First Day Of Diet; Bike Is Starving

Looks positively skeletal already. :)

Lost about 5 pounds today, taking out some of the middle frame struts, and condensing some of the wiring down (more of that to come later as I swap out all the wiring harness mess for a single multiconductor cable to each end of the bike).

The part I don't like is that this will weaken the frame torsionally, as it had lots of cross-connection before that isn't there now, but it should still function well enough. If not, I guess I'll see what I can do to fix it!

Above is down thru the center of the frame, where the downtube used to connect to the rear BB. That's the gearbox on the left side of the pic.

Also got a LOT more room in the central frame area. Not yet road tested like this; might need changes.

Clearer shot of the new V connecting the front to the back at the bottom. The cargo rails are also bolted to the dropouts on both frames, adding a bit more stiffness.

Managed to get rear brakes installed, though, while I had it apart. Nice to have them in addition to front brakes!

Betters side shot. Regular caliper brakes using modern brake pads.

Full side shot of the whole thing.

That black mass in the middle is the three 12V 17Ah UPS batteries. They are held very securely in with radiator hose clamps, which have successfully held my seat to the bike frame this whole year so far as well, with no wiggling or looseness.

Ideally, I'd like more of them, for cross-clamping, but that's all I have except for a handful of tiny ones that are different widths, and thus can't be chained together.

Closer shot of the power area. That white box is a hefty breaker to use as a mains switch.

I dont' recall the rating but it is enough that a battery pack short pops it, but even full stall current on the motor at full charge voltage does not.

The way they sit in there, there is enough clearance to the chains and sprockets that I could probably take some 1/8" aluminum and build a "box" around them, clamped to the frame. But that will add more weight, too. :(

A shot down from the top showing the not-so-neat rightside, before tying it all down.

Closer shot of the breaker. It's arranged so that to trip it manually I only have to reach down and flick it up. To engage it takes a bit of downward force while holding the breaker a bit, so it can't come on accidentally.

I also have the battery cutoff keyswitch I still have to install, but it needs a mounting plate to bolt to.

Still in progress, gotta swap out the really heavy shock fork for an old 10-speed aero fork. Which interestingly enough is still the same distance from the bottom of the headtube/crown to the dropouts as the 24" shock fork, even though it is from a 700C bike). Guess there is a lot of movement room in that shock fork. But first, I have to weld a tab across the fork to mount the brakes on, and temporarily use just some caliper brakes, until I decide if I'm going to keep using this fork, at which point I'll put some studs for linear pull brakes on there. It should save several pounds minimum without that shock fork.


Because of a change made to the angle of the bottom frame, to make the line between the two BBs as straight as I could, the motor's angle changed.

It just clears the pedal chain, which hangs about 1/2" below the output shaft when it's not under tension.

Now to take it out and test ride it on my way to work. ;-)