Genesis Onyx 29 arrived!

[ProDigit]

So the Genesis Onyx 29 arrived.
First impressions:

Ez to install,
no user manual,
no toolkit
no fixed size bolts, all bolts, and nuts, and allen wrench things are all in different sizes.. Many curses continuously switching between tools!
Fixed the bike in 30 minutes,
EZ-Peasy setup.
Handlebars setup sucked, because my 7/32 nor my 1/4 wrench did not fit in the hole. It was probably a 6mm; and one of the screws got messed up pretty bad. The other's in good shape, so I can't lower or higher the handlebars anymore! Sucks!


The Onyx 29 is quite tall!
It's made for giants!
I'm 6'2", and on this bike I feel like I'm floating above all other traffic!
I can see above the roofs of most cars, and even a bit above the SUV's sitting on this bike, so I had to lower the saddle.
The saddle is big, but not very comfy. It's too hard for my taste. I'll be changing it soon!
I'm glad I didn't go for the 32" version.

Getting tires for the 32 might be a bit hard.

Acceleration is remarkably slow! Almost as if pedaling causes the rear brakes to function at the same time!
I feel most comfy going 7-10MPH on the bike (about 1-2 wheel rotations per second), because I'm not a fast spinner of the pedals
Never was, that's why I had my 21 geared mountain bike at home, and generally only pedaled at the highest gear.

This bike will be good for getting the bike going.

The coaster brake works really bad!
It's probably the same system as for a 26, 24, and 22 in bike.
Since the wheels are so large, the brakes work really bad...
The bike does not have additional braking.

I'm still looking for a disc brake that would fit the front wheel.
I'm also waiting for the engine to arrive.
I have ordered the 66cc engine, with needle bearings, and 32T sprocket.
The extra 16cc of power/torque will get converted into speed, with this one.

That'll be all!

 

[WightBoy]

For a disc brake to be doable, you will need to run a different hub. I know White Industries makes one for 48 spoke but it is like $150 and you still have to get the disc and other components.

 

[FLKnifemaker]

I picked up the Genisis 29" Mt Bike and swapped over the fork, wheels, front brake and rear deraileur. For another $200 it's the way to go Now my Genisis stops! I just need to make a bracket to hold the rear caliper brake. Motor and trans is next

 

[Master-shake]

Good luck on your build, It looks sweet when finished. Your gonna run into a lot of parts that don't fit, but if you ask, there are a lot of onyx owners here. Also, I'd be glad to give you a play by play on the tricky parts. A lot of it can modded together right out of ther box with nothing but a file and some scotch-gaurd (fine sandy sponge thing)

 

[ProDigit]

I ordered a set of euro sized allen wrenches (in mm).

The engine will arrive by the end of the week.
I'm a little worried about the 9 bolts on a 48 spoke, but people say it's doable.

Finding a front disc is what worries me.

Also, I hope the engine fits with stock mounts.
If not, I'll have to get the universal mount kit.
Any good links for that?

 

[Master-shake]

I'd suggest the 6 bolt configuration on the sprocket in the back. It looks something like this.

You'l notice here that i skipped every third bolt. I would suggest doing the sprocket before you instal the engine because you can use your bike as a stand to "true" up the sprocket. I did it last so i had to go through drastic measures to true it up. Beleive it or not it ended up truing itself after riding it around for a while. after the first motorized ride i checked the "rag joint" to see if it had loosened and sure enough it had, the really weird part was that the bolts I had to re-tighten ended up truing it somehow. I used the three extra nuts to double secure three points on the sprocket. This has kept me from having to worry about "re-tightening" the rag joint, because that part sucks and people have often commented here about it.

as was said earlier, buying the 29 inch mtn bike from walmart can add a lot of usable parts like the front end and levers/ cables /handlebars, but it's not without it's complications.

Here's mine with the mountain bike front end and levers.

oh yeah and that sprocket won't fit out of the box so your gonna wanna grind out the middle somehow. I suggest the youtube for how to do that.

I suggest starting here. Keep in mind that this isn't the only way to go about it. I went another route.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lWSTSs2v20s

 

[Master-shake]

Here's the mount I used. went together pretty well. remember to figure out the sprocket installation before you install the engine. It's just easier.

http://www.gasbike.net/bike-motor-part-universal-mount-bike-motors.html

 

[ProDigit]

I ordered a sprocket that's bigger in the center, let's hope it fits!
Double nuts on the bolts of the sprocket seems like a safe precaution I'd more than likely will do too.
However I do hope that the bolts will fit, by bending the spokes a bit.
Thanks for the advise!

I probably will pass by my bike dealer, to see if he has a solution on a disc brake on these wheels.
Perhaps I'll not use the front fork yet...

 

[maniac57]

The stock ragjoint will fit with all the bolts. I did have to take a LOT of time working the bolts in and truing the assembly but with patience, it CAN be done. I was worried about spoke wear but have seen no signs of any abnormal wear after about seven tanks of fuel when the customer brought it back for follow up. Needed the usual engine and mount nut & bolt tightening, but the wheel was still true and all spokes were tight and sound. Like I said, it takes a LOT of fiddling, but if you keep at it, it will fit.

 

[ProDigit]

How much tension do you put on the sprocket bolts?
I fear, too much, and the spokes will break!

 

[maniac57]

I can't answer that as I go by feel after years of experience. Keep in mind, the hardware on these kits is barely adequate at best. Snug but not gorilla tight works for me.
Looks for the rubbers to be fully compressed evenly, but not squishing out from pressure. You can also google approximate torque specs for the size bolts used. I'd look for the lowest grade bolt specs.

 

[FLKnifemaker]

I can't answer that as I go by feel after years of experience. Keep in mind, the hardware on these kits is barely adequate at best. Snug but not gorilla tight works for me.
Looks for the rubbers to be fully compressed evenly, but not squishing out from pressure. You can also google approximate torque specs for the size bolts used. I'd look for the lowest grade bolt specs.

I've developed 3 hardware tighnesses over the years. One for chinese hardware, one for American hardware and one for American Grade 8 hardware which can handle "Gorrilla Tightness" The rear bolt on my Onex chainguard sheared off when I REMOVED IT!!! They are like MUSH.

 

[Jim C]

I purchased a sprocket and adapter. I have not run it yet as I am still building. I seem to be spending way more money on this than I intended to at the start. I bought some raw stock to use on the motor mounting system. I have figures out a tank mounting but really do not care for it as I don't like the supplied tank. Mine looks like it was dropped from an airplane before it was shipped. I don't weld and having a tank made gets costly and the cost just goes up and up.

 

[Master-shake]

I purchased a sprocket and adapter. I have not run it yet as I am still building. I seem to be spending way more money on this than I intended to at the start. I bought some raw stock to use on the motor mounting system. I have figures out a tank mounting but really do not care for it as I don't like the supplied tank. Mine looks like it was dropped from an airplane before it was shipped. I don't weld and having a tank made gets costly and the cost just goes up and up.

yeah i feel you. I think the true Onyx build should be cheap but for some reason it always ends up higher than anticipated.

Link to your sprocket assembly?

 

[ProDigit]

+1
Initially I wanted to just spend $300, but now, with oils, custom sprocket, Vbrake, saddle, upgraded bike, I'm already at 450!

 

[Jim C]

I spent way over that to begin with because I bought a 49 CC HS 4 stroke motor with the 4G t drive plus the brand new bike out of the box. The 2 strokes I have built I always sold pretty quickly. I will probably keep this one as I am really liking the look of it. I still have to figure out what I am going to do about the gas tank and I will need a front brake and probably lights. I have found myself searching the web for a used milling machine and had to ask myself if this has gone too far?

 

[ProDigit]

just bring it to a shop, or use a drill, or file it off.

 

[kevyleven007]

shoulda bought an astra,man

 

[ProDigit]

Ok, the engine arrived yesterday.
I already installed the rear sprocket.

On the Onyx 29" with 48 spokes, the rear sprocket fits like a glove. The rubber dampers though, make it harder for the sprocket to fit, but in the end it does fit.
There's a small metal piece between the brake lever holder, and the wheel, that prevents dust to enter the hub. When you install the sprocket, you'll have to gently hammer this a bit flatter, or the space that the sprocket fills up, will cause friction, and coasting will not happen very well.

The 9 bolts DID fit, however a lot of prying is necessary.
By default 4 bolts fit perfect, and 3 fit kind of ok.
The last 2 fit under an angle.
So when inserting the bolts in the sprocket, the back rubber cushion and metal back plates (with 3 holes in), need to be carefully slided over the bolts, and some bolts need to be slightly forced straight to fit..
The kit came with plastic sealing bolts, so no double bolting is necessary.

I needed to take the back wheel off, and demount 3 times, because I forgot to insert the rubber piece (and didn't want to cut it), and later I forgot to install the chain before installing the wheel.

So 3 hours?
Forget that!
The rear sprocket took almost 1 hour to install.

Then the following problems occured:
1- the bolts for the cup/waterbottle holder where loose in there. Sucks because I had to damage the paint to get them out.
2- The cup holder does not fit by default with the engine. The exhaust is in the way.
3- The engine needs the universal mount bracket, because the front bar is too wide.
4- The gas tank provided did not fit the wide frame bar. I'm thinking of using zip ties, in the beginning, but later on buy a longer bracket that will fit the bike.
5- The kit came originally with 1/2 gal tank, and I bought a 1gal tank after that. You can not mount both tanks on the top bar, as there's not enough space.
6- Currently I installed the 32T sprocket, which I now regret; because the engine is comparable to a 33cc 2 stroke engine, not a true 66cc engine, meaning that at best it's performance will be equal to a 49cc 4 stroke engine.
I will see how it performs, and if it turns out that the engine can not keep up, I'll change to 36T
7- I'll be passing by my bicycle store,to buy a comfy saddle, and perhaps see if he's able to install a suspension fork, with disc brake.

So for now, I'm waiting for the zip ties and motor mounts to arrive, before I can say any more.

 

[kevyleven007]

That's what I try to tell people.You don't need a sprocket adapter you just have to figure it out.Its ez.also,you can glue the tank on and later use metal straps cut to length.