A good candidate for mountain bike conversion?

[bluestrings]

Been trying to determine the best candidates for mountain bike conversion for a first build. Mongoose Malus and Dolomite come up on the list. Would be cool to have full suspension though. Then I just came across this:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/155316704386 Seems to have the right geometry along with steel frame, fat tires etc.... but with interesting suspension design which, looks to me would re-enforce strength and rigidity in the right areas to support a mid drive high power high torque motor. Any opinions?

 

[MWRider]

Bottom bracket may not accommodate a Mid Drive. You would have to get dimensions.

 

[Gionnirocket]

Going to be tough fitting a battery in the triangle as well. It'll have to be small and/or a custom build

 

[bluestrings]

Yep I thought about that. May be tough getting that spec from this source.

 

[bluestrings]

Going to be tough fitting a battery in the triangle as well. It'll have to be small and/or a custom build

I was thinking the other side of the tube. Seems to be enough space between that and the frnt tire.

 

[Gionnirocket]

Just remember that space will decrease with suspension movement and you'll probably want some kind of fender unless you want to fling mud at the battery.

 

[bluestrings]

Just remember that space will decrease with suspension movement and you'll probably want some kind of fender unless you want to fling mud at the battery.

Yikes good point. Forgot about the suspension movement.

 

[indianajo]

Low cost bikes post 2000 have some strange cost cutter parts. Wheels that were too small to keep the tires on the rim. A rear axle that broke under my enormous 180 lb (diamondback). I don't jump curbs or picnic tables. Crank arms of plastic that the pedals wallowed out the thread in 2000 miles, spokes and cables that stretched and needed adjusting all the time (pacific quantum). A rear axle without a locknut on the race that came unscrewed, dropped the balls & stranded me 4 miles from home (pacific quantum). I ride 30 miles out off the edge of cell phone coverage, so the undersized wheel (diamondback), broken axle (shimano 6 speed) and ball bearingless axle (shimano 7 speed) were really scary.
IMHO buy a used trek, specialized, giant, cannondale, or kona of real steel or aluminum. The 8 speed shimano rear axle on my current bike shown has been trouble free for 9000 miles.

 

[bluestrings]

Low cost bikes post 2000 have some strange cost cutter parts. Wheels that were too small to keep the tires on the rim. A rear axle that broke under my enormous 180 lb (diamondback). I don't jump curbs or picnic tables. Crank arms of plastic that the pedals wallowed out the thread in 2000 miles, spokes and cables that stretched and needed adjusting all the time (pacific quantum). A rear axle without a locknut on the race that came unscrewed, dropped the balls & stranded me 4 miles from home (pacific quantum). I ride 30 miles out off the edge of cell phone coverage, so the undersized wheel (diamondback), broken axle (shimano 6 speed) and ball bearingless axle (shimano 7 speed) were really scary.
IMHO buy a used trek, specialized, giant, cannondale, or kona of real steel or aluminum. The 8 speed shimano rear axle on my current bike shown has been trouble free for 9000 miles.

Wow that's a lot of trouble to deal with. My idea was to look for a cheap candidate for basic platform...a sound steel frame, fat or semi fat tire (at least 3"), dual suspension. All other components I'd expect to be upgraded ( shocks, forks probably, brakes, etc.). As long as the steel frame is sound, good welds, suspension design is good and functional. But hard to tell from the pics without inspecting up close. Some mechanical parts appear to possibly be cheesy i.e. the pivot arm that connects rear wheel triangle to shock a little thin? Anyway, there seems to be few options that check the boxes for steel frame, dual sus, fat or fatish tires, ... especially in older used bikes... but I don't new to the bike world.

 

[indianajo]

The average cheap bike sold for kids is meant to be ridden for three times x 1 miles, then put behind the garage to rust. So the problems of use don't matter. I have used cheap bikes 2000 miles a year, showing up what **** they were built of.
Cheap bikes sold in USA can't have breakable frames; one stab to the belly from the headstock can bankrupt a whole company. Fat tires & full suspension for $360 strike me as a very cheap bike. OTOH powering a bike that was sold unpowered violates the warranty and may exceed test limits of the frame welds.
You realize fat tires, 3.0" up, have 30 psi or lower llimits? Useful for powder snow or powder beach sand, but not for riding unpowered on pavement. I ride 2" tires. There now 2.4" tires that can take 55 psi. My bike frame is not wide enough allow those.

 

[yellowzebra]

I built one, pics attached.
Chris

 

[bluestrings]

Never seen a rear shock system like that. Leaves the triangle nice and open, but it's hard to tell how the shock and pivot arm would function from the pic.

 

[indianajo]

Other than a few fractured frames in 2020 that they took a year to replace under warrenty (after confiscating the bikes), Specialized is one of the A list brands. Trek, Giant, Kona, Bulls, are others.