Hey There

[Gab]

Hi Harold in your photos, it looks like your bike outer chainwheel sits inside the freewheel flange , and on another AFT build I have seen here:

http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=59063

It looks like the chainwheels sits on the outside ? why is yours like that ?

 

[Harold25]

Sorry I don't understand what you're saying. I cant tell the difference, can you maybe show me in a picture or diagram? It looks the same to me....

 

[Gab]

If you look at the photo on your build you can see the flange of the ACS 5 bolt freewheel on the outside, whereas on the other AFT builds you cannot see the outer flange only the middle part. So that means your outermost chainring is sitting on the inside of the freewheel flange, whereas on the other builds the outermost bike chain rings sits on the outside of the flange. Did you change your chainline inwards on purpose ?

 

[Harold25]

No, I did not change it on purpose. I wonder if it makes anything different?

 

[Chalo]

No, I did not change it on purpose. I wonder if it makes anything different?

It probably makes the chainline of the bike drivetrain better. But it might overhang the load applied by the chain far enough to the side of the freewheel bearings that the freewheel fails early.

In the best case, the center of the rear sprockets lines up exactly with the center of the chainrings. Most of today's MTBs already fudge the crank to the outboard side, and crank drives that incorporate nonsense like freewheeling chainrings and extra-long bottom bracket spindles can easily push the chainrings outwards enough to keep the large spockets in the rear from staying in gear.

Spend a little time sighting from the rear sprockets to the chainrings in different gear combinations and you'll figure out what I'm talking about.

 

[Harold25]

Today, my planetary gearbox went out, I could hear it going over the past month or so. I took it apart 2 weeks ago and cleaned it out in a solvent tank before air blasting it, lubricating it, and reassembling it. Today it seized and I will be needing a new one. Does anyone know if there are alternative sources for these gearboxes? I believe it is the same motor and planetary gearbox that the cyclone motors use.

Any advice is greatly appreciated, as I am on a student budget and I thought that by purchasing one of these kits I might save money on gas and get some exercise. (lesson learned, though, this is a newer technology still in its infancy.)

 

[drew12345]

This is the AFT mid drive?

 

[Megsy73]

How many miles did you do on the kit?

 

[Harold25]

Somewhere in the neighborhood of 2-3 thousand miles. For the spring semester I traveled roughly 12-14 miles 5-7 days a week. During the first half of the summer I did probably half that. And for the past few weeks ive done close to 40 miles a day 4 days a week.

To get 2-3 thousand miles though I just did 6months X 31 days/month X 14 miles per day.

 

[Miles]

Today, my planetary gearbox went out, I could hear it going over the past month or so. I took it apart 2 weeks ago and cleaned it out in a solvent tank before air blasting it, lubricating it, and reassembling it. Today it seized and I will be needing a new one. Does anyone know if there are alternative sources for these gearboxes? I believe it is the same motor and planetary gearbox that the cyclone motors use.

Any advice is greatly appreciated, as I am on a student budget and I thought that by purchasing one of these kits I might save money on gas and get some exercise. (lesson learned, though, this is a newer technology still in its infancy.)

The primary source is: http://headline-motor.com.tw/bldc-scooter-driving-motors.php I doubt they'll supply a one off, though. You should get in touch with AFT - they seem to need some real-world feedback

 

[Megsy73]

2-3000 miles is a lot in 6 months time! I think the Bafang BBs02 people would be happy with a life that long before failures

on the Bafang thread here: http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=61430

they all have some sort of problem from 200-700 miles...!

Also if it's just the planet gears worn out that doesn't see uncommon from the other cyclone type build threads on the sphere.

Can't you just replace the worn out planet gears? Cyclone Taiwan sells spare planet gears for $35 USD

http://www.cyclone-tw.com/order-motors.htm

 

[drew12345]

Did you talk to Jim at AFT and see what he says? What is the range on these gears? If it's something else, it might be covered under your warranty.

 

[dypsomaniart]

What was the gearbox oil like when you pulled it apart? What exactly failed in there? The range you're getting doesnt sound right out of the battery, how tight do you make the drive chain?
I have the same AFT kit, i'm very interested to know what caused this failure.

 

[cheekybloke]

jhi harold,
i have put 3000 miles on my aft kit too.
when you ride do you keep the motor at high rpms? (ie squealing like a herd of angry bees)
if you are not doing this it will put a lot of strain on the planetary gears and wear them quicker.
darren

 

[drew12345]

I pretty sure the problem is not flushing the oil after 1500 miles. If you don't do this, the gears will eventually wear out.

 

[dypsomaniart]

I suppose a worst case scenario of a $50.00au set of gears every 3000-4800km (which is minimum a couple of years riding for me) isn't too bad for a 48v 1680w bike. I'll be changing my oil every couple of thousand k's though I think. Will see how it holds up.

 

[Harold25]

So it's getting to be about that time where i will be needing new gears. Is there a place I can order from directly besides aft or the chinese supplier? The chinese company is kind of difficult to get a hold of and AFT is kinda far away and expensive.

 

[cheekybloke]

So it's getting to be about that time where i will be needing new gears. Is there a place I can order from directly besides aft or the chinese supplier? The chinese company is kind of difficult to get a hold of and AFT is kinda far away and expensive.

Hi Harold, whereabouts in the world are you?
I am in the U.K and got mine from Eclipse bikes.

http://eclipsebikes.com/parts-accessories-parts-accessories-c-59_26.html?page=3&sort=2a

 

[Gab]

Hey many Kms did your second set of gears last after the first set lasted ~3000 miles in 6 months usage ?

Cyclone taiwan sells the gears cheap for $35 dollars so if you are using lots of them, it would be worth buy a few sets so you don't pay postage every time .