Upgrading suspension on Cyclamatic

[Backin5]

Hi, so I've gone from not knowing about the existence of ebikes in January this year, to owning 3 and tinkering with them.

I purchased a brand new BH Neo Xtrem, love it to bits, but have just changed the front fork for a Reba RL, which was an easy job. It's currently in with the supplier having the rear wheel bearing done after just 400km.

My wife and son run Cyclamatic power plus cheapies, hers brand new, his second hand, and an early one at that. I've done the shunt mod on both. Apart from comfy saddles, they are both stock.

We like to ride trails, and hardly do any on road stuff. The Cyclamatics are well out of their depth, handling wise they are total bone shakers, have poor brakes and rubbish grip.

Can anybody give me any advice on what I could upgrade on these Cyclamatics to improve things a little please? I'm thinking of putting different forks on them - Rockshox XC28 are cheap enough - but I've looked at it several ways and once you start replacing one thing, it snowballs to brakes, etc. I'm pretty sure the bikes would benefit from better, more appropriate tyres, but what would represent a good, value for money choice?

Without wanting to look financially tight, I do not really want to spend hundreds of pounds on my families bikes as they are just for occasional use, and I've more pressing things to spend the cash on. However, they both love riding them, and owning them has opened up some epic family rides for us. Can some helpful sole give me any advice on what to do here please?

Thanks in advance, Jayson

 

[Deleted member 4366]

I'd start with brakes. Hydraulic brakes makes such a difference. I've got a really cheap Tesco bike that I just upgraded with these. £60 well spent.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2012-Avid-Elixir-1-Hydraulic-Disc-Brake-set-HS1-rotors-160mm-White-Black-/191048043736?pt=UK_sportsleisure_cycling_bikeparts_SR&var=&hash=item2c7b59ccd8

Forks is a tricky one. The Cyclamatic ones clatter over bumps, which spoils the ride. The cheap Topgun ones on the Woosh Sirocco that I tested a while ago were excellent on trails, so you don't have to spend a lot;however, I don't know where you get them from.

Rockshox Dart 3s will transform it. You could get them new for £69 a couple of years ago, but it's difficult to find them used now at that price. Keep checking Ebay. They do turn up cheap from time to time:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/rockshox-dart-3-/321364877730?pt=UK_sportsleisure_cycling_bikeparts_SR&hash=item4ad2d6e1a2

You need to check your steerer tub length. The steerer on your new forls should be at least 30mm more than your frame steerer tube. Those ones above have 220mm, which should be long enough. You can always cut it down if it's too long.

A Suntour NCX seat-pin is another useful addition for comfort as long as you don't take your battery out too often, though you can always get a quick-release clamp for it.

 

[Backin5]

That's cracking, I'll hunt down some bits, thank you.

My main worry with upgrading the brakes is how to actually get them on the bike. The front hub doesn't look like it'll take the disc bolts, and the rear brake on these Cyclamatics is some kind of weird 'servo' arrangement. Re-patching in the brake lever mounted cutoffs is also a concern for me.

I'm really looking forwards to getting stuck in with these mods, but I'm concerned about dropping £100 + on each Cyclamatic and finding I can't get the bits to fit? Is it a suck it and see?

 

[Deleted member 4366]

Of course, I'm not thinking straight.I was thinking of my old Sunlova rather than the Cyclamatic You have to change the forks and the front wheel to ge a disc brake on the front.You can find used wheels on. Leave the back brake as it is. The front one's the one that does all the stopping.

 

[Backin5]

Is it possible just to change the front hub for a disc ready one? Probably easier to swap out the whole wheel though, I imagine?

The other grey area for me is the motor cut off switches built into the brake levers - I'm not sure which after market set ups cater for this?

I do have the old Suntour front fork off my Neo I could try on the Mrs bike - that's white as well, colour coded! Crap fork, but free! Recycling... I'll have a look and see if I can find a front hydraulic set up that would work.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

You only need a brake cut-off on the rear brake, so feel free to chuck the present switched front lever.

 

[Backin5]

Well, so far so good ,and many thanks for the advice:




This is what I've managed to cobble together, and I think it looks OK for a cheapy. I put the Suntour off my BH Neo on there, with a £20 mechanical front disc brake from Planet X in Sheffield. Also a pair of Asda's finest slime inner tubes inside some LBS supplied Conti Vapor tyres do well to disguise the bikes origins. Finished off with a Lidl gel saddle and some LED lights. Oh - almost forgot I also switched out the peddles, it's surprising how much difference a set of £7.99 peddles can make to appearances. I suppose as with many things, it's attention to detail that counts.

So that's the Mrs machine sorted, although I think I may have over soldered the shunt - we only got 18 miles out of a fully charged battery on our Sunday ride. My son's Cyclamatic managed about 28 miles before conking out, even though its 6 years older! His must have had less solder, and he is on the standard Chinese Kenda tyres.

So far, I'm loving tweaking these things, I have no idea where this will end up.