Cannondale Crimson

[recumpence]

Hey Guys,

Here is the latest build. This frame started life as a Cannondale Hooligan. This is a 20 inch wheel bike. I bought one a month back and fell in love with it. But, I did not want to give up my pedal only Hooligan to electrify it. So, I went back on Craig's List (same place I found my first Hooligan) and found this one. I snatched it right out from under Mwkeefer's nose.

Anyway, I just picked the frame up from the powder coater this morning. The frame is Crimson red with a coat of clear over the top. The forks are modified White Brother's Groove 180s, shortened to 4 inch travel for this project (thanks White Brother's!). The brakes are Hope Hydraulics and the motivation is a 4 turn 3215 with my DaVinci drive. The drive will either be under the downtube, or (are you ready for this?) maybe over the top tube! I know it sounds weird, but the chainline would be perfect, there would be more room for Lipo, and the mounting will be a bit easier, clearance-wise. I am just not too sure about the look. 90% chance the drive will be under the downtube as you would expect.

Oh, one really cool thing; I plan to run motorcycle clip-ons. However, they will not be angled down as you would traditionally see them. This bike is not going to be a low down road racer. It will be more of a Street Fighter or Super Motard style bike. If you invert clip-ons to give a slight rise, they nearly match the bend of typical mountian bike bars. So, that will be my setup, light weight machined clip-ons inverted for a very slight upward angle. I will be running twin LED headlights with a very tiny nose fairing just to give it a bit of a Buell look.

The bike will have a long travel Thudbuster seatpost (on its way to me as we speak). John Holmes is making me a set of custom 13/14 guage butted, black-oxide coated spokes with red aluminum spoke nipples (thanks john!).

It will have multiple TIG welded aluminum battery boxes holding the lipo and other electronic bits.

The bike will be geared for 30 or 35mph. Nothing too crazy fast. I am looking for a truely fun bike that is plenty powerful, light, rugged, and safe to ride. I am, also, looking for a VERY aggressive look.

I will be taking my time with the electric side of this build. However, I may get it together in pedal only guise soon to have a chance to test the handling before the nice weather runs out.

Matt

 

[rodgah]

me likey......should be a ripper when shes done. I have a phobia of 20" wheels and speed wobbles haha, maybe a steering dampner is in order?

 

[gogo]

Having the drive up-top in an enclosure with air scoops might control the sound, provide rider protection, and might actually be a better position for the weight than lower. Maybe you can mount some dummy weights in pedal-only config to see how different placements affect the dynamics.

 

[mclovin]

I have a Hooligan too. I like the bike a lot but I'd have to say the steering is a bit twitchy for me. I prefer a bit more trail....but it's still very fun to ride. I've been thinking of electrifying it as well.......

Does your fork setup affect steering geometry?

 

[recumpence]

I have a Hooligan too. I like the bike a lot but I'd have to say the steering is a bit twitchy for me. I prefer a bit more trail....but it's still very fun to ride. I've been thinking of electrifying it as well.......

Does your fork setup affect steering geometry?

Hmm, I never considered the Hooligan to be twitchy at all. It is a long wheelbase 20inch bike. But, I am used to very quick handling bikes, so, for me, this bike rides really nice.

 

[mclovin]

I've thought of mounting your V4 on this frame but don't know if it would fit. I imagined a 32XX motor could fit in the rear triangle between the tire and seat tube with the reduction sprocket nestled in the main frame triangle. Since you have all those parts there would you minf=d taking a look and seeing how they may match up (should you feel inclined)?

 

[AussieJester]

*subscribed*

Matt...I have been toying with a small front fairing to house
two small lights I also came across this arrangement might be of interest?
A slightly smaller version with the linked lamps would look the shit IMO...rc_CA perchaed
above the lights all covered by a small black tinted fairing... A similar design to a
one of the 'universal' Street fighter fairings available on Flebay is also an option over
forming a plug and making a custom design fairing from scratch...perhaps mod one and then cast your own from it?... Just a few ideas hopefully they might be of interest to you Matt



KiM

 

[recumpence]

Wow, you really have the idea, Kim!

I like the 1,000 lumen light. I think two of those would be perfect.......

The nose may be something as simple as a tiny windshield form cut around the top of the headlights, just barely big enough to hide the CA screen. I want this whole bike to be petite. The nose is the key to making a street fighter bike look correct.

Matt

 

[mpipes]

What sort of beam pattern are you looking for from the headlight? Bridgelux makes a single LED emitter with 8,000 lumen output (steady, not maximum) *muwahahahaha* but given the light source is 48mm diameter, it's more of a flood type than a spot. I think it would still be fine for your targeted speed and would light up a nice wide area so nothing unexpected jumps into your way.

I have a CREE XLamp emitter on the way right now to test out, it has a 3,000 lumen output - not quite 8000 but it's only $16 versus $70 for the Bridgelux. I'm going to see how it does behind a MAGlite reflector. My plan is to run two emitters - one wide open as a flood/wide beam and the other in a reflector for a spot, to get the best of both worlds.

 

[Whiplash]

Hey where are you getting these big power LEDs?

 

[recumpence]

The pedal portion of the build is done. I am in love with this bike. It is a bit heavy at 31 pounds. But, that is fine. The bike was built to handle 30mph HARD riding.

These forks are freakin AWESOME! They are super supple and rigid. I literally cannot feel anything through the bars. I hit shallow curbs with it and the forks just soak it up! Simply magic......

Here are some pics.

This is the best wheelying bike I have ever ridden, period.

Here is a quick video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQM2mqBAKYw

Matt

 

[mpipes]

Hey where are you getting these big power LEDs?

digikey.com - their search methods leave a bit to be desired but you can filter by lumen output, forward voltage, name brand, color, etc.

I bought one from Seoul Semiconductor, think it was rated for 800 lumens and it's flat out insane. I can't imagine 3000 or even 8000 - although these are 30V and 40V respectively.

 

[MattyCiii]

I may get it together in pedal only guise soon to have a chance to test the handling before the nice weather runs out.

Sorry for going OT, this is a beautiful bike/build and the pix are always a treat!
RE: nice weather,
Last winter I found that all I needed to ensure the nice weather never ran out was a full face motorcycle helmet - flip-face/modular, specifically. I went all winter, rode on 8 deg F days (that's as cold as it got, kinda wish I could have tested colder), the helmet made it not just bearable, but comfortable. Yeah, gore-tex gloves and wool socks were important too, but I thank my m'cycle helmet for making the all-year ride possible.

 

[recumpence]

Wow, this whole "Losing pictures" thing is really ticking me off. Good lord, isn't there a way to prevent this?

 

[Whiplash]

Agreed! What happened? Killer bike!! I have changed my mind about the hooligan frame!

 

[AussieJester]

Wow, this whole "Losing pictures" thing is really ticking me off. Good lord, isn't there a way to prevent this?

Very easy way Matt, DON'T USE ES to host your pics, there are many online sites that offer FREE picture hosting, your isp net account also likely has ftp space available as part of your web plan, thats what I use to host most of my pics, photobucket is a good free hosting service if setting up an ftp client to upload to you web account ftp space ous to daunting a task?

KiM

 

[biohazardman]

I went through all of my posts with attachments last time and put the pics in my Photobucket account. Now they are linked to the ES so have not as yet gone away. Some of you have way too many posts and to do such a thing would be very tedious. But I miss the pics they are indeed worth a thousand words in many cases. Specially in the tech sections http://www.endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=2498&start=0

 

[Wheazel]

Losing pictures?

One working alternative:
www.photobucket.com

 

[neptronix]

Dude... did we lose all our pictures AGAIN?!@!

I pay like $3/month for a web hosting account just for stuff like this. I suggest you do the same.

 

[jonathanm]

yes....if phpbb is so unreliable, then maybe the forum should stop hosting photos completely.

We could all use third party hosts for images ( I use picasa - it integrates beautifully with my laptop - two or three clicks to import from my camera and publish online - but there are plenty of other ways to do it)

The "post a reply" page could be edited to include simple instructions or a link to a FAQ for posting image links. It would not really be any more difficult for noobs than attaching images is already.

back on topic, I would love to see the pics, that video rocks. I have seen the hooligan online, and it's a tasty little bike. Don't see them often on CL here though...If you can stash enough lipo on there for a 20 mile round trip, it could be my perfect bike

 

[AussieJester]

I went through all of my posts with attachments last time and put the pics in my Photobucket account. Now they are linked to the ES so have not as yet gone away. Some of you have way too many posts and to do such a thing would be very tedious. But I miss the pics they are indeed worth a thousand words in many cases. Specially in the tech sections http://www.endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=2498&start=0

Just one of my build logs is over 100 pages thankfully 80% of the images should still be there
its only when i post singular pics i sometimes use the ES server...
I have a photobucket account but TBH its far quicker using the ftp space that comes with
your interwebs account, download a copy of Filezilla and your in business, takes less
than 10 seconds for me to upload an image, another 20 and i can have it posted
on ES... worth looking into anywayz Matt.

KiM

p.s nice mono, wanna see one now with the 3220 doing all the work hehehe

 

[jonathanm]

TBH its far quicker using the ftp space that comes with
your interwebs account

Word of warning....make sure your interwebs people are plenty robust. I lost a bunch of stuff when Freeserve bit the dust in the UK, and they were by no means a small operation.. That's why I use google now for that sh@t. chances of them going under are slim to none.

 

[AussieJester]

TBH its far quicker using the ftp space that comes with
your interwebs account

Word of warning....make sure your interwebs people are plenty robust. I lost a bunch of stuff when Freeserve bit the dust in the UK, and they were by no means a small operation.. That's why I use google now for that sh@t. chances of them going under are slim to none.

Im with one if not the biggest internet provider in OZ...iiNet doubt they will go under
anytime soonz

KiM

 

[jonathanm]

yeah, freeserve was one of the biggest UK companies....2 billion dollars worth. They got bought out by Orange (Wanadoo / France Telecom). They ported everything over to orange but if you don't log in every 3 months or something, they delete all your stuff......just sayin...

 

[recumpence]

Here are the pictures.......again..........

Matt