Bafang front wheel Uber motors - which controller

gobi said:
Any idea how old this bike is?

1988 Bridgestone Bicycle Catalog:
https://www.sheldonbrown.com/bridgestone/1988/pages/bridgestone-1988-13.htm
https://www.sheldonbrown.com/bridgestone/1988/pages/bridgestone-1988-34.htm

Also see this page https://www.sheldonbrown.com/bridgestone/
It mentions (barely) the CB-3.
 
LewTwo said:
gobi said:
Any idea how old this bike is?

1998 Bridgestone Bicycle Catalog:
https://www.sheldonbrown.com/bridgestone/1988/pages/bridgestone-1988-13.htm
https://www.sheldonbrown.com/bridgestone/1988/pages/bridgestone-1988-34.htm

Also see this page https://www.sheldonbrown.com/bridgestone/
It mentions (barely) the CB-3.
Thanks LewTwo, fairly new, it has good metallurgy, not a spot of rust anywhere [or could have been a garage queen], the springs below the seat were rusty and from the pic I see that the seat is the orginal seat, the leather is still soft :shock: :shock:
 
I made a mistake: I wrote 1998 and it should have been 1988.
My Miyata CF-7000 is circa 1990.
That is over 30 years old.
Can we get "classic" or "antique" license plates for them ?
 
LewTwo said:
I made a mistake: I wrote 1998 and it should have been 1988.
My Miyata CF-7000 is circa 1990.
That is over 30 years old.
Can we get "classic" or "antique" license plates for them ?

wow, 88, yeah, I will check if the state will issue me one, I have one for my 85 toyota sundrader camper :)

I found a Columbia Tourister, I did not know what it was, I had bought it just for the bike rear rack :eek:
Cursory looking on goog says it could be a 70s bike.

Brake Cut off sensor - Bought ONE magnetic sensor, it is 2 wire, I will test it, if that works then I will get more.

Mr Yellow is from 1988, I was intending to replace the cantilever brakes with v-brakes, Do it or leave it as is? it brake fine with what is on it now.
 
gobi said:
[Mr Yellow is from 1988, I was intending to replace the cantilever brakes with v-brakes, Do it or leave it as is? it brake fine with what is on it now.

If it aint broke then do not fix it.
You would find that the post are likely not compatible anyway.
 
LewTwo said:
gobi said:
[Mr Yellow is from 1988, I was intending to replace the cantilever brakes with v-brakes, Do it or leave it as is? it brake fine with what is on it now.

If it aint broke then do not fix it.
You would find that the post are likely not compatible anyway.

10-4
I will leave it alone, I need to adjust the front angle with the Uber skinny wheels
 
gobi said:
LewTwo said:
gobi said:
[Mr Yellow is from 1988, I was intending to replace the cantilever brakes with v-brakes, Do it or leave it as is? it brake fine with what is on it now.

If it aint broke then do not fix it.
You would find that the post are likely not compatible anyway.

10-4
I will leave it alone, I need to adjust the front angle with the Uber skinny wheels

In my experience, V-brakes are always compatible with cantilever equipped frames (though the opposite can sometimes be tricky).

However, if you switch to V-brakes from cantis or vice versa, you also have to switch the brake levers to get the right pull ratio.
 
You did good. Bridgestone was a very highly regarded quality bike mfr. in the '80s.
 
Chalo said:
In my experience, V-brakes are always compatible with cantilever equipped frames (though the opposite can sometimes be tricky).

However, if you switch to V-brakes from cantis or vice versa, you also have to switch the brake levers to get the right pull ratio.

Danke,
I will attempt it, I looked at the v-brake kit from amazon, and I had everything except the brake lines, I will have to buy more.

the rear cantilever is working fine so I will leave it alone.
Yes Sir, I will get new brake levers, maybe with sensors for disconnect built in..

Right now I am trying to find a small basket that to store the battery which is in a small lunch cooler.
 
99t4 said:
You did good. Bridgestone was a very highly regarded quality bike mfr. in the '80s.

Thanks, I love the color, I need to take everything off and re-grease and put it back together.

Update:
Mr Yellow:
I am using the Led controller on this one with a 48v battery, not sure why but it was dogging the last trip. I need to take off the rear hub and relube the bearings and the crank and relube it,

Q: Do I need special tools? to take off rear hub and crank?


Schwinn-fang:
This working greaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat, my oldest has claimed, it as it is a few inches too tall for my youngest. She like the thumb gas and zoom zooms around pretty fast with it.

24 inch ebike:
I have to now build a 24 inch ebike for the youngest and 26 inch is just bit too tall.

I bought a YesComUSa 750w 36v 24inch ebike kit for her. I will post a different thread for this.
 
I've sat on my two Uber motors for over 3 monthss now, but I finally put one into a Walmart 26" 7 speed cruiser bike. I couldn't find any 1" forks with disk brake tab, so I'm using v-brakes. The stock forks are steel, but I still made some torque plates.

Mated with an old 20A KT square wave controller and LCD1. It's good enough for the usual 20 mph on 36V. I have a 36V13aH 10S-4P uber battery too, but I'll have to see if I can mount it and make it look good.

Pictures next month.
 
docw009 said:
I've sat on my two Uber motors for over 3 monthss now, but I finally put one into a Walmart 26" 7 speed cruiser bike. I couldn't find any 1" forks with disk brake tab, so I'm using v-brakes. The stock forks are steel, but I still made some torque plates.

Mated with an old 20A KT square wave controller and LCD1. It's good enough for the usual 20 mph on 36V. I have a 36V13aH 10S-4P uber battery too, but I'll have to see if I can mount it and make it look good.

Pictures next month.
Yes, the physics of torque, for peace of mind, I would :)
pics pls, how is the v-brake working? I tried in vain to adjust it on mine :-(
 
gobi said:
docw009 said:
I've sat on my two Uber motors for over 3 monthss now, but I finally put one into a Walmart 26" 7 speed cruiser bike. I couldn't find any 1" forks with disk brake tab, so I'm using v-brakes. The stock forks are steel, but I still made some torque plates.

Mated with an old 20A KT square wave controller and LCD1. It's good enough for the usual 20 mph on 36V. I have a 36V13aH 10S-4P uber battery too, but I'll have to see if I can mount it and make it look good.

Pictures next month.
Yes, the physics of torque, for peace of mind, I would :)
pics pls, how is the v-brake working? I tried in vain to adjust it on mine :-(

The V-brakes are like spaghetti. Is it the enamel paint or is it the shape of the rim. I have a set of Kool-stop pads that I could try. but your status suggests I'd just waste my time.

Since I want to give this bike to someone, I will have to change rims. The ERD differs, so I'll have to buy new spokes.
 
docw009 said:
The V-brakes are like spaghetti. Is it the enamel paint or is it the shape of the rim. I have a set of Kool-stop pads that I could try. but your status suggests I'd just waste my time.

Since I want to give this bike to someone, I will have to change rims. The ERD differs, so I'll have to buy new spokes.

The rims aren't painted, but anodized. They aren't easy to set up with linear pull or cantilever brakes, but I've made them work fine.

The ideal rim brake for these no-rim-brake rims would be a U-brake. That way the pads would swing upwards into the rim rather than meeting it obliquely in a downward motion.

u-brake_001.jpg
 
I wrote that I had fabricated two torque plates, but that was for another bike I'm working on. This bike so far has none. There's not enough axle length to put them in, unless I ditch the fat torque washers.

I rode 17 miles over the weekend with the bike half finished. Only one brake lever was wired up, and one hand grip. Battery not mounted yet. I'm using a hoverboard pack in a frame bag. Today I started to do a few more details, like tighten up spokes and true the wheel. and I found that I had not even torqued one of the front axle nuts. FInger tight, but the other nut held the wheel in for that test ride. Dumb.
 
The bike is a Hyper Commute, $180 from Walmart. I's light for a steel bike, 34 pounds. I'm using a UPP bottle battery, 36V, in the interim. I want to put the UPP battery on the bike somehow. Maybe on rear rack, but it is 19" long.

I adjusted the front brakes, and they are adequate for now. I'd want to change rims if someone else is going to ride it.

Using an old 20A square wave controller. I don't know if it's the bafang or the controller, but it does put out an mechanical whine that I didn't remember when I used the controller on a Q100 motor.

It's a relaxing ride with the high handlebars, but this is not a good ride yet. I have two of these bafangs, and I will move the Schwalbe Marathon from the other motor to the rear wheel. Need some rubber washers under the fender mounts. I already lubed the rear axle, but should do the BB, headset and chain next. Then again, it's all cheap components.

cruiser.JPG
 
gobi said:
Mr Yellow is from 1988, I was intending to replace the cantilever brakes with v-brakes, Do it or leave it as is? it brake fine with what is on it now.

If you have all the braking power you can use, why bother meddling with it? If you don't, I suggest changing to fresh high quality brake pads (like Kool Stop) before you switch brakes.

V-brakes can always be mounted on cantilever posts, but the cable routing differs and might become a little kludgy if you switch. Also, linear pull brakes like V-brakes use levers with a longer pull ratio, so you'll have to swap those as well.

Cantilevers are the most tunable of all brakes, so it's worth giving them a go.

https://www.sheldonbrown.com/canti-trad.html
 
Latest change to my bike was to spoke in a Sun-RIngle rim with the flat sides for rim brakes. DIdn't really see much improvement in stopping power. It stopped before. It stops a little better now, but not as good as some of my better bikes. .
 
docw009 said:
Latest change to my bike was to spoke in a Sun-RIngle rim with the flat sides for rim brakes. DIdn't really see much improvement in stopping power. It stopped before. It stops a little better now, but not as good as some of my better bikes. .

What brake, what pads, what lever? The Wally World stuff that came on your bike?

You wouldn't be happy with a $10 disc or drum brake either.
 
Chalo said:
gobi said:
Mr Yellow is from 1988, I was intending to replace the cantilever brakes with v-brakes, Do it or leave it as is? it brake fine with what is on it now.

If you have all the braking power you can use, why bother meddling with it? If you don't, I suggest changing to fresh high quality brake pads (like Kool Stop) before you switch brakes.

V-brakes can always be mounted on cantilever posts, but the cable routing differs and might become a little kludgy if you switch. Also, linear pull brakes like V-brakes use levers with a longer pull ratio, so you'll have to swap those as well.

Cantilevers are the most tunable of all brakes, so it's worth giving them a go.

https://www.sheldonbrown.com/canti-trad.html

Chalo, I kept the cantilevers, but could not get one side to adjust on the Uber skinny wheels, it would jump off and hit the tire.
I am retiring Mr Yellow for now, take off the bafang and putting it back to it original form :).
Now that bikes are back in stock, I looking around for a deal on a good donor bike.
 
Chalo said:
What brake, what pads, what lever? The Wally World stuff that came on your bike?
You wouldn't be happy with a $10 disc or drum brake either.

Turned out the left brake lever was bottoming out on the throttle housing. Adjusted and now it's like my other rim brakes. Good enough for bike path cruising.
 
Latest update. I've been using the bike to pull a hitchhiker rig. Total weight of 320 pounds with a little grandkid as passenger. This weekend, I switched from 36V to 48V, Started getting a hammering from the motor with a brisk throttle starts, Then the motor wouldn't respond unless I did a power reset. Nothing in the motor that does that, Must be the controller getting power surges. If I started the bike rolling, I could feather in the motor. Dang, my sciatica sure don't like that.

Must be too hard of a start with 48V and square wave. Will switch it back to 36V tomorrow and see if it persists. Otherwise, try sine wave.
 
docw009 said:
Started getting a hammering from the motor with a brisk throttle starts,

That sounds like a heating related Hall sensor failure. How many amps are you using?
 
This is from a cold start. Roll bike out of garage. Hook up the third wheel. Kid hops on, hit the throttle, I hear the gears rattle. Too much weight for the startup.

I put a 36V pack in this afternoon. Rolled out as usual. I've pulled her earlier in the summer on this bike and others, It turns out this one is the most stable one I have for towing.

I do have a sinewave conroller being delivered from PSWpower next week. Hope that solves it.
 
docw009 said:
This is from a cold start. Roll bike out of garage. Hook up the third wheel. Kid hops on, hit the throttle, I hear the gears rattle.

By "heating related Hall sensor failure", I mean Hall sensors that have been previously cooked, not ones that are hot at the moment.

I hope the new controller helps. If it doesn't, maybe sensorless is the next easiest way to go.
 
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