Ahoy, I've been reading here for about a year... thanks to all of you who've posted so much info to make this build easier. Most of what I'm doing is a result of ideas I got from you folks. Posting this build to pitch in to all the info and, of course, to receive suggestions.
I have an old bike that I built about 20 years ago and since have given it away 3 times and it keeps getting returned to me every few years. I got it back again a couple months ago and I think it is a prime candidate for an E build.
It's a 26" Santacruz Heckler from about 1998. Full suspension, which is quite nice. It's a little small for me but for easy cruising with the seat low it is pretty comfortable. For technical riding (high seat) that requires a lot of pedal torque it's not the most comfortable... but having Epower should fix that. Otherwise it checks a lot of boxes for a nice build.
The bike was originally assembled with really nice and interesting components, mostly Shimano XTR, that all still work. I'd have liked to have larger wheels but that's not going to happen with this bike so I'm going to just lean into the smaller wheels and even go so far as to make the rear a 24". So 26"/24" mullet. 24" wheel will be a little stronger, I might get a little better torque with the 24", and with the 26" wheel on the rear, I can't put a fatter tire on the rear because the seat stays are too close together, so with the 24" wheel on the rear I can put a fatter tire between the seat stays. 24"x2.3 Maxxis Minion DHR II. It already has a 26" Maxxis Holyroller on the front. This bike was built when a 2.1" tire was considered fat on an mtb.
So prepping the bike... So far I upgraded the front brake from a 160mm rotor to 180mm. I added a PNW dropper post yesterday... I can't live without a dropper anymore on any bike. And I've rerouted a couple cables to stay out of the way of the battery. I'm going to have to fab up a custom battery tray.
The parts. Grintech GMAC8T, Phaserunner, and Cycleanalyst, Erider torque sensing bottom bracket, and Luna has the 52v14ah Battery I want. I haven't ordered any of it yet. Waiting on some email responses and the battery is out of stock right now.
In list format...
Grintech:
GMAC8T
Phaserunner
Cycleanalyst
Erider torque sensing bottom bracket/165mm crank arms. It has 180mm crank arms on it now... way too long for a cramped cockpit.
Luna:
52v14ah battery
A couple things that I think will make this build fun and unique...
1. It's full suspension!!! Before I got this bike back, I had a really hard time identifying a full suspension frame that would work. Very hard to find. And bam... this bike comes back to me, FOR FREE, still in good shape and the front triangle will accommodate hardware.
2. This bike never had a dropper before mostly because it's a 27.2 seat post. But now a couple companies have 27.2 droppers. I chose the PNW Pine 27.2. It's nice. And to top it off, I'm going to run the drive train as a 1x9 so I can use the left shifter to actuate the dropper eliminating one more thing off the bars. A full suspension Ebike with a dropper... nice.
3. Hopefully the pics will post... because it has these really cool old XTR shifters that have a multifunction brake lever that moves in three directions so can pull back for the brake, of course, and push down or up to shift. one lever!... so nice. anyway, the left one will actuate the seat post. The right shifter will remain on the rear derailleur. This means I'll only have 4 things on the handle bars... Left shifter that is a brake and seat post combo, power/multifunction button next to the left brake/seatpost lever, cycleanalyst in the middle, and the right shifter/brake combo at the other end. Not sure If I'm going to add a throttle. I think I'd like the bike to be class 1. With no throttle, that's everything on the handlebars in 4 mounting points. 5 points if I add a throttle.
4. The 26/24" mullet and a soft suspension set up will slack the bike out a bit. It's an older XC bike with a steep rake. You're really right over the handlebars with the seat up on this thing. Add the dropper and I think slacking the rear will make it more comfortable for the riding I have in mind. Basically, I want it to feel more like a beach cruiser bike like you'd ride on the boardwalk... sitting more upright and easy pedaling... but with mtb goodies... like suspension.
I'm trying to get the bike "ready" to buy the Grin/Luna stuff. Still waiting on a couple cables for the rear derailleur and seat post... I used old cable housings to mock up the cable arrangement. Also waiting on the rear 6 bolt 160mm rotor, the one on the bike is a centerlock. 24" Maxxis Minion. And also waiting on email responses for a couple questions I had for compatibility. I'm 95% sure the parts list is all compatible.
So....... looking forward to this thing. I've been wanting an Ebike for a long time. All the ones I like are crazy expensive. I think I can pull off this build for less than half of the cheapest manufactured Ebikes that I've been interested in.
I'm way open to ideas if anyone sees any issues with this build. The theme is easy smooooove cruising with the seat low (most of the time) and the suspension set up soft. No big rocky technical trails... I'd use my analog bike for that.
I have an old bike that I built about 20 years ago and since have given it away 3 times and it keeps getting returned to me every few years. I got it back again a couple months ago and I think it is a prime candidate for an E build.
It's a 26" Santacruz Heckler from about 1998. Full suspension, which is quite nice. It's a little small for me but for easy cruising with the seat low it is pretty comfortable. For technical riding (high seat) that requires a lot of pedal torque it's not the most comfortable... but having Epower should fix that. Otherwise it checks a lot of boxes for a nice build.
The bike was originally assembled with really nice and interesting components, mostly Shimano XTR, that all still work. I'd have liked to have larger wheels but that's not going to happen with this bike so I'm going to just lean into the smaller wheels and even go so far as to make the rear a 24". So 26"/24" mullet. 24" wheel will be a little stronger, I might get a little better torque with the 24", and with the 26" wheel on the rear, I can't put a fatter tire on the rear because the seat stays are too close together, so with the 24" wheel on the rear I can put a fatter tire between the seat stays. 24"x2.3 Maxxis Minion DHR II. It already has a 26" Maxxis Holyroller on the front. This bike was built when a 2.1" tire was considered fat on an mtb.
So prepping the bike... So far I upgraded the front brake from a 160mm rotor to 180mm. I added a PNW dropper post yesterday... I can't live without a dropper anymore on any bike. And I've rerouted a couple cables to stay out of the way of the battery. I'm going to have to fab up a custom battery tray.
The parts. Grintech GMAC8T, Phaserunner, and Cycleanalyst, Erider torque sensing bottom bracket, and Luna has the 52v14ah Battery I want. I haven't ordered any of it yet. Waiting on some email responses and the battery is out of stock right now.
In list format...
Grintech:
GMAC8T
Phaserunner
Cycleanalyst
Erider torque sensing bottom bracket/165mm crank arms. It has 180mm crank arms on it now... way too long for a cramped cockpit.
Luna:
52v14ah battery
A couple things that I think will make this build fun and unique...
1. It's full suspension!!! Before I got this bike back, I had a really hard time identifying a full suspension frame that would work. Very hard to find. And bam... this bike comes back to me, FOR FREE, still in good shape and the front triangle will accommodate hardware.
2. This bike never had a dropper before mostly because it's a 27.2 seat post. But now a couple companies have 27.2 droppers. I chose the PNW Pine 27.2. It's nice. And to top it off, I'm going to run the drive train as a 1x9 so I can use the left shifter to actuate the dropper eliminating one more thing off the bars. A full suspension Ebike with a dropper... nice.
3. Hopefully the pics will post... because it has these really cool old XTR shifters that have a multifunction brake lever that moves in three directions so can pull back for the brake, of course, and push down or up to shift. one lever!... so nice. anyway, the left one will actuate the seat post. The right shifter will remain on the rear derailleur. This means I'll only have 4 things on the handle bars... Left shifter that is a brake and seat post combo, power/multifunction button next to the left brake/seatpost lever, cycleanalyst in the middle, and the right shifter/brake combo at the other end. Not sure If I'm going to add a throttle. I think I'd like the bike to be class 1. With no throttle, that's everything on the handlebars in 4 mounting points. 5 points if I add a throttle.
4. The 26/24" mullet and a soft suspension set up will slack the bike out a bit. It's an older XC bike with a steep rake. You're really right over the handlebars with the seat up on this thing. Add the dropper and I think slacking the rear will make it more comfortable for the riding I have in mind. Basically, I want it to feel more like a beach cruiser bike like you'd ride on the boardwalk... sitting more upright and easy pedaling... but with mtb goodies... like suspension.
I'm trying to get the bike "ready" to buy the Grin/Luna stuff. Still waiting on a couple cables for the rear derailleur and seat post... I used old cable housings to mock up the cable arrangement. Also waiting on the rear 6 bolt 160mm rotor, the one on the bike is a centerlock. 24" Maxxis Minion. And also waiting on email responses for a couple questions I had for compatibility. I'm 95% sure the parts list is all compatible.
So....... looking forward to this thing. I've been wanting an Ebike for a long time. All the ones I like are crazy expensive. I think I can pull off this build for less than half of the cheapest manufactured Ebikes that I've been interested in.
I'm way open to ideas if anyone sees any issues with this build. The theme is easy smooooove cruising with the seat low (most of the time) and the suspension set up soft. No big rocky technical trails... I'd use my analog bike for that.