# Full Suspension E-Fatbike



## Riverbend Bicycles (Feb 14, 2011)

This project has been going on since February, but is finally coming together. It is now motorized and very mobile. I've been happily surprised at how well it handles on wash boarded roads and large bumps. Here's a short video explaining the bike and some footage of my riding it. Please don't laugh at my skills or my vintage snowmobile helmet.

Full Suspension Electric Fatbike - YouTube

If someone can explain how to have the video in the thread itself, I would love to know.


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## coastkid71 (Oct 21, 2008)

click on share - embed- select size - copy and paste :thumbsup:


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## Riverbend Bicycles (Feb 14, 2011)

Thanks a lot coastkid71.


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## Drew Diller (Jan 4, 2010)

Finally, someone is thrashing the 170mm wide 3 speed. I want to know how that holds up.

30 Ah at 48 V - can I guess... 30 lbs in batteries? Good choice on using Ping, about as good customer service as you're going to get at this point. How many watts are you pulling at 15 and 20 mph?

We're going to have to trade notes on the BB concentric swing arm pivot. That's basically the idea I had for putting a belted Alfine in a suspended fat frame.

Kudos on sailing way past the legal definition of an e-bike 

Way jealous.


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## bdundee (Feb 4, 2008)

Great Job!!! Thanks for the video.


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## emp? (Sep 8, 2009)

that is awesome!


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## scottybinwv (Jun 29, 2010)

Impressive!


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## Dr Feelygood ! (Jun 16, 2006)

MOST impressive RBB :thumbsup:

Any chance of some photos as well please ?

Well done


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## Riverbend Bicycles (Feb 14, 2011)

Drew Diller said:


> Finally, someone is thrashing the 170mm wide 3 speed. I want to know how that holds up.
> 
> 30 Ah at 48 V - can I guess... 30 lbs in batteries? Good choice on using Ping, about as good customer service as you're going to get at this point. How many watts are you pulling at 15 and 20 mph?
> 
> ...


I'm glad you liked it. I'll let you know if I have any troubles with the hub. As far as the watts that I'm pulling. It varies a lot depending on the grade and throttle. The throttle is very sensitive. But on average, for 15 to 20 mph, I would say 800-900 watts. The BB concentric swing arm took a lot of time and machine work, but I'll help you out as much as I can. I basically took a bottom bracket shell, cut it into three pieces, welded thicker walled tubing into it, then machined it back down. This gave me the edge for the bearing to rest against. I think there's a picture on the Noleen fork thread that I have. As far as legalities, I'm not too worried. I live in a town of 5000 people. Most of which didn't know there was such a thing as an electric bicycle. And like I said in the video, I'll eventually enclose everything. The police would have to tear the bike apart to know how many watts I'm running. Hopefully they're not wise enough to look on the internet.


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## Riverbend Bicycles (Feb 14, 2011)

Dr Feelygood ! said:


> MOST impressive RBB :thumbsup:
> 
> Any chance of some photos as well please ?
> 
> Well done


There are some build photos in my other thread that dealt witht the fork. Here's a link to that thread.
http://forums.mtbr.com/fat-bikes/custom-noleen-fatbike-girder-fork-688798.html


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## Drew Diller (Jan 4, 2010)

Hey Riverbend, how's that 170mm SA hub holding up?


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## dirtydoug (Nov 19, 2006)

awesome! nice work.
Who needs a chairlift or snowmobile when you have this?


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## Glide the Clyde (Nov 12, 2009)

Have you hit any sweet jumps with it? 

Cool build.


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## ericpulvermacher (Nov 1, 2008)

cool.

I like the freewheeling crank, but was hopping to see you pedal while using the electric motor, just wondering what RPMs your feet would be going if supplementing the electric motor near it's peak efficiency.


If I were ever to put a motor in a bike it would either be a longtail for practicality and hauling stuff, or a fatty for some fun :thumbsup:


Also curious how the hub handles the strain.


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## Riverbend Bicycles (Feb 14, 2011)

Drew Diller said:


> Hey Riverbend, how's that 170mm SA hub holding up?


I haven't noticed any problems yet, but I've only put 80 miles on it so far. I just took it back down to our shop so I could start finishing it. I purchased some 20ga. aluminum to enclose the batteries and motor with. I just hope I can finish it before the snow is gone.


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## Jaredbe (Aug 6, 2007)

That is a lot of creativity and problem solving in one bike. Super impressive. Looks very fun. Please keep posting about it.


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## Riverbend Bicycles (Feb 14, 2011)

This project is finally finished. I did ride it quite a bit last fall and it seems to perform very well. Now that it's done I plan to use it a lot. Here's a short video and some pictures.


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## thierict (May 30, 2012)

Looks cool and I bet it took an incredible amount of work to accomplish. Is this going to be your commuting or offroad vehicle?


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## Dr Feelygood ! (Jun 16, 2006)

That looks AmAzInG !!!!!!

Fantastic :thumbsup:


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## Drew Diller (Jan 4, 2010)

I love the gills. That is one wild rig.


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## Lintott (Oct 14, 2006)

Pure class!


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## Drew Diller (Jan 4, 2010)

I'm sorry - the _louvers_. Didn't know they had a less childish name...


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## canardian (Jan 19, 2011)

Drew Diller said:


> I'm sorry - the _louvers_. Didn't know they had a less childish name...


I checked my Homer Simpson dictionary and found that louvers are called speed holes in the USA


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## Drew Diller (Jan 4, 2010)

canardian said:


> I checked my Homer Simpson dictionary and found that louvers are called speed holes in the USA


zee maek zee cah go fastaer


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## cjbrubaker (Apr 2, 2007)

Very very nice. I'm really impressed by the amount of detail and problem solving that went into this rig. Can't wait to hear some more about what it's like to ride and where you take it. 

Also - I'd strongly recommend putting a Larry up front. I pedaled one of the original pugsleys on endomorphs for years and it was fine, but changing to a Larry up front took away a lot of the steering weirdness that made the bike "interesting" / scary to ride on pavement. A larry / larry combo and larry / nate are both a lot of fun too.


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## bighit (Feb 13, 2004)

I am a big fan of this bike. I would also swap out that front tire.


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