Cannondale Trail 3 2016 + BBS02B 48V 750W

[sandysound]

This is my first build.
Looks like I need to get some bike tools, any tips on which crank puller, bottom bracket wrench, bottom bracket tool I need to take it apart? Its a Shimano Alivio Octalink crankset.
I guess I'm going to need spacers to make this work too as it has a 73mm bottom bracket.
Advice and comments appreciated as this build goes along!

[max_volt]

You may have to do something about the cables running on that plastic bracket.

[sandysound]

I went to the cheapest store in town and picked up specific tools:

Pedal spanner, Crank puller, bottom bracket remover and a lock ring spanner.



I also picked up some M6 20mm bolts and M6 split rings.

First I tried to remove the crank and realised I should remove the Pedals first!



Then the cranks by using the hex key, and then using a crank puller, I started on the Left side of the bike, and did both sides before progressing:



Used the crank puller to remove the cranks:



Then undo the bottom bracket:



Undoing both sides released the bottom bracket and I could see it was a bit rusty:



Then removed the front gear changer and derailer, giving me a good place to start installation of the BBS02B:



The motor slid in with some effort, I really had to twist it back and forth. I tried it with 4 split ring washers to start with, but ended up moving down to 3 split ring washers.



Do up the locking ring really tight, and tuck the wiring away from the rear derailer cable.



I had to take apart the chain to get it out of the front derailer. Once the chain was back together I fitted the cranks and pedals:

[sandysound]

I ended up taking a split ring out of the stack, and used 3, I noticed the bracket was not quite flush with the bottom bracket.



Battery holder in place:



Handle bars stripped ready to mount manual speed control and display.



Cables run and secured:

[sandysound]

Speed sensor fitted and done!



I took it for a spin, and threw the chain off the chain ring once, and can hear a few clicks coming from the rear derailer. Probably need to adjust it now it no longer has a front derailer, but I am really happy to have got this far in about 2 hours today!

[sandysound]

They are just jpegs :-/

[tommie]

All ok now!! Nice work!

[max_volt]

Nicely done. I have that same lock ring spanner(hook wrench) and I killed it the other day by putting a long pipe on the handle and cranking down on the friggin ring that refuses to stay tight. I now have the proper tool so will see if I can destroy that too.

[tommie]

LOL!!
"I have that same lock ring spanner(hook wrench) and I killed it the other day by putting a long pipe on the handle and cranking down on the friggin ring that refuses to stay tight."

Exactly what happened to me, Hook Wrench + Pipe don`t work!

[max_volt]

Yeah it was made for basic bike maint not a kickass e-machine. I may try to grind it back into shape just for the heck of it.

[sandysound]

Heh heh I need to redo all my bolts and lock rings with loctite now. I just wanted to check it was all working before I committed! I can get the lockring pretty tight with this tool, don't want to over torque it, but it was from the cheapest store in town!

[MoneyPit]

I do two inner lock rings stacked, with a 1mm spacer in between as a washer. I don't use an outer lock ring. I use the Luna socket for the inner ring and a long 1/2" drive automotive torque wrench set to the Luna recommendation of 100 ft lbs.

I do that to both the 'inner inner' and 'outer inner' lock ring. Nothing moves.

I also do the hose clamp trick, where the hose clamps are both sheathed in heatshrink so no frame marring. You can find colored heatshrink to kinda match your frame on Amazon. A 6" clamp handles my BBSHD and I have to cut off the excess for a clean look. My latest fat frame needed 1.4" to encircle the down tube and complete the clamping.

[sandysound]

Hose trick? I would be interested to know more about it! I am very familiar with heat shrink - but hose clamps?! I have a 73mm BB so I don't have the luxury of being able to add a second lock ring.

[sandysound]

So my gear changes are not as smooth as I would like. Not surprised, I haven't adjusted the derailleur so I gave it a go this afternoon.
Looking at it I am wondering if 9 gears is too much? The lowest gear (largest cog) is putting a lot of strain on the chain - it's not very straight at all! Not having been bike mechanically minded for many years, I am learning by trial and error and youtube on how to set it up the best.
When I compare how the derailleur is looking to other peoples bikes it looks as though my chain is too short? Also frustrated as it feels like the adjustment knob at the shifter for cable tension doesn't work (its a Shimano Alivio M4000) and the derailleur (Shimano Deore) doesn't have an adjustment knob at all!

High gear:



Low gear:



Chain alignment high gear:



Low gear:

[MoneyPit]

sandysound this is the 'hose trick' you asked about. It would be better to call it a 'hose clamp trick'. You see this done all the time on Cyclones etc. to keep them from rotating down. BBSHD has a more robust clamping mechanism so rather than this being a major part of the support mech, its probably more of a fail-safe/backup kind of thing. I did it because I don't want the fokker to move period end of story on a bike I use as a daily driver.

On this bike, I only used the heatshrink on the clamp that surrounds the motor. Since the frame is unpainted I didn't bother with the one around the down tube. My current build is nice fresh gloss white powder coat so I have some white heatshrink for that clamp.

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[sandysound]

Ahh thanks for that!

[MoneyPit]

Doing another separate post cuz I need to post a pic... Your chain is too short thats why you are having issues. There's no law that says your cage has to be where it is on HIGH gear. Its perfectly capable of going back further and wrapping more chain. The KMC x9e chain has 136 links which is very handy for not making you section two chains together to get the extra links. Here look at my 9-speed cluster on my BBSHD... My low gear looks like your high gear. My long cage on high gear is going almost straight back and is still keeping the chain nice and taut. As long as you don't have slack and the derailleur cage spring has tension on it you are good.

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[sandysound]

Took some adjustment but is doing well now. Yes I saw your post of this bike and thats when I first noticed derailleur position... Will think about a new chain and cassette soon I suppose. Will ride it how it is for now.

[MoneyPit]

This is too much of a good thing... I sized this chain for a 12T hi gear cog and then swapped in a cluster with an 11T.

Regardless, the pic illustrates how the derailleur can wrap chain backwards just fine, but this is just a tad too much and you can see the chain is a little slack. I removed two links from this chain after this was taken. It was fine in dry conditions but if the drivetrain got wet (rain) I'd get maybe a skip per mile or so.

With two fewer links the cage tightens springs down another 2-5 degrees and the chain has never skipped since under any condition adverse or otherwise.

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[sandysound]

Today I loaded in Karl's Special Sauce and adapted it to my needs and called it Sandy's Special Sauce. Its the bomb!