legot,
Sorry I did not see the "Morgan" post until just now.
Mine is a 20" frame, and is good only for riders who have >30" inseams. It's a little too big for my brother and father, good for six footers and above only really.
Very heavily laden in the back can make the front end squirrely, try to keep most of the load weight forward of the rear axle.

When will the SM be available again?

I've saved up just about enough to get the Big Dummy, which I want to Stoke, and I am wondering if I should get it now and stoke it later or wait a bit to get it stoked from the get-go.

I'm also watching and waiting for the Stoke Monkey for my Xtra.

I suggest you grab a Dummy now, as soon as you can get your hands on one. From the interest I've seen talking to people around town and on the forums, I'm predicting they're going to sell out quick.

Someone can correct me if I'm wrong here but it looks like the only existing component that changes when mounting the Stoke Monkey is the crankset. There's no reason to wait for the Monkey to start getting use out of the Dummy.

That's what I've been thinking myself.

See my post about that on the Bring back the 3-speed thread, it is the last one.

https://www.bikeforums.net/utility-cycling/259077-bring-back-english-3-speed.html

Sorry I could not figure out how to link directly to that particular post.

I've been wondering if it would be possible to make a Stokemonkey sort of system by gutting my Crystalyte off its wheel and using it? The hardest part I could imagine is that my Crystalyte isn't a rear wheel drive model.. That would probably make attaching a gear to it impossible.

that's about right. for that matter, only the left side is special, though any tandem type left crank/chainring should work. i supply 170mm compact MTB-type left crank/chainrings, for JIS-standard square-taper bottom brackets. beware that some manufacturers, e.g., Truvativ, deliberately orient the taper faces differently than the dominant Shimano/Sugino standard. if you don't know what this means, wait. :^)

Lots of things are possible if you have access to a machine shop and can shape metal as you please, know enough electronics to get the controller not to resist back-driving, get it to turn the right direction etc. But I guarantee that as long as you value your time more than a couple dollars an hour, it will cost you more to roll your own Stokemonkey than to wait for mine, at least for a similar level of function. I don't mean to sound unhelpful, but my patent attorney says that if I assist with petty infringement of the design, it will weaken my case in the event of large-scale commercial infringement.

Well, i've been considering at least attempting to convert the hub motor from front to rear wheel drive. From what I understand, changing the axle is going to be the only complicated part, i'm wondering if it can really even be done. They're press fit according to Justin from Renaissance, so I would imagine its not that easy.

Its more of a passing thought though. Initially, I bought this e-bike kit to help out, but the first battery crushed my rack.. twice..

Then I discovered that at 37v, the 408 just isn't gutsy enough for cargo work.. And I got sick of the prospect of having my front dropouts spread, dealing with battery recharging, constantly packing/unpacking the pack off the bike, but the really big thing was dealing with the fact that these kinds of systems add rolling resistance and just *aren't* fun to simply "bike" around with, without the motor.. Once its on there, it makes you really dependant on it.

So eventually I just took it all off and its collecting dust in the corner. Its great for some people, but it was a poor waste of money for me. The possibility of having a system which doesn't add any resistance and provides greater torque input would just be great though, if I could afford your stokemonkey, which on my student budget, I can't.

Graywolf,
If you click on the post number in the upper right hand corner it will give you a single post, or you can right click and use the copy link function.

BTW here is the link... https://www.bikeforums.net/showpost.p...&postcount=449

Aaron

Wouldn't you need to actually be selling a product to be concerned with patent infringement

just playin'

we love you

now hurry up and start selling again bish

Remember in Through the Looking Glass, when the White Queen asked Alice to come work as her lady's maid, what the terms were? Jam every other day. Jam yesterday, jam tomorrow, but never jam today!

Seriously, I understand the problems Todd is having, but it is very frustrating for those of us who want a SM.

Thanks, I will remember to click on the number. For some reason Firefox is not giving me a copy-link option. It used to, maybe a bug in the latest version. Software, every time they fix one thing they break three

Wisely stated, Sensei.

-Grasshopper

That's good news. I'm in for a 2nd or 3rd generation frame once all the kinks are worked out.

Dudenhoffer! That's what the fine folks at Surly have been doing the past couple of years! Consider this batch at least 2nd gen.

Here are some first, second and third generation Big Dummies. If you look closely you can see some of the changes they made as the field test them. Surly went through 3 different prototypes and then finalized the production version. The seem to do their homework as the LHT and CC frames haven't seen any revisions once they got to production.











There is a fair bit of info on the evolution of the BD in the Surly blog archives.

While I respect Surly's diligence, you guys are the real real world testers.

I'm looking forward to what you guys find out!

Its a tough job, but I'm willing to ride a Big Dummy if it helps the team!....

Besides my cunning plan is to get a BD this year and validate the concept for myself and then buy a second frame next winter and get S&S couplers installed [assuming that's possible still checking into that]. Then I'll either sell the first BD or start my own bicycle beer delivery business....

I'm going to be coming into some money from an inheritance, and I'm seriously considering putting it into a Big Dummy.

Have I told you lately that I love you? That there is no one above you? Fill my heart with gladness...take away all my sadness...ease my troubles that's what you do...

Your newest BFF,

dwnptrl_777

Oh. My Word.

Look at that monster front tire. Large Marge?
I can imagine rolling up behind someone in a small car, leaning on the Air Zound and just totally intimidating the poor sucker!

^^^^
Rear tire too. Surly Pugsley

How did you modify your BD like this? Did you do it yourself, or can you order it like this? (mainly interested in the fatter tires for weight/load issues).