cal3thousand
10 MW
Although this is far from my first build, it is the first time I will be logging progress as I go along. Usually, I keep notes in Evernote that never make the light of day. There aren't enough cargo bikes on this site, so I thought it would be nice to have some more content up.
Frame:
I was lucky enough to be on ES' Facebook page chatting with some guys when I saw a post about an Edgerunner frame and fork for sale. I had previous plans for building one of these that fell through due to budgetary concerns and other builds taking priority. So when this one popped up, I pulled the trigger fast. It was a good price for a very cool item, so I had to bite. (Sorry SamD). In case you're wondering, I paid $300 for a Mocha-colored Edgerunner frame with P-racks (aka Pannier or Adventure Racks) and Whatchamacollars (Xtracycle's waterproof clamps for the racks). The seller was located less than an hour away, so I made the drive and loaded the frame in the back of my wagon.
Living in an apartment has it's own challenges and building an electric cargo bike just compounds those. For a couple weeks, I left the frame at my Father's house while I drafted up the parts list for the build and started to amass the pieces. This gave me much needed space and time to deal with all the various parts of an electric bike as well as the necessary "cargo" bits.
Xtracycle Parts:
Xtracycle parts are not readily available at your local bicycle shop, but some shops do carry stock and others will order items from Xtracycle for you. In Los Angeles, your choices are fairly narrow for Xtracycle dealers. One cool shop, Santa Monica Bike Center, was close enough to me so I stopped in for a minute. They are a bit unorganized in their Xtracycle offerings, but they were friendly and encouraging. This is one of the coolest shops around in Southern California. They offer free bike valet to 2 hours, showers and lockups for members, repairs, rentals and a bunch more.
I ended up buying:
1 Set of U-Tubes - $100 - Bars with a truss design for use as foot rests or cargo platforms or bike trailer
1 Hooptie Kit - $150 - This consists of 2 U-Tubes and 2 mounts that hold the bars to your deck
4 Superhooks - $25 - You get 4 hooks in a set for $25, they hold the deck to the bars.
not my photo, but this is how the Hooptie looks coming out of the box:
I will make my own "flightdeck" out of HDPE sheets and a router. More on this later.
Wheels:
I personally prefer to ride on handbuilt wheels as they are much more robust than mass produced wheels. The Edgerunner takes a 20" wheel in the back and a 26" wheel in the front. With such a small wheel in the back taking most of the cargo load, I wanted to make sure it was reasonably strong. I also wanted to have easier, less clunky shifting for my middrive, so I decided on a SRAM G8 Internally geared hub in the rear with a middrive motor. A MAC motor in the hub could have been a good alternative, but it might not be able to handle the heavy loads while also giving me a good top speed when unloaded. It would also require lacing the wheel radially, which I prefer to avoid. I decided on using Sapim 14g/15g double butted SS spokes with Alex DX 32 rims with a 3X in front and a 2X in the rear.
I used a new spoke calculator that was able to give me different numbers for outbound vs. inbound spokes and also have me different left/right measurements for dishing. I'm not sure how I like the calculator as it gave me calculations that were about 1.5mm too long. After lacing the rear wheel and tightening it, I noticed that 1/4 of the them are too long. I will most likely take a dremel to the ends to make sure they don't interfere with the tubes. The front wheel will be built when I get some quiet time in front of the TV. We're in desperate need of water here in California, so I am looking forward to a rainy day where I can just lace wheels. Sunny days, I have to put time into things that need to be done outdoors.
Motor / Drive:
I had a MAC 7T that was half disassembled already, so I decided to use it for conversion to middrive using Crossbreak's Dual Jackshaft technique. He basically figured out a way to get double continuous output on a geared hubmotor used as a middrive. (He's a genius, I'm convinced) The conversion requires some special pieces to be made and much planning for all of the gearing and ratios to work right. As of now, I just ordered a sprocket adapter from him that cost me around $50. He's in Germany, so it will take about a week before I get it. In the meantime, I have lots of other work to get to with the frame and motor preparation.
This setup will allow me to go as fast as 32mph while having the gearing to tackle hills with a full load of cargo.
With so much room in the frame, it is a bit difficult to nail down a location for the motor and batteries. I will continue to do some research to find out what works best for me.
Crank/BB:
I recently bought an FSA Metropolis Patterson Transmission for my fast DH bike so I can pedal at speed. As luck would have it, my Edgerunner build needs a 44T crank and that's what is coming off of the DH bike.
Handlebars:
I have a commuter bike with a Electra Cafe cruiser bars that are VERY comfortable for upright positions, so I am planning on using them. A new one only costs $25, so I might just buy a new one. But I have found Handlebars that would be awesome for this build. The Jones Loop H-Bar costs $120 in Aluminum, but has a great shape for ebikes. It has a looped section for different hand positions as well as accessories (ebikes love accessories!). I will have to think about this one.
For grips, I opted for a set of Ergon Gp1 Comfort Grips that are designed to fit with twist shifters. And although I don't necessarily plan on using twist shifters, the grips should work very well with half-twist throttles.
Brakes:
I have not settled on a final plan for brakes yet, but they will most likely be a set of hydraulic brakes with 203mm discs. I have Shimano Zee's on my DH bike and they work REALLY well, so I will consider those first. More to follow on this subject.
Seat/Saddle:
I will be transferring the Suntour NCX suspension seatpost on my commuter bike over to this cargo bike since it is a hard tail.
Fork:
The bike came with a very solid front fork with disc brake tabs that I will use at first. I plan to pair it with a 26" Schwalbe Big Apple tire for some suspension effects. I will also explore moving the RockShox XC 32 TK from my commuter bike as well, but only if the geometry changes don't greatly affect handling. In either case, suspension seatpost and a balloon tire should help smooth out the bumps.
More to come... stay tuned!
Frame:
I was lucky enough to be on ES' Facebook page chatting with some guys when I saw a post about an Edgerunner frame and fork for sale. I had previous plans for building one of these that fell through due to budgetary concerns and other builds taking priority. So when this one popped up, I pulled the trigger fast. It was a good price for a very cool item, so I had to bite. (Sorry SamD). In case you're wondering, I paid $300 for a Mocha-colored Edgerunner frame with P-racks (aka Pannier or Adventure Racks) and Whatchamacollars (Xtracycle's waterproof clamps for the racks). The seller was located less than an hour away, so I made the drive and loaded the frame in the back of my wagon.
Living in an apartment has it's own challenges and building an electric cargo bike just compounds those. For a couple weeks, I left the frame at my Father's house while I drafted up the parts list for the build and started to amass the pieces. This gave me much needed space and time to deal with all the various parts of an electric bike as well as the necessary "cargo" bits.
Xtracycle Parts:
Xtracycle parts are not readily available at your local bicycle shop, but some shops do carry stock and others will order items from Xtracycle for you. In Los Angeles, your choices are fairly narrow for Xtracycle dealers. One cool shop, Santa Monica Bike Center, was close enough to me so I stopped in for a minute. They are a bit unorganized in their Xtracycle offerings, but they were friendly and encouraging. This is one of the coolest shops around in Southern California. They offer free bike valet to 2 hours, showers and lockups for members, repairs, rentals and a bunch more.
I ended up buying:
1 Set of U-Tubes - $100 - Bars with a truss design for use as foot rests or cargo platforms or bike trailer
1 Hooptie Kit - $150 - This consists of 2 U-Tubes and 2 mounts that hold the bars to your deck
4 Superhooks - $25 - You get 4 hooks in a set for $25, they hold the deck to the bars.
not my photo, but this is how the Hooptie looks coming out of the box:
I will make my own "flightdeck" out of HDPE sheets and a router. More on this later.
Wheels:
I personally prefer to ride on handbuilt wheels as they are much more robust than mass produced wheels. The Edgerunner takes a 20" wheel in the back and a 26" wheel in the front. With such a small wheel in the back taking most of the cargo load, I wanted to make sure it was reasonably strong. I also wanted to have easier, less clunky shifting for my middrive, so I decided on a SRAM G8 Internally geared hub in the rear with a middrive motor. A MAC motor in the hub could have been a good alternative, but it might not be able to handle the heavy loads while also giving me a good top speed when unloaded. It would also require lacing the wheel radially, which I prefer to avoid. I decided on using Sapim 14g/15g double butted SS spokes with Alex DX 32 rims with a 3X in front and a 2X in the rear.
I used a new spoke calculator that was able to give me different numbers for outbound vs. inbound spokes and also have me different left/right measurements for dishing. I'm not sure how I like the calculator as it gave me calculations that were about 1.5mm too long. After lacing the rear wheel and tightening it, I noticed that 1/4 of the them are too long. I will most likely take a dremel to the ends to make sure they don't interfere with the tubes. The front wheel will be built when I get some quiet time in front of the TV. We're in desperate need of water here in California, so I am looking forward to a rainy day where I can just lace wheels. Sunny days, I have to put time into things that need to be done outdoors.
Motor / Drive:
I had a MAC 7T that was half disassembled already, so I decided to use it for conversion to middrive using Crossbreak's Dual Jackshaft technique. He basically figured out a way to get double continuous output on a geared hubmotor used as a middrive. (He's a genius, I'm convinced) The conversion requires some special pieces to be made and much planning for all of the gearing and ratios to work right. As of now, I just ordered a sprocket adapter from him that cost me around $50. He's in Germany, so it will take about a week before I get it. In the meantime, I have lots of other work to get to with the frame and motor preparation.
This setup will allow me to go as fast as 32mph while having the gearing to tackle hills with a full load of cargo.
With so much room in the frame, it is a bit difficult to nail down a location for the motor and batteries. I will continue to do some research to find out what works best for me.
Crank/BB:
I recently bought an FSA Metropolis Patterson Transmission for my fast DH bike so I can pedal at speed. As luck would have it, my Edgerunner build needs a 44T crank and that's what is coming off of the DH bike.
Handlebars:
I have a commuter bike with a Electra Cafe cruiser bars that are VERY comfortable for upright positions, so I am planning on using them. A new one only costs $25, so I might just buy a new one. But I have found Handlebars that would be awesome for this build. The Jones Loop H-Bar costs $120 in Aluminum, but has a great shape for ebikes. It has a looped section for different hand positions as well as accessories (ebikes love accessories!). I will have to think about this one.
For grips, I opted for a set of Ergon Gp1 Comfort Grips that are designed to fit with twist shifters. And although I don't necessarily plan on using twist shifters, the grips should work very well with half-twist throttles.
Brakes:
I have not settled on a final plan for brakes yet, but they will most likely be a set of hydraulic brakes with 203mm discs. I have Shimano Zee's on my DH bike and they work REALLY well, so I will consider those first. More to follow on this subject.
Seat/Saddle:
I will be transferring the Suntour NCX suspension seatpost on my commuter bike over to this cargo bike since it is a hard tail.
Fork:
The bike came with a very solid front fork with disc brake tabs that I will use at first. I plan to pair it with a 26" Schwalbe Big Apple tire for some suspension effects. I will also explore moving the RockShox XC 32 TK from my commuter bike as well, but only if the geometry changes don't greatly affect handling. In either case, suspension seatpost and a balloon tire should help smooth out the bumps.
More to come... stay tuned!
