68mm bottom bracket, straight downtube allows the motor to swing up out of the way, 2 3/4 inches clearance, 3p battery wedged in “triangle”, simple and straight forward install.
I have a great affinity for this build and keep coming up with cute names. “Townie a-Go-Go” (the factory electric bike is Townie go). “Townie MX” because it is converted to off road. “Townie Fat” because it rolls on 2.8 mid fat tires (bigger than the Townie Balloon). “Full Bagger Townie” because it has the Topeak big bag that folds out the panniers. “Townie a-Go-Go Fat Bagger MX”?
It is not done, it may never be done, and I think I can do better with everything I have so far. But I might as well start and I am honored to have had a request. Pictures show and will show old stuff since removed and replaced.
How did I pick the Townie? Well I didn't. I made the wife a kids downhill bike that was great, but named “Stinky” and she kicked it out like an ugly step child. Then while riding around town I noticed she won't stop at stop signs because she is too lazy to put her foot down and start again. This lead me to what Electra calls Foot Flat Technology. Clones are called Foot Forward, I call it Ass Backwards. No matter what you call it, it addresses the stop sign issue and now I find it is good off road to be able to get one's feet down. Ass backwards is even good on steep downhills because you don't have to hang your butt off the rear of the seat!
I got this used and it has a front suspension fork. It doesn't look like any of the new ones come this way. I would really love to see how a 29er front fork and wheel would work. Then I could throw on a disc brake and have a slack head angle like a downhill bike and the looks of a chopper with the huge front wheel.
The basket sold the wife. I did turn the goose neck around so one can reach the bars. One should not have to lean forward like Greg Lemon (you youngins can look him up) on a comfort bike. However there was a time I could not put the basket back on and I heard about this for days. In the end I got something off Amazon to make the basket work again.
Step 1 was to bolt up the BBSHD. I still have the derailleur cable under the motor so I needed a wedge so it doesn't get pinched. Simple, but I don't think I will ever be happy. First off I have run into a rare problem for ebikes, I have too much weight in the front, not back, so I would like to put it above the bottom bracket bringing some weight back and of course the coolest of all installs. The damn thing had a front derailleur so I have a big tube to cut off instead of just a chain guard mount like on the 7D or 3i. Then the part that won't fit through is the little tab on the motor. I would have to take the motor housing off and put it back on after it is in the bottom bracket. I wish I had another frame to practice on. Anybody out there able to shed some light on this?
The 3p battery looks great in the Walmart bag up front, but adds to my weight distribution problem. Look for this to change.
Really this was the wrong motor choice for her. She won't use the throttle. We had a little incident where I forgot to turn it off, she grabbed the bike and accidentally hit the throttle. She didn't let go and got dragged half way across the soccer field in front of thousands of people there for the fourth of July. “Danger Townie” is a good name too. No way can the BBSHD PAS match the Bosch. She needs the Bosch factory mated with the Nuvinci hub. No one can do this for me. I would have to buy a $10,000 bike and cannibalize it. (See, I thought about it.) This time of year the only Townie Go in the store are the butt ugly colors and there won't be more until next year. So back to Craigs list and I found this for $250 ready for the BBSHD.
Me, I love the motor. With a 30 tooth mighty mini and the 34 tooth in the cassette it came with I can climb trees. The geometry is really pretty good and the twelve year old in me had fun showing off flat tracking crossed up, kicking up dirt, all with a wicker basket on a girls bike. Wish I had a youtube video for here.
But I digress. First thing I did was put the motor on and a 2.7 wide downhill tire and took into the hills. It was better than expected so I opened up the checkbook.
I choose the WTB Ranger tires in a 2.8 wide. They fit so well and look so right it appears it came that way, or at least it should have. These tires completely change the character of the bike and it is really confidence inspiring off road.
How does the front fender look? I am still undecided. It does keep the battery and rider dry.
The BMX pedals are a subtle hint of its gitty up.
I hate hard tails! Never even seen a thud buster but I had to do something. The body float costs twice as much so on that basis alone I bought it. It seems more for a road bike with hard tires creating vibrations than mountain bikes. I found it bottomed out on the trail so the springs in the Townie's Body Float are set up for a person who weighs more than we do. In the end this was worth every penny. It works way better than I had hoped.
Stay tuned!
I have a great affinity for this build and keep coming up with cute names. “Townie a-Go-Go” (the factory electric bike is Townie go). “Townie MX” because it is converted to off road. “Townie Fat” because it rolls on 2.8 mid fat tires (bigger than the Townie Balloon). “Full Bagger Townie” because it has the Topeak big bag that folds out the panniers. “Townie a-Go-Go Fat Bagger MX”?
It is not done, it may never be done, and I think I can do better with everything I have so far. But I might as well start and I am honored to have had a request. Pictures show and will show old stuff since removed and replaced.
How did I pick the Townie? Well I didn't. I made the wife a kids downhill bike that was great, but named “Stinky” and she kicked it out like an ugly step child. Then while riding around town I noticed she won't stop at stop signs because she is too lazy to put her foot down and start again. This lead me to what Electra calls Foot Flat Technology. Clones are called Foot Forward, I call it Ass Backwards. No matter what you call it, it addresses the stop sign issue and now I find it is good off road to be able to get one's feet down. Ass backwards is even good on steep downhills because you don't have to hang your butt off the rear of the seat!
I got this used and it has a front suspension fork. It doesn't look like any of the new ones come this way. I would really love to see how a 29er front fork and wheel would work. Then I could throw on a disc brake and have a slack head angle like a downhill bike and the looks of a chopper with the huge front wheel.
The basket sold the wife. I did turn the goose neck around so one can reach the bars. One should not have to lean forward like Greg Lemon (you youngins can look him up) on a comfort bike. However there was a time I could not put the basket back on and I heard about this for days. In the end I got something off Amazon to make the basket work again.
Step 1 was to bolt up the BBSHD. I still have the derailleur cable under the motor so I needed a wedge so it doesn't get pinched. Simple, but I don't think I will ever be happy. First off I have run into a rare problem for ebikes, I have too much weight in the front, not back, so I would like to put it above the bottom bracket bringing some weight back and of course the coolest of all installs. The damn thing had a front derailleur so I have a big tube to cut off instead of just a chain guard mount like on the 7D or 3i. Then the part that won't fit through is the little tab on the motor. I would have to take the motor housing off and put it back on after it is in the bottom bracket. I wish I had another frame to practice on. Anybody out there able to shed some light on this?
The 3p battery looks great in the Walmart bag up front, but adds to my weight distribution problem. Look for this to change.
Really this was the wrong motor choice for her. She won't use the throttle. We had a little incident where I forgot to turn it off, she grabbed the bike and accidentally hit the throttle. She didn't let go and got dragged half way across the soccer field in front of thousands of people there for the fourth of July. “Danger Townie” is a good name too. No way can the BBSHD PAS match the Bosch. She needs the Bosch factory mated with the Nuvinci hub. No one can do this for me. I would have to buy a $10,000 bike and cannibalize it. (See, I thought about it.) This time of year the only Townie Go in the store are the butt ugly colors and there won't be more until next year. So back to Craigs list and I found this for $250 ready for the BBSHD.
Me, I love the motor. With a 30 tooth mighty mini and the 34 tooth in the cassette it came with I can climb trees. The geometry is really pretty good and the twelve year old in me had fun showing off flat tracking crossed up, kicking up dirt, all with a wicker basket on a girls bike. Wish I had a youtube video for here.
But I digress. First thing I did was put the motor on and a 2.7 wide downhill tire and took into the hills. It was better than expected so I opened up the checkbook.
I choose the WTB Ranger tires in a 2.8 wide. They fit so well and look so right it appears it came that way, or at least it should have. These tires completely change the character of the bike and it is really confidence inspiring off road.
How does the front fender look? I am still undecided. It does keep the battery and rider dry.
The BMX pedals are a subtle hint of its gitty up.
I hate hard tails! Never even seen a thud buster but I had to do something. The body float costs twice as much so on that basis alone I bought it. It seems more for a road bike with hard tires creating vibrations than mountain bikes. I found it bottomed out on the trail so the springs in the Townie's Body Float are set up for a person who weighs more than we do. In the end this was worth every penny. It works way better than I had hoped.
Stay tuned!
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