I’ve been busy.
Hi all, last year I bought a 750W motor kit direct from GM and built my first ebike from an old MTB frame. I was really a bit out of my depth, but with help from the forum got it all together & was hooked. I was riding 24km round trip to work most days & soon started clocking up quite a few hours. I have learnt quite a lot along the way & found the 36V 16ah rear mounted battery & motor made the bike a bit tail-heavy. Also hitting the numerous potholes at speed was a bit bone crunching. Unfortunately, the battery decided it didn’t want to play anymore, cutting out on hills with LVC. (Probably bad cells – more on that when I do a post mortem) So I thought while I repair/replace the battery on that bike, I might as well build another with exactly what I wanted. As I was riding a lot more, I found myself also peddling a lot more & actually didn’t need all that power, as the hills where I live are not that steep.
I’ve never owned a dual suspension bike before, so I thought it was about time.
I decided on a light, stealthy dual suspension build with good top speed, that can handle a bit of gutter jumping:-
-Silverback Mercury 2 Dual suspension 26” MTB with hydraulic disc brake, 2010 model
-36V Front Mini motor & GM controller
-Ping 36V 10Ah
-Thumb Throttle
-Crystalyte key switch
-Exustar mini pack & panniers on GM rack.
-Cycle analyst
-GM Canada torque arm
I bought a shimano brake rotor and had just enough room to mount the wheel in the front forks after a bit of moving washers around to get the wheel & rotor in the right place, then fitted torque arm.
Next I fitted the exustar pack, which I lined with plywood for extra strength, to the rear seatpost rack, cut a hole in the ply & bag for the controller and fitted the battery.
It also carries tools, has room for lunch, and can be fitted with a waterproof cover.
The key switch is mounted under the seat, mudguards front & rear (extendable) complete the build.
I must say I’m ecstatic with the result. The bike is light and well balanced and the handling is superb. Having the motor front mounted means I can use all of the bikes 27 gears. Top speed is 30kph on flat without pedalling.
Another reason for using the mini motor was the freewheel ability. Pedalling with no motor is almost as easy as before the conversion.
The thumb throttle works a treat combined with the cruise controller on hills, set your power then use gears as normal. It also allows the use of nice grips.
The ping battery is performing beautifully and comes in quite a small package.
The longest ride I have done is 40km with little voltage loss. I’m riding it at every opportunity, so far have over 400km in the last 5 weeks or so.
Two of my friends have also joined the revolution with mini kits and another two have kits on the way, one PIE! can’t wait to see one of those.
Gary from GM Canada has been a great help supplying us gear promptly and when there was a small problem with one of the kits, it was replaced free of charge straight away. Thanks Gary!
Minor things that could be improved:-
Stainless spokes would be nice to stop the corrosion, especially if you live near the ocean.
The wheel came with a wobble that needed a bike shop to dish out.
Mini motor cover needed screws tightening, as greese was escaping.
So I guess it’s time to pull my old battery apart & see if it can be saved. Hmmm, maybe later after the next ride.
OzPhil
