Salsa Bucksaw, BBSHD, Ludicrous Controler & Rohloff Speedhub. Soon- Gates Carbon Belt

[Copa Joe]

At the moment, my Salsa Bucksaw with the BBSHD and Ludicrous Contoller (with 2 Wolf Packs) have been nothing short of fun fun fun.

I am now trying to add the Rohloff 500/14 XL seen here:
http://cyclemonkeylab.blogspot.com/2...-a12-hubs.html
its a bit different than the one with the CR skew as well as being much better suited for my needs. The mounts still need to be fabricated but I am sure we can do this with just a bit of work.

Anyway, I have a few questions and was hoping someone out there has already done this or knows someone who has.

I planning on adding the Rohloff and if possible a Gates Belt Drive too.

First thing I need is the front sprocket/chainring (for a Gates Belt Drive system) that will fit over the BBSHD? I want as much offset as possible, like my Leckie Bling Ring has. Are there any spiders out there that will work with one of Gates front pulleys? Is this a better way to go?

I found this:
https://www.amazon.com/Gates-Carbon-...g-goods&sr=1-3
and this:
https://www.amazon.com/Gates-Carbon-...g-goods&sr=1-4

Or does it have to be custom made?

Many people have posted, Gates included, that the Gates drives will not work with a full suspension bikes. My plan is to prove them all wrong. How? I am not sure yet (haha) but first, before I go down that road, I have to find a front sprocket/chainring for the Gates Belt that will work with the BBSHD. I have found many on the BBS02 but nothing yet on the BBSHD.

Can anyone help?

After I find this I will work on the rear sprocket (easy) and then I will work on fabricating some sort of tensioner that will take up slack when the rear shock is engaged/moving. I figure, if a soft tail motorcycle can accommodate a belt drive, why can't I?

anyway, any and all input will be greatly appreciated. (naysayers, please be kind!)

thanks!

finally, here are a few shots of the Black Mamba as it is right now, as the build progresses, I will post more.

*ps - I love the ludicrous controller but I was amazed at how the wolf pack gets depleted SOOOO much faster! Huge increase in torque but the trade off is much faster battery consumption!!!! Good thing I have 2. haha!

[Copa Joe]

The Rohloff came back from the bike shop after having it laced up to my Whiskey Carbon #9 rim. I have to fabricate adapters so it will mount to the 12mm through axel holes on my salsa bucksaw and I am s

till waiting on the monkey bone to adapt the brakes to the 180mm disc.

Once I get this up and running I will then move on to the gates...

[Copa Joe]

Today I re-launched the "Black Mamba". Its now rolling with the Rohloff 14 speed internal geared hub.
To be honest, the install was a bit tougher than expected and while it was apart I did a few small upgrades.

The mounts to acually be able to install this had to be custom made. The Salsa has a 12mm thru axel,
the A-12 Rohloff hub is installed by screwing 7mm bolts in from either side.
So, I had to get a 12mm mount with a 7mm hole in the middle.

Hello, machine shop!

While this was being fabricated, I removed the SRAM RS brakes and installed XTR's in their place. I also increased the size of the front disc brake to 203 and put a 180 in the rear.

After everything was installed, I re-checked all the bolts and mounts to make sure everything was secure, then zip tied everything down and took it out for its first ride.

To put it mildly, it was amazing! First gear seems 1 it seems like it would climb straight up a wall!
Then, when you get to 14, the bike was flying. I clocked it at just over 38mph.

Tomorrow, I have the Rohloff "oil change kit" arriving and I plan to do an oil change because this Rohloff has been sitting in my garage for well over a year.
I also have a few additional tweaks to do for comfort and ease of use sake.

Neil from Cycle Monkey said he helped one customer a few years back install a Rohloff on a Bucksaw one time before but it was not an E-Bike, other than that I am not sure if any others exist!

Let me know if you have a question or two, I would be happy to answer them....

[Ponyo]

Very nice build, i am ready to do the same on my Bucksaw , I will have to use a smaller battery though. Did you use the 120mm BBSHD with some press fit adapters i suppose? Did you have to glue or screw the adapters, which ones did you buy?Did you have to grind down the 3 metal pieces made to attach a 2nd front derailleur near the bottom bracket. Thanks in advance.

[jpstuckinnj]

Hi,
Black Mamba is looking sweet!
I actually have a Salsa Bucksaw the exact same model/color as yours so hope you don't mind me asking a few questions as I have considered doing a conv
1) What size is your bucksaw? Mine is a medium and concerned the frame size may be an issue for the battery.
a) Is this the pack you have? https://lunacycle.com/luna-wolf-v2-52v-battery-pack/
2) What size Lekkie ring are you using?
3) For installing the motor what if any adapter are you using to be able to securely mount it?
4) For the basic bbshd install any other gotcha's to look out for.
Appreciate any and all advice!

[Copa Joe]

large
wolf 52v, yes
55? not sure, but I think so. (its been a while since I have been on the site)
no adapters but you need to cut the 3? tabs off on the bb so the BBSHD will fit. it was tight too!
I have another thread I believe with pics of the tabs I had to grind off to make it fit. see if you can find them, it will help if you have not done it already!

[Ponyo]

Are there any close pictures of the bottom bracket? I could not find any other thread of yours with details on the build? Everybody is suggesting that adapters are needed to install the BBSHD 120mm on the press fit (PF41 x121) bottom bracket of the Bucksaw, but i read that you didn't need them. Thanks in advance

[AZguy]

I looked at the bucksaw a couple of years ago as a potential for BBSHD - I was a bit concerned about the clearance to the swingarm but it looks like you got it in ok.

Did it require spacers on the ring side (left) side of the BBSHD to get it fitting well?

Which Bucksaw is it - the 1 or the 2?

How do you think the chain line would be with the stock derailleur?

[Copa Joe]

not sure about which bucksaw. its a 2017 model I think.
no real spacer issue, fit well right from jump.
I have the derailer off of the carbon bucksaw on it. runs fine, no issues.

[Glen Heleman]

Nice ride! I am thinking about the same build. I have a couple of questions, what size frame is the bike? Which battery did you use? Do you bottom out on the motor on trails? Thank you for posting

[Copa Joe]

frame is a large, have not bottomed out after a couple thousand miles on it, I cannot say I am the daredevil I was years ago so your bottom may come sooner!

[Copa Joe]

UPDATE - with the Ludicrious controller and all those other goodies, I recently melted my internal white plastic (or is it nylon?) main gear/cog. Too much torque! Haha, love it.

years ago when I originally purchased the BBSHD I asked them at Luna what part(s) would fail when it went down. They said this gear, so at the time I purchased a replacement and kept it stored away.



Anyway, I looked up here on the site how to change it out and I did. Total job took less than 3 hours (removal of motor from bike, repair and reinstallation). The internal super thin gasket was fried on removal so I used hi-temp RV silicone sealant when I put it all back together and it is running as strong as it ever has!

FYI - Search and find the directions here on the site (there are no videos, just written directions) and follow them. Its easy if you have even minor skills. Dude who wrote it tries scarring you by saying it is super hard. No its not, just follow the directions as he says and you will get it!

[Copa Joe]

so I replaced the nylon gear with another, got it all back together, went out for a ride and it went down again! I could not believe it. Another nylon gear? Opened it up and its not the gear. Its the stator. Looking for a new motor case for a 120mm bb or a replacement stator to get going again! bummer....