friendly1uk
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It's a 1993 Claud Butler cbx. The BB has grown to accept a pedal sensor and the crank is original size at 48 teeth, but changed for a cleaner one. The rear 7 speed cassette starts at 12 teeth, and sits on an 8fun 500w CTS motor built to hold an 8 speed. Thankfully the splined section came sheathed in thick rubber, so I cut that down and used it as a spacer. I was rushing as the car expired. The rear derailleur hangier was snapped from the frame, So I made another, attaching it using some holes present by the drop-out for auxiliary items. The brake arms are now deore, and the rims are the sun ringle big mammoths. There wrapped with schwalbe 2.15" big apple tyres and the front hub had to be sprayed as non disc ones in black are getting rare in the bargain bins.
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You can see the hanger wrapped around the torque plate there. It's so snug I'm in no hurry to get the drop-out drilled and threaded.
You can also see my motor cable routing, and my answer to the chain having removed an unrealistic amount of paint from the frame. I have used spiral wrap. I pinned it all with ties, then wrapped in electrical tape taking the ties off as I did so. Then I did the spiral wrap, terminated with electrical tape. The idea is the cable will settle in to shape. Then when the wheel needs to come out, the spiral cover is unwound as far as the plug (the swollen bit) . Then the sticky tape can be sliced open, and I'm hopeful the cable will keep it's shape so only the spiral covering will be needed from that time onwards. It is already an old idea though, I should of opened the motor (but didn't dare risk fate on this disastrous project). With the motor open, I could of reduced the cable length so the plug and socket were much nearer the motor. I'm thinking right at the end of that spiraled section. Then the socket part from the controller could be bound to the frame, and the plug half left exposed so there was never a need to touch the spiraling again.
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The motor cable joins the pedal assist sensor cable, and heads up this plastic 20mm electrical conduit. It jammed in solidly. No mounting points required.
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Here you see the front cables grouped together using heat shrink tubing to give a less fussy appearance. I have added 4 extra wires, but visually 2 just got fatter.
The wires then head along the top tube within an alloy capping. It's off the shelf at diy.com for a few peanuts. The cross sectional is like an open ended box. The bottom perhaps 15mm wide and the walls 8mm tall. It seemed easier than splitting a pipe lengthways. I'm waiting on another thin flex arriving for power. When I have run that I can fix the section in place semi-permanently with silicone. Positioning the cable's and getting them to stay there was a cable tie job while a smear of silicone set them in place, using the frame to replace the ties, once it was behaving civilly. Silicone will hold them through all weathers but still give them up if you insist. Some, erm 'over application' has already had the C section stuck to the bike by accident. Silicone is not just for sealing gaps, it holds your car windscreen in. It will be more than ample.
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Here the wires come together and enter the stand-off I hastily assembled. I had not considered how much higher I would need a sprung seat to clear the frog box. This last minute hitch was solved with parts from a railings and fence's supplier. I have raised the seat a lot, and could now put the box round a sleeved seat stem, uncovering the seat adjusters location. Right now there is a gap between hanger and frame that I have shimmed out with sections of an inch wide tape measure. I had to do this to stop movement. The single steel grub screw is made to eat in to the steel hand rails. My alloy frame was threatened. It is all good for now, but I see no future for the frog box on my bike. Otherwise I might of made another bracket by cutting and joining a couple of stem clamps. The hand rail stuff is over 1kg and both options are about £15
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Then all the wires come together in the base of the from box where I have housed both the controller and watt meter.
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The meter is very handy. It counts the Ah I have used since turning the key. It also displays volts so I can see what the charger is doing, Or roughly what capacity is left if I forgot to cycle the power after the last charge. It also displays Amps and Watts in real time, but I just can't lean round to see it. If I made it again, I wouldn't need the buttons. From new they power up wanting to balance some cells, but once set to power meter, they power up needing just a press of button 3. This press can be held down I think, So a 555 timer could do that for me. Powering off resets all counters, so no button's are needed at all. That is a lot more consumer friendly. I would also take more care with the superglue. It was really a bit too late during assembly to fix it.
The battery pack slides and locks on top. It weighs under 2Kg and supplies 5Ah at 44.4v with a bms unit and separately fused charge and outlet points. It is good for 10-15 miles. I have sat around in office situations for years, not cycling or anything other than walking to the car to keep fit. I find my 48/12 gearing has my legs going round way to fast but with little actual loading, doing 27mph through traps of known accuracy. I have a 52 tooth front chain wheel on it's way, and can swap the 12 in the rear cassette for an 11 if that is not good enough.
I am very pleased with the outcome. I'm using an unmodified 250w controller and just can't pedal fast enough to compliment it. Pedal assist level two has the seat moving off from between your legs as it cuts in. It is a very definite push along that has you in a different league to cycling. You just blow past with your clothes thrashing around in the wind. Cars set them self up to pass you getting away from the lights, then realise they are not going to. It is a whole new and wonderful experience
