Specialized Big Hit + Crystalyte HS = :-)

[kudos]

Hey Jimbo,

This is my first post on ES having been a lurker for about 4 months.

Just wanted to say your bike looks awesome, simply the best looking ebike I've seen and something I would really like to emulate.

Like many others I've been lurking here trying to learn enough to be able to make a decision on kit to go for, any more info on your bikes performance and setup would be great,

I live down in Guernsey, where our maximum legal speed limit is 35mph (please don't laugh!) and only 25mph on many roads too. So your 50mph is overkill for me.

I would be very interested to know how the HS motor handles hills. Guernsey is shaped like a wedge of cheese and I'm at the thick end, so every trip is downhill from my house and uphill on the way home. We're only talking an elevation of approx 100metres but hill-climbing ability would be more important to me than top-speed. So mabye the HT would be better for me.

Once again, nice one.

Kudos

[dogman]

You want the ht. Speed winding motors used with less volts and big diameter wheels don't climb as well as slow windings with the same setup. Ht, plus 48v 35 amp controller should be a decent choice, plus a good strong battery as he used. Your battery can be a bit smaller. I was thinking you had an ES guy on your island, but Niel P is from Jersey. Similar problems, but he just went for speed anyway. Might look at his threads.

[sn0wchyld]

Hi all,
.......




....

Stunning mate, just stunning. Love the paint job. What type of paint/colour did you use? that thing must handle beautifully with all the weight that low.

[kudos]

You want the ht. Speed winding motors used with less volts and big diameter wheels don't climb as well as slow windings with the same setup. Ht, plus 48v 35 amp controller should be a decent choice, plus a good strong battery as he used. Your battery can be a bit smaller. I was thinking you had an ES guy on your island, but Niel P is from Jersey. Similar problems, but he just went for speed anyway. Might look at his threads.

Thanks for info dogman, really appreciated.

I didn't know there was another Channel Islander on ES, I will indeed look up his posts. We have the same terrain.

Can someone point me in the direction of where to learn about lipo batteries with regard to ebikes, I don't know what the 's' and 'P' stand for (serial & parallel?), how they are connected and charged etc.

Scratch that - I just found the info in a sticky....

Cheers,
Kudos

[oatnet]

Nice, Clean, elegant build.

How deep are the dropouts on it? I did a build on a similar frame layout (specialized enduro comp 130); while I really like the bike, the dropouts were really short. I'm looking for a similar frame with deeper dropouts for a future project.

-JD

[Ypedal]

if it's a solid axle ( clyte for example.. dont to it with 9C type hollow axles ) you can dremel out the threads and a bit more on top of the axle to make it go deeper into the dropouts !!

[Beavinator]

That's one of the nicest bikes I've seen in a while! Very clean looking! You did an awesome job on this one.

[Spacey]

Nice build Jimbo, have to hit you up for a ride someday

Looks like you won't be up for swapping motors then lol, I 'm thinking of swapping my HS3540 for an HT3540 as I just don't need the top speed but could do with some more torque.

Get some of those torque arms from Doc Bass on this forum, I've got them on my Greyborg. Watch the regen with these motors as the axle is more 'round' than it should be for staying tight in dropouts.

[Jimbo]

A few more piccies i've taken so far.
















So far she is holding up reasonably well, a few niggles needed sorting, nothing horrendous though.

The on / off switch on the controller is really cheap and nasty, add to that the fact that i've put it in probably the worst place for catching crap and it didn't take long to pack up. Now replaced with a nice IP67 jobbie. I've added some ALI plate over the controller as well to protect it from stones and such.

The anderson connectors are proving to be a bit crap - getting harder and harder to connect / disconnect. I want a nice big connector with all the balance leads and everything in so its super easy to charge.....not having much luck finding a connector with 24 pins for balancing + 8 pins in 10 gauge for the power. Maybe i need to sort myself out with a decent bulk charger.

The battery boxes are bolted to a formed aluminium top hat section i poached from the skip at work - aerospace grade 2024....nice. Had to replace the original zip ties with some mac daddy size ones as routing them through the rather sharp holes in the tinwork isnt great, but so far i've hammered it as hard as i can and its been fine. Added some kevlar frame protection so i dont rub the paint as well.

Overtook a mate in his car on the way to work the other day - the look of his face was priceless. Funny thing is im pedaling more and more as well though. Partly to keep the range up which is about 25 pedaling, 15 if i ride it like a motorbike, but also as i kinda enjoy the workout of hacking 32KG of iron around....must be mad.

Top speed so far 54. Down a big hill mind, and the Sat nav said it was actually 51.

Bring the Hoon!

[ohzee]

That is one nice looking bike. I also love the way you have the batteries / controller on her.
Early next year I am going to be upgrading my bike count. Gonna add this model to my list
when shopping. Thanks for the pic any videos of you opening her up ?

[Garrick_s]

VERY nice.
I have looked at the "Big Hits" too but passed due to limited frame space.
I like what you did.
Maybe move the controller to that small opening in the frame? will it fit? (looks like it would)

My questions to you are....
Who laced the rear wheel / hub for you?
What gauge spokes did you use?
What brand/type of rim did you choose?

Did Crystalyte do it all for you?

Good job and good idea wearing MX gear
I know I do.

[kudos]

Jimbo,

Have you had much of a play around with the APM display to limit current/speed etc ? Any good?

Off the back of your build I've ordered the same kit from Crystayte-europe, only I've gone for the 36V/48V Controller for now.

I can see this new hobby could be expensive

Kudos

[nechaus]

Great job.

looks so damm nice, well done, well done!!!

If thats your first ebike build you have put me to shame haha

[kudos]

Jimbo,

Two quick questions about your LiPo setup.

I see you're using 4 x 4500mah 10S1P bricks arranged in a 20S4P configuration (I think! I'm a LiPo noob)

What discharge C rate did you go for?

I see you can get:
25-50C
35-70C
45-90C

Also what charger/balancer do you use?

Cheers,
Kudos

[Jimbo]

Hey all,

Garrick,
Yes i did want to put the controller in the frame, but its just a bit too big, grrrr. I was gonna mount it on the triple crown on the front forks....seemed a bit crap though.
I bought the kit ready to go from Crystalyte. The motor was in the hub, all i did was wack a tyre on it and bolt it into the frame. Even the torque arm just bolted straight on, very easy indeed. The wheel is holding up well so far, no idea of spoke gauge but it seems robust enough.

Kudos,
Yeah you can program the amp draw on the controller - i set it to 10A for a bit just to see what it was like - lame - its been set on the full 50 ever since. I have run the batteries completely flat once, and the display / controller does limit current draw towards the end of the battery life, which is good to know. You can program the voltage cut-off as well - nice if you upgrade batteries.
You are nearly right about the batteries - 4 x 4500AH 10S1P bricks connected up to give 20s2P - 84V at 9AH fully charged. I got the 25-50C discharge rate since i can only pull 50A through the controller = just over 5C for a 9AH pack. didn't seem worth spending the extra on the higher C rating.
I'm using a JP EN.ER.G quad pro charger. It does 4 packs of up to 6S at once, so i charge one 20s1p pack and then the other after. takes about an hour and a half for each 20s1p pack. Not great but it does the job - some decent bulk charging is next on the upgrade list.

Good luck with the build!

[kudos]

Thanks for the info Jimbo, very useful.

Are you using e-brake cut-off levers? (I notice your levers are black and every ebrake I've seen are silver)

I bought some presuming I would need them, but now I'm not sure if everyone uses them.

Upon checking my current MTB I see the brakes and gears are all one unit on either side (shimano 8-speed), I haven't tried taking them off to see if the brake part can be separated from the gear part yet.

After months of trying to learn about ebike kit, I now find I don't really know anything about actual bikes themselves....!

Cheers,
Kudos

[micart671]

G'day from Australia,

Sweet looking machine you have there. Where to put batteries is always the problem with conversions and you have nailed it!
I'm trying to order from Crystalyte and having no luck. The site is painfully slow to load pics and can't locate the cycle analyst.
Does anyone know of an Aussie dealer or has anyone had similar issues with the website?

Any help greatly appreciated.

[hjns]

Hey all,
You are nearly right about the batteries - 4 x 4500AH 10S1P bricks connected up to give 20s2P - 84V at 9AH fully charged. I got the 25-50C discharge rate since i can only pull 50A through the controller = just over 5C for a 9AH pack. didn't seem worth spending the extra on the higher C rating.
I'm using a JP EN.ER.G quad pro charger. It does 4 packs of up to 6S at once, so i charge one 20s1p pack and then the other after. takes about an hour and a half for each 20s1p pack. Not great but it does the job - some decent bulk charging is next on the upgrade list.

Very nice build, Jimbo! I love the placement of your lipos, and will now consider to do a similar thing.

I use the same 10S 4.5Ah packs and have 6 of them, 5 working perfectly, one is a dud (Hobbyking).
For easy bulk charging, I just created a parallel harnass for the main wires for 6 packs (10S6P). Then connected the packs to my Icharger, and with my short commutes, charge them at 7A within an hour. Charging will stop at 4.17V cell level. And every month or so, I balance charge the individual packs at 4.17V, to make sure the individual cells maintain balanced. You may consider a similar setup in order to use your equipment in the most efficient way. Of course a 20S MW solution may cut your charge time in 4.

For lipo balancing connectors I will try D-sub connectors. They come in 25pins versions, which would cover a 20S combo. For the main connectors I use these: