What do you think of this as a ebike frame

[albie]

I'm just doing some forward planning and was thinking of using this as a frame for version 2.0 of my daily driver...

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/NEW-ATOMIK-ALPHA-MOUNTAIN-BIKE-TRAIL-BICYCLE_W0QQitemZ170189761575QQihZ007QQcategoryZ98083QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

I know the rear drop outs are tiny but with decent torque arms... it shouldn't be an issue

What do you think??

 

[Link]

Seems okay. Batts in the frame or what?

Better than mine for an electrification. Schwinn S40 fully suspended mountain bike. Can't for the life of me find a pic, though. No space for batts in the frame. Would have to use panniers .

 

[albie]

at the moment... i'm not sure of the size of my packs and how heavy they are (I won't find out till monday)...

I'm hoping to fit them in within the frame... but it looks as though it will have to be a beam rack to hold the batts!

 

[fechter]

That looks like there's at least a good possibility you can get the batts in the frame.
Cantilevered rear racks are prone to cracking. You might be able to split the batteries between the frame and the rack if you can't fit them all in the frame.

 

[Mathurin]

It's a wall mart grade bike, I wouldn't buy it.

 

[deecanio]

i think its not that bad a bike, a bit like my mtb,fs,disks, lots of bottom of the line but branded products

i would say wait until you get your batts for sure - then you already know the size of space you need and if everything fits.
also you seem unsure whether to go for an entire frame mount battery setup or just put a rack on if that doesn't work out?
if thats the case then don't buy this bike it wont work out.
have a good think about where you want to mount your batts (what are they? size/weight?), then you can buy a bike specifically to mount them.
i used my mtb that i had to try out the kit and it was adequate, now i have bought the bike to suit the setup it should be much better and stronger.dont discount buying used too, more bike for your money.

my 2 cents.


D

 

[Joey]

I would like to assemble a fairly light-weight 26" wheel e-bike using a rear geared hub (e.g. BMC variant) at 36 to 48 volts. The bike will be used primarily for commuting in comfort, mostly on bike paths and back streets, but my route includes several lowered curbs that must be negotiated. I have been looking at several styles of bicycle and have narrowed my search to hard tail models with front suspension, disk brakes, comfortable upright seating position, and modest mountain bike capabilities. OX Platinum steel frames seem to have the balance of strength and lightness that I'm looking for.

After extensive searching, I found four possibilities:
(1) Jamis Dragon Comp bike
(2) Gary Fisher Ferrous bike or frame
(3) Gunnar Rock Tour frame
(4) Gunnar Ruffian frame

The Jamis seems to be a lot of bike for the cost, but when I examined the cup-shaped rear dropout, it didn't appear to be amenable to adding a torque arm. The rear dropout on the Gary Fisher Ferrous didn't look very suitable either.

The Gunnar Rock Tour shown below, seems to have the best rear dropout setup of any I have seen so far





The rear dropout is steel (OX Platinum), and the dropout surface is flat making it seemingly easy to mount a torque arm flush. The disc mount is on the chainstay and offers two advantages -- there are a couple of hard attach points where the free end of the torque arm could be secured, and the disc mount doesn't interfere with old-man style rear rack supports, for which there is a separate attach point provided.

The Gunnar Ruffian frame rear dropouts are an interesting alternative. The frame is designed for single speed so the rear dropout is ajustable for setting the chain tension.



I don't know if the slotted portion would be strong enough, but because the dropouts are removable, one could make new dropout parts as strong as desired. I'd like multiple gears on the rear hub so the modified right dropout would need to include a derailleur mechanism attach point. Because of the uncertainty in the durability of the frame slots, and the fact that the frame is only designed for single speed makes me lean toward the Rock Tour solution.

What do you think of these choices? Other choices?

-- Joey