Mongoose Dolomite cyclone 3000 mid drive build

[Hersbird]

Well I sold my hi-lo camper that was going to be the coolest streamliner camper ever because we have a new plain old box camper my wife loves and is never going to let me take anything else camping again anyway. I got $2200 and figured I would build a ebike I can use sometimes commuting (3-4 miles each way), sometimes out in the woods on mainly old logging roads. Yes I know the Forest Service's policy on ebikes and I really don't care. Much of my aera will be state land where I'm good or maybe a little grey, or BLM land where I am good as they allow full on motorcycles. The old roads in forest service boundaries I could probably get away with my Subaru being on if I could get over the ditch, but a pedal assist ebike is going to be fine the 1/2% of the time I ever see another soul in the areas I like to haunt. I'm not talking wilderness areas just old decommissioned roads which we have 1000's of miles of around here.

So I also don't have a single part yet but I did order hopefully what I need.

$179 for the Walmart Dolomite 26" bike, should be in any minute hopefully.
https://www.walmart.com/ip/26-Mongoo...Black/55456516

$1385 total from Luna cycle for a pile of stuff
$880 for a GA 60v 24.5ah triangle battery and 5 amp smart charger.
https://lunacycle.com/batteries/pack...onic-pf-or-ga/
$382 for the cyclone 3000 mid-drive with upgraded brake cutoffs and
pedal assist add on.
https://lunacycle.com/cyclone-mid-dr...planetary-kit/
$38 for a luna cycle cyclops 1000 lumen headlamp.
https://lunacycle.com/luna-cycle-cyclops-led-light/
$21 for 3 feet of KMC bike chain.
https://lunacycle.com/kmc-bike-chain-with-master-links/
$65 shipping


With Amazon I a couple little things on order
$25 Planet big bike front fender
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01CQ6PXB6/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
$35 Ibera rear rack
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00AA8GFSI/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

$1624.01 total so far

I'm waiting to see this stuff to look into other things, better brakes, better shifter, better grips, better main chain. I'm sure I will need some electrical connectors.

Down the road maybe new tires, front suspension fork or seat post suspension or both. Maybe the custom mounting bracket or the sinewave controller if the stock parts seem bad.

I also have my street motorcycle up for sale, a 75 Honda CB550F. It is just too nice and low mile for me to ride. I have decided I don't really like riding in the city anyway, and it's no good in the dirt. I had wanted to get a Yamaha TW200 fat tire motorcycle but they go over $3000 used around here so I figured I might like a ebike more. I also have 3 Honda 90's but only one motor I thought if this works I might try a cyclone 7500 watt setup with old leaf cells on one of those.

Sorry for the tease for now, I keep checking email but still nothing to actually take pictures of to show. I'll keep you posted.

[oldtamiyaphile]

Just my opinion but 3000w is going to destroy a Walmart bike in no time. It's also going to be scary to ride because the geometry is most likely rubbish. When I got my first proper bike it was absolutely amazing to ride and most of that was down to precision of the components and geometry. Cheap bikes deliberately have poor geometry to make you buy the more expensive models.

I had a $1500 Trek that only lasted ~12 months of commuting and that's just with pedal power.

Should be fun while it lasts though

[Hersbird]

Originally Posted by oldtamiyaphile

Just my opinion but 3000w is going to destroy a Walmart bike in no time. It's also going to be scary to ride because the geometry is most likely rubbish. When I got my first proper bike it was absolutely amazing to ride and most of that was down to precision of the components and geometry. Cheap bikes deliberately have poor geometry to make you buy the more expensive models.

I had a $1500 Trek that only lasted ~12 months of commuting and that's just with pedal power.

Should be fun while it lasts though

Technically it will be about 2400 watts but you don't have to use it all. I was more interested in the planetary gearing. I just want enough to help this old fat guy up hills and such, I'm not planning on using all of it's 45mph potential. If I can keep normal bike speeds up hill designed with cars in mind, max 7% grades and such, while also pedaling I will be happy. Oh, and with 50 pounds of gear or a trailer holding 100 pounds of animal LOL!

It's why I actually wanted a steel frame bike. I do have a Gary Fisher older mountain bike as well, also not top of the line but a nice bike in it's day. I could swap over to that but we'll see how the Dolomite holds up.

[Hersbird]

http://ecomodder.com/forum/member-he...29-192234.html
Finally came 2 days late but box was in good shape and packed well.

http://ecomodder.com/forum/member-he...29-194936.html
took me 1/2 hour or so to put together stock. I rode around the yard a bit, over some rocks and curbs and such. I like it. First thing I thought was the wheels/tires didn't seem as heavy as people say. Maybe they changed the design. I also get a total bike weight of about 43 pounds and everybody said it would be 48 pounds. It's definitely iron framed. Maybe they have updated the tires.

[Grant-53]

The low end components and wheel bearings might go out first.
See https://fat-bike.com/2016/02/readers...oose-dolomite/

[Ecky]

I had a Mac geared hub motor on a Schwinn folding bike (20" wheels), ~1000w, and it was terrifying to ride. My Raleigh hybrid ($100 on Craigslist) with a 500w geared motor and triangle frame bag remains my favorite to ride of any I've built. 500w is more than enough to accelerate me up hills, but I'm not all that heavy either.

[Hersbird]

Well I should put up more pics. I have the motor all mounted and have tried the battery but there is a problem. I need to go back and re-do the main battery connection because it is trippin off with anything more than the slightest throttle or any load on the wheel. Basically I can lift of the rear tire, give it 1/16 throttle and it will spin up but any load tips it all off and requires the battery to be unplugged and plugged to reset. It might be a problem with the controller or BMS but I don't trust the connection I made up. I'm going to switch to a crimp style instead of the soldier.
Good thing is it is much quieter than I expected and isn't that much different to pedal without the assist. That poor bottom bracket that came with the bike is completely replaced with a cartridge style in the kit.

[Hersbird]

Ugg, I cant figure it out. Tried a BMS reset by charging through the discharge line on the battery. Re-did the connections. Put a voltage tester inline with the battery to the motor and to me it seems the battery's BMS is cutting the power. The line reads a good 65 volts but then try the throttle with load and it trips down to 1.9 volts. Unplug and replug the battery and it's back to 65v coming from the battery. Tomorrow I'll try just running it off the charger, no battery at all and see what happens. Everyone seems to suspect the simple stock controller that came with the motor kit but I don't see how that's tripping the battery voltage in the main line directly from the battery. The batter is the most expensive thing and hardest to ship by far so I hope it's not that. I'm waiting to hear more from Luna cycle to see what they want to do as it's all brand new and under warranty.

I kind of wanted a better controller anyway but think the stock one should work before moving on.

[Hersbird]

So it has to be the controller. Running the 5 amp charger directly to the controller using no battery at all does the same thing but now will self re-set. The stock controller should be good for 40 amps continuous but it tripping somewhere below 5 amps. Now if I could get a response from Luna. I had wanted to buy an upgraded controller anyway, but they don't give you a break compared to the stock one so I figured I would have a stock working one as a backup if I bought a better one. They charge $50 for the basic stock one as a replacement but only knock $10 off if you upgrade when you order. Hopefully they will just send me a new stock one so I can get this thing on the road. I have a camping trip planned for the 20th-24th and 4000+ acres of state land open to this form of bike to use it on.

[Hersbird]

this is how it looks now, bags, new seat, shifter moved to left, throttle on right, battery and controller in triangle bag.
this is the controller I think is bad

Here is what it looks like size comparison to my CB550

the battery and charger