LightningRods mid drive kit

Yes they're cast semi-rigid urethane. It's a completely different material from the large driven pulley. This stuff is more like a car tire. It's slightly flexible so it conforms perfectly to the frame, gets a solid grip, and is nearly indestructible.
 
Can you supply urethane mounts for your standard kits or is it specific for the Surly Big Dummy kit? I like how the power doesn't run through the bottom bracket. Nicely done Mike.
 
I would LOVE to supply urethane mounts with my standard kit. The problem is the incredibly wide range of tube profiles and diameters used on bikes today. If everything were old school round tube it would be a lot easier.

It's unfortunate that most bikes suck the rear tire right up against the seat tube. That's really where the mid drive should be. Cargo bikes and the LunaCycle as well as some cruisers are the best platform for this kind of drive.

Next up is the finished LunaCycle drive. That one is a big block. After that I'll be finishing up the Quilbix big block mid drive.
 
I like the urethane idea. Definitely looks to be super rigid!
I don't think anyone's going to have any flex problems with this version...except maybe twisting their bike in half :D
This one is big block only, correct? Are you adding guards for either side or is she done as shown?
 
I can't imagine this design flexing. All of the reduction loads are transmitted straight down into the triangle and the final drive load is at the base of the triangle right where it fastens to the frame. In addition to that the chain to the chainwheel is pulling directly opposite to the final drive chain. It's stout.

There will be large aluminum guards on both sides of the drive. The rider's feet are well forward of the drive parts but people often carry their kids on the backs of their cargo bikes. The owner of this Big Dummy who was good enough to loan it to me for prototyping is dying to get it back and go riding. He'll get the guards in a couple of weeks when they're ready.

The LunaCycle drive will be big block only because of the width of the Luna frame. It would be more difficult to fit the narrower small block to that frame with a 100mm BB than the big block. This drive for the B-D will be small block only at first because of it's 68mm BB and other frame restrictions.
 
CCLD5z7.jpg


oh btw your logo provided a nice mounting hole for the stock tensioner. saved me from having to drill 8)
 
LR,

Great work on the Big Dummy! Your the Man! Hey might you have a pic or 2 of the whole bike? Curious what it all looks like together.

Tim
 
I don't have the entire bike, only the frame. Here is the mid bike drive on the frame ready to ship. I'm sure that we'll be seeing photos of the complete bike soon enough from Dean. He already has a Rohloff hub lined up from another B-D. Like I told him, he's going to have a Ferrari station wagon.

RtSide.jpg
 
Here's a photo of Zack J lined up for his moto at an e-MX race in Hawaii. I have a soft spot in my [head] for motocross because I raced as a young'un. The idea of making a MX bike that doesn't make noise and doesn't stink is irresistible to me. I have to do it!

Zack_J.jpg
 
LightningRods said:
I don't have the entire bike, only the frame. Here is the mid bike drive on the frame ready to ship. I'm sure that we'll be seeing photos of the complete bike soon enough from Dean. He already has a Rohloff hub lined up from another B-D. Like I told him, he's going to have a Ferrari station wagon.
Click to expand...


Yep. I'll have the bike around the 20th, and do my best to build it up by the next weekend. Photos to come.
 
LightningRods said:
Here's a photo of Zack J lined up for his moto at an e-MX race in Hawaii. I have a soft spot in my [head] for motocross because I raced as a young'un. The idea of making a MX bike that doesn't make noise and doesn't stink is irresistible to me. I have to do it!

Zack_J.jpg
Click to expand...

That was my intent with my Motoped. It, indeed, rides like a 125 but weighs as much as a 60.

Build a bike like this. You will love it! :mrgreen:

Matt
 
recumpence said:
LightningRods said:
Here's a photo of Zack J lined up for his moto at an e-MX race in Hawaii. I have a soft spot in my [head] for motocross because I raced as a young'un. The idea of making a MX bike that doesn't make noise and doesn't stink is irresistible to me. I have to do it!

Zack_J.jpg
Click to expand...

That was my intent with my Motoped. It, indeed, rides like a 125 but weighs as much as a 60.

Build a bike like this. You will love it! :mrgreen:

Matt
Click to expand...

I couldn't be happier with my setup. Limiting the BB around 50-60A keeps it running cool and still more than enough power (from 0rpm) to either tractor, or mach up anything. right now with 20s and 44t/20t it tops out around 28mph which is perfect. Even at 15s (20mph) it was perfect for all our trails, only on the road did i want to go faster.
 
Sweet
That's almost my exact setup except a 16t rear. I had the same intent with my build as well, lol. For off-road, I had to set up a tuned down setting as it's geared well for commuting but too fast on trails.
I'm broke down though right now waiting for jack shaft axle. Too aggressive *blush*

How did it performed against the gassers?
You were literally racing with them?
 
yeah i broke my jackshaft too...

We raced the same course as the motos, and had our own class. They started each class every 60 seconds so i caught up pretty quick. The G2B2 is absolutely competitive in single track with big bikes, but that's only speaking for the C riders.... it was super cool, but the track was dusty and chewed up... not what i'd be riding normally.
 
The LunaCycle is going together over the next couple of weeks. I have all of the parts made. I just have to get past the crush of regular mid drives to assemble everything. My assistant has been out for over a week so it's been extra crazy here.

The Surly Big Dummy mid drive is going back to Dean on the east coast this week. We should be hearing from him on his build very soon. Because I used his bike frame for development I actually get to ship a kit fully installed on the bike. A rare treat for me. Dean won't have much to do except to install his Rohloff and final drive chain and hook up the wiring.

I'll take a bunch of photos of the LunaCycle as it comes together. I am DYING to get out riding while we still have our good summer weather. The cobbler's children really do have no shoes.
 
Semi rigid urethane mounts that isolate the drive and the frame. Pattern cast on frame for a perfect fit. Backed with steel plate.
Click to expand...

Mike is that steel plate reversible on the BD. I need to attach the upper mount to the front instead of the back tube. My cargo bike (Kona Ute) does not have that back tube. deanwu posted preliminary pictures of the motor mounted on his BD without the pulleys installed. It appeared that the steel sheets came in two sections. If they do, can I just reverse the upper sheet in order to have the bracket (attaches to the tube in back) face the front tube so it can be attached to the front tube? I wouldn't like to attach it to the bottom bracket if I can find a way to mount the kit in the manner in which you designed it for the BD.
 
I'd like for this mid drive to be an easy fit on your Kona Ute but I don't think it's going to be that simple. If you just reverse the side plates to move the rear mount to the front it would also change the position of the final drive sprocket. The Big Dummy rear frame tube has an angle that the mount matches. If your seat tube is a different angle relative to the bottom tube (likely) things are not going to line up well.

Can you take a profile shot of your bike similar to the one of the Big Dummy posted higher on this page? I can use that to see how much work is going to be needed to adapt the kit to your frame.

Ideally I'd like to have versions of this drive for the Big Dummy, Kona Ute and Yuba Mundo.
 
The LunaCycle ships from the LunaCycle warehouse in California, the mid drives ship from my shop in Oregon. I know that Eric plans to sell my drives through his online store. I don't know if he plans to ship bikes fully assembled with the drives on them. It makes more sense to send the smaller drives to the location that the bikes ship from rather than the other way around.

I'll check with Eric and see if he plans to offer a turnkey solution.
 
Yeah I just checked and you're right. Eric is selling the bikes but not off of the site yet. He has at least my mid drive version and a hub motor version in development. He may be holding off until both are fully developed and available in production.

I'll bug him now and see if I can get him to post here.
 
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