Semi vintage bbshd frankenstein hybrid build

[Retrorockit]

When you get the front brake on be sure and do some testing in a safe place. Test stopping from high speed for the organic linings getting slippery. Then do repeated stops from high speed to see if the fluid boils. Then stop for a bit and see if the fluid has boiled with no braking pressure, and heat soak. If you have number 1, and install metallic pads it can cause number 2 on hydro brakes.
A stop from 30mph produces 2.25x as much heat as a stop from 20mph. Add in the extra weight and maybe 2.5x. There's no weight on the rear wheel when stopping from high speeds, but if you use the rear brake to control your speed going downhil it becomes important too. Brake piston material, fluids, and even hoses are all over the place on bike brakes. No standard like cars have. You can't assume everything will be good for this purpose.
if you go to TRPs website and see what they did to upgrade their 4 piston DH racing brakes to street legal 50kph Pedelec brakes you will see what I mean. The DH racers who tested them refused to give them back. Linings, hoses, fluid, and rotors all got upgraded from their high end racing parts.
if you have to add presssure to the levers as the bike slows you have a problem. It should be the opposite. Less speed , less pressure.

[Maxxim]

Yea, will thest them. My cycling will propably not be very hard, no racing or anything... I would like to think these hyraulic brakes would be ok, but the usage will tell.

[Retrorockit]

Normal Ebiking with a BBSxx is faster than bike racing. Fortunately we have bigger tires. The problem with small hydraulic brake is they feel wonderful.
You can ride around for a long time and not realize you have a problem until it's too late.

[Maxxim]

Something small done today. Fitted the speed sensor and magnet. Very close call as there wasn't much room for the sensor, and I didn't want to put it on the chain side. Maybe one mm clearance between the sensor and magnet.

My friends was little bit suspicious about it, but happy in the end after all. :)





Fitted also a new chain and had a look at the chain line. Stright line goes to the 5-6 gears. First gear is quite off, 8th is'n so bad. Very difficult to get it visible in the pics. When shifting from first to second the chain easily jumps off the front chainring, so I have to add a chain guide there. Couldn't use the orginal front derailleur as there wasn't space for the mounting bracket with the motor in place.

[AZguy]

I had a bike that dropped every other ride and that was with a narrow wide

Cheap 7sp derailleur not worth upgrading the whole system to get a higher speed clutch derailleur... fabricated a guide that did pretty well - worst thing about is was when I did manage to drop the chain is was a total pain to put back on... I ended up putting a ring guard on each side and "modified" (bent ;-} ) the offending side to a shape that works well and haven't had a drop since... even if it did it would be a breeze to put back on but it has yet to be necessary...

[Retrorockit]

The short answer is use the front derailer cage for a chain guide.
Given your skills and how hard it is to get stuff where you are I would usggect going to T-Cycles, and look at their 15t Sport plus idler, and 5 hole idler bracket. The toothed idler turns with the chain so adds no drag when the chain engages in the lower gears. The offset bracket should be easy for you. A pair of 608 bearings and an 8mm bolt for a shaft. It runs smooth on the back of the chain under power.

https://t-cycle.com/collections/idlers/products/sport-power-idler-15

make a clamp that hangs it to the rear of the chainring TDC. Lower it down until the cogs touch, then raise it up a bit using the seatpost clamp to align it also. I'm hitting all gears full power with a flat 50t ring on an adapter. No Wide narrow either.
This is also the chain management solution for the Zip tie mod. Which is a separate thing.
The rear offset on this is about right, the slip joint isn't needed, The offset clamp was useful to me depnding on water bottle bosses or other stuff on the seat post.

https://t-cycle.com/collections/chain-management-accessories/products/5-hole-vertically-adjustable-clamp-on-idler-mount

[Maxxim]

A idler pulley would propably be the best choise and have less drag. Wanted it fast, as soon the bike is ready for the maiden run, so did a diy solution. Not so smooth as a idler but should keep the chain on in all conditions as there isn't room for it to jump off.

[Maxxim]

Got the chain guide done. Made a clamp of steel and the guide of polyethylene. The green color isn't nice but maybe paint or some sort of cover could hide it... or I just ignore it.

[Retrorockit]

That will solve your immediate problem (lateral chain line issues). But won't work for the Dreaded Zip Tie Mod.(Vertical deviations that would be aggravated by friction). You might roll the bike backwards in the lowest gear, and see if the chain comes off at the bottom. I have to watch what gear my bike is in when roliing it around due to that. My guess is your will be OK since it isn't under power and your W/N ring and better chainline might be OK.

[Maxxim]

Today was a small step for mankind but a big step for a Bafang conversion builder. :) First test made and jeee, this feels like fun. Everything seemed to work properly. Chain stays on the front ring, not even bad to pedal without assist, so maybe not so much drag on the guide. Very funny to pedal with full assist as the bike goes without any force. Steps 1-5 is like easy exercise as you need to do some work, above that it's quite easy, 8-9 is like nothing. But this all you guys already know, but fun for a beginner. :)








Got the right front brake adapter today.




Worst thing in the whole project was to get all wires fitted nicely. Quite much extra lenght in all... where to sqeez all to disappear. .? Sleeved the main wire, so it maked it look a little bit better.

[Retrorockit]

The chain guide will only touch when the chain is actually trying to come off. Probably throttle in low gear. The motor pulls the gentle S curve out of the chain and then it runs off at an angle.
I almost never need more than 1/2 of PAS power. But with a 25mph headwind it's there if I need it. The rest is in the throttle as needed. My only advise is when leaned over in turns, you can't pedal, so don't shift then. That's when I've broken stuff.
The zip tie mod will fix that but you need more advanced chain control to do it.

[Maxxim]

Yea, made this guide a little bit too tight, the chain is 7mm wide and the guide slot is 7,5mm, so it will rub some all the time before it wears out, espeacilly when the chain line is out at most.

[Retrorockit]

I never tried the slotted block type. I put one of the plastic rollers at TDC. I could tell when the chain touched it because it ran rough on the back of the chain, and it didn't fully fix my crosschain issue anyway. T-Cycle had pages of Idlers and chain management stuff.I tried a bunch of it. But I ran the little roller at TDC for about 3 years. So things like that definitely work.

[AZguy]

Today was a small step for mankind but a big step for a Bafang conversion builder. :) First test made and jeee, this feels like fun....

I still get a kick every time I let someone take on of my bikes out for the first time - always pretty much the same thing

[Maxxim]

It's always very fun when testing out a project build for the first time. Have done it with cars and lately with boats, and now with the bicycle. :D

[Maxxim]

First 10 miles tested today. The bike works very well. I'm running without the brake sensors now. You have to be a little bit careful, but it feels good when the powed doesn't cut on a small brake.. Also the shift sensor works really nice, the cut is enough for s proper shift. Fastes I got today was 41,4km/h(~25mph) with quite soft tyres and I'm also not a quite light guy.

[Retrorockit]

I would keep the tires at the low end of the pressure. it helps ride and braking. The BBSHD doesn't really care. Most of us would be looking for a Cane Creek Thudbuster LT seatpost next. It needs
5 1/2" of free seatpost to fit. The ST version is smaller. Serious offroaders would probably opt for a dropper seatpost. Many of us spend a lot more time riding than we used to.

[Maxxim]

I'll guess the BBSHD puts a little extra torque on the drivetrain. :D Experienced some chain "slip" on the 4th gear and randomly also on the 5th. The chain just jump over the theeths. So had to buy a new cassette. And sure the 4th and 5th sprocket looks a little bit worn when compared to the new one. Soon will see how it works...

[Retrorockit]

Sunrace makes an 11-40T 8 speed that I like. The gear splits are nice for a BBSHD and they're cheap. I made a longer derailer hanger by taking 2 stock ones and cutting them 2/3, and 2/3 and welding them together. But that's one of the parts I broke (crash damage not BBSHD related).Sunrace makes a derailler M900 with a modern clutch type action and designed for wide range cassettes.I have one but won't give up my Rapid Rise gripshift setup to try it. At least not on this bike.

[Retrorockit]

BTW that's a nice clean build. Mine's all crapped up with fenders, lights, lock,rack, tire repair kit and air horn for wet Florida street riding. I like the way yours looks.
There's an old roadie (who doesn't ride any more) who gives me shit about how "busy" my bike is. When I ask him what he thinks I don't need, he has no answer.

[Retrorockit]

The only way I know to find stuff that doesn't break, is try to break it right from the start. If it breaks it comes off the bike, if it doesn't it stays on.

[Maxxim]

BTW that's a nice clean build. Mine's all crapped up with fenders, lights, lock,rack, tire repair kit and air horn for wet Florida street riding. I like the way yours looks.
There's an old roadie (who doesn't ride any more) who gives me shit about how "busy" my bike is. When I ask him what he thinks I don't need, he has no answer.

Thanks. We also have wet weather here, had to put on removable fenders as my butt was always wet after some biking...

[Maxxim]

About the fenders. For wet and rain full fenders is a must, but the bike doesn't look so cool. So on other weather coditions I go without fenders. But now when it has been snowing again I realised that need to protect the battery somehow from the snow that then melts and can find its way inside the batt. Find these kind of mud guards that are fitted in place with rubber bands. Seems to do the job pretty well. :)

[Retrorockit]

Around here people help themselves to anything that's removeable.

[Retrorockit]

SKS makes some silver full length fender kits that don't look too bad. My rear one used to be longer, but a pickup truck took a piece off for me.The BBSHD with throttle saved me that time. They'r very tough plastic, and have some clear stripes in them so you could paint some colored accent stripes inside if you wanted to. The title of this photo is I Don't Share My Road. The traffic signal the cars are stopped for has it own thread., Let Them Eat Airbags.
This choppy concrete path is where the Tannus Armour earns it's keep on the hard tail. Smooths out the ride a lot, and no more flats.22-30 mph here.

[Maxxim]

Haha, a very exiting vid where you can see my diy chain guide in action. Well, it's just sitting there, so no action, but keeping the chain very well on the ring.

https://youtu.be/immo_GVxUTU

[Maxxim]

Small update to the bike. The bafang 6V headlight was quite weak. Little bit scetchy to drive fast on a dark road with a "candle" light. So I wanted to update the light, but wanted a light that works directly from the main battery. Didn't wan't any other battery that needs charging.

The Bafang 6V output triggers a 10A relay, so the orginal display light function is working normal. The light itself was a cheap $22 aliexpress led light with a aluminium housing and working voltage range between 12-80V DC. Light pattern is ok. It has a bright hotspot but also floods quite widely so illuminates the surrounding almost directly in front and beside of you. Could try to switch the glass lens to a flood lens to smoothen up the hotspot, but will see... I'm happy with it, it's a quite enormous change from the orginal light anyway.

Small vid of testing the light:

https://youtube.com/shorts/jcqzUcWRH3g?feature=share

[Retrorockit]

A fluted lens helps with oncoming traffic situations also.

[Maxxim]

Almosta all ice and snow is gone, spring is here. Had to change the tyres, no need for ice studs anymore. Brand new Rocket Ron's, 2.1" wide, gives little bit more room in the frame than with the 2.25's.