We've had this Diamondback Wildwood since 2005. It's always been a good recreational bike, and was the first one in our house with suspension in the forks and seat. I put the BBS02 kit on this year, and later added a 48V 14AH rack battery with Panasonic cells. Both motor/battery were purchased from Luna.
A few comments about the build. For me, the toughest part was removal of the old BB, because the aluminum pedal arms and the steel axle were corroded together. I know some owners have just paid their local bike shop $20 to take off the BB. I'd take that money every day to pull off a BB, as it's usually about 15 minutes, but on this one I would have lost lots of money. Anywway, we got here, and there was no more drama.
The rest of the install took less time than it will take to write this post. The length of the BB on my bike was exactly 68mm, so the bracket fit was excellent. I did have some burrs in the BB that needed to be filed down, but that's not am issue for either Luna or Bafang.
I originally tightened the bracket and lock ring using channel lock pliers, but they loosened up quickly. The Luna combo wrench is highly recommended.
In addition to the Luna tool ($19 USD) , I found that a crank puller ($15 USD) and a chain breaker ($5) to be useful. You gotta have a crank puller to take off the pedal/crank and a chain breaker is nice as it allows the front derailleur to be removed intact, in case you wish to re-use it somewhere else. You also may wish to do further chain or rear derailleur upgrades later.
I really like the Bafang waterproof connector system. I was impressed that the kit shipped with caps to keep the connectors clean, and like the way the cables dress up well on my bike. They look good, not like the disparate and ugly connectors I've seen in other kits. Anyway, I recall that it took about 90 minutes to mount the motor, attach the LCD display and go test riding.
I originally used a Dolphin battery stuffed in a battery bag on the rear rack. I could have put it on the frame, but I didn't have an extra cradle.
The stealth look appealed to me so I decided to get a rack battery. Mounting was simple. I cut a piece of 1x3 wood and screwed it to my bike rack. Painted the wood black, and screwed the battery cable to the wood. Used wood screws on both sides. It was a typical rack with the upturned frame in front, but I flattened it, It's not perfectly flat by any means, but is masked with the wood and cradle on top.
I bought the 48V 14AH model from Luna, with the longer capacity cells. Since I don't ride my bikes at high current drains, I took the trade-off of less peak current for more amp-hours. The rack battery has a hollow end that looked redundant. It was removed to save a few inches.
WIth 30Q cells in my 48V Dolphin battery, and my 46T Bafang gear, I have seen 28 mph. I think 26mph might be the max with the rack battery. Both are 2X faster than my normal riding speeds.
Yep. A mid drive, low gear and some leg power allow me to climb this hill. Without a motor, I'm walking up this one.
The bike blue book says my donor bike is about $60. I spent another $40 on ebay for new grips, rear rack, and the all important Rock Brothers bell. I have new tires, chain, and a rear derailleur in my spares box too, but won't count those til they are needed. Future buys include a rear fender to keep spray off the battery, and a mechanical disk brake up front (fork has the bracket) although the rim brakes are fine for me.
The BBS02 was $499 and the battery was $439. Add about $70 in shipping too. I did not get the gear sensor. as I don't have to shift under load for my recreational riding. I also passed on the programming cable, because I hate to fiddle with firmware.I did not get the Lekkie ring either. The chain line seems pretty reasonable on this bike. I did get the thumb throttle, because I have gotten careless with twist throttles while walking a powered up e-bike and had them rear up on me.
So including the wrench, I spent about $1050 at Luna to motorize my $100 bike. I like the results and have enjoyed how a mid drive works. .
A few comments about the build. For me, the toughest part was removal of the old BB, because the aluminum pedal arms and the steel axle were corroded together. I know some owners have just paid their local bike shop $20 to take off the BB. I'd take that money every day to pull off a BB, as it's usually about 15 minutes, but on this one I would have lost lots of money. Anywway, we got here, and there was no more drama.
The rest of the install took less time than it will take to write this post. The length of the BB on my bike was exactly 68mm, so the bracket fit was excellent. I did have some burrs in the BB that needed to be filed down, but that's not am issue for either Luna or Bafang.
I originally tightened the bracket and lock ring using channel lock pliers, but they loosened up quickly. The Luna combo wrench is highly recommended.
In addition to the Luna tool ($19 USD) , I found that a crank puller ($15 USD) and a chain breaker ($5) to be useful. You gotta have a crank puller to take off the pedal/crank and a chain breaker is nice as it allows the front derailleur to be removed intact, in case you wish to re-use it somewhere else. You also may wish to do further chain or rear derailleur upgrades later.
I really like the Bafang waterproof connector system. I was impressed that the kit shipped with caps to keep the connectors clean, and like the way the cables dress up well on my bike. They look good, not like the disparate and ugly connectors I've seen in other kits. Anyway, I recall that it took about 90 minutes to mount the motor, attach the LCD display and go test riding.
I originally used a Dolphin battery stuffed in a battery bag on the rear rack. I could have put it on the frame, but I didn't have an extra cradle.
The stealth look appealed to me so I decided to get a rack battery. Mounting was simple. I cut a piece of 1x3 wood and screwed it to my bike rack. Painted the wood black, and screwed the battery cable to the wood. Used wood screws on both sides. It was a typical rack with the upturned frame in front, but I flattened it, It's not perfectly flat by any means, but is masked with the wood and cradle on top.
I bought the 48V 14AH model from Luna, with the longer capacity cells. Since I don't ride my bikes at high current drains, I took the trade-off of less peak current for more amp-hours. The rack battery has a hollow end that looked redundant. It was removed to save a few inches.
WIth 30Q cells in my 48V Dolphin battery, and my 46T Bafang gear, I have seen 28 mph. I think 26mph might be the max with the rack battery. Both are 2X faster than my normal riding speeds.
Yep. A mid drive, low gear and some leg power allow me to climb this hill. Without a motor, I'm walking up this one.
The bike blue book says my donor bike is about $60. I spent another $40 on ebay for new grips, rear rack, and the all important Rock Brothers bell. I have new tires, chain, and a rear derailleur in my spares box too, but won't count those til they are needed. Future buys include a rear fender to keep spray off the battery, and a mechanical disk brake up front (fork has the bracket) although the rim brakes are fine for me.
The BBS02 was $499 and the battery was $439. Add about $70 in shipping too. I did not get the gear sensor. as I don't have to shift under load for my recreational riding. I also passed on the programming cable, because I hate to fiddle with firmware.I did not get the Lekkie ring either. The chain line seems pretty reasonable on this bike. I did get the thumb throttle, because I have gotten careless with twist throttles while walking a powered up e-bike and had them rear up on me.
So including the wrench, I spent about $1050 at Luna to motorize my $100 bike. I like the results and have enjoyed how a mid drive works. .
Attached Files