scottclarke
100 W
Hiya all, some will remember me from vis - I see Knoxie is around these parts
Long time no post - been waiting for summer to arrive /prompt me to do something good
The goal - a 40mph capable bike for the mostly flat but rough 13 mile route to work.
So I did something good - the product of 1 months part time labour actually - and, for the first time ever - it worked just as designed first time!
I started with a Marin full sus 'trail' frame with a sweet Fox R air shock
added some 1999 Marzochi 5 inch all air/oil forks (the best forks I have ever tried)
then some nice disc specific Mavic rims
+ a Magura Louise front caliper
then - as I have always done - made something useful out of a water bottle - a sweet ali bottle now holds the esc and the throttle assembly. With this build I opted to eliminate all the problems I have experienced with all makes of throttles tried - that is - when it pours from the sky I have seen glitching/full throttle/zero throttle. On this I have used a motorcycle grip the cable feeds into the bottle where it attaches to a spring that pulls the throttle back to zero. A linear 10K pot is securely attached to the spring/cable join and also features its own 'return to zero' spring should the joint fail. The esc also sits within and a pc fan is mounted at the base - this powered up whenever the esc's auxiliary supply is. Air inlet is via a series of holes along the length of the bottle right between the holder rails. Auxiliary input can be provided by removing the regular dust cap.
And for the first time ever - I am driving the back wheel directly. I have avoided this like the plague due to noise but this build is a work commuter so I don't care much at all. Driving it I have a 2.8KW outrunner brushless motor. Geared 9:1 makes for about 60mph at 36V 90A.
Today I finished knocking together the chain tensioner - it needs shaping so it doesn't look like a rectangle of ali - I'll do that tomorrow. I've opted for a delrin smooth 'wheel' of 50mm dia thats surface is the same width as the chain gap. I have fixed the wheel because the chain was keen to ride over the edge of it due to imperfections where I narrowed the wheel. Bonus - it's quieter!!! Anyway - that was all static - no load testing
But this evening I rode it.
One word - SCARY!!!!!
Seriously - it pulls really well all the way to the top. I did 8 5% hill starts 5-40mph full throttle to check motor heating and it got hot as expected - 74C. I checked the single front brake on the way back down each time - works really well.
But that was all in a straight line.
I went for an extended - about 150m run at which point it stopped accelerating - the wind was really rushing by - eyes were streaming. I looked down - 52mph!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Then I had to turn to the left.
And thats when the brown stuff appeared!
Now seriously - who does 45+mph on an off road mtb? I can see straight line running no problem - but corners? It just felt drastically unstable - wasn't holding the line and I am sure its not down to anything set up wrong on the bike - *I* think its just the way they are????
I don't have any pics of it finished and my camera is broken after it fell off of another bike due to a pot hole. I don't have my Nikon here so you'll have to make do with a 2 week old - in progress pic...
Long time no post - been waiting for summer to arrive /prompt me to do something good
The goal - a 40mph capable bike for the mostly flat but rough 13 mile route to work.
So I did something good - the product of 1 months part time labour actually - and, for the first time ever - it worked just as designed first time!
I started with a Marin full sus 'trail' frame with a sweet Fox R air shock
added some 1999 Marzochi 5 inch all air/oil forks (the best forks I have ever tried)
then some nice disc specific Mavic rims
+ a Magura Louise front caliper
then - as I have always done - made something useful out of a water bottle - a sweet ali bottle now holds the esc and the throttle assembly. With this build I opted to eliminate all the problems I have experienced with all makes of throttles tried - that is - when it pours from the sky I have seen glitching/full throttle/zero throttle. On this I have used a motorcycle grip the cable feeds into the bottle where it attaches to a spring that pulls the throttle back to zero. A linear 10K pot is securely attached to the spring/cable join and also features its own 'return to zero' spring should the joint fail. The esc also sits within and a pc fan is mounted at the base - this powered up whenever the esc's auxiliary supply is. Air inlet is via a series of holes along the length of the bottle right between the holder rails. Auxiliary input can be provided by removing the regular dust cap.
And for the first time ever - I am driving the back wheel directly. I have avoided this like the plague due to noise but this build is a work commuter so I don't care much at all. Driving it I have a 2.8KW outrunner brushless motor. Geared 9:1 makes for about 60mph at 36V 90A.
Today I finished knocking together the chain tensioner - it needs shaping so it doesn't look like a rectangle of ali - I'll do that tomorrow. I've opted for a delrin smooth 'wheel' of 50mm dia thats surface is the same width as the chain gap. I have fixed the wheel because the chain was keen to ride over the edge of it due to imperfections where I narrowed the wheel. Bonus - it's quieter!!! Anyway - that was all static - no load testing
But this evening I rode it.
One word - SCARY!!!!!
Seriously - it pulls really well all the way to the top. I did 8 5% hill starts 5-40mph full throttle to check motor heating and it got hot as expected - 74C. I checked the single front brake on the way back down each time - works really well.
But that was all in a straight line.
I went for an extended - about 150m run at which point it stopped accelerating - the wind was really rushing by - eyes were streaming. I looked down - 52mph!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Then I had to turn to the left.
And thats when the brown stuff appeared!
Now seriously - who does 45+mph on an off road mtb? I can see straight line running no problem - but corners? It just felt drastically unstable - wasn't holding the line and I am sure its not down to anything set up wrong on the bike - *I* think its just the way they are????
I don't have any pics of it finished and my camera is broken after it fell off of another bike due to a pot hole. I don't have my Nikon here so you'll have to make do with a 2 week old - in progress pic...
