Commuter Bike Build

Here I was a couple of months ago deciding to start some cycling after having never even sat on a bike for 20ish years, so took on the challenge of building my own ebike from knowing nothing, this includes learning how to and building the rear drive wheel. Thanks to everyone for help and thanks d8veh for help recommending and even supplying me the main parts and all his off-forum help with everything else. Never doubt d8veh's words of wisdom.

The finished parts are-

Cannondale CX3

MXUS Motor,controller & LCD from D8veh

Battery 36v10ah bottle battery etc from BMSBattery

Mavic A319 700c Rim with Sapim 14/15g black DB spokes 3x pattern

Pletscher twin leg kickstand (quite heavy but very solid)

Pedal Sensor and throttle control (didn't know which I would prefer so fit both)

Total weight with battery - 21.5kg

The first time I took this for a spin was a real WWOWWW moment, I just couldn't believe the acceleration and pull up our small hill.

I cannot compare this with any other ebike but it is very quiet running and electric stealthy too.

Having done this project from knowing nothing I would welcome any comments about should/should not haves i.e spokes suitability pattern etc.

Now comes the constant tweaking and adding essentials like muguards,lights,lock, pannier rack etc etc ...[ATTACH]7068.vB[/ATTACH][ATTACH]7069.vB[/ATTACH][ATTACH]7070.vB[/ATTACH][ATTACH]7071.vB[/ATTACH]

Torque arm look fitted OK ? It feels quite solid.

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Looks very nice job, good choice going for sus fork IMO, I made that mistake & spent quite a bit of time changing it out, gives much better ride with the extra weight, no where near as harsh.

I was thinking exactly that today. They made such a difference.

PAS Pedal Sensor.

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Can I ask about your thoughts about BMS battery, were they quick, were shipping battery packs OK, did you get charged import/customs fees. I like the stuff they supply but never dealt with them personally.

It took about 3 week for the battery to arrive and it seems to work fine, I would use BMSbattery again. You can track it with fedex around the globe from China too. Don't know about customs, not had any letter from fedex yet so it may have slipped through.

Don't know about customs, not had any letter from fedex yet so it may have slipped through.

They often come 2 to 3 weeks after delivery.

A minimalists handlebars. I hate clutter.

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Nice looking bike,very impressed

House move done, new route for regular commute to work found and practised. This is what the bike was built for, 10 miles consisting of 7 miles back country lanes,2 miles cycle path across town and 1 mile normal roads. I used to drive 30 miles to work, now cycle 10, then the same back home.

The MXUS kit I got from d8veh is fantastic (thanks!!), I really could not have managed this cycling without the kit, it's quiet,smooth and pulls me up the inclines and has surprisingly quick acceleration. I have learned PAS level 3 on its own is plenty across town and on the country lanes I have the throttle on just enough to keep over my pedaling.

It allows me to use the large front cog where I normally haven't got the leg strength yet to use on the inclines.

Another happy ebiker, Great !!!

The back country lanes are pitch black at 6am and 6pm (no street lamps)so good job I purchased a 3xcree led front light as recommended on this forum.

The problem I had with it was being attached by a simple elastic band, as I went over bumps the light would rotate back, also pressing the button to switch on or change setting rotated it forwards, then the problem with removing it and putting it back on all the time to stop it being pinched. So I designed and made a fixed aluminium bracket to secure it in place good and solid. I have also just ordered one of those diffuser lenses recommended in another recent thread.

So far so good and 250 miles on the clock.

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That bracket is a nice touch and looks nice and sturdy as well as being neat and central. I just took the easy way out with this one and used one of torchy's swivelmounts.

 

Swivel mount for Magicshine / Inton / Fluxient / Starlight etc bike lights | eBay

 

... the o-ring things they supply are pretty hopeless ! But the light is fantastic.

That's a really nice and tasteful bike. Great fixing for the light but could be awkward if you need to upend the bike for roadside repairs or to fix a puncture (or is it removable).

Maybe end bars would be useful and keep the super clean look.

Well done.

We fir ours on a DIY bracket under the stem. This makes it more stealthy and just as secure.

I found the flaw in my light bracket design for anyone thinking of making one similar, as pointed out by D C, I upturned the bike to investigate a squeaking and guess what took the brunt of the bike weight as it was not removable. That didn't break anything but made the light come loose and needs a complete bracket removal to tighten which is impractical. Shame, but it's back to the drawing board, that swivel mount is looking tempting now.

Got any pics of your method d8veh to give me an idea to go off?

You can do what we do. Get a piece of aluminium sheet somewhere abouy 2mm thick; drill and file a hole the size of your steerer (28mm); shape it and and add a a fixing hole for the light screw; remove the stem, cap, and spacers; thread the bracket over the steerer so that it rests on the head bearings; fix the light on it; reassemble the stem and cap; bend the bracket until the light shines at the right angle. It'll then sit under the stem where nobody can see it. It'll be secure and won't get damaged when you invert the bike for whatever reason. The only thing to look out for id that the brake cables don't block the light, but that wouldn't normally be a problem.

New light bracket made to move it below the stem out of the way, light changed as I've damaged the other at the moment and diffuser lens recommended in another thread added. Thanks for the comments, I have also ordered end bull-bars as suggested by DC as I do occasionally find myself wanting to hold that position and I also think it will compliment the bike too, also stem screws changed for shiny stainless steel ones. Now on the to-do list is

1 - wire main-light directly to battery, may start a new thread on that.

2 - possibly add a thumb throttle to the end bull-bars. Can 2 throttles be wired into the same circuit?

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500 miles update.

This cycling (I know even assisted) is really having a benefit on my health.

Speed wise, I will just say the bike is easily fast enough and am sure I am getting the full MXUS motor rpm on the flats(about 270rpm I think) on a 700c wheel. As for battery range, the first couple of days like a kid with a new toy went full throttle as much as I could and the 36v 10ah battery cut off at about 24 miles, my trip to work is 10miles and so was faced on day 2 with pedaling halfway there and all way home which made me realize just how much the motor really helps. Now I’ve learned to ride a bit more amp economical and enjoy actual pedaling using the motor just when needed and have since had 30miles and still some battery left over, this is good if I am faced with a headwind both trips which would use more amps as I’ve settled with charging once a day after 20miles which is more of a top-up charge and am hoping this will also increase/extend the battery life. During summer I may try for 2 whole days-40miles.

 

To do list still has – to wire front light onto main battery (may start new thread for info soon) – fit new designed torque arm – make a rear rack using d8veh’s ideas to house a future 36v 20ah block battery and controller maybe incorporating eHomers alum box idea as I’ve no idea which purchased racks will fit.

 

Cost savings will be difficult to work out with moving closer to work at the same time as have sold the second 'work' car and purchased all the bike equip at about he same time but surely if I keep this going it will pay dividends in the months ahead.

500 miles update.

This cycling (I know even assisted) is really having a benefit on my health.

Speed wise, I will just say the bike is easily fast enough and am sure I am getting the full MXUS motor rpm on the flats(about 270rpm I think) on a 700c wheel. As for battery range, the first couple of days like a kid with a new toy went full throttle as much as I could and the 36v 10ah battery cut off at about 24 miles, my trip to work is 10miles and so was faced on day 2 with pedaling halfway there and all way home which made me realize just how much the motor really helps. Now I’ve learned to ride a bit more amp economical and enjoy actual pedaling using the motor just when needed and have since had 30miles and still some battery left over, this is good if I am faced with a headwind both trips which would use more amps as I’ve settled with charging once a day after 20miles which is more of a top-up charge and am hoping this will also increase/extend the battery life. During summer I may try for 2 whole days-40miles.

 

To do list still has – to wire front light onto main battery (may start new thread for info soon) – fit new designed torque arm – make a rear rack using d8veh’s ideas to house a future 36v 20ah block battery and controller maybe incorporating eHomers alum box idea as I’ve no idea which purchased racks will fit.

 

Cost savings will be difficult to work out with moving closer to work at the same time as have sold the second 'work' car and purchased all the bike equip at about he same time but surely if I keep this going it will pay dividends in the months ahead.

 

 

That's very good range compared to my own experiences with my other bikes and motors AWOL.

 

My battery setup is standardised on two ready made 36v 10ah lithium ion battery packs in fitted alluminium cases with integral rear light and led battery level gauge.

 

I've used them with a 250w 36v front hub motor in my Alubike conversion with 700c wheels and an SRAM 7 speed rear hub. That gives an easily assisted cruising speed of 15mph, and a range of 20 miles, (flat terrain and I weigh 95kg).

 

I then tried a 1000w 48v rear wheel direct drive hub motor running at 36v in my mountain bike. This gave an average assisted speed of about 20mph and a range of around 15 miles (suprisingly).

 

My only test run so far with the 250/350w MXUS rear hub motor on my mountain bike has been 10 miles, but the country lanes round here were so mucky and wet that I didn't take it above 15mph. The trip was 10 miles, and it seemed to take hardly anything out of the battery.

 

When the weather warms up a bit again and the wind drops, (hopefully next week), I'll try my regular 20 mile run at about 18mph and see how the battery goes.

I did not like the way I had originally fitted my torque arm as there was only about 1mm clearance between the torque arms middle screwhead and the motors disc rotor screwheads so have got round to designing and fitting a single piece one which aligns with a hole on the frame and gives plenty of clearance.

**** Happy 1000 miles !!! ****

Wow how those miles really creep up doing 20miles per day.

It's been an eventful first 1000 miles.

I've had floods to cycle though (still do) and maintenance issues to solve, probably related to the bad weather thrown at me,thanks d8veh for the help with that.

 

Ive had a couple of punctures, I've had my front wheel slammed into by a rabbit at full speed, I've had a bird fly into my head and also came across

the BBC pudsey cycle event crew at 6.30am on a pitch black country lane pouring down with rain, before I even knew they were doing it.

 

I wasn't happy with the 160mm front disc braking performance and constant squealing, so with help from a recent thread on this subject I

upgraded the front disc to 180mm and now have great performing brakes with occasional squealing when wet.

I've fitted decent 3/4 length mudguards as the cheap plastic things I put on hadn't stopped my back bag being splattered with mud and also a

rear parcel shelf which makes it look like a real commuter now.

 

I've also fitted a watt meter to monitor battery ah used.

Since I don't want to jeopardize my bike battery range I decided to keep my lights on their own batteries for now and will be monitoring my bike

battery ah used/available with the new watt meter and then again with the lights powered off my bike battery.

 

All in all one very happy ebiker.

2000 miles has come around quick !!

I had 3 punctures in the first 1000miles so changed the back tyre for a MP+ and put slime in the front tube and have not suffered a puncture since.

 

The UK weather lately has been horrendous with me and the bike going through deep floods and 40mph head-on winds so strong me and the motor on full almost grind to a standstill going down-hill, hailstorms,ice freezing up my rear brakes a couple times.

 

I've had a couple of broken spokes which have wasted a couple of evenings urgently replacing so decided I needed to build up a spare motor wheel (I think I should have used spoke washers, thanks Graham at tillercycles) ready to quickly swap over and do maintenance when I've more time.

 

Now I have the 'ebike bug' changes are in mind but because this is now my main (and favorite) mode of transport to work and limited evening time I need at least a bike always ready to go.

 

I'm thinking this whole kit is being transferred to a 26" wheeled MTB I got in a sale and am going to use the cannondale to mess about with/backup, thanks to d8veh for off forum help lately and I may be asking the forum for more help along the way. Let's see how it goes.

Don't catch my disease. In 3 1/2 years, I've been through more than twenty five motors. My BMSB orders alone come to $7500. I must have spent £12000 to £15000 in total during that time, and it still hasn't stopped.

Yikes, I hope not. I'm still having to explain to my wife why the backup motor was needed.

Ive took one of your ideas d8veh and have just finished fitting a football bootbag to the pannier rack ready to house a BMSB shrinkwrap type battery tucked in under the seat. Looks good, will do a photo this weekend. Am thinking for a waterproof cover of using my backpack cover which is a nice fit over it.