XR-75/Staton NuVinci Build

Okay, This project isn't near finished yet but I have been taking pictures at just about every step of the way. Heres a list of features that are going to be included on this build:
-Mongoose XR-75 dual suspension MTB, aluminum frame, steel rear triangle.
-Staton NuVinci drive with Mitsubishi TLE43 engine, half-lever left hand throttle/killswitch , right side NVshifter. Torsion bars.
-center handlebar mounted digital speedo.
-left handle bar end nashbar convex mirror.
-New aluminum nashbar Jaws pedals.
-double thick and slimed Bell innertubes
-Bell kevlar lined 26x1.75 road tires (thin but should allow this thing to be pedaled if need be.)
-Bottle and cage for extra fuel
-Bell comfort Gel seat (black)
-Finished and painted Staton hardware (gloss black to match rear triangle of bike.)
-Emaxi break levers with internal switches for brake light activation.
-Full lighting to New Hampshire moped standards. Enclosed in a soft (hard lined) black/silver lunchbox to be mounted to the left hand side of the Staton rack opposite the engine.
--55w Halogen headlamp w/ small rectangular enclosure and mounting hardware wired through a very efficient 12v turn dial dimmer switch to adjust brightness.
--A 7 LED taillamp that doubles as a brake light when wired with the Emaxi levers.
--Electrical master on/off switch and 12v battery gauge.
--5ah SLA battery.
--Charger port.
--Possibly an on the move charging system as well as I have a 1200mAh 12v power rectifier that I may be able to hook into a dynamo or DC brushed motor.
-All wires/cables to the staton rack are going to be run down (and through) the center of the frame and will be wrapped in spiral casing and zip tied clean and secure.


I would have this beast finished but I'm still waiting for the weather to get nice (clear and over 50F) so I can prime and paint the staton rack to match the bike. I've already done a lot of grinding and rounding to make the staton kit not appear as chunky. I have to say though this thing is rock solid. I've already mocked everything up and it should all fit together nicely. So here are the pictures. I have tons more but I've had to do the steps all out of order as I got the chance to do them so it would be more confusing to you folks than its worth.

Pic1: The mongoose last summer after a muddy thrillride down a trail near my house.
Pic2: Mongoose with NuVinci installed and cables run, torsion straps are backwards (was just measuring at the time) and heavy duty pedal chain.
Pic3: NuVinci out of the box.
Pic4: Mocked up rack to make sure everything would fit and work well.
Pic5: Cooler electrical box. Front pocket (with penguin) has the dimmer, switch and battery gauge mounted into plastic underneath. Unfinished.

 

[Zomby Builder]

Tight

How tight is your sprocket? Do you have the double chain to the wheel set up?? I'm wondering because my Sprocket has play & did not when I installed it. Lateral play. Doesn't seem to affect it, I only noticed it when I changed a flat tire. There are NO shops around here who can even remove this wheels sprocket. I reinstalled it & hope that I never have to get this thing serviced....

 

[SirJakesus]

Both the sprocket and freewheel are tight zombie. I dont think I'll have to remove the sprocket in order to lace the new spokes in there as it has holes in it to give me access to the flange. How many miles have you put on your NV hub? I know you were one of the first here to get one and put a monster engine on it.


I have the same kink Duive, but I can reinsert the spokes into the nipples and they disappear into there about 5mm or so. I'm thinking they broke off right where their threading began and I wouldn't doubt if that kink had some part in it by concentrating stress at that one point whereas the rest of the spoke was a perfectly straight shot to the hub. I'm hoping this was just a spoke defect and not something thats going to happen again due to the extreme angle created by the extra large hub.

 

[Irish John]

Jakesus, the NV hub is very big but surely it is designed so the angle on the spokes at the hub is not too extreme. Maybe they didn't spoke the wheel correctly. If you get the odd spoke breaking in the middle it's a sign of a faulty batch of spokes. I had 4 spokes break off at the nipple and then in mid spoke. That was when I knew there was a problem with the steel.
Even with holes in the sprocket i'd have thought it impossible to respoke without removing it entirely.

 

[SirJakesus]

Oh I'll have to remove the wheel, thats for sure. But I don't think I'll need to re-lace everything as the wheel is still holding true. If I continue to have problems with spoke breakage thats when I have the whole wheel rebuilt.

 

[duivendyk]

That rim is quite stiff,if it was a fatigue failure it would have occurred at the kink, the NV hub diameter is rather large,which puts the spokes at more of an angle while the double rim keeps the nipples at 90 degrees to the rim,resulting in a kink in the spoke,fatigue fractures are a result of repeated flexing or vibration.I think the threads in the nipple initially prob don't engage the spoke, and the fracture occurs where this actually takes place, that is inside the nipple.

 

[Zomby Builder]

play

When you remove the wheel check your drive sprocket for lateral play. When it is installed on the bike you can't tell if it has any. Mine has about 300 pretty hard driven miles on it. High Performance GP460. I love it, and the play doesn't seem to matter. I just wonder if this is normal wear? I actually took this wheel to a Trek dealer & they thought it was an electric hub.. LOL.. Pretty sophisticated with the double freewheel, THEY didn't have a tool that could remove it, so I reinstalled it without doing anything to it. I don't think Staton can remove it either. I could be wrong about that though. So far So Good. I have 10 gauge stainless spokes laced to the hub on a 24 inch wheel.

 

[SirJakesus]

I'll check for play when I get it off the bike. My 450 miles were also hard driven with lots of jackrabbit starts, quick stops and 25+mph dirt road riding. Did you have to drill out the hub to get 10ga spokes to fit? I'd be very interested in a similar 26in since that sounds like one tough wheel! I heard most bike shops don't even carry anything larger than 13ga since they're excessively heavy for regular cyclists.

Duive, it does seem like it was at the kink, I checked it out more closely yesterday and the spokes only reinsert 1 or 2mm into the nipple to where they broke off, so I would say it was right at the kink. Maybe the spokes weren't properly flexed and stressed when they were installed making the spokes always want to spring back to their fully straight original shape causing metal fatigue. I'll be squeezing my spokes together to kink them some more as a precautionary measure.

 

[duivendyk]

That's not good news,you get a super duper rim and then the **** spokes act up,YUK.

 

[Zomby Builder]

wheel

I had it done at Performance bike Superstore in San Marcos. Cost about 75 for the spokes & lace. Yes the holes had to be drilled larger diameter on the wheel. I called the Wheelmaster & they wanted 250. There are some good wheel lacers around, find one. Make sure they understand how to get proper length spokes before you leave it with them. The guy at Performance name is Chris. He knows SPOKES!!

 

[SirJakesus]

Ok, just removed the wheel this morning. Both the freewheel and power drive sprocket have no play in them and the hub and rim look to be in good condition. However I found that I had another broken spoke! The rim is still perfectly true! The rim is probably the only thing that saved me from a long walk back home. All three spokes were snapped off right at the point where the threads hit the nipples. Two of them were right next to each other, one leading and one trailing on opposite sides, the other was on the complete opposite side of the wheel I believe it was on the trailing sprocket side. I feel very lucky I didn't destroy the rim or have it totally collapse on me at speed. Due to this new discovery I've decided not to just replace broken spokes but to have the whole wheel re-laced with the best spokes and nipples available, weight obviously not being an issue. We only have a goodales dedicated bike shop around here so I hope they're MB friendly. Unless directly asked I'm going to tell them the wheel is for a touring tandem with electric assist for an elderly couple so I don't get sneered at and bad service. No business wants a grumpy old couple to visit them with a broken product
I ordered the kit from staton in late january. If anybody else bought a similar kit I would strongly advise them to check their spokes thoroughly! I would not have noticed this until it was too late if it were not by chance as the wheel spun perfectly. Just a warning to yall. I'll be informing staton of the spoke problem via email so at least they may be able to review their procedures. I believe this was a case of defective spokes or installation as I've always ridden pedal bikes hard enough to strip freewheels and warp rims but I've never had anything like this happen.