Cheap and Easy Drive Roller

[Ibedayank]

Happy
ATM im running these on the FD bike and so far except when they get wet are working very well

http://www.staton-inc.com/store/products/TIRES_SUN_LT_26_x_1_95_BK_BK_KWEST_60299_KENDA-1238-34.html

 

[cannonball2]

I have experimented with various tires, including the city slick types, bricks etc. The best driving longest lived tire is the one HCS showed. As I have said before I run around 30psi and the roller flattens the tire to its shape( or nearly so) in the contact patch. The weight of a larger engine helps with this and the power is not an issue as would be with smaller engines. The more air the more the crown in the tire, even one with a flatter cross section. Might want to experiment with psi some.

WayneZ is exactly right on the bigger rollers being more efficient. Looks like the common DAX style kit could be modded to belt drive with a big roller pretty easily. The tire wear has got to be greatly less on a larger roller vs. a small faster spinning one. I have a tach on my Mongoose FD. I cruise in the mid 3K range. That is easy on everything. The beauty of a direct drive FD is the simplicity and bullet proof reliability. IMHO making a real complex FD kinda defeats this advantage. Much more than a belt or maybea chain driven roller, and you might just as well build the more common chain/belt driven rear wheel. Not trying to dampen experimentation-I love it myself, just saying the simple FD is at the top of the heap if reliability is a major consideration.

 

[Psycledeliac]

I have a great idea for the best friction drive ever, but I doubt anyone will produce it. I wish there was a friction drive that incorporated a CVT, and used a thick rubberized mesh belt between two rollers, so that it had about 4-6" of contact around the tire's circumference, sort of like a belt sander on a table leg or something.

Even a fixed speed belt drive friction drive system would work awesome even wet and off-road, surely.

I don't even think you'd need the belt. Dual drive rollers would probably be fine

 

[happycheapskate]

Yeah, I agree. I like my Dax FD just because of that. I've had really good luck with it not slipping (practice makes perfect, setup and throttle control), but I'm just glad to not have 2 chains or wierd cog adapters on it, and glad to be able to carry a top tube pack or water jugs in the frame. FD is the best motorized bicycle, for me.

 

[beach cruiser]

I plan on making spare rollers out of hardwood & using Plasti Dip to coat them. Should provide more traction by applying multiple coats (curing each coat first of course). And the stuff comes in diffrent colors too!.

 

[BigBlue]

beach,

good idea of thinking out of the box. Only concern would be heat. Plasti Dip states good to +200 degrees. I guess you wouldn't get the roller that hot unless you spun the roller! Per the Plasti Dip site: " it won’t melt or become overly rubbery at high temps".

I have tools that my old man Plastic Dip over 30 years ago and it is still bonded. He was a heavy equipment mechanic and used his tools.

Here's Plasti Dip tech tips:

http://www.plastidip.com/blog/2012/03/plasti-dip-tech-tips

It says you can add more than 3 coats. Wander if adding a little sand would help with traction? I guess some experimenting would prove its effectiveness.

On this point, I had a bedliner installed a few years back that is very rough. The kit wasn't mixed right and came out real thick, but as a bonus, it is rough as he'll and nothing slides in the bed. I know you can add rubber crumbs to the base bedliner material to make it rough. I didn't have the rubber crumbs with my kit, so I know that wasn't the cause of the roughness.

Good Luck and keep us posted on your progress,

Chris
AKA: BigBlue

 

[happycheapskate]

I wonder if this stuff will work on steel rollers from the Dax kits. It would be cool to coat them with the plastic if it gripped well. Then it would be like the skateboard wheel, with a solid metal center. The freewheeling rollers don't even need locking screws, so it would be even easier.

 

[cannonball2]

Interesting! The dip just might work if excessive slippage is not a problem. BBs idea of sand or similar sounds good. Wonder if rubber will mix with it. If so, somehow grinding or shreading an old tire might make the crumbs BB is talking about. Maybe one of those kitchen shreaders you grate cheese with would work. You could actually lay the shreads out on the first wet coat the bond em in with successive coats. As the dip wears the rubber theoretically would be continually exposed untill it all wore out. Then you just retread it.

 

[happycheapskate]

A disc sander will make a lot of rubber granules off a tire. I have seen videos of people using disc sanders to remove black rubber from sidewalls to expose the large "whitewalls" under the letters. Tires are hard to destroy though. Very large shredding machines are used for destroying tires to recycle them. Also there is metal wire in them.

 

[cannonball2]

I was thinking along the lines of bike tires. I have a bunch of old MTB tires I could shave/grind the knobs off the tread.

 

[happycheapskate]

I heard of a German (car) tire company, which sells winter tires that have, instead of studs, pieces of walnut shell embedded in the rubber. As the tire wears, new pieces of walnut shell (hard, like wood) are exposed, for more traction.

 

[cannonball2]

Its an interesting concept with the Plastidip. If it holds up various materials could be added for different performing rollers. Tire friendly materials for general usage, abrasive things like sand for more demanding situations like wet operation. Really liked the concept of the tires with the walnut shells. Keep us posted Beach Cruiser!

 

[the13bats]

The first motor for a bike I played with was an old Taz a fellow down the road was discarding, the rubber on the roller was all gone,
I didn't know what to use and took a skateboard wheel, I then milled out the hole in the skateboard wheel to fit tight, I then heated the old drive hub and pressed it into the skateboard wheel,
I can't recall how many miles of childhood mayhem I put on that rig....
Cheers,
P.

 

[NEAT TIMES]

Ben,

feeling prety good now. Followed your thread in the begining, but have fallen behind.

Has anyone tried gorrilla or other bed liner products ?

Ron.

 

[cannonball2]

That sounds like a great idea Ron. Probably never wear out!

 

[beach cruiser]

Actually I just got my my FD Kit from DAX for the wife's bike. DAX provides 2 rollers with the kit. I'm gonna Plasti Dip the spare and also make 2 wooden spares, that way I'll have 4 different rollers to experiment with. ie...bare metal knurled, Plasti DIP knurled roller, & the 2 wood rollers. It seems to me that the knurls could have been cut a little deeper to provide more bite into the tire.

For wet riding I was kind of thinking Plasti Dip with aquaurium rock on 1 set of wooden rollers. (sprinkling 1st coat of Plasti Dip with the rock then applying another coat of the dip over the rock)

 

[silverbear]

Actually I just got my my FD Kit from DAX for the wife's bike. DAX provides 2 rollers with the kit. I'm gonna Plasti Dip the spare and also make 2 wooden spares, that way I'll have 4 different rollers to experiment with. ie...bare metal knurled, Plasti DIP knurled roller, & the 2 wood rollers. It seems to me that the knurls could have been cut a little deeper to provide more bite into the tire.

For wet riding I was kind of thinking Plasti Dip with aquaurium rock on 1 set of wooden rollers. (sprinkling 1st coat of Plasti Dip with the rock then applying another coat of the dip over the rock)

Some years back I was fooling around with old bikebug motors and cast my own rollers out of epoxy. I experimented with fine sand mixed in on a couple of them and it worked well in wet conditions. It wore the tire quicker, but not too bad. Even very fine sand makes a big difference.
SB

 

[cannonball2]

Yeah I think SB is right, sand is good, the aquarium rock would probably be too aggressive. I have some garnet blasting media that seems about perfect looks about like 60-80 grit. Might be worth a try. Have to get some dip next time at the Depot and give it a shot.

 

[wayne z]

I used to make my own carbide particle coated well drilling bits by heavily sweating the tips with brazing rod and sprinkling on carbide granules.

Prolly could make a long lasting high friction steel roller this way, just use very fine particles.

 

[beach cruiser]

There seems to be all kinds of possibilities with the DIP. I just thought of another one like waiting till the Dip is half cured then rolling the roller on some mesh, like a gutter guard to create a tread, or even rolling the roller onto a cheese shredder which everyone has in the kitchen.