riddle me this...

Now THAT is "Sick!"

I wanna see more, shifter-boy. I'm thinkin o' gettin one of those, ma se'f.

C'mon. Let's have more pix from more angles.

Brenton
 
I gotta hand it to you. Making your front derailleur work with the Shifter Kit is a first!

Plus a tensioner on the right chain. Is it noisy?
 
Funny..I never thought about that.

I can't tell the difference in noise between the right chain with the tensioner versus without. The pulley is a sealed roller bearing, not friction. I keep it at shallow angles to put as little deflection on the chain as possible. It never made noise as a derailleur jockey, and I never even anticipated it to make noise as a tensioner pulley either, but, maybe the clutch is so loud anyways it IS making a racket and I just cant notice. Either way, it is NOTHING like the racket from the tensioners in the basic chinese kits. Seems dead quiet. A set of two sealed bearing pulleys like this run about $15-$30 (i cant remember exactly) at performance bikes.

Which brings up two questions for ya (Paul)...

1. How long does that chain stretch for? I know the engine slowly has to settle, yet mine has been clamped securely around some water bottle cage mounts (meaning it physically can't slide down the frame), and yet on every ride the chain seems to noticeably stretch. Even after I havent "messed" with the mounts for several hundred miles, it still gets looser every ride. This was before the demented eighteen speed conversion. Any thoughts?

2. Also, (if you can remember off your head), What are the thread patterns for the five bolts the chainrings mount to the freewheel? M4 1.00 *50mm? If I can get some longer main bolts, a call to Andy might be in order for some aluminium bling. I think my super top secret tooth number combos are gonna be a winner.

Thanks for your help.
Spillers
 
Oh yeah, the levers...
Front shifter
Rear shifter
Front brake
Rear brake
Gas
Clutch.

Dont you have six hands??:)

"Clean" and "simple" aint my forte!
 
Wow, I bet that thing is a hoot to ride. How fast will it go??????????? Inquiring minds want to know................
 
Wow, I bet that thing is a hoot to ride. How fast will it go??????????? Inquiring minds want to know................
Click to expand...

I dunno... I just woke up, and Im gonna go find out here in a minute or two! (I put it together last night after having a margarita)

I took it up to 25mph in the dark last night, but it was cold, snowing, and I almost hit a deer. I didnt want to go any faster, but, I was basically idling. I doubt it will hit much over 30 on the flats, but I did this cause I live in the mountains and hate running out of gear on the downhills. I also did this to slow the pedalling cadence down so you can pedal at a reasonable speed with the motor....not so you can go faster, but so when you ride by a cop, you can smoothly pedal at 70 rpm like you are actually a bicycle rider. There are several other reasons also, like getting the chain off the 11 tooth rear cog (so it doesnt wear out) and letting the engine rev at whatever rpm you want at whatever speed you might be at (no vibration, quiet, etc)....

I am basically typing cause its cold outside and I dont want to go out yet.... naw screw it, Illl be right back.

A full report will be shortcoming!

S
 
Spillers,
I will jump in here to answer your two questions.

Chain stretch, probably not at least not after a very short while. There are 2 things that can cause the chain to loosen, engine twisting and engine sliding. If you installed the tie bracket between the rear motor mount and right bearing plate that will eliminate the potential for the twist. So the only other option is it sliding. You say that the clamps are resting on the water bottle studs, so that eliminated the clamp from slipping but that doesn't stop the motor mount plate from slipping slightly on the clamps. It takes very little movement for the chain to go from bass string tight to loose. This is the reason we just came out with the chain adjuster which also helps support the motor so it can't slide any more.

For the chainring bolts. They are M5 1.0 and stock they are 22mm long so you will have to figure out length for your application.
 
Thanks Ghost!
Im gonna check into that.
I just got back from my ride. Bike worked great, but it is freakin cold here.
S
 
HI,

Good Job!....I like the fact that you can shift up front as well as the rear...I was gonna tinker with that same thing but it is sooooo cold here....I admire your braving the elements!

I am still tinkering with getting my shifter kit going but hope to have it done soon (just not enough hours in the day!).

Andrew
 
Yeah, you would think this would lead to a big snafu up in the front, but of all the installations of the engine kit, jack shaft, etc, going to 18 speeds was ironically the easiest. It just worked. No adjustments. Nothing!

The key was the low mount front derailluer which keeps the swing/pivot assembly out of the way of the jackshaft kit. Regular front derailleurs wont work. Cycle recycle in waynesboro has a several of these things in their N.O.S. inventory. It is a cheap shimano STX assembly Perfectissimo.

Here are some more pics of the assembly from different angles.

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c198/DUALRESPONSE1731/IMG_2824.jpg
http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c198/DUALRESPONSE1731/IMG_2822.jpg
http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c198/DUALRESPONSE1731/IMG_2826.jpg

Not only did all three front rings fit, there was enough room to squeeze in Paul/Jims chainguard inbetween the right jackshaft drive and the large chainring to keep chains from jumping/touching.

If I can find some long length 50mm or so 5mm*1.0 bolts, I will order some aluminuim sprockets from you.

S
 
I see you're going to get some aluminum chainrings from Andy so you must be pretty weight conscious.

How much weight do the holes in that lever save? Enough to off set the weight of Titanium studs for the tires?

By the way, riding while snowing. Unless you ride fast enough for the snow to blow off that weight can add up kinda fast.

Guess I'd better try and get my tongue out of my cheek. It might get stuck.

Ted :-{ ;)
 
Re: riddle me this...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I see you're going to get some aluminum chainrings from Andy so you must be pretty weight conscious.

How much weight do the holes in that lever save? Enough to off set the weight of Titanium studs for the tires?

By the way, riding while snowing. Unless you ride fast enough for the snow to blow off that weight can add up kinda fast.

Guess I'd better try and get my tongue out of my cheek. It might get stuck.

Ted
Click to expand...
Yes, way back in 1987, when I was a teenager, I drilled the heck out of my MTB levers in a physics experiment. The holes are not for weight savings, they disperserse the air molecules that pass through them to react with ground snow molecules, disrupting their polarity, thereby causing snow to blow out of the way, fully negating the need for snow tires altogether. They worked so well, I never threw them away, and I incorporated them on this project.

They also work as deer horns

So, while you spend an afternoon drinking beer and shredding your hands inserting steel screws into an old tire to save a buck or two, I will be out riding, sans sheet metal screws sticking through my tires and wearing out in ten miles cause I was too cheap to buy titanium.

To insinuate I did that to save weight is ridiculous. Considering the bike weighs 45.45 kilograms, and I weigh 60 kilograms, assuming a 3000 kilowatt output, the weight savings of the 30 grams would represent an overall wattage per kilogram increase of 0.008 watts per kilograms (28.457w/kg versus 28.449w/kg). That would be just downright silly

Even the aluminium spockets would only represent a power benefit of 0.1224 watts/kilogram, still not hardly worth the $150 or so to buy them.

As you can clearly see, it is not the weight savings that make the spockets faster, it is the circa 1990 shameless purple anondizing which produces the speed. That, and the fact that Andy's CNC machine will make sprockets more "in-round" than my hand held cordless drill will allow me to set holes in.

You sir, clearly have called my bluff.

As a prize, am sending you my nine pound chinese rear 44 tooth drive sprocket, so you can hang it around your neck like an olympic medal while you ride since weight so clearly doesnt matter.:)
Spillers
 
Well I wouldn't wear it swimming. Especially in an Olympic sized pool. I would just tell people: "No, it wasn't for swimming. It was for cycling BS." :D

Ted
 
Xpostech, I must come clean. (long post)

As you’ve probably figured out by now, the brake lever isnt for removing snow. You have uncovered a dark and evil past. A past of shame and denial which now I feel compelled to reveal to you from a deep sense of guilt, and hope, for redemption.

To this point, I have lived a lie. The story I have used so far is that when I was a teenager, I was a weight weenie and not knowing better, drilled the holes in that brake lever to save weight. Eventually, I got a job, and could afford good bike parts. The lever went into a box of junk, and patiently waited for 20 years, whereupon discovering the chinese throttle was a piece of crap, I reached into the box, producing this long lost gem. Immediately, the lever quickly and loyally worked as it always had. Not only had I saved a buck or two, I had actually “reused” something from that inevitable pile of junk all rednecks accumulate over time with the eternal hope that “hey, someday I’ll need this.”

That was my story...Until you came along.

The truth is much more sinister. The holes weren’t to save weight, or even to remove snow. Both original levers were drilled to promote time travel. After months of deliberation, I drilled and mounted the levers on my bike. As I approached the requisite 88 miles per hour necessary for time travel, I encountered a strong buffetting caused by a pressure wave behind my trailing edge control surfaces, spiralling the bike into a death spin.

The left lever shattered, and I was unhurt, however, a neighbor’s dog suddenly burst into flames.

Not wanting the pet owners to discover their loss, I scurried up a local hillside with the burnt carcass and buried it in the ground. When my shovel hit the dirt, sparks flew, but eventually I dug a small pit, enough to drop the dog in and cover with leaves.

The very next day, exhausted, I awoke to police sirens from the neighbors yard. Evidently the dog had risen from the dead and had come back and eaten his owners. Whoops. A man across the street who knew of the burial ground glared at me.
“It’s your dog now Ron”. He knew what I had done. Later that day, I had the dog kill him too.

Fido and I have done okay, but he’s really smelly now and has pretty much fallen apart. From what I can surmise, it was the combination of sympathetic oscillations of resonant frequency waves from the TWO drilled brake levers that caused the control loss. To this day, I will not ride with both levers simultaneously, nor will I exceed 88 mph. If I really was still a weight weenie, I probably would have drilled all four levers, but that might start a time travell paradox. Very dangerous stuff.

And to think I would have gotten away with it if it wasn’t for you pesky kids!!!!!! Muawwhaaahaaaaahaaaahaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
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