GEBE from friction convert, and I AIN'T GOING BACK!

[grinningremlin]

I finally got the used GEBE mounted to my Sun EZ sport, good lord it was a bear to get on there, I had to fashion some brackets cut off a metal motor mount from an old Akai reel to reel to make the main strap fit, but I had none of the belt alignment problems I've read on here.The main reason I had to switch was I bought some high dollar wood fenders and could not see cutting the rear just to use the FD, man am I glad I switched.Power in the low end is about the same (RS EH035) but I buck the wind/hills better and my top speed feels more like I'm using a 40cc and the engine is still breaking in.
The bike is light enough to lift without strain again, and the coasting, without that scrubber on there the bike rides like there's nothing holding it back.Working very well with a unit that has about 5000 miles on it; I had to change the bearing closest to the engine on the BMP FD a couple times now, I think the heat wears it quicker, plus the road and rubber dust seemed to collect there, I don't know how well "sealed" those bearings are when encountering that type of abuse.
All in all, GEBE is very impressive.

 

[darwin]

Do you have the HD wheel on the rear? If not watch your spokes for your safety, checkem every ride.

 

[grinningremlin]

Darwin, how wise or unwise do you think this is; I'm using the stock wheel (14g spokes) and was worried exactly about what you said, so I made a simple lattice-work of zipties so the ring would pull on every spoke on both sides.My thought was even though the ring is only snapped on a few on one side, if they pull hard enough to bend/break that they would start pulling on the sprocket side spokes, did an 80 miler the other day with no probs.I have a HD wheel on the way in case I'm full of silly ideas, wouldn't be the first time.

 

[darwin]

Never owned a GEBE kit, wish I had one. From what I read alot of folks move up to the gebe HD wheel because of problems with spokes tearing up. Some oem wheels are better than others. If it were me i'd have the HD wheel.

 

[grinningremlin]

I'm going to be eating my words, I'm in the process of hooking the BMP to my Bridgestone MTB for a farm bike.
I've learned tons about the GEBE riding it, I believe it's not the gauge of spoke but ,making sure the sheave doesn't shift back and forth on the spokes.I've had zero wheel problems since I first posted this, and gone about 600 miles.

The first used GEBE I bought came with the HD wheel, the sheave had notches in where the belt had slammed it over and over like a dull knife, I believe that's where the breakage occurs.
The latest used GEBE I bought came with the HD wheel, with sheave attached by GEBE.They zip-tie the spokes at the X, and put "gorilla glue" in each notch.So I glued my notches, X tied my spokes and did my lattice work thingo; I drilled extra holes in the sheave so with zip ties it pulls on each spoke, both sides, and the whole wheel feels "solid".
I'll soon be taking off the EHO, hooking up a Tanaka PF4000 to the 14g wheel and crossing my fingers.

 

[darwin]

Good luck don't get any speeding tickets........another problem with cheap wheels is the nuts tightening the spokes are made of brass and the threads are soft vs ss and the spokes pull out and get wrapped up in the wheel.

 

[nightrider]

The latest used GEBE I bought came with the HD wheel, with sheave attached by GEBE.They zip-tie the spokes at the X, and put "gorilla glue" in each notch.

I can't imagine zip ties doing anything. The old technique practiced by racers was to wrap the spokes with copper wire then solder them. Zip ties won't do anything. The spokes will just slide against each other since they're at angles.

another problem with cheap wheels is the nuts tightening the spokes are made of brass and the threads are soft vs ss and the spokes pull out and get wrapped up in the wheel.

All bicycle wheels are built with either brass or aluminum nipples. Aluminum nipples are softer and their threads are more likely to strip, so they're recommended only for racing and even then only if used by experienced wheelbuilders. Brass nipples are not a sign of "cheap wheels." Spokes failing at the rim are almost unknown.

 

[grinningremlin]

I see your point, but I think they shorten the range of sliding, sure did make it feel more solid.I think I'll glue the X zip-ties also, I'm good with a soldering gun but don't like the permanence of solder on the spokes, in case of road repairs.

 

[darwin]

On just regular bikes in my youth every spoke problem I ever had was the spoke pulling out of the nipple. None were expensive bikes back then. Seems nipples are made of silver, brass, alloys, steel. Brass is a very soft metal. I thought some were stainless but didn't see any on niagras site. Use your own judgement OP, its your risk.

 

[grinningremlin]

Yeah, no biggie.I believe it's jackrabbits/not pedaling up before engaging throttle that's 90% of spoke probs.I have a 14g velocity in the wings, so I'm game.