AM Wkkie's eBike

[beeb]

Just finish and ride the damn thing willya!

I just did! (...round the block. )

At least that meant I could confirm the spring needs to go up a rate, and that a red RS spring is not going to be an acceptable solution. Matchy-matchy black will be acquired shortly.

 

[ashes_mtb]

My boss has been away for several weeks, it's been pretty relentlessly hot up home, I had a day's training course in Melboune then my co-worker has his turn a couple of days later - so being we're only a small team it's been a pretty hectic couple of weeks and I've mostly been too knackered to even think about the bike when I've got home. So I still haven't redished the rear cog, swapped the spring, or fully bled the brakes. But I did finally install the electronics today. Pretty unsprisingly - it shifts superbly. The gearbox itself is quieter than I remember while JRA, and claims of drag seen everywhere online seem greatly exaggerated. The electronic shifting does make a funny little whirring noise when shifting, but it's fairly inoffensive - much akin to a AXS derailleur I suppose (maybe a touch louder, but then no chain clunk that follows). Most shift are very quick, but the "range change" shifts where it shift between gearset groups (4-5 shift, and 8-9 shift) feel like they take about a second. Interesting to see how this translates on the trail, but at least you can "pre-select" gears while coasting or stationary (I am greatly looking forward to being able to 'pre-select' a downshift on descents). Today I only rode it round the block until (A) I tidy up the other bits and pieces, and (B) because it's feels like about 90% humidity outside and it's forecast to be 37°C today. Maybe next weekend I'll take it for a spin given I'm coming off zero fitness and I don't want to have a heart attack on the first climb.

As part of the installating the electricals, I also mounted up my standard OneUp pump and multi-tool, some Lezyne tyre levers, and err... (CotFW?) WolfTooth chainbreaker pliers... . Well, they fill in the gap needed to hold the tyre levers in the OneUp pump holder, and I think I've only ever used it for other people in the past anyway. It's always nice to have some tools on board for the bros and broettes out on the trails or in the group-ride I reckon.

View attachment 415149

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Ended up installing the majority of the cabling inside a little aluminium electrical housing and using the standard Zerode 3D printed battery holder (it mounts on a long plate that attaches under the water bottle mounts and is double-sided taped to the frame. I will be interested to monitor how that holds up over time as I feel like eventually the adhesive will let go... I used car body panel sealing plugs that I pierced holes into with a leather belt hole punch tool to seal/vibration-dampen/protect the cables from wearing on the housing. I will probably install one more so I can feed a charging cable back out of the box, but currently I left it disconnected as it already looks like the insides of a Peter Brock 'Polarizer' inside the housing. The box is also not properly waterproof currently, so now proof of concept is done I probably need to seal up the spare connector(s), rubber body plugs and the lid - but I did as a precaution apply some drillium to make some tiny weep holes in the bottom of the housing in case of water ingress. I might paint the box black, or attempt to polish it up some in time (I doubt it will polish well being cast ally though...), but currently I am getting a chuckle out of the "Prototype racer, data acquisition" look of it - as anyone who's seen me ride can attest I'm about as far from being a racer as you can get! Ended I got the aluminium housing from Jaycar (~$13 AUD, coould probably get cheaper off AliExpress but I wanted to judge to size/quality in my hands rather than wait weeks from overseas only to get the wrong thing). Got the sealing plugs from a bulk-pack at work, but most good automotive stores should have them (ie: Bursons). It cost me more to buy the step-drill to drill the holes than to make the whole housing in the end.

View attachment 415151

And there goes my No Fap February…

 

[Asininedrivel]

I will probably install one more so I can feed a charging cable back out of the box, but currently I left it disconnected as it already looks like the insides of a Peter Brock 'Polarizer' inside the housing.

Nooo. You mustn't. Energy aligning crystals, special rocks, healing chakras, weird resin:

This is the synergy mash up we never knew we needed. Plus then you can call your bike 'The Director.' You know you want to.

 

[teK--]

Needs moar pics of this awesome bike! Keen to see the shifters.

 

[shiny]

Nooo. You mustn't. Energy aligning crystals, special rocks, healing chakras, weird resin:View attachment 415173
This is the synergy mash up we never knew we needed. Plus then you can call your bike 'The Director.' You know you want to.

Yes! Grab a sticker and when asked advise it helps the bike to be at one with the trails and energy flows.

HOLOGRAPHIC PETER BROCK ENERGY POLARIZER STICKER

HOLOGRAPHIC PETER BROCK ENERGY POLARIZER STICKER 76mm x 53mm *Sparkle Sparkle* High quality, waterproof & UV resistant Easy to apply, suitable for flat surfaces indoors & outdoors Guaranteed to get smiles & thumbs ups!

devldesigns.com.au

 

[Tubbsy]

Yes! Grab a sticker and when asked advise it helps the bike to be at one with the trails and energy flows.

HOLOGRAPHIC PETER BROCK ENERGY POLARIZER STICKER

HOLOGRAPHIC PETER BROCK ENERGY POLARIZER STICKER 76mm x 53mm *Sparkle Sparkle* High quality, waterproof & UV resistant Easy to apply, suitable for flat surfaces indoors & outdoors Guaranteed to get smiles & thumbs ups!

devldesigns.com.au

Oh this so has to happen

 

[beeb]

Nooo. You mustn't. Energy aligning crystals, special rocks, healing chakras, weird resin:View attachment 415173
This is the synergy mash up we never knew we needed. Plus then you can call your bike 'The Director.' You know you want to.

Haha, I've already considered buying one of those stickers for it.

[EDIT] Was in a meeting - yes, those ones above!

 

[beeb]

Got those crystals fully aligned now, time to see what this baby can really do!

 

[yuley95]

Got those crystals fully aligned now, time to see what this baby can really do!
View attachment 415755

I love this. Wasn’t there some weird shit about running low pressure in the tyres too.

Going down the path of a different cultural reference, it also feel a bit like you should be saying ‘Let’s see what happens when we get this baby up to 88mp”.

 

[beeb]

I love this. Wasn’t there some weird shit about running low pressure in the tyres too.

Going down the path of a different cultural reference, it also feel a bit like you should be saying ‘Let’s see what happens when we get this baby up to 88mp”.

The rear brake isn't working too well at the moment (think maybe the pads got contaminated somehow?), so you'd want to have a lot of commitment to hit 88mph!

 

[ozzybmx]

The rear brake isn't working too well

No brakes needed.

 

[yuley95]

The rear brake isn't working too well at the moment (think maybe the pads got contaminated somehow?), so you'd want to have a lot of commitment to hit 88mph!

Brakes? Where we’re going, you don’t need brakes.

 

[beeb]

So overall the polarizer is working well. Unfortunately it wasn't able to fully align the crystal power between the brake hose, barb and lever - so swapped on a spare set of brakes and it's now wearing Hope Tech 4 V4's.

Shifting is funny. Mostly mint, but sometimes won't shift under load (but does cue the shift for when the load releases, which is good but requires some brainpower to remember and not shift again...). Seems more reluctant to force a shift on the "range change shifts" especially, but overall still preferring it to derailleur-based systems.

 

[beeb]

Still off with the busted finger, but took the time to tinker with the bike some. Weight distribution on the bike has seemed close, but a bit NQR since I built it. It has been a big change from the previous bike (RAAW Madonna) which had 15mm longer chainstays but similar reach. The RAAW with 450mm stays had felt a bit too nose-heavy (during general trail riding) for me, but this bike was the opposite. Now obviously being a full 29" bike that's running a cheeky mullet setup you'd expect it to sit low at the back - but even with a fairly heavy spring the sag was a bit deep, and still having an issue with the spring still ramping up a bit too much deep in the travel for my wimpy riding. Well, luckily @wkkie supplied a plethora of spares when I bought the frame off him, including a "Trail" link for the rear suspension and some spare bearings. Did some eyeballing and brain-math, and figured things should work out about right so I pressed the bearings into the link and did the old switch-a-roo. What would've been annoying if running a full 29" setup - but worked out ideally for my mullet hairstyled build - the BB now sits a little higher and the bike is less wallowy around sag. Funnily enough, it feels more like a trail bike! I have a suspicion I might even be able to drop a spring-rate now a get a best-of-both-worlds feel going forward, but will probably take it for a spin on the trails before I decide on that...

Anyway, "pics or it didn't happen"... (this link sits a bit lower & further forward where the shock attaches):

Someone asked for pictures of the trigger-shifter/buttons a while back in the thread - so here's that too. The trigger positioning feels a bit weird compared to mechanical shifters though, almost like the forward/right-hand is tucked slightly behind the other button. Both are easy to operate, but the 'muscle memory' isn't quite there yet... Incidentally, it turns out the default button positions are opposite in function to SRAM/Shimano mechanical shifters. I'd been off the bike so long before building this I didn't really notice post-build and must've just adjusted to it. I'm glad I rode few of my mates bikes around the accomodation carpark when we went up to Bright last weekend or I wouldn't have noticed and it would've made switching back to a "normal" bike a real headf**k - even just for a quick blat. Once I got home (I didn't take my bike to remove the temptation to join them on the trails!) I used the Pinion app to swap the button functions and weirdly enough it feels a little more natural now...

Oh, and I also popped the air-side top cap off the fork as I felt it had been ramping up a touch more than I wanted (fork is also still loosening up, so first couple of rides were not great and it was hard to tell much of anything). Anyway, found one volume reducer/spacer/token in there, so removed that and had a fiddle with fork pressure and now the overall balance of the bike seems pretty good. Keen to get back out on the trail in a week or two. Two probably as per Doctor's orders. Maybe... No promises Doc...

 

[Lucaw]

I love this. Wasn’t there some weird shit about running low pressure in the tyres too.

Going down the path of a different cultural reference, it also feel a bit like you should be saying ‘Let’s see what happens when we get this baby up to 88mp”.

might need one of these first

https://www.jaycar.com.au/outatime-flux-capacitr/p/OUTATIME?

 

[beeb]

Well, I've had this thing out for 5 or 6 rides now - and haven't sold it - so I guess in my world that makes it time for a "long-term" review.

I can't quite give a full review because I haven't had it up to high-country trails yet, and as most of us know bikes handle/perform differently on the fast and steep stuff, and while my local trails offer fast or steep stuff, with my level of skill it's very rarely both. So anyway, I am basing my impressions off using it as a trail bike at "the local", rather than an enduro sled.

In that sense, the swap to the 'Trail' suspension link a couple of posts back has been a success. Bike is more playful and supportive now, I did drop a spring rate and the balance is good now. Supportive in the first half of the travel, but I can access the deep travel when I balls a line up or manage to find a G-out.

But I should probably get rolling with the gearbox side of things, since that's likely what people want to know about most. The gearbox drag really is pretty negligible. There might be a bit more of it in the harder gears (Though they are probably still wearing in on my gearbox to be fair, I've mostly just been pedalling while climbing and a lot of coasting while descending). But yeah, there's bugger all in it compared to even to high-end MTB derailleur setups in the climb gears. Whatever fractional percentage you lose to gearbox drag, you regain from the single chain *ahem - belt-line, thanks to not having the chain deflection that occurs in the climb gears on a cassette. Oh and the belt! The belt is incredible. No spongy/springy feeling through the pedals, it feels as taut as a chain but without the freehub 'thunk' you get if you pedal-kick a technical feature with a chain-based drivetrain. The silence and just general lack of 'chatter' from chainslap is very noticeable too.

Overall the bike is plenty of fun. I would still get a derailleur-based bike for more XC-focused riding, but for winch and plummet the gearbox and belt drive remove a lot of hassle. I have been particularly enjoying not having to worry about lubing and checking chains also!