Admiralrofl
10 mW
- Joined
- Jan 25, 2022
- Messages
- 27
This is my Nirve switchblade which I have finally fully finished converting. I went down the rabbit hole on this one and modified every inch of it to make the perfect. really wanted a quiet bike to enjoy the sounds of the beach. Part of the reason I chose this frame was that I was pretty sure I could get a belt drive to work on it. the lowered chain stay on the rear allows a belt to be installed without a break point in the frame.
Specs are:
2005 nirve switchblade
Tsdz2b with open source firmware
XH-18 display hard wired inside motor
custom 52v 10ah battery with Samsung 50s cells in shaped to frame 3d printed box
Sg-3d55 Shimano 3 speed silent rear hub with 24t Gates Cog. 24" rim with 24x3 tire.
Gates cdx 60T belt ring on a 130bcd spider adapter
174t gates cdx belt (a 177 would have been better but it wasn’t easily available)
Front 26x2.125 hydraulic disk wheel with kenda white wall tire
I ended up going with a tsdz2b because…. I had one lying around. But I would have used one anyways as I want this to be a pedal only, chill 3 speed bike. I knew it would fit as someone online as already done it once before.
eChopper: Nirve Switchblade with TSDZ2
I flashed the open source firmware and ended up going with a xh-18 display as it’s a bit more subtle than the other options. Due to the frames design I was also able to flip the motor upside down and mount it within the frame itself which really improves the look and ground clearance as well.
I had a new wheel built with the sg-3d55 specifically because it is basically silent when coasting in almost all 3 gears (some clicking at lower speeds on 3rd while pedaling but not bad at all). The sturmey archer it came with clicked when coasting and pedaling in all gears. Also the 3d55 I have also supports a disc brake which the original 3 speed did not (coaster brake).
I ended up sanding down the right sided nut to get the OLD dropout width down to 128mm while also helping with the belt line by getting the wheel a little more right. I cold set the frame from 120 to about 128. With this I have a pretty good belt line and haven’t had any issues with it skipping or falling off.
Originally I was just going to do a front brake. But after a stupid crash I realized that because of the long front fork, there isn’t a ton of weight over the front wheel so it’ll slide pretty easily with aggressive braking. So I ended up having the figure out a rear brake as well. I was prepared to make a custom bracket with slots so the brake could be slid into just the right spot buttttt I got lazy so I ended up just finalizing the wheel position and welding the brake tab directly on. I did add washers to the mounting bolts so I have some adjustability both directions.
The battery is small but plenty of range for my purposes and is probably the part I’m most proud of because it took 6 prototypes to get it right. I found a transparent red petg filament that when printed with thicker walls actually matches the red of the bike pretty well. I have the battery wire running from the box directly into the tsdz2 so the full cable run from battery to motor controller is less than 4 inches and fully sealed. This combined with the 50s Samsung cells which I welded double layer nickel strips I should have very little voltage sag. The controller is set to pull a max of 12a as I haven’t done thermal mods to the motor (I attempted it once before and messed up a whole tsdz2 so I’m gunshy about trying them again). I’m not aiming for a high speed with this bike so I’m happy with it. I did a 6 mile ride and ended using only around 25% of the battery.
For the final aesthetics, i wanted to make this an entirely zip-tie free bike with as neat cable runs as possible so I replaced all the brake hoses and cable sheaths with red tubing. I did originally have a 8 pin thick cable running to the display but I didn’t like the throttle so ditched it. I realized that the xh-18 display cable was long enough on its own, so I ended up cutting the plugs off and directly soldering the display to the motor. All these connections are hidden under the motor cover on the tsdz2 itself. Future me may regret this if I need to swap the display but it wasn't too bad to do.
The switchblade came with pre installed rivnuts and plastic clips for cable management but it was only meant for 1 cable from front to back. I ended up making 3d printed combs to better route the cables/ Lastly, I wrapped the speed sensor wire as well in red tape and made a 3d printed mount that bolts on.
I was able to keep the original chain guard. I was all prepared to have to make a custom bracket to mount it but as the tsdz2b was inverted, I didn’t really need the support bolt anymore. The chain guard bolted right up to it (after I filed 1/4 inch off it).
Finally, I also ended up doing white wall tires as I love the look of them.
Now the slightly painful part, how much did it all cost:
Used Nirve switchblade: 200
Replacement grips: 12
Tsdz2b: 295
130bcd adapter: 36
Luna cycles bottom bracket adapter: 24
Battery Total: 297
Samsung 50s cells: 156
Jbd BMS x 2 (accidentally fried 1): 38
Nickel strip: 30
Cell holders: 12
Tape, insulation and shrink wrap: 20
Red PETG filament x 3 : 60
Rear wheel total: 445
24” rim: 47
Sg-3D55 - 153 (bought during Covid, ouch)
Shifter + parts - 40
Wheel build by bike shop: 120
24”x3” white wall : 67 (ouch)
Shimano center lock rotor: 18
SE red wheel tensioners: 22
174t gates cdx belt: 140
60t gates belt Ring: 55
24t gates rear cog: 25
26” disc front wheel: 55
Front 26x2.125 white wall: 25
Zoom brakes: 67
Frame builder supply brake tabs: 30
Red hose and cables: 30
Red tape: 3
Final total: 1780
I ended up selling the stock front and rear wheel for 80 dollars so back down to 1700.
While it’s more than I expected to spend, considering this is a belt driven, torque sensing mid drive bike it’s actually a bargain in my book. This bike was a major labor of love and I’m super happy with how it came out.
Specs are:
2005 nirve switchblade
Tsdz2b with open source firmware
XH-18 display hard wired inside motor
custom 52v 10ah battery with Samsung 50s cells in shaped to frame 3d printed box
Sg-3d55 Shimano 3 speed silent rear hub with 24t Gates Cog. 24" rim with 24x3 tire.
Gates cdx 60T belt ring on a 130bcd spider adapter
174t gates cdx belt (a 177 would have been better but it wasn’t easily available)
Front 26x2.125 hydraulic disk wheel with kenda white wall tire
I ended up going with a tsdz2b because…. I had one lying around. But I would have used one anyways as I want this to be a pedal only, chill 3 speed bike. I knew it would fit as someone online as already done it once before.
eChopper: Nirve Switchblade with TSDZ2
I flashed the open source firmware and ended up going with a xh-18 display as it’s a bit more subtle than the other options. Due to the frames design I was also able to flip the motor upside down and mount it within the frame itself which really improves the look and ground clearance as well.
I had a new wheel built with the sg-3d55 specifically because it is basically silent when coasting in almost all 3 gears (some clicking at lower speeds on 3rd while pedaling but not bad at all). The sturmey archer it came with clicked when coasting and pedaling in all gears. Also the 3d55 I have also supports a disc brake which the original 3 speed did not (coaster brake).
I ended up sanding down the right sided nut to get the OLD dropout width down to 128mm while also helping with the belt line by getting the wheel a little more right. I cold set the frame from 120 to about 128. With this I have a pretty good belt line and haven’t had any issues with it skipping or falling off.
Originally I was just going to do a front brake. But after a stupid crash I realized that because of the long front fork, there isn’t a ton of weight over the front wheel so it’ll slide pretty easily with aggressive braking. So I ended up having the figure out a rear brake as well. I was prepared to make a custom bracket with slots so the brake could be slid into just the right spot buttttt I got lazy so I ended up just finalizing the wheel position and welding the brake tab directly on. I did add washers to the mounting bolts so I have some adjustability both directions.
The battery is small but plenty of range for my purposes and is probably the part I’m most proud of because it took 6 prototypes to get it right. I found a transparent red petg filament that when printed with thicker walls actually matches the red of the bike pretty well. I have the battery wire running from the box directly into the tsdz2 so the full cable run from battery to motor controller is less than 4 inches and fully sealed. This combined with the 50s Samsung cells which I welded double layer nickel strips I should have very little voltage sag. The controller is set to pull a max of 12a as I haven’t done thermal mods to the motor (I attempted it once before and messed up a whole tsdz2 so I’m gunshy about trying them again). I’m not aiming for a high speed with this bike so I’m happy with it. I did a 6 mile ride and ended using only around 25% of the battery.
For the final aesthetics, i wanted to make this an entirely zip-tie free bike with as neat cable runs as possible so I replaced all the brake hoses and cable sheaths with red tubing. I did originally have a 8 pin thick cable running to the display but I didn’t like the throttle so ditched it. I realized that the xh-18 display cable was long enough on its own, so I ended up cutting the plugs off and directly soldering the display to the motor. All these connections are hidden under the motor cover on the tsdz2 itself. Future me may regret this if I need to swap the display but it wasn't too bad to do.
The switchblade came with pre installed rivnuts and plastic clips for cable management but it was only meant for 1 cable from front to back. I ended up making 3d printed combs to better route the cables/ Lastly, I wrapped the speed sensor wire as well in red tape and made a 3d printed mount that bolts on.
I was able to keep the original chain guard. I was all prepared to have to make a custom bracket to mount it but as the tsdz2b was inverted, I didn’t really need the support bolt anymore. The chain guard bolted right up to it (after I filed 1/4 inch off it).
Finally, I also ended up doing white wall tires as I love the look of them.
Now the slightly painful part, how much did it all cost:
Used Nirve switchblade: 200
Replacement grips: 12
Tsdz2b: 295
130bcd adapter: 36
Luna cycles bottom bracket adapter: 24
Battery Total: 297
Samsung 50s cells: 156
Jbd BMS x 2 (accidentally fried 1): 38
Nickel strip: 30
Cell holders: 12
Tape, insulation and shrink wrap: 20
Red PETG filament x 3 : 60
Rear wheel total: 445
24” rim: 47
Sg-3D55 - 153 (bought during Covid, ouch)
Shifter + parts - 40
Wheel build by bike shop: 120
24”x3” white wall : 67 (ouch)
Shimano center lock rotor: 18
SE red wheel tensioners: 22
174t gates cdx belt: 140
60t gates belt Ring: 55
24t gates rear cog: 25
26” disc front wheel: 55
Front 26x2.125 white wall: 25
Zoom brakes: 67
Frame builder supply brake tabs: 30
Red hose and cables: 30
Red tape: 3
Final total: 1780
I ended up selling the stock front and rear wheel for 80 dollars so back down to 1700.
While it’s more than I expected to spend, considering this is a belt driven, torque sensing mid drive bike it’s actually a bargain in my book. This bike was a major labor of love and I’m super happy with how it came out.
