Trek Shift 3 Step through Large 19 inch Frame
Live on loose gravel roads and needed something to make it easier to ride on the gravel roads.
We Road Ebikes on a tour in Holland and decided I wanted one here in the states.
Did a lot of research and decided I could build one myself.
I already owned a TREK Shift 3 Step Through.
I Purchased a Bafang BBS02 kit from Luna.
Parts from LUNA:
Bafang BBS02 750w Mid Drive KIT
Color Display
Universal Thumb Throttle
Gear Sensor for Derailer
Luna Wrench
PANASONIC battery: Rear Rack 48v Panasonic NCRB 13.5ah
Smart Charger for your Battery (not included): 48V Advanced 300W Luna Charger
Lekkie Chainring blue
2 XT90-S Connector set with Pigtails
Heat Shrink Tube
Parts from other Supplies (Luna did not have or out of stock):
Bottom Bracket Tools 8fun Bafang BBS02 BBSHD (used to torque the inner lockring properly)
Universal Hall Sensor Brake Switch 8fun Bafang BBS02 BBSHD (continue to use integrated brake and gear changer)
Sunlite Gold TEC Disc Rear Rack (to mount battery pack)
I had trouble taking off my crank, because I used the wrong crank puller. If you pull your own crank make sure you are using the correct crank puller. Because of that I had someone at a bike shop remove the crank while he was at it I had him remove the old Bottom Bracket. This left mostly just assembly for me to do, which is not that bad.
The TREK Shift 3 has a 73mm bottom bracket so it is necessary to get larger bolt 5 x 20mm and some spacers (4-5 washers) for attaching the fixed plate. Used blue Loctite to make sure the bolt would not come loose. It would be nice if Luna would include the longer bolts and spacers as an option. The washers I 1st tried would not work a little too large in circumference). Once I got smaller washers it made all the difference.
I was able to put both lockrings on including the 2nd outer lockring (73mm BB often outer lockring can’t be installed). If you can only get the inner lockring on, be sure to use Locktite on the lockring, otherwise your motor may drop on you. I used the ½ inch socket bottom bracket tool so I could make sure the Torque was correct on the inner lockring and also used blue Locktite. I was able to get the outer lockring on also, even with a 73mm bottom bracket. The Lekkie Bling Ring Chain Ring 42 Tooth blue is working great. It is easy to install and gives you a great chain line. From what I understand using this chain ring help to keep the chain from coming off.
I used the standard Bafang brake for the front lever brake. For the rear brake I used the Bafang Hydraulic and Disc Brake Sensors, a magnet/sensor to adapt the existing combined brake lever/gear changer. I used a Hot Glue Gun to attack the sensor and the magnet to the brake lever.
Since I have a step through bicycle and wanted to still use it as a step through I went with a slim line 14v battery pack. Wanted a double decker battery rear rack, but could not locate one that was large enough. I finally purchased a Sunlite Gold TEC Disc Rear Rack. It is not perfect for the battery, so I mounted a white 3.5’’ x 1’’ PVC Trim board cut to 15 inches onto the rack (4 screws and locknuts thru mounting plate, trim board and rack, 2 screws and locknuts thru trim and rack, 2 into place and trim board). The board is needed because of the lock on the plate and the length of the battery. This works for now. Hope to get a double decker rack someday may still need the mounting board.
Another issue that I had was with the connectors. I did not realize I needed to purchase connectors between the battery and the motor. Ordered the xt90 pigtail connectors after getting my battery and used crimpers to connect the wires. You can also solder them if you prefer.
I attached the gear sensor after a few weeks to make changing gears a no brainer. I needed to run new gear changer cable. Had my bike mechanic do this because I wanted to make sure the gear got adjusted properly when completed. Placed the gear sensor on the down tube to keep the sensor out of water and the cable was straight for a long ways (this was recommended in the installation instructions). The gear sensor is working well. This is easier than remembering to press on the brake before shifting.
Changed my kickstand to a rear mounted kickstand. The rear mounted kickstand seems to make the bicycle a little more stable, since a lot of the weight is at the rear of the bike with the battery on the rear rack. The rear kickstand is also out of the way of the pedals, which I really like. I purchased this from my Bicycle Shop and he installed it while installing the gear sensor.
The build was a challenge for me. But overall it went well. The items mentions are items that caused me trouble or things that I wanted to point out.
Love the Ebike. The Ebike makes a big difference on our gravel roads. I really like the Step-through Frame makes it much easier to get on and off the bike. The Large TREK Shift Step- through models are big enough for someone about 6’3†or so. I’m 5’ 11†and only have the seat raised about an inch. According to TREK the SHIFT 3 is built to handle 350 pound so works well for an EBIKE (the extra 20 pounds that the Ebike adds with the battery and everything).
I also have a couple of non Ebikes and tend to use them when an EBike is not needed, like short in town rides. The non Ebike is much more agile to ride. It is also much easier to load the non Ebike onto our bike rack. But for harder rides like our gravel road, long rides or long uphill rides the EBike makes a huge difference. Like I said before, we love the Ebike.
Live on loose gravel roads and needed something to make it easier to ride on the gravel roads.
We Road Ebikes on a tour in Holland and decided I wanted one here in the states.
Did a lot of research and decided I could build one myself.
I already owned a TREK Shift 3 Step Through.
I Purchased a Bafang BBS02 kit from Luna.
Parts from LUNA:
Bafang BBS02 750w Mid Drive KIT
Color Display
Universal Thumb Throttle
Gear Sensor for Derailer
Luna Wrench
PANASONIC battery: Rear Rack 48v Panasonic NCRB 13.5ah
Smart Charger for your Battery (not included): 48V Advanced 300W Luna Charger
Lekkie Chainring blue
2 XT90-S Connector set with Pigtails
Heat Shrink Tube
Parts from other Supplies (Luna did not have or out of stock):
Bottom Bracket Tools 8fun Bafang BBS02 BBSHD (used to torque the inner lockring properly)
Universal Hall Sensor Brake Switch 8fun Bafang BBS02 BBSHD (continue to use integrated brake and gear changer)
Sunlite Gold TEC Disc Rear Rack (to mount battery pack)
I had trouble taking off my crank, because I used the wrong crank puller. If you pull your own crank make sure you are using the correct crank puller. Because of that I had someone at a bike shop remove the crank while he was at it I had him remove the old Bottom Bracket. This left mostly just assembly for me to do, which is not that bad.
The TREK Shift 3 has a 73mm bottom bracket so it is necessary to get larger bolt 5 x 20mm and some spacers (4-5 washers) for attaching the fixed plate. Used blue Loctite to make sure the bolt would not come loose. It would be nice if Luna would include the longer bolts and spacers as an option. The washers I 1st tried would not work a little too large in circumference). Once I got smaller washers it made all the difference.
I was able to put both lockrings on including the 2nd outer lockring (73mm BB often outer lockring can’t be installed). If you can only get the inner lockring on, be sure to use Locktite on the lockring, otherwise your motor may drop on you. I used the ½ inch socket bottom bracket tool so I could make sure the Torque was correct on the inner lockring and also used blue Locktite. I was able to get the outer lockring on also, even with a 73mm bottom bracket. The Lekkie Bling Ring Chain Ring 42 Tooth blue is working great. It is easy to install and gives you a great chain line. From what I understand using this chain ring help to keep the chain from coming off.
I used the standard Bafang brake for the front lever brake. For the rear brake I used the Bafang Hydraulic and Disc Brake Sensors, a magnet/sensor to adapt the existing combined brake lever/gear changer. I used a Hot Glue Gun to attack the sensor and the magnet to the brake lever.
Since I have a step through bicycle and wanted to still use it as a step through I went with a slim line 14v battery pack. Wanted a double decker battery rear rack, but could not locate one that was large enough. I finally purchased a Sunlite Gold TEC Disc Rear Rack. It is not perfect for the battery, so I mounted a white 3.5’’ x 1’’ PVC Trim board cut to 15 inches onto the rack (4 screws and locknuts thru mounting plate, trim board and rack, 2 screws and locknuts thru trim and rack, 2 into place and trim board). The board is needed because of the lock on the plate and the length of the battery. This works for now. Hope to get a double decker rack someday may still need the mounting board.
Another issue that I had was with the connectors. I did not realize I needed to purchase connectors between the battery and the motor. Ordered the xt90 pigtail connectors after getting my battery and used crimpers to connect the wires. You can also solder them if you prefer.
I attached the gear sensor after a few weeks to make changing gears a no brainer. I needed to run new gear changer cable. Had my bike mechanic do this because I wanted to make sure the gear got adjusted properly when completed. Placed the gear sensor on the down tube to keep the sensor out of water and the cable was straight for a long ways (this was recommended in the installation instructions). The gear sensor is working well. This is easier than remembering to press on the brake before shifting.
Changed my kickstand to a rear mounted kickstand. The rear mounted kickstand seems to make the bicycle a little more stable, since a lot of the weight is at the rear of the bike with the battery on the rear rack. The rear kickstand is also out of the way of the pedals, which I really like. I purchased this from my Bicycle Shop and he installed it while installing the gear sensor.
The build was a challenge for me. But overall it went well. The items mentions are items that caused me trouble or things that I wanted to point out.
Love the Ebike. The Ebike makes a big difference on our gravel roads. I really like the Step-through Frame makes it much easier to get on and off the bike. The Large TREK Shift Step- through models are big enough for someone about 6’3†or so. I’m 5’ 11†and only have the seat raised about an inch. According to TREK the SHIFT 3 is built to handle 350 pound so works well for an EBIKE (the extra 20 pounds that the Ebike adds with the battery and everything).
I also have a couple of non Ebikes and tend to use them when an EBike is not needed, like short in town rides. The non Ebike is much more agile to ride. It is also much easier to load the non Ebike onto our bike rack. But for harder rides like our gravel road, long rides or long uphill rides the EBike makes a huge difference. Like I said before, we love the Ebike.