Chain ring too close to frame

[jfny1978]

Well touching is a bit more than too close
Just keep in mind that you may still need spacers as the offset on the Bing ring is more than twice that of the stock chain ring.
I believe California eBike has them if need be in roughly 1mm thickness.
Good luck and post some pics once you get it rolling

edit.. Just looking at the Marin 5 pics... The stock ring looks as close as your photo.

View attachment 81948

I will definitely post when it's finished

The issue is that the frame curves inward from back to front so that the stock rings just fit and the larger 52t ring stretches out to past where it curves in. Haha I hope that makes sense.

 

[Gionnirocket]

I will definitely post when it's finished

The issue is that the frame curves inward from back to front so that the stock rings just fit and the larger 52t ring stretches out to past where it curves in. Haha I hope that makes sense.

I get it... and if it hits, it hits.
A lot of factors contribute to selecting a chainring... And I agree with previous statements by others too.. 52t is probably a bit high anyway and will be a little tough on the motor if you are not helping enough and staying on your gear selection. I've tried 44, 46 and 48t and I think I like my initial 46t as it fits my riding needs best.

 

[jfny1978]

What size, outer diameter tires do you have? And can you fit larger? The reason I ask is that if you can fit larger tires this will have the affect of a larger chainring.
The 42-T Bling Ring does not pull in the chain line as much as the 48. This is good because it is less likely to rub but you still may loose the lowest gear in the rear. That is okay also, because you will have plenty of power on

I get it... and if it hits, it hits.
A lot of factors contribute to selecting a chainring... And I agree with previous statements by others too.. 52t is probably a bit high anyway and will be a little tough on the motor if you are not helping enough and staying on your gear selection. I've tried 44, 46 and 48t and I think I like my initial 46t as it fits my riding needs best.

Cool. Thank you. I'm going to go with the 42t that California Ebikes recommended for the moment and I'll buy a 46 later if I think I'd like to try it. Hopefully I'm almost done spending money on this project. But it's fine. I've learned a ton.

 

[PedalUma]

Cool. Thank you. I'm going to go with the 42t that California Ebikes recommended for the moment and I'll buy a 46 later if I think I'd like to try it. Hopefully I'm almost done spending money on this project. But it's fine. I've learned a ton.

I learn most whenever I make a mistake.

 

[Gionnirocket]

Cool. Thank you. I'm going to go with the 42t that California Ebikes recommended for the moment and I'll buy a 46 later if I think I'd like to try it. Hopefully I'm almost done spending money on this project. But it's fine. I've learned a ton.

Just keep in mind that it's a personal experience / personal needs thing and you really won't know until you ride around a bit. 42t is as good a starting point as any and in the end you alone can know what works best for you.
Come to think of it... I kinda like the speed of the 48t in the summer and the extra torque of the 44t when I get lazy in the cold winter.

 

[jfny1978]

I learn most whenever I make a mistake.

Haha yeah. Me too. That's half the point of this project for me. I could have bought a Rad ebike a month ago for less than it's cost me to buy a used bike, an ebike kit, and tools but I wouldn't have learned anything.

 

[jfny1978]

Just keep in mind that it's a personal experience / personal needs thing and you really won't know until you ride around a bit. 42t is as good a starting point as any and in the end you alone can know what works best for you.
Come to think of it... I kinda like the speed of the 48t in the summer and the extra torque of the 44t when I get lazy in the cold winter.

Great point. Yeah I am fine with experimenting for a while. Should be fun.

 

[Gionnirocket]

Haha yeah. Me too. That's half the point of this project for me. I could have bought a Rad ebike a month ago for less than it's cost me to buy a used bike, an ebike kit, and tools but I wouldn't have learned anything.

My exact reason for going this route myself. I can afford any ebike I want but I like my ol' bike and this was an excellent project during covid. I've had just as much fun building and adapting as I've had riding.

 

[PedalUma]

My exact reason for going this route myself. I can afford any ebike I want but I like my ol' bike and this was an excellent project during covid. I've had just as much fun building and adapting as I've had riding.

I chalk it up to the cost of tuition. Now LBS are sending bikes to me because I have embraced and learned from so many screw ups.

 

[jfny1978]

I chalk it up to the cost of tuition. Now LBS are sending bikes to me because I have embraced and learned from so many screw ups.

Haha yeah, exactly. I've only ruined about $40 worth of parts from the bike during my conversion. Not horrible.

 

[jfny1978]

Update! The Lekkie 42T Bling Ring arrived in the mail, and it was almost as wide as the 52T from the kit, and had the same problem. It would have rubbed on the frame if I had installed it.

So, I went back to the idea of spacers, and installed the 52T ring with 3 really small washers on each hole where you screw the ring into the motor, creating enough space.

I am thrilled to say that the bike is now on the road! I road it around the small city I live in for over 10 miles, up and down hills. No major issues so far, but I had my tool bag in my basket just in case! I'll do that for a the first few rides for sure.

Since so many people helped me in various forum threads during this project, I'll make a new post with pics of the bike.

Thank you all so much!

 

[Gionnirocket]

Update! The Lekkie 42T Bling Ring arrived in the mail, and it was almost as wide as the 52T from the kit, and had the same problem. It would have rubbed on the frame if I had installed it.

So, I went back to the idea of spacers, and installed the 52T ring with 3 really small washers on each hole where you screw the ring into the motor, creating enough space.

I am thrilled to say that the bike is now on the road! I road it around the small city I live in for over 10 miles, up and down hills. No major issues so far, but I had my tool bag in my basket just in case! I'll do that for a the first few rides for sure.

Since so many people helped me in various forum threads during this project, I'll make a new post with pics of the bike.

Thank you all so much!

Coolio!
Not sure I'd stay with the spacers/washers currently in use.
My preference would be : Chainring Spacer or similar... and possibly longer screws.
Get yourself a USB programming cable... Very useful to tweak things to your style.

 

[jfny1978]

Coolio!
Not sure I'd stay with the spacers/washers currently in use.
My preference would be : Chainring Spacer or similar... and possibly longer screws.
Get yourself a USB programming cable... Very useful to tweak things to your style.

Thank you. I did get longer screws. I will think about the spacer. I am going to email California Ebike, where I got the Lekkie from, and see what they say.

 

[Gionnirocket]

Thank you. I did get longer screws. I will think about the spacer. I am going to email California Ebike, where I got the Lekkie from, and see what they say.

Looking at your pics in the other thread... A stock Bafang 46t (and possibly 48t) looks like it would go right on without spacers... Just another option for you and it will help you with torque and be a little gentler on the motor.
In all cases... Enjoy!

 

[creativepart]

I converted a Specialized hybrid bike - it's got a lot more MTB genes than Road bike jeans and this includes the bike's frame. On a MTB the lower chainstays are heftier and not as accepting of larger chain rings. Road bikes have spindling little chainstays and it's quite common to have 50T or even 52T big rings.

My Crosstrail came OEM with 2-front gears and the big ring is 44T. I felt it would be better suited to the hub motor if it were 48T or 50T so I started down that path of making that change.

What I found out was the crankset wouldn't accommodate anything bigger than 46T so I started working on changing the crankset to make a 50T chain ring possible. Luckily, a tech at FSA, the company that made my OEM crankset was familiar with my bike model and told me if I put anything larger than a 46T on that bike that it would be too close and possibly hitting the chainstays.

I ended up changing the Freewheel to give me a smaller high gear and the new 11T high gear negated the desire for a bigger chain ring.

 

[tomjasz]

Thank you. I did get longer screws. I will think about the spacer. I am going to email California Ebike, where I got the Lekkie from, and see what they say.

You'll need to sort your build. There's no way any reseller can sort the 100's if not more frame geometries. This is what it takes to retrofit a kit.

 

[tomjasz]

I am going to email California Ebike, where I got the Lekkie from, and see what they say.

So buy the motor from another vendor and expect CA eBike to solve the chainring fit issue?

 

[jfny1978]

So buy the motor from another vendor and expect CA eBike to solve the chainring fit issue?

Well, they sold me the 42T Lekkie for $85 and told me it would solve my problem and it didn't.

 

[tomjasz]

Well, they sold me the 42T Lekkie for $85 and told me it would solve my problem and it didn't.

You decided to build your own. That means YOU take responsibility for your decisions. No reseller can sort all the differing geometries. I've supported scores of 42T customers. Your dilemma has been solved with a 42T in hundreds of cases. Send the ring back. Jeannette and Doug are very good at accepting returns. You're out shipping costs and they don't ding customers with high initial shipping costs.

 

[jfny1978]

You decided to build your own. That means YOU take responsibility for your decisions. No reseller can sort all the differing geometries. I've supported scores of 42T customers. Your dilemma has been solved with a 42T in hundreds of cases. Send the ring back. Jeannette and Doug are very good at accepting returns. You're out shipping costs and they don't ding customers with high initial shipping costs.

Oh yeah. Without a doubt. I am 100 percent responsible. I might not even return the 42T. I never meant to say they needed to solve my problem. I just said I'd email and see what they say. I'll make a decision from there.

Thank you. Sorry if I was confusing.