Extra wide bottom brackets for battery box clearance

auraslip · Mar 15, 2011

%@#%$%Y^*#@#@#%@#$*(%$Y^*# :evil:

WANNA SEE A PISSED MOTHE@$%(@%^@$%^@

HOW THE HELL DID I F THAT UP SO HARD
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Any way.....

Look what I found - 165mm long spindle

Hopefully the BB it works with is 68mm

I really wish I found this before this build as well as the last. It's gonna free up like 2-3" for batteries!

EDIT: The chopperus BB is for extra wide 120mm BBs. It will not work for standard 68mm BBs.

TRY: http://www.sickbikeparts.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=102&osCsid=8cpeh9ln0c673j4043l4ero0s4

neptronix · Mar 15, 2011

I talked to bike stores about this idea since i was in the same predicament. They said that chain angle is going to be a problem :|. IE more wear on the chain, the higher tooth gears may not engage correctly anymore.
I also find that narrow cranks are very easy to pedal, seems like the more bow legged you are, the less affective your pedaling is.

Just wanted to throw that out there.

dogman dan · Mar 16, 2011

So who uses the higher tooth gears anyway?

Shorter crank might help out, if you have 175 on there now. Also you might be able to find a crank with more outward bend on the arm.

Is it possible to make that box one row of batts shorter in that corner? Put a 45 degree cut out in that corner? You are sooo close to fitting it won't take that much. You can easily pedal with your feet further out on the pedals once the crank clears the box.

texaspyro · Mar 16, 2011

auraslip said:
HOW THE HELL DID I F THAT UP SO HARD

Practice? Rectal cranial inversion? Beer? Viagra? Global warming? Charlie Sheen? Those are a few of my usual causes...

JimB · Mar 16, 2011

A combination of the aforementioned shorter crankarms to get clearance under the battery box , and a pair of pedal extenders to move the pedals outward should do the trick. I measured the Knee-Savers brand, and they would give an extra 18mm of clearance on each side.
If you can live with a single chainring on the front, a lot of BMX cranks are short by comparison to road cranks, and a lot of brands have an angle away from the mounting point. The need for a lot of gears with ebikes is overrated. We have a road triple on our recumbent tandem coupled with a five speed freewheel, but we almost never go off the big ring using the pedelec, even starting from a dead stop. We only have the low gears in case we lose power for some reason and have to pedal home without the hubmotor.
If you plan to use a front derailleur with that wide bottom bracket, keep in mind that your front derailleur may not have that much travel.
Jim

The Mighty Volt · Mar 16, 2011

I went through this whole mess from top to bottom. I got more bottom-brackets than I know what to do with.

The simplest solution is to build a High Ah battery {15 and up} and put a small freewheel on the rear-hub, and a large single-speed on the existing BB. Then shorten the cranks.

This way you have a decent drive ratio which allows you to pedal and get home out of emergencies.

While I am a fan of this build and am attempting one myself, I have firmly reached the conclusion that the only answer to any of these issues is a LiFePo4 battery in a rucksack.

wineboyrider · Mar 16, 2011

Cyclone and Sick Bikes has the wide bottom bracket spindles that throw the pedals out to the left and right. But, mine are the old fashioned grease kind and not the new fangled one piece casette. Pretty common for mid drive setups where the motor is almost as wide as your battery box.....? 8)
http://www.sickbikeparts.com/catalo...ucts_id=102&osCsid=8cpeh9ln0c673j4043l4ero0s4

jimw1960 · Mar 16, 2011

That's weird. Your cranks are straight. I just looked at the cranks on all of my bikes and they all have an outward curve that increases the spread between them. Instead of buying shorter cranks or reinventing the bottom bracket, I would do like dogman suggests and look into getting some "normal" cranks that have the outward sweep. Here is an example of what I'm talking about: http://www.nashbar.com/bikes/Product_10053_10052_519056_-1___

Notice how the crankarms are curved? That buys you about an extra inch.

auraslip · Mar 16, 2011

[quotep]put a 45 degree cut out in that corner? You are sooo close to fitting it won't take that much.[/quote]
so smart.

That's weird. Your cranks are straight.

This is a vintage 52th crank set I got from my local bike co-op. Really pretty chrome. The big chainring rubs on the chainstay..... if I wanna use a these or a big chain ring I have to change the bb. I should change it anyways....it's like 15 years old and crunchy.

Cyclone and Sick Bikes has the wide bottom bracket spindles that throw the pedals out to the left and right. But, mine are the old fashioned grease kind and not the new fangled one piece casette. Pretty common for mid drive setups where the motor is almost as wide as your battery box.....? 8)
http://www.sickbikeparts.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=102&osCsid=8cpeh9ln0c673j4043l4ero0s4

THANK YOU. 135mm hopefully will not cause any chain angle issues. I just e-mailed them to confirm it's for 68mm BBs. I looked at the cyclone extra long spindle, and it seemed that it was longer on one side than the other to compensate for the motor.

The chopperus BB is for 120mm extra wide BBs. it will not work on standards bikes.

auraslip wrote:HOW THE HELL DID I F THAT UP SO HARD

Practice? Rectal cranial inversion? Beer? Viagra? Global warming? Charlie Sheen? Those are a few of my usual causes...

I'ma blame beer, but secretly was probably more not getting a good trace of the frame due to it not being level. Gotta hold the paper up underneath it next time.

auraslip · Mar 16, 2011

offset 153mm bb from sick parts.

Not offset, but gonna cause some chain angle issues probably.

just right.

auraslip · Mar 23, 2011

Finally got these installed. The drive sized crank now clears the box, but the non-drive side not so much. I managed to make it work by removing the metal bracket... thank god for that!

It's weird how it doesn't seem to be any longer on the non-drive side though..... oh well.... Definitely going to try the 200mm one on future builds, and hopefully I can find a way to deal with the chain line issues.

dogman dan · Mar 24, 2011

Surely you can find a crank arm for the left side with more outward bend in it.

Thud · Mar 24, 2011

As "fugley" as it gets:
http://www.bikeberry.com/accessories_cranks.html
:twisted:

wineboyrider · Mar 24, 2011

On my cyclone bottom bracket it is adjustable because it is the old fashioned bearing type. They don't last as long and take a little maintenance, but sometimes old school is better. I got a friend who used to own a bicycle shop and he does all my maintenance for wine. 8) 8) 8) 8) 8)

The Stig · May 30, 2013

I have the same problem as the original poster. I will need about 153-170mm wide BB that is non-offset so that my conventional cranks clear the battery boxes. sickbikeparts.com have a non-offset, 203mm wide BB, but that seems too wide, I figure it will make pedalling uncomfortable and the pedals will be more likely to hit the ground when cornering hard.

Does anyone know of a source for such a BB?
(153-170mm wide, non-offset)

wineboyrider · May 31, 2013

The Stig said:
I have the same problem as the original poster. I will need about 153-170mm wide BB that is non-offset so that my conventional cranks clear the battery boxes. sickbikeparts.com have a non-offset, 203mm wide BB, but that seems too wide, I figure it will make pedalling uncomfortable and the pedals will be more likely to hit the ground when cornering hard.

Does anyone know of a source for such a BB?
(153-170mm wide, non-offset)

Maybe try Pirate cycles or staton inc...?

Kingfish · May 31, 2013

Phil Wood & co.

They made my custom BB which allowed me to mate a Campy chainring to my F/S DH MtB frame.

To me - it's beautiful workmanship, and their support staff is great! 8)

Best o' luck. KF

knighty · Jun 1, 2013

I'm about to build my own frame... it's going to be about 15cm wide to fit all the batteries in...

can anyone give me some advice on what I need for the pedals ? there's so many different options, and most of them don't mean much to me

I thought I'd be able to fine something wide (or easy to extend) that I'd be able to fit into some round tube... which would make it nice and easy... but I can't find anything... most of the stuff I've looked at makes it look like the inside of the round tube needs to be threaded... I've got die's that big, but no tamps that big... so not a lot of choices!

The Stig · Jun 21, 2013

knighty said:
I'm about to build my own frame... it's going to be about 15cm wide to fit all the batteries in...

can anyone give me some advice on what I need for the pedals ? there's so many different options, and most of them don't mean much to me

I thought I'd be able to fine something wide (or easy to extend) that I'd be able to fit into some round tube... which would make it nice and easy... but I can't find anything... most of the stuff I've looked at makes it look like the inside of the round tube needs to be threaded... I've got die's that big, but no tamps that big... so not a lot of choices!

By wide pedals do you mean wide cranks?

What are you talking about with the round tubes? Tamps?

I'm thinking of buying this Bottom Bracket (in a wide crank kit)... but I don't know where I would find bearings to fit it to my frame. The bearing cups are way to big to fit in my frame. (probably bearings too)
http://www.bikeberry.com/bicycles/accessories/cranks-pedals/wide-crank-assembly.html

Anyone know a good shop that might have the parts, or that could advise me?

jateureka · Jun 21, 2013

A lot of those motorised bicycle places sell the wide cranks, some are a bit nicer than others. http://www.piratecycles1.com/widecrankset.html

http://www.choppersus.com/store/category/6/32/Bottom-Brackets/

The other place to look for wide bottom brackets is the e-bike shops that have been in business for a few years - they may have some old stock from when they were selling bikes with SLA batteries as these tended to have wide cranks or BB's or both.

The Stig · Jun 21, 2013

Not sure which ebike businesses have been around for a while but those two links you provided are sources i will definitely look into.

Another idea is one given to me by the guy at sickbikeparts. He said some people have disassembled the 153mm bb cartridge in order to center it. I have no idea what that would entail though.

jateureka · Jun 22, 2013

Regarding e-bike businesses that have been around a while, in Australia I emailed a few a while back and got replies from Glow Worm Bicycles and Electric Vehicles Pty Ltd.

Most of the current e-bikes that have the battery running behind the seat tube use a wider than standard BB, and most are now a sealed cartridge type. For instance, the FreeGo Hawk uses a 140mm wide axle but has an 83mm BB shell, so probably only good for those with mountain bike frames. You can buy that BB as a spare part from the UK seller, FGEC-MBC035, Bottom Bracket, £14.99 http://freegoelectricbikes.com/electric-bikes/parts/hawk-parts

Another option is Cyclone ISIS BB with a 148mm axle http://www.cyclone-tw.com/order-chainwheel.htm

If you have steel cranks then you could possible cut another set of steel cranks up and weld them to yours to make them wider, like these ones, which were fitted on early SLA battery types a few years ago.

The Stig · Jun 23, 2013

Hmm the cyclone BB looks like its asymetrical. I dont know how I would center it.... Then it might work with some extra wide cranks because my battery box will have a total effective width of 189mm... Thats what the cranks have to clear

It must pretty uncomfortable pedalling when the pedals are 200mm apart...

Chalo · Jun 23, 2013

Do not ruin your bike in a misguided attempt to enhance it! The cranks are located where they are for a reason, as neptronix points out.

Make your electric kit parts work around the physical constraints of a properly functioning bicycle. Because an effed-up bike with electric propulsion is an effed-up e-bike, isn't it? Yes it is.

The Stig · Jun 24, 2013

Yeah I definately want to keep it pedalable. One of my bikes has a 150mm bb and that works fine...

Now if I could just find a SYMetrical 150mm BB, or 130mm BB with wide cranks.

Extra wide bottom brackets for battery box clearance

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