eventboi
1 µW
Hey everyone,
I never thought I would be doing this, but after riding my friend's e-bike, I was hooked. So I decided to build one for myself.
Thanks to my friend John (skyungjae) and his Stink-E build page for guiding me through this build. Even though he's 2000 miles away in Socal with great places to ride, and I'm in flat flat very flat Chicago.... lol.
Here's what I started with: 2007 Kona Howler
I went with a (newer model) GNG 450w brushless mid drive motor, Isis crankset 48/44/32T, and White Industries HD freewheel. Everything fit just fine without any modifications except for the drive chain. I had to extend it by one full chain link to fit over the 48T drive wheel (I actually messed with this for quite a while to try to get the right length so the chain wouldn't pop off). Also the spacer for the tensioner wheel was too big, so I ended up using a bunch of small washers to get the right alignment.
I used 10AWG wiring throughout the entire system with Anderson powerpoles. I was thinking of getting a Cycle Analyst, but it was too pricey. I didn't need all that extra stuff so I just got a Turnigy 130a wattmeter.
For batteries, I went with a premade battery pack from BMS battery: 48v 10Ah LiFePO4. Nicely fits in my Camelbak HAWG NV.
Since John's Stinky and my Howler shared a lot of the same parts, I also had to modify my shifter and throttle. I cut the my throttle grip a little shorter than John's so it's about 1 finger width with gloves on. I also cut the Kona grip so that the length of the grip with the throttle would be equal the the original length of the full Kona grip. The Shimano shift lever had to be cut to clear the bulky throttle.
With a 3 wheel crankset (1 drive 48T, and 2 front gears 32/44T), I added a front derailleur and adjusted the limit screws so it only shifts into 2 gears instead of 3. And since this bike was only designed as a 9-speed, it didn't have an extra cable housing stop for the shifter cable. I had to jerry rig something; I used my old chain guide to clamp down the cable housing for my front derailleur. This will have to do until I get my actual cable housing stop... lol.
A little video of testing the finished product:
[youtube]r5Sn1magTQY[/youtube]
And here's the finished product:
I never thought I would be doing this, but after riding my friend's e-bike, I was hooked. So I decided to build one for myself.
Thanks to my friend John (skyungjae) and his Stink-E build page for guiding me through this build. Even though he's 2000 miles away in Socal with great places to ride, and I'm in flat flat very flat Chicago.... lol.
Here's what I started with: 2007 Kona Howler
I went with a (newer model) GNG 450w brushless mid drive motor, Isis crankset 48/44/32T, and White Industries HD freewheel. Everything fit just fine without any modifications except for the drive chain. I had to extend it by one full chain link to fit over the 48T drive wheel (I actually messed with this for quite a while to try to get the right length so the chain wouldn't pop off). Also the spacer for the tensioner wheel was too big, so I ended up using a bunch of small washers to get the right alignment.
I used 10AWG wiring throughout the entire system with Anderson powerpoles. I was thinking of getting a Cycle Analyst, but it was too pricey. I didn't need all that extra stuff so I just got a Turnigy 130a wattmeter.
For batteries, I went with a premade battery pack from BMS battery: 48v 10Ah LiFePO4. Nicely fits in my Camelbak HAWG NV.
Since John's Stinky and my Howler shared a lot of the same parts, I also had to modify my shifter and throttle. I cut the my throttle grip a little shorter than John's so it's about 1 finger width with gloves on. I also cut the Kona grip so that the length of the grip with the throttle would be equal the the original length of the full Kona grip. The Shimano shift lever had to be cut to clear the bulky throttle.
With a 3 wheel crankset (1 drive 48T, and 2 front gears 32/44T), I added a front derailleur and adjusted the limit screws so it only shifts into 2 gears instead of 3. And since this bike was only designed as a 9-speed, it didn't have an extra cable housing stop for the shifter cable. I had to jerry rig something; I used my old chain guide to clamp down the cable housing for my front derailleur. This will have to do until I get my actual cable housing stop... lol.
A little video of testing the finished product:
[youtube]r5Sn1magTQY[/youtube]
And here's the finished product: