When I saw the conversion that peter.c had done on the zobop I was very smitten, and as I was going to do an full suspension bike next that made my mind up. So a few months down the line I am at stage that makes me feel it was the right thing to do – I love it . All the mechanics are done and I have run it for a month with the battery in my rucksack, the next stage would be to build a battery. The fitting of the BBS02 was easy (actually it was a bit disappointing that it involved no grinding, drilling, chiselling or hammering) it slots straight in. The gear change cable is sheathed all the way so there was nothing to get in the way of the motor. With the lekkie the chain lined up nicely in the middle of the cassette. I have uprated the discs to 203mm on the front and 180mm on the back and the stopping power is good, but I think it could be better, maybe need a twin pot.
I did try it at first without the gear change sensor – it most certainly needed one, the BBS02 comes with a dedicated connector for it, so that sits under the chainstay now.
The only area that caused me some problems was the gearing, going from a 32 chainring on a 1x11 to the 42 Lekkie really pushed the main gearing to high for my off road use, I was often on the lowest one (this is not a power issue its because on some of the tight windy bits of track you need to go slow!) but that has been solved with a 49T wolf tooth that slots straight on (you get an 18T to replace the 17 and 19 so that it maintains a good spread). With the lekkie bolted straight on there is 5mm of clearance from the chainstay, but this could be increased with a few washers.
Having the battery in a rucksack has not been the pain I though it would, the difference in weight is no more that me before and after Christmas!, and having the bike lighter (about 18KG) makes it a joy ride. So I am not 100% sure that I am going to mount it on the bike, also hosing the bike down is easier with no batter parts on it – see how it goes. I have got it up to 39.6mph but its not comfortable over 30mph (nor am I ) and that is not where it lives it life, my average speed on a 3 hour ride is nearly a third of that (all off road). The FS has exceed my expectations (I had not ridden one before) and whereas I had a suntour thudbuster on my Carrera this is an order of magnitude better (I know that is also because it is a Centre Drive so the weight is in the middle as well).
I have done enough miles to make some comparisons with the geared hub and to be fair the best conclusion is that any comparison is fairly meaningless (a geared hub hardtail Vs a Centre Drive Full Suspension) I actually love both bikes, the carrera setup with its fat knobblies and 35amp controller feels like it could plough fields, it just carves through any amount of mud, it goes where you point it and will give me 1500w when needed, whereas the zobop will zip round corners and has a very smooth ride that is not phased by ploughed fields and ruts. Next project maybe a road bike!
I did try it at first without the gear change sensor – it most certainly needed one, the BBS02 comes with a dedicated connector for it, so that sits under the chainstay now.
The only area that caused me some problems was the gearing, going from a 32 chainring on a 1x11 to the 42 Lekkie really pushed the main gearing to high for my off road use, I was often on the lowest one (this is not a power issue its because on some of the tight windy bits of track you need to go slow!) but that has been solved with a 49T wolf tooth that slots straight on (you get an 18T to replace the 17 and 19 so that it maintains a good spread). With the lekkie bolted straight on there is 5mm of clearance from the chainstay, but this could be increased with a few washers.
Having the battery in a rucksack has not been the pain I though it would, the difference in weight is no more that me before and after Christmas!, and having the bike lighter (about 18KG) makes it a joy ride. So I am not 100% sure that I am going to mount it on the bike, also hosing the bike down is easier with no batter parts on it – see how it goes. I have got it up to 39.6mph but its not comfortable over 30mph (nor am I ) and that is not where it lives it life, my average speed on a 3 hour ride is nearly a third of that (all off road). The FS has exceed my expectations (I had not ridden one before) and whereas I had a suntour thudbuster on my Carrera this is an order of magnitude better (I know that is also because it is a Centre Drive so the weight is in the middle as well).
I have done enough miles to make some comparisons with the geared hub and to be fair the best conclusion is that any comparison is fairly meaningless (a geared hub hardtail Vs a Centre Drive Full Suspension) I actually love both bikes, the carrera setup with its fat knobblies and 35amp controller feels like it could plough fields, it just carves through any amount of mud, it goes where you point it and will give me 1500w when needed, whereas the zobop will zip round corners and has a very smooth ride that is not phased by ploughed fields and ruts. Next project maybe a road bike!
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