DownTube Folders Mods, Pics, and Vids

1800VTX,
Hey i've ridden several of those types of scooters. You should be able to blow her away once you get your Downtube Clyte'd. How does your wifes ride? The ones I've ridden went about 18mph and took a long time to get there. My Downtube goes 31-32mph with the 405.... Before bikes my brother and I used to modify stand-up and sitdown electric scooters. We both owned the Oxygen Leptons before and he modified his to make it go 40+ mph. We had them before Crystalytes came out with their more powerful type motors. The bike hub motors that were out were the WE BD36 kits and the Clyte 408s's on 36v. Now Bikes are so fast and still stealth to the public eye that you usually dont have issues unless you pass up a cop going 40+mph. Have fun with your new Downtube...

Ric
 
joystix2 said:
1800VTX,
Hey i've ridden several of those types of scooters. You should be able to blow her away once you get your Downtube Clyte'd. How does your wifes ride? The ones I've ridden went about 18mph and took a long time to get there. My Downtube goes 31-32mph with the 405.... Before bikes my brother and I used to modify stand-up and sitdown electric scooters. We both owned the Oxygen Leptons before and he modified his to make it go 40+ mph. We had them before Crystalytes came out with their more powerful type motors. The bike hub motors that were out were the WE BD36 kits and the Clyte 408s's on 36v. Now Bikes are so fast and still stealth to the public eye that you usually dont have issues unless you pass up a cop going 40+mph. Have fun with your new Downtube...

Ric
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We just got hers last Friday, comes with a 500 watt motor. It maxes out at 21mph, but the ride is smooth and its got some pretty good storage space (below handlebars, under seat, behind seat). She wanted to go with hot pink, but that's where I put my foot down (we went with red) :wink: The batteries are lead acid, but for her needs that should do for now. I plan on becoming more familiar with my setup before I tackle her bikes battery and controller setup for more speed. For now she's happy and that's the important thing :D

That is the plan of course (build-a-better-beast-of-a-bike)! I was planning on going with the Clyte Phoenix Racer and 4840 40amp combo. :twisted:
I know there is going to be a potential cracking issue, so I'm going to be working with a friend to beef up the bike just a bit, just not quite sure on how much juice I should go with though for this particular bike, any recommendations? :shock:
 
joystix2 said:
pwbset, Jondoh set me up with the connector blocks.
Click to expand...

Hi Ric. I use the same connector blocks and the same 2s3p setup etc. I was just hoping to see how you had yours configured. I'm looking for ways to improve my setup and the only inspiration I get is from other's setups! :)
 
Very nice. Did you keep the stock tires? I'm surprised. Even if it's hard pack sand, it's cool that those tiny tires do not dig into the sand and sink. I hope downtube start to produce bigger folding bikes soon. No offense, but you don't look too proportional on that bike at all. From previous few pics, you look like a well built person. LOL you're like a giant on a tiny metal horse. I think people are more surprise at the capability of the tiny bike holding up a full size person.
 
Yes I still have the same tires but I am in the market for a wider front rim and tire. The Downtube 8FS is kinda like a sports car. They made the rear tire wider with a more agressive tread. Its a 20x1.75. The front is thinner with more of a road tire tread 20x1.50. I think the Clyte rim is wider since the tire looks wider than before I installed the hub motor. You're right I am pretty much at this bikes limit but all folders of this size are this small. I like the portability of this bike and it is very comfortable. At first I was thinking of one of the Montague Folders but wanted a smaller one for taking on my fishing trips to my local lakes. Then I did a search on the internet and came across the dual suspension 8FS. I just hope it holds up. I just started taking it to work instead of the Phoenix'd DB Mt. bike just to see if there is a big difference besides the power and speed.
 
Decided not to wait for the Topeak bag and rack.mini-IMG_0479.JPGmini-IMG_0483.JPGmini-IMG_0485.JPGmini-IMG_0488.JPG
 

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I'm really envious of your matching color stem and fork. They moved to all aluminum components on the 2009 9FS model so my bike look really nice and shiny. I'm sure it'll attract the thieves a lot. At the same time the aluminum stem feel like a kids toy. It's so flexible and fragile feeling. No matter how i adjust the stem there's still little undulation when i brake. Oh btw are you comfortable on that so call "Velo love channel" seat? When i rode mine it felt like i was sitting on a rock the whole time. maybe it's just so tiny it work its way up the crevasses.
 
Yah I have always been bragging about the softness of the ride with the full suspension but I was keeping the feel of the piece of crap seat to myself and waiting for my review I was going to write up later on. The seat really isn't a piece of crap because if you are into road bikes with tiny seats then this seat is for you. I use to ride road bikes a long while back and I remember the seats were just pretty much hard fiberglass or plastic. Well this seat really does have some cusion and it even looks like a kevlar/fiberglass design. I've already got a nice Thick gel seat waiting to be mounted like the one pictured next to the Velo seat which is on my Phoenix'd DB. Us lazy A$$'s like nice big cusioned seats for our long no peddleing rides. As for the matching colored stem it doesn't feel loose fitting at all. Maybe steel is good in this case and hopefully it won't crack in the long run.IMG_0493.JPG
 
Your rack will break with all those batteries on it...
 
Mark, Why do you say that? The rack says its made for up to 20lbs and the total of the Lithium batteries and bag is only about 16-17lbs. Iv'e had this combo on my Phoenix'd DB setup for over 600 miles with no issues so far. I pretty much stay on road with minimal bumps for my commute.
 
I have one of those racks, that schwinn rack held up to 48v of lead ( 40 lbs ) like a champ bouncing around on my Giant ATX.. the plastic deck kept sliding off the beam tho.. had to screw it in.

Still got it but i retired it before it failed lol.. they are springy but tough ! :p

I like the bolt on types over the quick-release however, they clamp on much tigher !
 
Hi Joystix2,

long time no see :)
nice build on the folder there, looking good.
Bit cheeky to ask on your thread i guess but i was wondering how Maytags ride is these days? again long time no see?


Cheers

D
 
Yo D whats going on? Yah I've been away for a while but since my bro Dave (Maytag), Jondo, and I have all been riding again I started to get back into it. Plus any build gets the heart pumping again. Maytags ride is fine. He had a couple of bad cells on his pack but have since replaced them and is running fine. I still get surprised on how much torque the BMC has everytime we switch off on our Night rides with John. Plus with his setup you can still go offroading wit hno worries. Since the batts are in the frame and his motor is only 8lbs you cant really tell a difference than a normal MT Bike. If the BMC was a cheaper and you didnt have to mod the wires it would be the next motor I'd get.

Take care bud,
Ric
 
Hi Ric,

well im still trying to find the perfect setup, lol
my kona is currently having a makeover and i've taken a leaf out of Dave's build and now - im going for an A123 setup 66v 6.6ah which along with the controller will all be mounted within the triangle, also switching to 24" wheels and 50a - puma should rock 8) may need to beef up the phase wires but alls in hand with Jozzer having the bike this weekend in his workshop.
Glad to hear Daves puma is still rocking - i wouldn't let changing the phase wires put you off mate - if you look at Geoffs post he recently changed them and has thoughtfully blogged it with pics in his thread.
Good to hear you guys are still rocking the ebikes :)


Cheers


D
 
Ypedal, I heard that the manufacturers specs are on the light side. I just ordered a Topeak Beam rack and heard people putting on around 25lbs with no problems and they are rated at 15lbs. I too like the bolt on ones but I needed the quick release for the Folding option of the bike.
 
Any thoughts on running the wiring through the frame?

As a side-note: Yan just contacted me this morning with the good news that my Downtube has shipped.
Should be seeing it by Friday! Hallelluia!!! :D
 
1800vtx,
Yah I thought of that but I wasnt sure where i could run the wires into and out of the frame. Sweet about you recieving your bike soon. Dont forget to post a pic.
 
joystix2
Pictures will arrive within 10 minutes of opening the box. Modifications will start within 20 :twisted:
 
1800vtx said:
joystix2
Pictures will arrive within 10 minutes of opening the box. Modifications will start within 20 :twisted:
Click to expand...

Well shipment got delayed due to the flooding in the midwest.
Guess I'll have to wait till Monday :(
 
joystix2 said:
Mark, Why do you say that? The rack says its made for up to 20lbs and the total of the Lithium batteries and bag is only about 16-17lbs. Iv'e had this combo on my Phoenix'd DB setup for over 600 miles with no issues so far. I pretty much stay on road with minimal bumps for my commute.
Click to expand...

I have two racks over/under rated at 9kgs each, and my 5kg battery broke them.

And I broke my seatpost (the replacement has a steel pipe up it's bum).


And I broke:

2 rims
a Pedal
and about 15 spokes so far

I do hit the odd gutter though :twisted:
 
Mark, Holy cow where do you ride? You sure break a lot of things. How do you break a pedal when we E-Bikers don't peddle unless we have to. You must be doing some off-roading. Our streets where we live are all pretty smooth and we also have really wide bike lanes. Thats probably one of the only good things about my area cuz traffic is like crazy.....And of course theres this California weather
 
Ric,

I forgot to ask you, but do you know what the weight of you setup is :?:
Mostly asking just out of curiosity.
 
joystix2 said:
Mark, Holy cow where do you ride? You sure break a lot of things. How do you break a pedal when we E-Bikers don't peddle unless we have to. You must be doing some off-roading. Our streets where we live are all pretty smooth and we also have really wide bike lanes. Thats probably one of the only good things about my area cuz traffic is like crazy.....And of course theres this California weather
Click to expand...

I ride from home to work :)

I take a few short cuts = a dirt road or two, across some grass "paddocks", up and down about 10 gutters/median strips.

No bikes lanes whatsoever :(

And I pedal as hard as I can - I'm in a hurry, and it's an electric assist bicycle, not a motorbike.
 
It finally came..

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02.jpg


Yea.. I got the orange one too (my first bike was an orange Huffy, so I've now come full circle), this one is the 9FS unit.
It got delayed in shipping due to the mid-western floods.

Really happy with it, came with a small chip in the paint, but no big deal there.

I'm needing to invest in some magnets to help keep the folded bike together and I'm most likely going to replace the handlebar with a wider carbon based unit. I'm also going to replace the brakes with disk units since both forks come with mounting points for those, but other than that, it's a pretty sweet ride!

Now I gotta wait till the temperatures get back down in the double digits again, today it got to 115 degrees, and there is no way I'm riding it to work in heat like that! :D
 
1800vtx,
THats a sweet ride if I say so myself. Hey if you're not happy with the brakes like I was and want to save money just buy some better pads. I bought some on recommendation from my local bike store and the bikes stops great now.....Even from 30mph it stops really well. I did the same on my Phoenix'd Mt bike and my brother was even impressed with the stopping power with the new brake pads. Keep us posted when you decide to Electrify it....

Ric
 
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