E-S Stealth Electric Bike Owners

[The fingers]

That's how my wife got her bike stolen a few years back.

 

[splitfire]

For the bomber they will need 2 people to lift it up or 1 body builder. I was thinking of purchasing a tracking device from ebay they are like $10-$20 dont know if it really works. They require a sim card and 12v supply. Its actually for a car.

 

[Jimboyr6]

For the bomber they will need 2 people to lift it up or 1 body builder. I was thinking of purchasing a tracking device from ebay they are like $10-$20 dont know if it really works. They require a sim card and 12v supply. Its actually for a car.

Well worth doing id say try stay 1 step ahead of the robbing barstards

 

[Athaneco]

For the bomber they will need 2 people to lift it up or 1 body builder. I was thinking of purchasing a tracking device from ebay they are like $10-$20 dont know if it really works. They require a sim card and 12v supply. Its actually for a car.

Well worth doing id say try stay 1 step ahead of the robbing barstards

the thieve that will steal a stealth will be a stupid thieve or the most stupid amongst thieves , because he can't really sell it because it is an exotic and uncommon product.
i wouldn't risk leaving my bomber unlocked anyway. there many dangerously stupid people out there.

 

[Villain]

I'm worried my seat post (Fox 2013 DOSS) will hit the top of my shock.
The damned thing has a valve that sticks out the bottom and worries me no end.

I was concerned about this too. So I took the spring out of the shock so I could compress it all the way and measure the required clearance. A safe clearance is about 1cm between the shock and the seat post. On my bike you could get away with a bit less (about 7mm) but I doubt that all the frames are exactly the same, I'd say 1cm is safe.

 

[boars]

I'm worried my seat post (Fox 2013 DOSS) will hit the top of my shock.
The damned thing has a valve that sticks out the bottom and worries me no end.

I was concerned about this too. So I took the spring out of the shock so I could compress it all the way and measure the required clearance. A safe clearance is about 1cm between the shock and the seat post. On my bike you could get away with a bit less (about 7mm) but I doubt that all the frames are exactly the same, I'd say 1cm is safe.

Thank you Villain, much appreciated. 1cm should be quite doable thankfully.

The bad news is I took my bike for it's first real ride (with the new seat post) this morning ... and it kept sliding down, so my shock has a minor scratch on it now, as the clearance kept dropping

Somewhat frustrating, also seem to have stuffed the plastic sleeve(?) in the process of continually trying to get it tighter each time I noticed it start to slide

Might source a better clamp for the post tomorrow, would prefer something i could get some sort of bolt/hex into to give it a real solid tighten (should such things exist).

Have to say I do love the drop seat post though, absolutely fantastic.

Also nearly had my first buster this morning, got epicly sideways after going onto some grass and attempted to come back onto the path.
Nearly needed a change of pants right then and there.


Edit: guess I want something like this: http://surlybikes.com/parts/small_parts/constrictor

 

[Rix]

For the bomber they will need 2 people to lift it up or 1 body builder. I was thinking of purchasing a tracking device from ebay they are like $10-$20 dont know if it really works. They require a sim card and 12v supply. Its actually for a car.

Yah, you would need some strong guy to lift the Bomber like that, like this asshole in the pic

 

[ezza]

I hadn't noticed that in the photo! :lol:

To be fair though this is a side street with open cafe's/restaurants. I'm sure they were sitting there with a close eye on the bikes. My friends and I have done the same at this spot because you sit about 15 ft from the bikes. I always take the key and leave it in 9th gear just be safe.

 

[remf]

LOL Rick now try lifting 2 together...actually don't...I know you can

Those 2 Bombers are safe...if you look closely, they're chained together AND as ezza says that's a busy restaurant thoroughfare - no doubt the owners weren't far. Byron Bay is definitely a Stealth hotspot for a small town...probably because it's the best way to negotiate a Byron traffic jam.

 

[Architectonic]

Met a dude on the bike path today, with a Bomber, fitted out with Quigley stickers. not sure if he is here, but... Hi if you are!

 

[remf]

This is what Crusty Demon Luke Smith does after work in his back yard in NZ.

[youtube]ooh1qe7rKKk[/youtube]

 

[Emmett]

Speaking of shocks... what's the go with all the air shocks these days? Is that the way things will just go? I was looking at alternate mountain bike shocks and most of the new ones I found were all air?
Mountain bike shocks even up to the task? Someone said the stealth bike was a pitbike shock?
Kind of want a more compact design as I'm worried my seat post (Fox 2013 DOSS) will hit the top of my shock.
The damned thing has a valve that sticks out the bottom and worries me no end.

If your seat post is carbon, then to stop it sliding down too far, just laminate a carbon stopper ring around the post at a height which prevents the post accidentally dropping too far through the clamp.

The Bomber uses a "pitbike" DNM shock. DNMs dont have good valving settings because I assume they do minimal testing and/or have no idea, and DNM shocks are not high performance items. eg. Wide tolerances, wear rates, port design, metals alloys etc. Alternatives are very common but real good shocks in the pitbike world are hard to find. Really it's the overall length and stoke range that you must match, so you're not really restricted to pitbike items, just that pitbike stuff is way cheaper.

The Fighter uses a mountain bike spec shock. The stock DNM shock is not a high performance shock by any stretch of the imagination. Many good alternatives to choose from. You just have to match the overall length (215mm if I remember right), and the stroke range (75mm I think).

Stay away from air shocks. The MTB industry sell a lot because of the weight drop. Also air is a lot cheaper than high quality precision formed spring steel. But saving 200g on a 34Kg Fighter with a motor is not worth the hassle of looking after critical seals and checking/chasing air pressure settings. And besides most MTB air shocks have crude dampers (shim) settings, or at least settings which don't work well with the highly progressive rising rate of air springs. The 34kg Fighter with 7.5kg rear hub demands a LOT more of a shock's damping capabilities than any pedal bike!

I am 74kg, and on my Fighter, for bush trails I find the right spring is a 500 lbs/in coil. Beware a 500 will blow through if used with the standard DNM shock. I have the X-Fusion Vector Coil HLR shock. Stock internal valving is pretty good, but I firmed up my stacks a little to get my adjusters out near the middle of their range so some more bleed and plusher but firmer ride. I also installed a tougher and less compressible bump-out stopper because I ride some rough fast stuff and do some jumps so the stock bumper blew out first ride. With this shock you can accurately adjust low (stroke) speed reb and comp damping, high speed comp, and also air res vol for a bottom out control. Plus you can adjust air pressure to add some spring rate to assist the main coil spring. This air-spring feature works more effectively with the HLR than most coil spring shocks. It means you can go for a slightly softer spring that you'd normally need, and boost the rate with air pressure. I use a 500lbs/in spring with 170psi of air. With a 550 spring I come down to 120 air, which is a safe minimum air pressure to avoid cavitation.

 

[Rix]

LOL Rick now try lifting 2 together...actually don't...I know you can

Those 2 Bombers are safe...if you look closely, they're chained together AND as ezza says that's a busy restaurant thoroughfare - no doubt the owners weren't far. Byron Bay is definitely a Stealth hotspot for a small town...probably because it's the best way to negotiate a Byron traffic jam.

Yah, two bombers 250 pounds, would be a challenge. With you, Ezza isn't an easy victim. Thanks for posting the vid. The crusty demons of dirt can ride a Bomber thats for sure.

If your seat post is carbon, then to stop it sliding down too far, just laminate a carbon rig around the post at a height which prevents the post accidentally dropping too far through the clamp.

You know Emmett, I solved my seat post problem by going with an aluminum seat post. Aluminum clamped in cromolloy steel naturally stick and doesn't move. Doesn't require neary as much seat clamp tension as the CF post did to keep from moving.

 

[Rodney64]

This is a good seat post, plus its a good price.

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/au/en/crank-brothers-cobalt-3-straight-seatpost/rp-prod85526

 

[boars]

Don't really want to change my seat post from the Fox one I have but interesting thoughts, thanks.

I bought a cheap bracket and then proceeded to tightened it in half.... :lol: I'll pretend it was a flaw in production and quality control...

Thanks for the info on air shocks Emmet, an interesting read, I was a bit dubious (not that I had any facts) and yeah I don't care much for weight savings. Just want simple, effective and solid shocks with minimal maintenance.

 

[Emmett]

Rix, I sanded my carbon post to a matt finish and now it grabs nicely, but I still like the idea of a stopper, because as boars said if the post does slide down, then on the Fighter it'll break off the schrader valve on the shock res. The res valve on my X-Fusion shock is in the exact same pos as with the orig DNM shock.

boars, if you have a Fighter, then I recommend you hunt around for the shock I have. It's really is good. I'm quite fussy and sensitive with this stuff. Last Oct I got mine used for USD150 + $10 post, and a friend brought it back to Aus for me. I bought a new seal kit for it (from abagrizzli on eBay), but after looking at the shock and then pulling it apart, I discovered that the shock was near new. So I got lucky. I have the X-Fusion Vector coil HLR. Length = 215mm (8.5") and stroke = 75mm (2.5). If you buy a used one, the main thing to check is the condition of the exposed shaft. Oh and I had to make up some shims to fit the mount bolts in the fighter, so factor that into your decision.

 

[boars]

Afraid I've got the bomber so not sure how well that would work for me.

 

[biknut]

This is what Crusty Demon Luke Smith does after work in his back yard in NZ.

[youtube]F84Y3WWegTs[/youtube]

If he can mow his whole yard without dabbing then that's real skill.

 

[1abv]

Afraid I've got the bomber so not sure how well that would work for me.

The DNM on the bomber is actually well made. It's a very good copy of an Elka. My suspension guy (he builds suspension for BAJA 1000 GNCC amongst several others) was very complimentary of the shock. All you have to do is get a decent revalve done in it. Prob around $100.00 USD or less. Now as far as the shock having the correct amount and type of oil and nitrogen thats another issue. That is where I would say that there may be issues. Mine was very low on nitrogen and the oil will go bad after a bit.

Also if you need to re-spring for your weight a custom motorcycle spring manufacturer should be able to handle it. PM me if you want more details. But there is no need to get rid of the shock. Now the front forks.. Thats another story.. :lol:

What kind of riding do you do?

 

[boars]

I've got Marzocchi 888's on the front end.

I saw some brand new ones a suburb away from me, they literally were listed for sale moments after I sold something else to fund said purchase.
Everything seemed to align perfectly that day, series of events all just lined up.

So far mostly just commuting to work on it, waiting on some motorbike wheels from roadrash and then I'll be hitting up some trails on the weekends.

North of me, about 2 blocks away there's some scrub mountain bike tracks through state forest.
Not particularly awesome ones but I haven't explored them all that much yet.

About 15km to the south west there's a dam that has a mountain bike track around it but it's only just opened recently and I haven't had a look at it.

Probably about 15km south of me there's a pile of mountain bike tracks.

So plenty of tracks around to explore when I'm a bit more comfortable about not getting a flat tyre 20+ km from home... I cannot fit the bike in my car so have to ride to the track/s and back again.

 

[Emmett]

Get a bigger car. It'll be worth it.

 

[boars]

Haha, in the interim I'll attempt to get fitter to use less juice too and from the tracks... or just ride the closer ones.

My legs sure aren't liking the pedals the bomber comes with, I get that the threading is great for shoe grip but god it's awesome for chewing up your legs :lol:

I'm sure I'll learn my lesson, eventually, and maybe stop ripping my legs apart.

 

[Emmett]

Get some Kali lower leg pads. Down Hill item. They are great. You cannot ride offroad hard without something there. Well assuming sanity. Because feet just come off pedals.

You still need a bigger car! Save your body energy for the trails. If you ride a powered bike at your best pace then a typical fit athletic person will be physically spent in 90 minutes or much much sooner. Sure it's not heart/lung aerobic fitness. But you use your every muscle in your body. Your heart rate will be plenty high enough too.

In my opinion riding your e-bike fast offroad or on mini MX tracks is a much better and healthier type of fitness than being "pedal fit". Hands, arms, shoulders, core, inner leg, neck, and of course thighs and calves. Nothing get's a rest. Put on some safety gear and further cook yourself and you just get fitter. No gym necessary. Just ride.

So dont expend yourself pedalling hard to a riding location. Preserve yourself, use a car, or fake pedal. Then when you get there if you go for it, your body should expire well before the battery dies. The trick is having just enough e-battery to avoid the killer pedal back to where ever.

 

[Rix]

The trick is having just enough e-battery to avoid the killer pedal back to where ever.

The fuqn truth amigo! :lol: And I can personally attest, you will only make this mistake one time.

 

[biknut]

The trick is having just enough e-battery to avoid the killer pedal back to where ever.

The fuqn truth amigo! :lol: And I can personally attest, you will only make this mistake one time.

I'd rather have to pedal my bike home than push it with a flat tire. The walk of shame.