Every once in a while we get to build out what I consider to be a Dream Bike. In this case,Frank McGrath from Berkely, CA brought us his Cannondale “Lefty” to set up for all around riding and extreme grade climbing. Here is a list of the components we installed on Frank’s bike:

• Bafang BBS02-750 watt
• DPC-14 Color display
• Gear Sensor
• SRAM EX1 1×8 Speed Long Cage Rear Derailleur
• SRAM XG-899 E-Bike X-Glide Cassette 11-48 8-Speed
• SRAM PC EX1 8 speed Chain 144 Links with PowerLock
• BSBF-1 Stabilizer Bar

Frank has some hills to climb on the mountainous side of Berkeley that are more than 20% grades and with the 11×48 cassette on this bike they truly are a piece of cake. Frank loves to ride with his wife and stay in great shape. He even has a heart rate monitor on his bike and has to be careful to not over do the pedal assist so he can keep his heart rate up.

There was a lesson learned though from this build. Frank was getting an annoying noise in the higher gears of his bike, especially when climbing. After testing, we discovered that the cassette body on his rear wheel was made of aluminum and that it could not take the torque stress of the mid drive. We replaced the aluminum body with a steel body and all the noise has now gone away.

 

 

Tor Stahl is a commuter that did his homework!

“Below is picture of the bike, it is a Spot Champa frame, which is made for a belt drive. The key to using a belt is to use a 3-speed IGH which is made to accept a cassette. I use the Sturmey Archer CS-RK3, SRAM makes a similar dual drive which I have seen used for the same purpose. I used your spider and spacers along with a 55 tooth front and 22 tooth CDX belt cogs. With the current set at 17, as a pedalec, I can easily travel at 30+ miles an hour on a flat, climb fairly steep hills at 20+ mph and still get plenty of range. I have about 50% battery left after my 40 mile daily commute with some decent hills involved. Motor only, the gearing is pretty high, but it will hold a speed once you put some pedaling in. The pedal clutch failed and I was able to motor home, but I had to push the bike up the steepest part on my commute, which is short. For me its perfect, I like to pedal. I use the 5 PAS levels as gears along with the 3-speed internal, giving it basically 15 speeds, I don’t know why you’d want any more gears.”

Regards,

Tor

Since 2016 I have had the pleasure of working with Pierre in setting up his tandem bike with the Bafang BBSHD 1000 for touring with his wife. As many folks adventure into the wilds of serious touring, Pierre is very meticulous and focused on setting up his equipment to endure the strains of the terrain. He has shared with us some commentary and photos of his adventures, perhaps to inspire others to check out what lies beyond their local scene. He and his wife shared the thrills they have had and give us a glance at their future dreams. Here’s the bike that Pierre started with along with some of his commentary:

“My Pino tandem Rear Hub is equipped with a Rolhoff : https://www.rohloff.de/en/products/speedhub/

According to Rolhoff: The maximum rear sprocket input torque must not exceed 100N and this is something that the motor vendor may not be able to provide as it depends on the primary transmission ratio you’ll be using and of course you would also generate torque yourself.

Current setup is:

• 14speed Rolhoff Rear Hub
• 36 inches rear wheel;
• 20’’ front Wheel with SPINNER Aluminum Suspended fork.
• Dynamo front hub;
• 48T chainring
• Rear sprockets 17-19-21T and spline carrier.
• Guide Hydraulic brakes

Then:

I finally succeeded to install my Bafang BBSHD on our Pino semi-recumbent Tandem.  I found out I needed a 100mm axel to fit with the double crank of the Captain bottom bracket. I inserted 3 x 12mm spacers on the left side of the axel to fit with the left side front chain ring. Ouf…it was creative as you mentioned on your previous email!

 

This was our first ride: https://vimeo.com/238272857

As planned, we went for the SuntripTour 2017 in France last June with our Pino Tandem and Solar trailer. Unfortunately, the third day, we slipped on wet ‘’pavements tiles’’ and my wife double-fractured her pelvis.

 

 

 

 

 

Then, I built a E-Trike to ride the Lyon-Canton Suntrip 2018. 12,000km from France to China in 100days. This is our Blog: https://ffotr.com/

 

 

Since then, she recovered well and she asked me to fly back to Nantes next June and ride again the Alpes on a 45 days journey. LOL, she is courageous! I cancelled my registration for the Suntrip2018!”

This is his new build:

HPVelotechnik Scorpion Trike,