Decisions decisions

[darwin]

Well after some horse trading with some electronics I've ended up with a Diamondback Edgewood 21 sp mountaintain bike. I'm wanting to motorize this gal and trying to decide what my next move is. It definately wont be friction drive as I have 2 of those already. I've been paying close attention to GEBE threads and ?. GEBEs kinda steep at 650$, Staton is also. It'll be a rack mount for sure but after putting $1200 into a dimension edge setup im sure I wont spend that much again on just 1 MAB. This bike though for me is the nicest bike I've ever ridden or owned it is sweet. Probably a Titan/hs setup because of cost ...............

 

[5-7HEAVEN]

Take A Chance!

Darwin, I dabbled a LOT with friction drives and wanted a more dependable drive. Like you, I just couldn't see plunking down $650-$1200 for another drive kit.

What you might consider is converting your friction housing into belt drive, using GEBE drive ring and aftermarket pulley and belt. So far, replacement pulley costs $9, GEBE drive ring $40. I haven't measured for belt length yet, but the belt(not kevlar) will cost about $8. The only thing you need to do is drill four mounting holes on the other side of the housing. Total cost minus shipping is about $57.

I also have another thread converting friction drive to chain drive, using electric scooter sprockets. That prototye should cost me about $100.

FWIW, both experiments are not complete yet, so haven't been tested.

Something to think about when changing from friction drive to belt or chain drive.

 

[darwin]

5-7 one of my kits is a bmp/titan setup. Would the titan work with just a GEBE mounting kit? I know I could sell the bmp kit to help pay for this..........im just thinking.

 

[darwin]

With the bmp kit the shaft is located right over the wheel.

 

[5-7HEAVEN]

Darwin, keep the BMP/Titan and convert this friction housing to either belt drive or chain drive.

The Titan MIGHT work with GEBE, but from what I've researched, this kit is not designed for high-powered engines. Maybe someone on this forum has mounted Titan onto GEBE.

It would cost you $370, the cost of the GEBE kit minus engine, to find out. The BMP kit sells for $129. You MIGHT get $100 if you sell yours, then you're out $270. If it DOESN'T work, then you sell the GEBE for maybe $300, buy another BMP kit for $129 and you've lost big money to find out that Titan engine and GEBE won't work for you.

The BMP shaft located right over the wheel will be your output shaft. The drive pulley should be EXTREMELY easy to align with the GEBE drive ring.

Belts of any length are readily available inexpensively. The key is to find a stock drive pulley that will fit onto the BMP shaft. If no stock pulley is available, then a custom pulley needs to be made by the pulley/belt suppliers. Unknown what that cost is.

I'll keep the forum informed, and post pictures when my prototype is completed.

 

[darwin]

If the HS shaft is aligned over the wheel how does it drive the GEBE belt drive on the side of a wheel? Im not getting it?

 

[5-7HEAVEN]

The drive pulley slips onto that shaft. It is not centered on the shaft, but slides all the way on the inside, towards the bearing on the left side of the friction housing. Then the belt loops the drive pulley onto the GEBE drive ring on the wheel.

The engine on the friction drive is on the left side of the housing. Engine and friction roller turn counterclockwise onto the tire. The tire then spins clockwise AS YOU WATCH THE TIRE FROM THE RIGHT SIDE, and the bike moves forward. On chain and belt drives, the engine and wheel move in the same direction. If you leave the engine bolted on the left side of the housing, then the engine will drive your bicycle backwards.

So you drill engine mounting holes on the opposite side of the friction housing. When the engine mounts on the right side of the bike(like GEBE does), then the engine will drive the pulleys and rear wheel counterclockwise AS YOU WATCH THE TIRE FROM THE LEFT SIDE, and moves the bicycle forward.