MAC beach cruiser, through the eyes of a n00b

Joined
Apr 30, 2011
Messages
410
Location
Bradford, UK
Anyone who follows the ES facebook group will already be familar with my latest build, the Schwinn Panther beach cruiser. This is going to be the build thread about how I got to this stage, here she is as of today on her first "shake down" a nice 12 mile round trip too and from work...

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Before I start the build thread a little background on my adventure with eBikes, I started about a year ago with a 500W 36V conhismotor kit off eBay I picked up for just shy of £200 delivered, by far the cheapest option around, I got a 36V 15ah LiFePo4 pack which looked like a V Power pack, made of tons of little cylindrical cells held together with a tonne of duct tape and hot melt glue, anyway I'm getting off track, that 15mph front wheel DD motor got me hooked and before long I bought a 750W rear motor kit, a conhismotor from another eBay vendor, 25mph top speed, the kit arrived in great condition and served me really well, It had low quality components with it's hair thin phase wires and cheap connectors but in retrospect some parts of it were in fact better than more expensive kits, the controller was waterproofed for one thing, later in this thread you will see me make comparisons on this new build to the cheap eBay stuff so you can see how more pricey recommended kit people on here recommend stacks up against the cheap stuff everyone tells you to avoid.

Here is the kit list of the parts in this build

2012 Schwinn Panther - alloy frame, front and rear V brakes, Shimano Tourney Derailer
MAC 500W 10T rear motor
Cell_man 12 fet controller
48V 15AH custom shape Ping battery
12S 6P LiPo battery in custom box for 44V 30AH

Roughly 2KWH of battery on board and it cruises along on 600W on the flat...


Parts from:

Cell_man - motor and controller
Lyen - DCDC converter for 1500lm headlight, torque arm
Icecube - The mother of all harnesses
Falcon EV - framebag
Ping - Battery
All Terrain Cycles - Bike frame
wiggle.co.uk - 2x Hookworm tires with 2.5" inntertubes
ebikes.ca - Large screen CA
Hobbyking - All the Lipo and associated hardware



That's all for tonight it's getting late, but I have over 20 images saved to go with the thread. I'll start uploading them tomorrow and start documenting my findings of the good the bad and the dam right ugly, stay tuned
 
I WILL update this later today comparing the MAC to cheap DD hubs and the X5 hubs, also got some interesting findings comparing super cheap LiFePo4 packs to Pings and pings to LiPo, here are a few snaps in the meantime...

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44V 10AH Lipo
48V 15AH LiFePo4

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Nice. Frame looks tough. Is that a built in cupholder ??
 
It's a very tough frame, long wheelbase too, I can fit a hell of a lot of battery in that frame triangle. Also, yes that is indeed a cup holder, fits my thermos mug of coffee perfectly making the winter commutes almost civilised. Did some load tests earlier going up the side of a very big hill until I was above the cloud layer, motor didn't even get warm.

...more details to come

 
That IS a nice frame! Love the cupholder. Some beaches, a beer would go there just dandy. VERY well planned bike.
 
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I WILL get round to doing more writing up, I'm just enjoying riding this bike too much to write up about it just now. Just did 30 miles of Bronte country in Yorkshire.
 
Nice job! I'm fond of cruisers and that's a good looking and practical one...
 
Thanks, this is build 4 now. Each build has been getting a little more refined, I've done most things by trial and error, but for this build I used the wisdom of the forum here to source the most highly recommended components and it's paid off. I wanted it to look really clean and professional, everyone I've spoken to so far have thought it was an off the shelf electric bike, that is until they saw me leave 8)

I'm sure this won't be the last build I do but I'm sure I will stick with this for a long time, the frame is lighter than my old mountain bike and feels like it will take some serious abuse, plus 3 hours in the saddle and I'm still feeling fresh.
 
Riding through thick fog over the moors

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anyone know where I can get a good old fashioned chrome "bullet" headlight for the front that I could retrofit with a super bright LED? Wouldn't know where to start looking
 
nonlineartom said:
anyone know where I can get a good old fashioned chrome "bullet" headlight for the front that I could retrofit with a super bright LED? Wouldn't know where to start looking

http://www.chubbyscruisers.com/shop/category/bicycle-lights

Cruiser bicycle suppliers. Lot of em in Southern California.

PS - nice camera work too! Those are brochure worthy IMO...
 
perfect, thanks for that, just what I was after, and thanks for the compliment on the photos, all just phone snaps, plan to do a proper shoot and some videos next week to put up
 
Nice photos and nice bike. I normally don't care for cruisers, this one looks cool.
 
Ditto. Job well done, eH?
 
The Falcon EV bag has torn and it's just too small for this frame triangle, plus it uglys up the smooth lines of the frame. So I've decided to make something equally as ugly myself. 12mm ply base and back and 3mm ply sides and top. Oak edging to strengthen it a bit. Woodscrews, no more nails and evostick to hold it all together. Fits 10 packs of 6s 5000mah and a 12 fet controller with room to spare. 105mm at it's widest to allow pedal clearance. The side is hinged and latched with magnetic cabinet latches for a seamless appearance. thinking of using black woodstain or possibly oak woodstain, open to suggestions.


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haha sure thing man, I occasionally ride to leeds along the leeds-liverpool canal as it's 11 miles of perfectly flat tow path. Plus there is an eBike charging station in Leeds by the train station believe it or not.
 
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