Electric Bikes - My First Crystalite build up..Some pics

Here are some pictures of my first Crystalite ebike build up. This whole venture was an experimentation into ebikes. That is why i used my cheapest bike a Canadian Tire 20" frame CCM Echo i purchased about 5 years ago. The components i used:

26" 406 rear motor rim assy including 5 sprocket freewheel.
35 amp 36V controller
2X36V 5ah 5c Nicad battery packs
Drain brain
Thumb throttle
40amp schottky diode

Total weight of bike 68lbs alone, rolling weight with me 338lbs total.

What an awesome ride! I move along at 31Km/h on the flat. I'm very happy with the set up. My only regret was i should have used a better bike. (i'm starting to eyeball one of my other bikes now). One thing i would like to note with the Crystalite rear motor, i had to adjust my de-railer to lock out the 1st sprocket. The idler bracket was rubbing against the spoke anchor holes on the hub motor. Down the road i will look at trying to shim the freewheel out with a spacer, if that is possible. This ride is so awesome, losing the lowest gear doesn't bother me.

I mentioned in my "Trashed Bionx plan" post. That I would post the name of a Ebike store i found that offered great service. I found one. Renaissance Bicycle Company (AKA Ebikes.ca.) great group of people. They even set up and test ran all the components for me. Calibrated the drain brain. Answered my questions with no sales pitching, looked over my parts list etc. They took the time. Based on my experiance i can recommend this store. The triangular frame MEC bag is a medium size and the control box seems to fit nice. I leave the top of the bag open to have air circ. If you do use a rear battery bag, i would recommend a Frt motor (provided it fits your forks) as it evens out the weight better. I specifically wanted rear bag and rear motor on this set up.

For anyone new, like me, to building/spec'ing an ebike i would like to mention this. Do your research, ask questions..I got some help from this forum/members. Also, have an idea how fast you want to go, how far and the terrain/weights you'll be riding on. Then make a list of components you would like to use. This will help the shop figure out what you're trying to achieve and verify if your parts list is on the right path. Shop around, go to shops check them out and ask questions. When visiting the shops be critical of what you eyes and ears show and tell you.

A note on the pics, Yes i did forget to cut off a zap strap and No the frt brake cable is not as tight as it looks. The rear rack pic is to show that i had to put a piece of plexi glass down across the rack ribs to create an even surface for the battery pack bag. The batteries were left out as the weight dist is too uneven to the rear, the frt end lifts up when using just the side stand. Here are the pics:

Are you still going with your BionX project?

Are you still going with your BionX project?

Yes the Bionx project is a go. I picked up the box this past friday, installed the kit sat on one of my bikes. It's a neat system and installs easy. I was going to compare the Crystalite system and the Bionx system..But there is no point, they are two different styles, with different features.. The pedal assist is awesome, i can really feel it kick in. In all levels 1-4. Level one is a very slight assist. The regen really slows the bike quick. I can recommend both systems. The Bionx is a set and forget sort of system, but what you got is what you're going to have. The Crystalite has a throttle so it needs constant controling (governing) but is way more flexible to updating/modding. The two systems i have cost pretty much the same. For features though, i'd say the bionx system has an edge. I really like that regen feature. The road speed gov sucks the big one! I wish i could block that out!!! My no 1 mission is to block out the road speed gov!

To bypass the speed limit, refer to website:
http://visforvoltage.net/forum-topic/136-removing-bionx-20mph-speed-limit

Thanks, I'll check that out!

Can you tell me how you wire the 40amp schottky diode? Thanks! :)

It's easy. I have a close up in one of the pictures. One end of the diode is marked "control" the other side "battery". On the control side there are 2 wires (red and black) The red plugs into the red "+" bat positive in lead to the controler box. The black "-" plugs into the negative battery in lead to the controler box.

The battery side of the diode has 4 leads. 2 black, 2 red. A red and black will be grouped close together. I think it can be seen from the picture (middle row bottom pic..diode.jpg). It's obvious when you have the diode in your hands looking at it. Straight forward hook up..Take a group (red + and black-) Hook to one battery. Take the other group of + and - and hook to the second battery.

Looks good.

Did you have any qualms about having so much weight in the rear? You've got the battery pack, the hub and most of you. Thanks.

Thank you.

Yes it is rear axle heavy. With batteries installed, the side stand is useless. I am working to have a bag made up to hold the batteries and the control box. I'll put the bag on the inside of the frame triangle. With this much weight at the rear and the weight of the batteries up high, i can feel it going into turns. It does make it easy to pick up the frt end when hopping up curbs though.

To use batteries on a rear rack i would recommend using a frt motor to even out the weight.

Thank you.

Yes it is rear axle heavy. With batteries installed, the side stand is useless. I am working to have a bag made up to hold the batteries and the control box. I'll put the bag on the inside of the frame triangle. With this much weight at the rear and the weight of the batteries up high, i can feel it going into turns. It does make it easy to pick up the frt end when hopping up curbs though.

To use batteries on a rear rack i would recommend using a frt motor to even out the weight.

Thanks for the tip about heading into turns. Was not aware of that. I've been toying with the idea of a setup like yours. I see so many cheap bikes with front suspension that utilizing a rear hub is the only option. I have a front hub and would like some kind of suspension to cushion the bumps. One of the striking things about riding a SLA powered steel bike is the weight and the bumpiness. I have a spring saddle and that helps, but only slightly. Thanks, again.

That thing looks pretty good overall, but It looks loaded/buzy to me. Looking at the pics for a few mins I came up with the following:

Having a second bike computer when you allready have a CA seems a little odd. The flat bar front end looks rather vanilla, replacing with risers or just adding bar ends would perk it up nicely. The brake levers seem to be at an odd angle. Rear rack is installed inside the frame at the dropouts, usually they're installed on the outside, looks kinda odd. The shunt shows between rear rack and frame, maybe it could be hidden under the rear rack. The triangle bag spagetti monster, dunno if I dig this, but hiding the controller under the rack with trimmed down cables and the batteries in the frame bag instead, that could work, beter weight distribution too. Otherwise I'm thinking the cables would look cleaner if routed under the toptube, especially in that area near the seat tube. Finally, the rear light is not aligned properly.

So while the overall look is very good, because several small details clash I'll only give it 7/10 for now.

I also think the bike would look & feel better with more saddle setback (about as far back as it seems to be able to go, actually) and tilting it closer to level, combined with lowering the handlebars so it's about level with the seat. I didn't count this in with looks since it's different stokes for diffrent folks, but the way it's setup reminds me of one of those slow, heavy, fat tired, single speed beach cruiser thingies.


Knobbies are for dirt and slicks would improve the ride a lot, it'll feel like a new/better bike. MEC has some for cheap, bet you won't go back. Also, though you've likely allready noticed the pedals on this bike are plastic and they'll get very slippery when wet. Finally, you can get a kickstand that installs on the rear axle, they do a much better job of holding up a bike with loaded rear rack then a stand in the center.

Guess that's about all I can think of out of hand.

Were it my bike I'd probably just put on slicks, metal pedals, ajust it to my size, dial it in then use it as-is. Wouldn't really touch the rest because of how much work that represents.

Thanks for the comments. That is how i sort of feel about it. 7/10. I'm going to try and improve things a bit. I did in fact tear the whole kit off and restore the bike to original. It is a cheap bike and i wanted to go a level up and bolt the kit on to one of two Norco LRT's i had. The other LRT i mounted a BIonx P-350 to it. The LRT is a cheap bike also but it does, in my opinion, ride nice. Night and day to the Echo.

I tried this weekend to install the crystalite system on to the LRT. I ran into probems. The distance on the hub motor axle, that fits between the drop outs is correct. But the body of the hub motor is too wide. With a 7 speed freewheel, The derailleur hits the side of the motor body/spoke anchors in 1st sprocket. When i tried to shim it, the freewheel was too close to the rh drop out and the chain actually rubbed the drop out. On this bike i'm not too cool on the idea of blocking out 1st. It's a 34 tooth that is awesome climbing hills. I decided to bail on the whole idea and keep it stock.

On the other ltr. The Bionx fit no problem, have all my sprockets, no clearence problems. I just had to set up my derailleur. I'll post pictures of that, see what you think...I like that install way better. The Bionx system is really neat also. I like it.

So..The crystalite system will go back on the CCM. I'll make some improvements too. With a 5 sproket freewheel, there is room to shim it out on this bike. I'll get 1st sproket working with the hub motor. I live by some bark mulch paths that i use. I pondered changing the tires, but the knobbies have use to me for the path rides. The MEC cycle computer was on before i put the kit in. I decided to leave it on to compare the speed and mileage readings, just to see how close both units are.