Extreme Hill Climber Fat Tire MTB Project.

[commuter ebikes]

When the powder coater was done, I received 16 torque plates (two sets for each of my four bikes), and I didn't know which torque plates fit on which bikes; that took about six hours to sort out, but they are all marked now.

All of these are an incredibly tight fit. I will obtain some Grade 8 or Grade 12.9 hardware for these. Thanks to Alan B. for the idea!

[commuter ebikes]

In the first photo below, you see that one has to save room for the torque plate mounting hardware to clear the freewheel. The second photo shows how the torque plates would hold the wheel on even if the axle nuts were to come loose.

[commuter ebikes]

Here is a photo of the tire clearance. I had to adjust the dishing just a tad in order to center the tire in the frame.

[Green Werks]

CEB very nice work you have a great product their
the pix are great
Great to see someone here that is actually building something going beyond the norm, it actually lifts the site
If I might make a suggestion
Get those bikes sorted out put three of them on ebay and get paid Dude
take that money and build a brand new one don't ride it and put it on the bay and start getting paid more
and last but not least clean those motors before you take shots of them you will use those shots later on
to advertise with, the visual of the whole clean new thing goes a long way
You have a future in this just keep on keeping on but most of all don't get too geeked out about the whole thing
and never for get, the only reason we do this is because it is fun and if you have to work you may as well have fun doing it
GW

[commuter ebikes]

I have limited the scope of my project to only do "R and D" for this design, and only build bikes for myself. I would not want to find out what hassles may arise from selling them. I continually redo stuff, so the bikes have more money into them than I could ever get back. I don't have room for any more bikes, so I will just have the two high geared ones and the two low geared ones.

I will end up with a Ti frame from one of my framebuilding classes. I will build that into a pedal road bike, but storing it in the garage will be a stretch.

I will be completely redoing the frames (in 4130 Chromoly steel) and building my own batteries. Those two plans will take five years and further clutter the garage.

I would always choose to spend any extra time riding rather than working on bikes for other people.

[Green Werks]

My mistake I thought you were going for it as to make a living at it
you build a nice bike and the best of luck in what ever way you go

[commuter ebikes]

Checking that the front fork and tire will fit. The front tire is larger at 5.05" wide, 31.5" O.D. The rear tire is 4.80" wide, 30.5" O.D.

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Here are some pictures of the aluminum controller heat sink which also serves as a controller mount. I used "heatsink thermal conductive pads" to conduct the heat from the controller to the heat sink to the frame.

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Here is the controller heat sink as seen from the bottom:

[commuter ebikes]

I set up the rear rotor brake spacing. I used no rotor spacer, and I used these in order to space the caliper (mounting bracket) away from the frame: http://www.bikeman.com/BR2169.html



I only used the cup washers (also called concave washers) seen in the picture. I didn't use any flat washers. These concave washers allow the caliper to conform to the position of the rotor while it is gripped tightly in the brake pads.

These cup washers are designed to be used in pairs, obviously, with the flat sides of the washer facing the frame and caliper bracket.

I have hydraulic brakes, so the caliper is adjusted by applying the brake and then (while continuing to hold the brake lever) evenly and progressively tightening the caliper mounting hardware (which happens to be four bolts). Of course, this can only be done once one has the rotor more or less centered in the brake pads which is achieved by using rotor spacers, caliper (mounting bracket) spacers or a combination of the two.

Whereas rotor spacers are available in many thicknesses, I have only seen these cup washers available in two heights. I got lucky and the taller height placed my caliper spot on. I was prepared to use a rotor spacer or a flat washer between the caliper mounting bracket and the frame.

This solution had me making a trip to the hardware store for M6 caliper bracket mounting bolts in 25, 30 and 30mm lengths in thread size 1.0 - UNC (coarse thread).

[commuter ebikes]

I will hopefully be ordering some spare bare axles for these bikes, with 173mm dropouts and 260mm total width. They come from Zelena Vozila in Zagreb, Croatia.

[commuter ebikes]

Cup washers (aka concave washers) used for caliper bracket spacing:

[commuter ebikes]

A brake rotor centered in the brake pads:

[commuter ebikes]

I bought a Surly Singleator chain tensioner and I powder coated most of the silver parts. Here are the results and an exploded diagram of a Singleator:

[commuter ebikes]

Powder coating the M4, M6 and M6 hardware was a failed idea. With the powder on there, the Allen key does not fit in the socket head tightly. I won't even use these powder coated bolts, so I had to buy replacement hardware; I chose Grade 12.9 bolts.

Assembling the Singleator was easy, but I had a clearance issue at the axle nut as well as the hub motor side cover. For the axle nut, I solved the problem by substituting in a non-flanged axle nut. At the motor end, I substituted in a bolt with a button head instead of a socket head. I would have had to use a different chain tensioner if this different type of hardware failed to allow the proper clearance.

I am really happy with how easy it is to set up the brake pads on the hydraulic brakes. I'm sure that it may be just as easy with mechanical brakes, but it sure is nice to just hold down the brake lever and tighten the caliper mounting bolts.

[commuter ebikes]

It looks like my order for spare extra wide axles is moving forward. I am also ordering spare rotor mounting flanges, snap rings and bolts. Cromotors use the same M4 bolts for the side covers, rotor mounting flange and freewheel mounting flange.

I have been using 170mm dropout axles, but my dropouts are actually 173mm wide. I am also increasing the overall axle width from 248mm to 260mm so that the threads will stick out beyond the axle nut. On the bikes I am building now, the axle is flush with the axle nut.

These axles are made of automotive steel.