned for this bike. I need to get a light for it sometime soon, probably a MagicShine. And I would love to figure out a locking case I could put on it somewhere. I don't like having my lock and cable in my messenger bag when I ride I would just rather have it with the bike. I bought a standard metal tackle box that I thought I could make work, but there is not enough room for it because the seat is too low. Now I am thinking about some ammo cans mounted pannier style on the rear rack, but I am concerned about even more weight on the back. Right now it still feels pretty balanced, but.......

[mikeross]

Did I tighten the spokes.......uh yeah, many times.

Haha LOL - OK, thanks - well *spoke*n. Hope you can get out there soon and put some miles on your nice ebike now - you earned it!
Mike

[mwkeefer]

Bro - 2 things;

1.) If the BMS you are referring to is the one in your thread, it's using P75NF75 (same fets as in Infineon 9FET) and that PCB looks to be able to handle 2 more FETs onboard... check the traces to affirm they are all parallel working as switches between pack ground and pack ground output.. If they are parallel, send me a PM with your addr and I'll send you about 8 of em to tack in and play with... may need to beef up the shunt but you can bypass that 35A limit without fear = )_

2.) Post a pic of the tidalforce on the "Stealth Roast" thread... I never did get one of those frames, still want to try... Grey if I can find it... just in general a sweet frame.

-Mike

[StudEbiker]

I did a search for "stealth roast", but nothing cam up....have a link?

Found a couple of more pictures I've taken and have posted elsewhere on the forum, but I thought I should put them here too. I really enjoy this bike so much. Now if it would just stop raining!!

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[StudEbiker]

I've been dealing with a kickstand that is a little too short on this bike for awhile. I think it is a combination of taller tires and more weight on the back than TidalForces originally had that causes the problem. I came up with this quick and easy, down and dirty fix for he problem. Took me about ten minutes to do and the bike is much more stable on the kickstand now.

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[StudEbiker]

One of the last things that I've been wanting to add to this bike was some lights. Finally purchased one of the 900 lumen SpiderFire lights from DX and started setting it all up with one of Lyen's DC-DC converters.

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I used AmberWolf's idea of using two hose clamps to mount the light to the handlebars and it works brilliantly! The switch to the left of the light powers on the light which I find much easier to deal with than trying to mash the clicky, especially with winter gloves on. I put the converter in a small project box and housed it in the trunk. I am planning on adding a tail light powered from the converter and activated by the switch in the future but my "plan a" proved to be too troublesome some I am "back to the drawing board" on that.

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The light is quite impressive. By itself, it seems as bright as a set of car lights and has a great throw and flood. Many thanks to BigBeam fo the recommendation of the SpiderFire P7 SSC as the best all around light for night biking. I see that DX has a new 900 lumen light available that looks interesting, but this light is all I could need at the speeds I ride at. There are more over the handlebar beam shots on the internet than you can shake a stick at and mine is nothing special, but he 'ya go:

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Except for the tail light TBD, the bike is really finished. Of course now I have the LiPo bug. I am wondering if I could fit 10ah of 12s HK LiPo in this Headway case so I can still keep the setup basically the same just get more volts and fewer pounds?

[StudEbiker]

I added a front fender from a trash bike I picked up recently to the rear. Should give the controller lots of protection from the rain and puddles now.

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[StudEbiker]

Well, after getting a rear fender on and seeing the benefits of having one in the rear I started looking at ways of having a front fender. I am trying to increase my efforts in making the bike my primary form of transportation. I am very likely going to go car free in the next month. The rising cost of gas, the general state of the economy, and trying to pay off some educational debt as quickly as possible has convinced me that I NEED to go car free. This week has been rainy but I know that if I am going to go car free I am going to have to ride in the rain sometimes so I pushed through this week. No serious rainstorms but just that medium rate constant drizzle that can sometimes really make things soggy here in southern Oregon. Well, let me tell you, it was not fun! It wasn't the rain so much as catching all the road grime and EXTRA water coming off my front tire. It was clear to me that if I was going to ride regularly in the rain I was going to have to have a front fender.

Well, I am running large Maxxis Holy Rollers and there is just not enough room between the tire and the fork to mount a traditional fender so I started exploring other options. I ran my problem by a friend that works at a bike shop and he suggested trying to place the fender over the fork cross bar. Good idea

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So I started digging through the used fenders at the LBS in hopes of finding an appropriate fender. I found a nice wide steel fender from some cruiser bike that looked like it might fit the bill. 5 bux later I was on my way.

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Of course this was not going to be a PNP situation. Some modifications were going to be needed. Since I was going to be mounting the fender over the cross bar I decided to turn the mounting point on the top of the fender over in hopes that I could still use the standard cross bar screw hole for holding the fender in place at the top.

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It worked. By the way, I replaced those nuts in the picture with lock nuts for the final mount. Then I just had to find a way to mount the stays to a fork that definitely was not intended for a cruiser fender to be mounted to it. I came up with a solution that I think will work. I put a couple of holes on each side, cut some old tube up for a wrap and add some grip, and put some zip ties (zip ties are my duct tape!!) around the fork and through the holes. Eventually I will Dremel off the end of the stays and clean it up some, but I want to make sure this is going to ride solid before I do anything that can't be undone. I think it actually looks really good and should keep the grime of my face and out of my eyes which is the main point anyway.

[Rassy]

The front fender looks good. Is it going to get mangled if you hit a big bump?