Vector Light Commuter Build

Joined
Jun 15, 2009
Messages
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Location
MA
Got a good price on this ugly gold Vector Light frame so I decided to swap out the genesis bike and make this my street commuter bike if all goes well...We will see how she rides ofc

Edit: I want to add that I like this bike a lot more than I did on my first ride, its dialed in now. it fits me good, wasn't sure at first

Key build components:
$390 shipped Vector Light gold frame 135mm dropout (there is no room for a big hub)
$140 DNM RCP3 burner 650lb 220mm shock
$10 31.6mm black aluminum seat post
$150 random Ebay 48v 1000w rear hub motor ALREADY HAD
$50 6fet em3ev sensored mini controller with regen 3-spd and cruise
$35 cloud9 comfy seat ALREADY HAD
$400 RockShox Sektor front fork 15mm ALREADY HAD
$150 26" downhill front wheel 15mm thru axle with Holy Roller tire and HD tube ALREADY HAD
$150 13s 17ah custom 2c battery w/15a bms

For the battery I think I am going to build a 48v battery out of a bunch of tiny LIPO cells I bought from eyebicycles. Cram as many as I can fit in the frame along with the controller

Most of this stuff is from a previous build or two, I have tons of parts kicking around


Box arrived all banged up pretty fast from the other side of the world
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I got the ugliest color they had! Got a good price on it
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I am already having issues with the swingarm pivot bolt setup seems a bit cheezy, and the shock bushing width is going to be an issue also(this was an issue with FUTR beta also)

Im not sure if its a mistake on design or what? But most shocks all come with the same bushings and sleeves but for some reason every Ebike frame doesn't match this size... either way its not the end of the world, but it is a pain in the ass to spend 45 minutes grinding them 3mm smaller to fit in the frame. Moving on!
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Some paint defect but I do not care at all, I paid sale price for this frame before the sale because of this, and now I do not have to sit around waiting two extra weeks for a frame!
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The inside of the frame is actually neater than the FUTR beta imo, the only thing I don't like is the side panel cover bolts, but they can be trimmed down
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Here is the issue, both washers don't fit inside and if you take them both out there is way to much play...
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How do you assemble your swingarms to your storm light frames?

It comes with a bolt/nut and two washers

you would think the two washers go on the inside but they both do not fit...and if you take them both out there is way too much play?

Where are the washers supposed to be?
 
Had to grind down the bushings on the shock to get them to fit into the frame mounts, I ran into this same issue on the FUTR Beta wasn't a big deal
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I had to move the shock mount, I guessed mid way but then had to move it down to the lowest travel spot since I bought a cheap pogo shock for now
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Got the front end together, used the cheap non sealed headset that came with the bike because the cups didn't want to come out of the frame...oh well
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Slapped the motor on the rear so I could get an idea of the angle
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Here is how it sits for the day, not too bad
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skeetab5780 said:
Got the front end together, used the cheap non sealed headset that came with the bike because the cups didn't want to come out of the frame...oh well
Take a metal tube just small enough diameter to fit inside the race, so it can go down thru one race to reach the other.

Slit the tube lengthwise in quarters, slits same length as the space between races.

Bend the "flaps" you've now made outward till tehy are a bit wider than the headtube.

gently squeeze the flaps till you can get them all inside the top race, then push thru teh tube till the flaps touch the inside of the headtube just above the bottom race, so the edges of the tube sit on the edge of the race.

Block of wood between the top of the tube, and tap with a hammer or mallet until it knocks the race out.

You can take the top race out even easier from the now-open bottom side.


More brute-force is to use a wide flatblade screwdriver with it's tip placed on the edge of teh race the same way, then tap the screwdriver with a hammer as you move the blade around the race's circumference.
 
I was using a pipe thru the bottom to the top cup wailing it with a rubber mallet until the steel body vibration was to much for its own good, cup didn't even budge so I decided to leave them for now. The sealed headset I was planning on putting on it is used anyways

Still trying to figure out how to bolt the swingarm together properly Arthur says he will send a picture soon
 
Got the seat post in the mail and finished bolting all that stuff together. Im not sure yet since I have not sat on the bike yet, but I feel like the handlebars are too low.

not sure yet just something seems off
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From the pics it looks like the location of the seatpost is too close to the handlebars.
 
I was just about to buy this frame. I think Artur was selling it cheap because no one would buy it because of it's colour.

I held off and he ended up having a 25% off sale of all frames so got a new frame of my chose of colour for US$300. It's due to be delivered in a few weeks.

It's good to see a few Vector Light bikes being built. Hopefully you guys can solutions to the problems before I encounter them.

How did you go with the swingarm washers?
 
Hi I was just looking at your build I see you have I standard nut on your swing arm I would advise you to use thread lock or nylon nut as It my shake free and does your swing arm have I lip on it on the inside to hold the bearing or is it flat ?

if it's flat you need a small washer to hold the inside of the bearing to allow it to move
if it has I lip on the inside ( like the picture )put the washers on the out side
hope this helps you
all the best with your build
 
shorza said:
I was just about to buy this frame. I think Artur was selling it cheap because no one would buy it because of it's colour.

I held off and he ended up having a 25% off sale of all frames so got a new frame of my chose of colour for US$300. It's due to be delivered in a few weeks.

It's good to see a few Vector Light bikes being built. Hopefully you guys can solutions to the problems before I encounter them.

How did you go with the swingarm washers?

Ya I paid $300 also, this frame is so cheap its not even funny. But we are coming to find out it may be a tad small and they don't even send you the correct hardware!

This ugly ass color is actually growing on me tbh


I think I am going to go to the hardware store and pickup two thinner stainless steel washers and fit them inside the frame since the two zinc washers included will not fit even with bending the metal apart.
 
Was able to get a little work in and got the rear brakes working! I really like the adjustable disc mount it was pretty simple
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Got my hub motor and brake cable wires situated
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Adjusted the brakes then tightened it all down
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Finally tried to sit on the bike and the seat post was way too high! I am 6' 3" and had to cut the seat post and lower it all the way as far down as it can go...
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Now I will attempt to slide the washers in the swingarm so I can tighten it down finally
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Used a clamp to line things up and make life easier
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Tapped it into place with a rubber mallet and a screw driver, nothing fancy
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Now that that is done I can now work on my chainline, so I put the crank arms on
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This one is all ugly and banged up it will match the bike nicely!
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ebiker1.jpgI think the gold color looks great on the frame.

You mentioned the handle bars being to low / to forward. I like my bars up above my seat, so I use several handlebar stem risers. I don't have to bend over at all when riding. Its more comfortable for me , being 6ft4" tall. Take a look at how high my bars sit.
 
I finally sat on the bike and put my feet on the pedals...the seat will have to come up a lot my legs are too long for it as it is now...problem is the bars will be way to low.

So rumme you are correct I think I will be putting a 1-1/8" riser under this stem.
 
skeetab5780 said:
I finally sat on the bike and put my feet on the pedals...the seat will have to come up a lot my legs are too long for it as it is now...problem is the bars will be way to low.

So rumme you are correct I think I will be putting a 1-1/8" riser under this stem.

I believe I used 5 or 6 spacers , so my handlebars are raised up about 6" taller, then they would be in stock position. For me, its is much more comfortable to ride with raised bars....but I don't do any type of hard riding / racing .
 
Thanks skeetab for detailed post! 👍👍

I was looking for a light frame and Vector light was top in my list but after seeing you post I'm not sure. Looks like they fail with basic features as washers, frame width, and so...

In my case I'm planning an ebike with a light frame+bafang BBSHD+52V17Ah battery to be around 25-27kg.

¿ do you still recommend this frame for me or maybe you think is a better option for my needs?

Last, I'm not sure why they make this frame with botton bracket not aligned with swingarm pivot. ¿this is not a problem when you go trough irregular terrain and swingarm movement hits your foot?

Thanks in advance and sorry for my english since i'm not native 😶
 
It definitely was a tight fit with the washers, but I managed to fit them in with a little bit of bending. I was actually impressed by the size though. I thought my frame would be easy to small, but it actually does me quite well. (I'm 183cm or 6'0"). So far I am pretty satisfied with this frame, but I haven't completed my build yet
 
Dumsterdave said:
It definitely was a tight fit with the washers, but I managed to fit them in with a little bit of bending. I was actually impressed by the size though. I thought my frame would be easy to small, but it actually does me quite well. (I'm 183cm or 6'0"). So far I am pretty satisfied with this frame, but I haven't completed my build yet

Dave do you have a pic of your handlebar/stem setup? Curious since you are tall but a little shorter than me

post link to your thread here if you want

thanks
 
skeetab5780 said:
Dumsterdave said:
It definitely was a tight fit with the washers, but I managed to fit them in with a little bit of bending. I was actually impressed by the size though. I thought my frame would be easy to small, but it actually does me quite well. (I'm 183cm or 6'0"). So far I am pretty satisfied with this frame, but I haven't completed my build yet

Dave do you have a pic of your handlebar/stem setup? Curious since you are tall but a little shorter than me

post link to your thread here if you want

thanks

I'll take a photo when I get home later, but it is just a standard stem setup with a few spacers. Maybe I'm just used to riding mountain bikes so the leaning over is normal for me.
 
Dumsterdave said:
skeetab5780 said:
Dumsterdave said:
It definitely was a tight fit with the washers, but I managed to fit them in with a little bit of bending. I was actually impressed by the size though. I thought my frame would be easy to small, but it actually does me quite well. (I'm 183cm or 6'0"). So far I am pretty satisfied with this frame, but I haven't completed my build yet

Dave do you have a pic of your handlebar/stem setup? Curious since you are tall but a little shorter than me

post link to your thread here if you want

thanks

I'll take a photo when I get home later, but it is just a standard stem setup with a few spacers. Maybe I'm just used to riding mountain bikes so the leaning over is normal for me.

Have you tried actually pedaling it though? maybe my legs are longer because when I put my seat at its required height the bars are so low ill lose circulation to my hands, I've always been a biker so mountain bike bars are my comfort zone
 
So it seems the problem is that my shock is 200mm and needs to be in the top hole of the swingarm but I cannot put the bolt thru there since its designed a bit off and the shock hits the steel tubing before the bolt is even close to fitting thru. So I will try to ride it as is and if there is a problem I will add a riser of some sort...

On to more progress, I decided to try out these crap batteries I took off eyebicycles and put 25 of them into 5px5s configuration and crammed them into the frame.

The fit of the battery was so damn tight that I couldn't use the key switch or fit a controller inside...so I decided to use a cheap 48v 1000w controller for now to not stress the batteries too bad.

Before I wires them up
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Started slapping them together with any free parts lying around, using NSI ITB connectors 35a rated, not the best scenario but it works
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Good old gorilla duct tape my favorite!
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Taped wiring down very quickly
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Pack was very hard to fit inside frame it was quite a few inches longer than the hole but I wiggled it in place
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Keyhole view, I will have to get a plug for this or something for now
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Wired it all up, changed to the thumb throttle that came with the controller since it was easier and has a voltage display and on off switch since the key doesn't fit!
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Temp wiring to test combo
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Flipped it around to swap throttle and test things
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Throttle view
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Slapped a chain and derailur on it real fast

Slapped a XT60 charge port on the battery and set a 61.5v custom profile for the 15s pack...I may change it later its good enough for now
 

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Ehh ok.. need to address shock issue to improve ride quality
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Few photos from yesterdays ride, i had hopes of trying to kill the battery but only managed 16 miles of the freezing cold weather.
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