My First FUTR Alpha Frame Ebike Build.
This is my old (circa 2015-2016) Build log based on the MXUS & ADAPTTO using my home built battery – Samsung 30Q 18650 Cells in 18S10P Configuration.
This is what started my ebike obsession!
But First Some Action Videos!
Another tour around my favourite tracks
A Sunday outing around Bendigo
Quick spin around on the NSW coast
Quick Flux Flyby Video
18650 Lithium Ion Battery Build Summary and Information Video
25/4/2016 First Real Test Ride Video
Be sure to check the new homepage Lash Ebikes Bendigo to get your own F.U.T.R Electric bike.
Latest Ride Pictures:
Build Gallery:
Battery Build Gallery:
Build Log:
The guys at flux and Hyena from http://hyenaelectricbikes.com/ have supplied me with a flux alpha! The perfect frame to build up a dual suspension ebike that hopefully can withstand a good amount of punishment and fun.
For more info on ebikes and other builds check out https://endless-sphere.com/forums/
Ended up Flipping the shock around the other way. Looks a bit better and no clearance issue.
I picked up a donor bike, an 06 Giant Glory.Hopefully does the trick okay and I can use most parts. Hopefully front shocks, brakes rotors, front wheel, seat, bars.
Bonus is I might be able to build the frame back up to make a light weight dual suspension electric bike. Maybe a 2000w motor would be sweet, with a custom shaped battery setup for the tight triangle. Either way that job will be for another day!
So last night I pulled the front shocks off the Glory and dry fit them to the flux. The steerer tube was a little short and research says its a pain to replace and costly… So more research and it seems I could trim the flux headtube a bit and/or use a direct mount triple clamp. Turns out a trim of the head tube was all I needed to get them to fit properly!
Next up will be bottom bracket, cranks, and then onto rear wheel, gears and motor / battery fun.
Update 9 October.
Dropped in an old 26″ mountain bike wheel for looks and to see how it feels to sit on. Also you can see I have cranks and pedals!
It actually feels really good to sit on, and suits me pretty good size wise and stance. The rear shock had a fair bit of movement, so I am thinking I will need to firm up the settings on it once I get it all fully loaded and the right wheel in.
Geometry looks pretty good for street brawling and flowy singletrails.
Seems there are some delays in organising a motor, wheel, battery and electronics, but am pressing on!
1/11/2015
Finally I have a motor and controller and throttle as well. Lots of new things to play with and progress. Check out the pics below.
Not sure exactly how everything is to go yet, but also have a bunch of connectors coming from online, so should be able to get everything organised soon.
Update 9/11/2015
Finally got my tyre and tube on the rim and onto the bike.
I also picked up a rear brake mount, updated some connector ends with easier to deal with and high amperage connectors. So am keen now to get a battery ordered! I found the anderson powerpoles a pain in the ass, and not very user friendly to DIY.
The controller was a pain in the ass to cut down, but well worth it, as now I can mount it vertically and have loads of space for the battery. (actually ended up getting an adatto Max-E)
Next up will be getting a derailer or chain tensioner, so I can get the chain on there so I can ride it!
Also rear brakes and a few other bits and pieces. I feel like I am making some progress finally!
First ride Video! (Unpowered)
https://www.youtube.com/user/YeahItsLash/videos
Update 25/2/2016
After much mucking about trying to order a battery, I have finally ordered 185 Samsung 30Q 18650 Cells. They are a good solid choice for ebike batteries. They arent cheap, and by buying cells, it means I need to weld up my own battery pack. A massive pack for my first battery build, but whether its a small pack or a large pack all the same rules and knowledge are required. Looking forward to getting my cells, hopefully they dont get stopped in transit. I have .15 nickel strip and balance wires already. Next up to buy is a hot glue gun, shrink wrap, copper wire and safety gear. Hopefully by building my own I will save around a $500-1000! But as good as the savings will be what I learn.
The saving I make, I think I will roll into a adaptto MAX-E controller. While expensive, its basically the gold standard in plug and play high end electronics that can deliver in excess of 100 amps to the motor. This combined with about 72 volts should give some really nice acceleration and grin inducing top speed.
10/3/2016 – Hey hey, some cells have turned up, just waiting on the next 5 packages containing about another 100 cells.
Heres a few pics of the work bench, supplies and cell configuration plan.
20/3/2016
First day down of battery building and I have half the pack welded together. Starting off slowly I welded strips down the parallel groups top and bottom. The welder works excellent, and much thanks goes to 9lives who lent it to me to build this pack. I would love to get my own for future battery builds.
Next up I joined the next parallel group in series and welded strips across ways. To be honest it was a daunting the task ahead of me and the potential fireworks if I get it wrong. Covering my cells with tape as i went was comforting and allowed me to write on the side of the pack + and – cell group ends and numbering as I went. Treating the whole thing with respect and focusing on exactly what I was doing I think is key to not messing up.
Still -I have a long way to go and some challenging tasks like soldering on copper wire series rails to allow maximum amperage of the pack without it getting hot.
The other thing that is going to be a little dicey is if I can fit the battery in the opening of the bike! It is going to be close, but im hoping a bit of rotation and wrangling it will find its way in.
I also have the Adaptto max-e and BMS and charge coil sitting around ready to be mounted to the bike and wired in. Ive already started on some wiring but will update about that later.
10/4/2016
A big weekend on the bike, and I have made some good progress. Some things seem to take ages, while some things seem to progress pretty quickly. It is hard to estimate how long things are going to take but am happy of the progress this weekend.
Here are some pics, of finishing up the battery. I have soldered on the copper series traces, soldered on the BMS balance wires, made and soldered up and welded on the battery terminals. I also covered them with a special electric glue/tape thing for a bit of peace of mind. I test fit it in the bike and decided I had enough room for a bit more padding over the “pvc cardborad” protection.
It is untested at this stage, so hopefully it all works! Ill do a dry test before i put the shrink wrap on, but dread the thought of having to pull it apart!
I made a hole for the maxe to poke its wires through the frame, not the most elegant looking solution, buts its basically what everyone else is doing, and there is no other room inside so it will do for tehe moment!
I hope to protect the controller a bit more later on.
17/4/2016
First test ride today! All went pretty damn good, and nothing blew up so pretty happy….
… Testing continues and finalising the build. Packing around the battery a bit better with foam, tapping (cleaning threads) on the dropout clamp bolts and swapping out my front wheel for the new one I had built for it, which had a temporary home on the Giant Glory. I also fixed up a wire from the throttle unit to get the regen button going. The regen works really well and stock settings were about spot on. I use it a bit more at present as i dont have a rear brake installed. However I have a nice shimano hydrolic unit on its way from CRC so should have that on by the end of next week!
Now that I have got the rear wheel all clamped in, I upped the settings, charged the battery and hit 61 Kmh straight away. Pretty happy with that, but I reckon there is a touch more in there with some setting tweaking? Better than speed though is torque, thrust, acceleration – you name it, it is addictive and packs a punch! Measurements coming soon but it is brutal off the line. I’m taking a little easy as I am cautios of flipping the damn thing!
I took it through some singletrail today and it performed beautifully, nice and nimble, maintains speed easily, climbs easy and on normal settings is gracious and easy to ride. To add to the experience is the silence of the ride, allowing you to take in the serenity! Something you dont get on a loud motorbike.
The other good thing being silent is, walkers and other Mtb riders DO NOT GIVE A SHIT!
Went for a quick ride around the back of some suburbs today on a few different trails and hills. It handled it all pretty well, but the motor did heat up when crawling up a fairly steep hills. Seemed to handle fast hills okay under load for 10 to 20 seconds or so.
Playing around with the front suspension settings to try and get the front a bit more supple on short bumps, like lumpy tufts of grass sections at speed. Might need to drop the tire PSI a bit as well, as I think I had it up pretty high.
Also finished building a box for the charger and sealed up a few holes and gaps to keep the dust out. I still have to do the rear brake and the left hand side front port cover.
Happy riding!
… Videos coming soon. – Check up the top of this page for the latest videos.