The bike for this build isnt a Walmart bike... or a hybrid thereof with upgraded swing arm or suspension. Its not some high end in full suspension with double or triple crown forks.... Its no something hacked together in the backyard... What is it then? It something that we have been sleeping on for a while. It once was a vision.. then it turned into vaporware. We didnt hear about this until it finally was put into production. A forum member by the name of Max Kogan designed a ebike frame a while back and tried to get some backers. He tried to get your input and hype you guys up but nothing much was brewing so he drifted back into the darkness. Time passed and he emerged with this frame.
Now my first impressions of this frame I was thinking that this was fugly. (SORRY MAX) The more and more I looked at it I looked at the functionality of it I came around and realized that what he did for us answered alot of issue we have building reliable ebikes. Here are a few of the things I noticed right off the back.
The tubing and construction of the bike looks excellent. We have been forced to convert bikes that are made to be visually appealing and functional for the things they were originally intended to do. Like pedaling and riding in rough terrain or riding on smooth road surface. They design to make the bike lightweight,compact in some cases, strong by integrating odd complex angles. The steering able also seems to be dramatically affected by you rear tire size and the amount of suspension travel you have. 26 inch wheels front and rear put the bike at a more even keel while dropping wheel sizes with a bike with fork that has alot of travel makes it look and may possibly feel awkward. I will elaborate on this when I get it assembled.
Max made a platform that was very open and accommodating. He thought of the key things that were desirable on a ebike frame.
150mm drop outs for even the largest motors. Very thick and deep drop outs that eliminate the need for torque arms. The allows us to use regen. (Axle strength willing). If your axles are long enough you dont have to compromise on your freewheel options cause you should be able to fit a 7-8 options speed. You just need some spacer washers.
We also have a HUGE open space in the triangle. He offers a battery box to fit this frame but you can buy the frame without the box.The box and the straps that go across the box and hold it in the frame are removable. The box I believe is designed for use with headway cells but for us savvy enthusiasts this just means a shit load of room for Lipo. I dont have the frame just yet but if I were to use the box my 24s 2p 100v 32AH Turnigy Multistar battery is not even taking up half the box... so that gives you an idea on how much space there is. I plan to use the box at a later time but Im really catering my build to use the Additive V2 frame bag without the frame box. I transport my bike on the hitch rack on my car so the box will add great wind resistance. I would prefer to transport my bike with the triangle open so thats why I want to use the additive bag so I can easily remove the bag and toss it in my back seat. I also assume that I could use some wing nuts on the straps that hold the battery box to make it easily removable. To each their own.
The head tube angle gives the bike a little bit more rake than Im used to but this should help with high speed stability meaning no death wobble. It should track as an arrow when you let go of the bars. The head tube is exceptionally long so fork options may be limited. He does have the perfect fork to mate with this. Its about $300. RAIDON FRONT SUSPENSION FORK 2014: (32MM ALLOY STANCHIONS,REBOUND ADJUSTMENT, AIR VALVE, LOCKOUT ADJUST,HYDRAULIC DAMPING). Everything but remote lock out. This is one of the few forks that have a long enough steerer tube and has enough space left to mount the handle bar.
The bottom bracket is 100mm. This isnt bad but it isnt good either. The reason for this wide BB is because this eliminated clearance issues for the battery box. Headway cells arent small. This bike was designed with using a headway pack in mind. This solves the issue for those cells but this gives the battery box a ton of room for LIPO. This size limits what you can do for BB option but by getting the component kit this eliminates you having to hunt for options. The hard work has been done for you. A high quality FSA DH ISIS is provided in the kit. I was playing around with the idea of getting another torque sensor from Grin Tech but the wide BB eliminates this wet dream.
Attention to details is great. Cable mounts for the brake and derailleur lines have been integrated into the frame so nice clean purposeful cable routing. They are under the down tube out of the way. There is also a standard kickstand mount just behind the bottom bracket that should give you plenty of options for kick stands which is a must for bikes like this. We are in a age where the kickstands are a thing of the past so. There are rack mounts on the seat stays incase you want to put on a rear rack which gives you more cargo carrying options. The frame does have mounts for Disc brakes in the rear. Im pretty sure some shims might have to be used. He does provide them if they are needed.
Lets address the lack of suspension. If you are an offroad enthusiast. This bike frame isn't for you being that its a hard tail. Im 325 lb rider and Ive had good luck with hard tails on paved trails and street use. Most bike lack strong enough shocks springs to support me and the weight of the bike. You get that bobbing effect when you pedal also. I usually pair my wheels with Scwhalbe Big Apples. This gives me a bit of cushion on my ride. I also dont have to worry about pinch flats and such. To support me the weight of the components on the bike I normally run about 50-60PSI and find even though this is high for most people I still find it has a very nice ride. And hitting a few unseen pot holes at speed it seem to absorb it quite well. I have found out most stock entry level spring forks suck. I recently started using air forks. Even these are questionable to a certain extend. I normally have to pressurize the system above what the manual says to achieve the desired suspension sag but once its dial in .. It rides like a dream. SO this frame can be used as street use or a commuter but not for the technical stuff unless you like hard tails like that.
The above is based on picture inspection. I will give more information and do a hands on video.