Excelsior/Strong GTS Cromotor Build

[pucksterpete]

[youtube]oKfGjzofxxY[/youtube]
[youtube]V9kZBWz_Cgk[/youtube]
[youtube]wGvFBkAtH5o[/youtube]

 

[pucksterpete]

muddy days and shit weather are upon us, Vee Rubber Pro140's were a must for the trails, they dig pretty good

 

[whereswally606]

Hey pete, love reading the build, just bought an ecolux frame which is how these bikes are branded in the UK . also Inspired by Brentis &mushymelon builds and hopefully I will be able to dip my toe into the welding waters as this frame begs for a bit of reinforcement. Greet work so far and keep it up.

 

[pucksterpete]

Hey pete, love reading the build, just bought an ecolux frame which is how these bikes are branded in the UK . also Inspired by Brentis &mushymelon builds and hopefully I will be able to dip my toe into the welding waters as this frame begs for a bit of reinforcement. Greet work so far and keep it up.

Thanks man, its been fun, I try and get out at least once a day. I just picked up some Shinko's SR-241 17 X 2.5 for the Spring, the Sava's mc11 I had this past summer just don't cut it for light trail.

You have plenty of room for batteries in that frame you have. What are you thinking of running? Look forward on seeing your build

Pete

 

[whereswally606]

I have some zippy flightmax lipo which is sat used so will repurpose that and think ill mod my magic pie A la zappy and mushymelon. May stay with bike tyres like marathon plus. The other option on motors is two wheel drive since I have some inverted forks which would work well.

 

[whereswally606]

Parcel delivered today. It's pretty damn heavy. Battery came with it too. The battery alone is a cumbersome object. Will post pics at weekend once I've chance to strip it down.

 

[Tommy L]

Pete!!!!! I've been keeping up on your post!

Very nice.......
I'll be ordering Rims and Tires soon. I'm thinking of the Mxus 3000w DD on my GTS210 frame.
What do people think of the MXUS over the cro? Or should I just do the Cro? Was thinking mid dirve as well. hmmmmm

Tommy L sends.....

 

[pucksterpete]

I know there is a thread on here about the MXUS 3000 or group buy. Not sure if anyone has posted any data about the motor. I have had nothing but greatness from the Cromotor. What rim and tires are you ordering? I know lot of decisions to make. But in the end, get out there and ride that bike.

Pete

 

[Tommy L]

I know there is a thread on here about the MXUS 3000 or group buy. Not sure if anyone has posted any data about the motor. I have had nothing but greatness from the Cromotor. What rim and tires are you ordering? I know lot of decisions to make. But in the end, get out there and ride that bike.

Pete

Moto rims with pirelli ML75

What rims do you like?

 

[Tommy L]

I really liked how extronebike turned out (LSWB?)

 

[Tommy L]

Hi Pete!
Did you have any problems with finding a front fork that fits?
Did the Marcozzi fit?

 

[pucksterpete]

Hey Tommy,

Regarding a rims from your previous reply, I wasn't able to find a good price on 17" Alu rims here in France, everything was too expensive & I wasn't going to have them shipped from the States, so, I did find online, at a pitbike shop, 17 Steel rims, no name brand from China, heres the link to give you an idea.

http://www.mxunity.com/jantes-roues...-avant-17-Noire-Acier-15mm-3700827903252.html

The front Marzocchi hub I am using is only 32 spoke hub & my rear rim with the Cromotor is 36 spokes, I screwed up earlier when ordering the front rim, I got 36 instead of 32 spokes. But anyway all is good now.

Yes on the Marzocchi fork, they fit fine. I originally had bought a dual crown set of Marzocchi forks, but then I realized the way this frame is built, it was going to run interference on each of the stanchions, I wasn't willing to cut or modify the frame so they would fit. So, just went with single crown Marzocchi 55 RS Forks 140mm.

Here is a today photo of the bike now, GOT MUD!!!

 

[Tommy L]

Pete! Thank you!

Does 140mm give a good rake angle
For this frame?

Good to know about the interference on
The double/triple crown fork.
I have to do frame welding anyway, so
I may mod that area. I'm going to weld gussets
Everywhere!

 

[pucksterpete]

Does 140mm give a good rake angle
For this frame?

I think it does, the 'trail' of the bike doesn't feel slow on steering. I find that at high speeds, she steers just fine, and I am 220lbs.

Hope this helps.

Pete

 

[mushymelon]

Pete! Thank you!

Does 140mm give a good rake angle
For this frame?

Good to know about the interference on
The double/triple crown fork.
I have to do frame welding anyway, so
I may mod that area. I'm going to weld gussets
Everywhere!

Tommy my bikes gonna be up for sale soon its already modded, just saying

 

[Ussyamoto]

Awesome build!
It's making me want to pick up a Cromo.
I have a 74v 40a mini-Kelly with the same hardcase batteries.
What's the average speed and range I could expect on 20s 10Ah?

 

[pucksterpete]

Took off the BIG mud tires and put on the Shinko's SR-241 17 X 2.5 I bought earlier for the Spring. Took it back on the trails which are much dryer and she handles Great!!!

 

[pucksterpete]

BOOM, Snapped steerer tube at 35mph when braking, thank god for a MX helmet, other than that knee is a little banged up

 

[macribs]

What do you reckon was the root cause of the failure of the fork? Could it be bearings with too much give or maybe over tighten when assembled? I mean I have seen insane drops and jumps made by DH guys and no matter how bad their landing is they always seems to get away without mechanical failure.

 

[amberwolf]

Since that break's at the top of the headtube, teh force that did it was from the bars and whatever weight was on them.

My guess from what little I can see of the area around it is scoring along that area that then was able to fatigue-crack over time.

Is it an aluminum alloy steerer? Or steel?

 

[pucksterpete]

What do you reckon was the root cause of the failure of the fork? Could it be bearings with too much give or maybe over tighten when assembled? I mean I have seen insane drops and jumps made by DH guys and no matter how bad their landing is they always seems to get away without mechanical failure.

Not a clue, it wasn't over-tightened, it wasn't loose either, got a fork for sale?

 

[pucksterpete]

Since that break's at the top of the headtube, teh force that did it was from the bars and whatever weight was on them.

My guess from what little I can see of the area around it is scoring along that area that then was able to fatigue-crack over time.

Is it an aluminum alloy steerer? Or steel?

I see that too, the steerer tube is aluminum alloy, must had been a weak spot somewhere. Glad I wasn't on the rode going faster

 

[amberwolf]

FWIW, you can press the steerer out and press a new one in (or one off another fork), so you could put a steel steerer in if you want to. I forget the thread name, but I discussed that with someone here on ES a few years back as a possible way to use a fork on a different sized headtube than it was made for, and/or to get a longer steerer than it had.

I never got around to trying it as I ended up with other solutions, but it would make your fork still usable.


If you don't wanna fix the fork you could also use it as a *rear* shock, if you ever build a custom bike. (I started to do that several times, but enver ended up doing suspension on the rear of CrazyBike2. I still have the Manitou fork to try it with, though, whcih now has broken-off dropouts, if I ever get to working on it again).

 

[pucksterpete]

I will definitely search this option. I will need to find a local machine shop that can remove the old and press the new tube in. Shouldn't be hard to source a new tube. The forks are in fine condition. $$$ saved. Thanks

 

[markz]

Looks like a lot of weak spots on this frame.
Good to know as a heads up!