Exess HP-E180/Travalanche build

[greeno]

Been looking for a dual suspension bike for awhile and not having a lot of luck finding what I wanted. I wanted to have a throttle so that pretty much limited me to using a Bafang motor. Retrofitting a BBSHD to an existing dual suspension bike was to much of a compromise. Either the bottom bracket was in back of the downtube meaning the motor had to hang down like a cows udder just waiting to get taken out by a rock or high spot or the rear shock took up ALL the interior triangle area in which I wanted to place the battery. So I looked online at Frey, Biktrix, Andykirby and thought I was getting close.

So by chance I heard about a company in Germany that had the Exess HP-E180 and tried to contact them and got no response and then stumbled onto Wattwagon out in Boston who was carrying the same exact bike I was looking at. So I called and talked to Pushkar who said he would sell me just the frame and motor (upgraded controller) for a set price and I would be able to build it up myself. It took about 3 weeks for the bike to get here (San Diego) after placing order so I was able to preorder most of the components I would use in the build.

Rims: WTB Asym i35 tubeless ready 32h
Tires: Specialized Ground Control 27.5" x 3"rear
DT Swiss spokes and nipples
Hope Pro 4 rear hub 148mm x 12mm thruaxle with 180mm rotor
Hope Fatnso front hub 135mm x 15mm with 203mm rotor
Front Fork: Wren 150mm travel 135mm dropout
Rear Shock: Rockshox Super Deluxe Ultimate 230mm x 65mm ( don't forget your mounting hardware)
Bontrager Oneline 150mm dropper seatpost
Pedals: Spank
Bars: Spank 780mm
Seat: WTB Volt
Headset: Cane creek threadless
Grips: Deity
Shimano XT 11 spd derailer and shifter and cassette, chain
Wolftooth 38t chainring ( narrow/wide)
Raceface Atlas 40mm stem (to short need 90mm)
Bafang universal thumb throttle
Bafang 750C Color Display
Bafang Shift Sensor
Brakes Shimano SLX
Battery 34.5 ahr 52v

Build went pretty easy. Started off clamped up frame in bike stand to work on and installed motor assembly inside bracket. Installed my rear cadence sensor wiring, main cockpit harness, dropper post cable, rear brake hose, and tail for my battery connection. Existing Anderson Connectors (pos and neg) for connect to battery should be xt90 in my opinion, not much wire length to remove them and resolder a xt90 in place so I made the connection and secured together with a tie wrap. I then shrink wrapped all the extra wiring that wasn't needed ( front/rear lights, shift sensor and battery monitor). Make sure you pull all the wiring except the main pos and neg wires to the side where the plastic cover is and you can make your connections there after motor is bolted in otherwise they get jammed up underneath when trying to line up motor hardware, it all will fit just take your time.

Next up I mounted the headset. There are preexisting bearing supports inside the head tube so all I had to do was press on a crown race on the tapered fork steerer tube, drop on the bottom bearing and install in head tube. Dropped the top bearing on and the wedge piece to secure tube tightly inside bearing throw top cap, install a few 10mm spacers and mounted the stem and tightened to seat everything and take out any slack, align and tighten.

In the meantime I had built up the front and rear wheels so they were ready to go so I installed the front wheel. Mounted the pedals on the 170mm crankarms and moved forward. I didn't use the existing steel 44t chainring that comes with the motor and instead I used a Wolftooth 38t w/n chainring and ditched the chain guard. It won't mount on my chainring spider anyway without fabing up some kind of a spacer to clear it away from the smaller chainring. When ordering your motor if your doing the build yourself go with the shallow chainring spider 130BCD when ordering the chainline is good with an 11 spd and 3" tires.

Layed out the cockpit controls and mounted my bars and assembled everything similar to my previous hardtail bike. Only difference was I didn't have a dropper post on that bike so I mounted the lever on the left side inside bottom. Installed rear wheel and connected up brake lines and bled system, all good. Installed seat and adjusted seat all the way back and with the 50mm stem it was to tight for me (5'11"/ 200 lbs). Frame is a Medium maybe should of got a large, to late now. So I changed out the stem to a 6 degree rise and 90mm reach and removed 12mm of spacing and night and day difference, still little tight but if you can make it work smaller is better/lighter. Installed chain and adjusted shifter and derailer so they worked well together.

Last on the list was the battery. Here is where it gets fun.
Been building batterys for myself and some friends for a couple of years now.
Started off using a spot welder I got off of Amazon first and welds were fine on a single layer but would pop loose when stacking up so s*it canned that idea. Next I used the Vruzend connectors but they take up more room and the newer version ( longer battery sleeve) crack and split so exnay on those . Then awhile ago I found a spot welder from this elect tech guy in the UK that was reasonable and never looked back. Probably built a dozen packs with this welder and have NEVER had a weld pop loose so this is a keeper.
So I made a cardboard box in the shape that would fit inside the triangle and built up a 34.5 ahr battery. Been having good luck using Sanyo GA batteries 3.450MAH 10A rating. Purchase batteries from a US company here in Texas for a good price so I made my battery, installed my BMS and secured it up with padding and dropped it into a Moosetrek bag and it fits great and it takes me 30 seconds to remove when I really want to wash the bike down.

My previous bike was a Surly Wednesday with a BBSHD 36t chainring and Sturmy Archer 3 spd rear hub and with the 4" fat tires it would roll over anything. It weighs 74lbs with a 38ahr battery.
Pedal assist is better on the Ultra, but the throttle response is better on the BBSHD. Just picked up a programing cable to see if I can remedy that issue .All in all this bike is a different beast. My buddy has a Biktrix and the front head tube angle is WAY to slack for me, good for downhill and stability but a pain in tight single track which we do 90% of the time. Anyone got any questions I can answer hit me up.

 

[vincent]

Wow, really cool build and fantastic write up!

 

[reed scott]

Been looking for a dual suspension bike for awhile and not having a lot of luck finding what I wanted. I wanted to have a throttle so that pretty much limited me to using a Bafang motor. Retrofitting a BBSHD to an existing dual suspension bike was to much of a compromise. Either the bottom bracket was in back of the downtime meaning the motor had to hang down like a cows udder just waiting to get taken out by a rock or high spot or the rear shock took up ALL the interior triangle area in which I wanted to place the battery. So I looked online at Frey, Biktrix, Andykirby and thought I was getting close.

So by chance I heard about a company in Germany that had the Exess HP-E180 and tried to contact them and got no response and then stumbled onto Wattwagon out in Boston who was caring the same exact bike I was looking at. So I called and talked to Pushkar who said he would sell me just the frame and motor (upgraded controller) for a set price and I would be able to build it up myself. It took about 3 weeks for the bike to get here (San Diego) after placing order so I was able to preorder most of the components I would use in the build.

Rims: WTB Asym i35 tubeless ready 32h
Tires: Specialized Ground Control 27.5" x 3"
DT Swiss spokes and nipples
Hope Pro 4 rear hub 148mm x 12mm thruaxle with 180mm rotors
Hope Fatnso front hub 135mm x 15mm with 203mm rotors
Front Fork: Wren 150mm travel 135mm dropout
Rear Shock: Rockshox Super Deluxe Ultimate 230mm x 65mm ( don't forget your mounting hardware)
Bontrager Drop Line dropper post 150mm ( $60 c-list)
Pedals: Spank
Bars: Spank 780mm
Seat: WTB Volt
Headset: Cane creek treadless
Grips: Deity
Shimano XT 11 spd derailer and shifter and cassette, chain
Wolftooth 38t chainring ( narrow/wide)
Raceface Atlas 50mm stem ( to short need to change out to 90mm)
Bafang universal thumb throttle
Bafang 750C Color Display
Bafang Shift Sensor
Brakes Shimano SLX
Battery 34.5 ahr 52v

Build went pretty easy. Started off clamped up frame in bike stand to work on and installed motor assembly inside bracket. Installed my rear cadence sensor wiring, main cockpit harness, dropper post cable, rear brake hose, and tail for my battery connection. Existing Anderson Connectors (pos and neg) for connect to battery should be xt90 in my opinion, not much wire length to remove and resolder xt in place so I made the connection and secured together with a tie wrap. I then shrink wrapped all the extra wiring that wasn't needed ( front/rear lights, shift sensor and battery monitor). Make sure you pull all the wiring except the main pos and neg wires to the side where the plastic cover is and you can make your connections there after motor is bolted in otherwise they get jammed up underneath when trying to line up motor hardware, it all will fit just take your time.


Next up I mounted the headset. There are preexisting bearing supports inside the head tube so all I had to do was press on a crown race on the tapered fork steerer tube, drop on the bottom bearing and install in head tube. Dropped the top bearing on and the wedge piece to secure tube tightly inside bearing throw top cap, install a few 10mm spacers and mounted the stem and tightened to seat everything and take out any slack, align and tighten.

In the meantime I had built up the front and rear wheels so they were ready to go so I installed the front wheel. Mounted the pedals on the 170mm crankarms and moved forward. I didn't use the existing steel 44t chainring that comes with the motor and instead I used a Wolftooth 38t w/n chainring and ditched the chain guard. It won't mount on my chainring spider anyway without fabing up some kind of a spacer to clear it away from the smaller chainring. When ordering your motor if your doing the build yourself go with the shallow chainring spider 130BCD when ordering the chainline is good with an 11 spd and 3" tires.

Layed out the cockpit controls and mounted my bars and assembled everything similar to my previous hardtail bike. Only difference was I didn't have a dropper post on that bike so I mounted the lever on the left side inside bottom. Installed rear wheel and connected up brake lines and bled system, all good. Installed seat and adjusted seat all the way back and with the 50mm stem it was to tight for me (5'11"/ 200 lbs). Frame is a Medium maybe should of got a large, to late now. So I changed out the stem to a 6 degree rise and 90mm reach and removed 12mm of spacing and night and day difference, still little tight but if you can make it work smaller is better/lighter. Installed chain and adjusted shifter and derailer so they worked well together.

Last on the list was the battery. Here is where it gets fun.
Been building batterys for myself and some friends for a couple of years now.
Started off using a spot welder I got off of Amazon first and welds were fine on a single layer but would pop loose when stacking up so s*it canned that idea. Next I used the Vruzend connectors but they take up more room and the newer version ( longer battery sleeve) crack and split so exnay on those . Then awhile ago I found a spot welder from this elect tech guy in the UK that was reasonable and never looked back. Probably built a dozen packs with this welder and have NEVER had a weld pop loose so this is a keeper.
So I made a cardboard box in the shape that would fit inside the triangle and built up a 34.5 ahr battery. Been having good luck using Sanyo GA batteries 3.450MAH 10A rating. Purchase batteries from a US company here in Texas for a good price so I made my battery, installed my BMS and secured it up with padding and dropped it into a Moosetrek bag and it fits great and it takes me 30 seconds to remove when I really want to wash the bike down.

My previous bike was a Surly Wednesday with a BBSHD 36t chainring and Sturmy Archer 3 spd rear hub and with the 4" fat tires it would roll over anything. It weighs 74lbs with a 38ahr battery.
Pedal assist is better on the Ultra, but the throttle response is better on the BBSHD. Just picked up a programing cable to see if I can remedy that issue.All in all this bike is a different beast. My buddy has a Biktrix and the front head tube angle is WAY to slack for me, good for downhill and stability but a pain in tight single track which we do 90% of the time. Anyone got any questions I can answer hit me up.View attachment 68854View attachment 68855View attachment 68856View attachment 68857View attachment 68858View attachment 68859View attachment 68860View attachment 68861View attachment 68862

Yeah I got a question. How did you get your PHD in bikeology and with all them brains why aint you a neurosurgeon or somthin where you could make some real money?

 

[PowerflyLee formerly known as CheetahLee]

Good Lord, I bet that mutha hauls the bacon!! Righteous Ride Dude!!!!

 

[Ebiker33]

"Battery 34.5 ahr 52v", I guess you never have to peddle with that, throttle it all day, and your butt would give out before the battery.
I have seen dual 48V 25/ahr rated for 120 miles, so that would go at least 150 miles on one charge.
Context would be Boston to Waterbury taking at least 12 hours, very few riders are going to be able to outlast that battery.

 

[greeno]

In fact I was a thoracic cardiologist before I retired.... okay maybe not. But I was an Electrical Contractor so I kinda got the theory down pretty good. These bikes with the Ultra motor make you work 2x as hard since you can't "soft pedal" like you can on the BBSHD. Battery weighs in at 17lbs. As far as having had to peddle with that battery I ran out a couple of times back when I just had a shark pack on my old bike. Peddleing up hills with a 65lb bike and dead battery is no bueno.

 

[reed scott]

In fact I was a thoracic cardiologist before I retired.... okay maybe not. But I was an Electrical Contractor so I kinda got the theory down pretty good. These bikes with the Ultra motor make you work 2x as hard since you can't "soft pedal" like you can on the BBSHD. Battery weighs in at 17lbs. As far as having had to peddle with that battery I ran out a couple of times back when I just had a shark pack on my old bike. Peddleing up hills with a 65lb bike and dead battery is no bueno.

"Now here is a man that would know," I says to myself. What the HELL happened to Luna? Did the old hippy die or what? Really, we NEED to know ... if you can help ease our puzzled minds.

 

[dunksalot]

Man that looks like a lot of fun and I can't wait to run into you somewhere in San Diego, but at the same time all I can think of is the last line in Clint Eastwood's will in Gran Torino where it says, "the car is yours so long as you don't put a spoiler on it."

 

[dmark]

Beautiful.
I wish you had gotten the large frame, so I could see if you could make an even bigger battery.
HPC offers battery options like yours, and I hope the Watt Wagons folks see your build.

 

[greeno]

Quick little update on my opinion of this bike for anyone considering purchasing.

I was previously riding a hardtail, Surly Wednesday ( which is a great bike) with a BBSHD. 4" fat tires and running a SA internal 3 spd on the back and had zero complaints, still have it ( collecting dust unfortunatly ). But back to the topic.
I am 5'10" and 200lbs so not the smallest guy rollin around the track. Slamming the seat all the way back and using the spec'd out stem lenght ( WW and Exess ) of 40mm is to tight for my fit. Going with a 90mm stem streaches me out much better. Maybe if I got the "L" frame instead of the "M" one the fit might of been better, but water under the bridge.

Bike is actually 8 lbs LIGHTER than the Surly and you can feel it on technical sections which is nice. Pretty plush over the bumpy sections compared to the hardtail. Switching from a 3 spd to an 11 spd I wasn't quite sure about worrying about chainline angle but have not had any issues so far. I do find myself shifting a lot more to be in the proper gear cadence since there is no more clown pedaling.
Bike is a bit easier putting on bike rack to transport.
When I purchased frame and motor Pushkar threw in a pair of crankarms that were 170mm and since the throttle isn't as helpful as the old BBSHD I end up having to peddle over sections that are tight and have quite a few more pedal strikes which can be interesting.I have been reading about a set of cranks (Miranda 152mm ) that I might give a go. 18mm is a pretty big jump in reduction. Funny because the bottom bracket on my new bike is about an 1" higher from the ground than the old bike and never had any issues. and they were 175mm cranks.
The lack of throttle assist percentage is a definate bummer but will be fixed when Pushkar gets the cables back in stock.
Installed a dropper seatpost on this bike (150mm) should of gone with a 120mm but that is on me and is a nice feature which I use alot more than I thought I would.

I understand programming on the side of caution when upgrading for general customers but maybe since I was building up the bike from scratch ( and probably had a bit of experience ) I feel he could of mentioned that the programing was dialed back. Paying for an upgrade should be just that, but I digress.

BIke feels really tight which is nice to throw around in the corners. And also no soft pedaling will make me work harder which is I guess good. Have to be more precise in my lines because of the smaller diameter tires compared to the 4" which just bumbled through any critical sections.

Overall I really like this bike and hope to have it for awhile. I think this bike will make me a better rider skill wise, but at 62yo is that what I want or just go as fast as I can?
We'll see thanks for listening guys.

 

[onlineaddy]

@greeno I wanna be like you when I grow up.

 

[FlatSix911]

Been looking for a dual suspension bike for awhile and not having a lot of luck finding what I wanted. I wanted to have a throttle so that pretty much limited me to using a Bafang motor. Retrofitting a BBSHD to an existing dual suspension bike was to much of a compromise. Either the bottom bracket was in back of the downtime meaning the motor had to hang down like a cows udder just waiting to get taken out by a rock or high spot or the rear shock took up ALL the interior triangle area in which I wanted to place the battery. So I looked online at Frey, Biktrix, Andykirby and thought I was getting close.

So by chance I heard about a company in Germany that had the Exess HP-E180 and tried to contact them and got no response and then stumbled onto Wattwagon out in Boston who was carrying the same exact bike I was looking at. So I called and talked to Pushkar who said he would sell me just the frame and motor (upgraded controller) for a set price and I would be able to build it up myself. It took about 3 weeks for the bike to get here (San Diego) after placing order so I was able to preorder most of the components I would use in the build.

Rims: WTB Asym i35 tubeless ready 32h
Tires: Specialized Ground Control 27.5" x 3"
DT Swiss spokes and nipples
Hope Pro 4 rear hub 148mm x 12mm thruaxle with 180mm rotors
Hope Fatnso front hub 135mm x 15mm with 203mm rotors
Front Fork: Wren 150mm travel 135mm dropout
Rear Shock: Rockshox Super Deluxe Ultimate 230mm x 65mm ( don't forget your mounting hardware)
Bontrager Drop Line dropper post 150mm ( $60 c-list)
Pedals: Spank
Bars: Spank 780mm
Seat: WTB Volt
Headset: Cane creek threadless
Grips: Deity
Shimano XT 11 spd derailer and shifter and cassette, chain
Wolftooth 38t chainring ( narrow/wide)
Raceface Atlas 50mm stem ( to short need to change out to 90mm)
Bafang universal thumb throttle
Bafang 750C Color Display
Bafang Shift Sensor
Brakes Shimano SLX
Battery 34.5 ahr 52v

Build went pretty easy. Started off clamped up frame in bike stand to work on and installed motor assembly inside bracket. Installed my rear cadence sensor wiring, main cockpit harness, dropper post cable, rear brake hose, and tail for my battery connection. Existing Anderson Connectors (pos and neg) for connect to battery should be xt90 in my opinion, not much wire length to remove and resolder xt in place so I made the connection and secured together with a tie wrap. I then shrink wrapped all the extra wiring that wasn't needed ( front/rear lights, shift sensor and battery monitor). Make sure you pull all the wiring except the main pos and neg wires to the side where the plastic cover is and you can make your connections there after motor is bolted in otherwise they get jammed up underneath when trying to line up motor hardware, it all will fit just take your time.


Next up I mounted the headset. There are preexisting bearing supports inside the head tube so all I had to do was press on a crown race on the tapered fork steerer tube, drop on the bottom bearing and install in head tube. Dropped the top bearing on and the wedge piece to secure tube tightly inside bearing throw top cap, install a few 10mm spacers and mounted the stem and tightened to seat everything and take out any slack, align and tighten.

In the meantime I had built up the front and rear wheels so they were ready to go so I installed the front wheel. Mounted the pedals on the 170mm crankarms and moved forward. I didn't use the existing steel 44t chainring that comes with the motor and instead I used a Wolftooth 38t w/n chainring and ditched the chain guard. It won't mount on my chainring spider anyway without fabing up some kind of a spacer to clear it away from the smaller chainring. When ordering your motor if your doing the build yourself go with the shallow chainring spider 130BCD when ordering the chainline is good with an 11 spd and 3" tires.

Layed out the cockpit controls and mounted my bars and assembled everything similar to my previous hardtail bike. Only difference was I didn't have a dropper post on that bike so I mounted the lever on the left side inside bottom. Installed rear wheel and connected up brake lines and bled system, all good. Installed seat and adjusted seat all the way back and with the 50mm stem it was to tight for me (5'11"/ 200 lbs). Frame is a Medium maybe should of got a large, to late now. So I changed out the stem to a 6 degree rise and 90mm reach and removed 12mm of spacing and night and day difference, still little tight but if you can make it work smaller is better/lighter. Installed chain and adjusted shifter and derailer so they worked well together.

Last on the list was the battery. Here is where it gets fun.
Been building batterys for myself and some friends for a couple of years now.
Started off using a spot welder I got off of Amazon first and welds were fine on a single layer but would pop loose when stacking up so s*it canned that idea. Next I used the Vruzend connectors but they take up more room and the newer version ( longer battery sleeve) crack and split so exnay on those . Then awhile ago I found a spot welder from this elect tech guy in the UK that was reasonable and never looked back. Probably built a dozen packs with this welder and have NEVER had a weld pop loose so this is a keeper.
So I made a cardboard box in the shape that would fit inside the triangle and built up a 34.5 ahr battery. Been having good luck using Sanyo GA batteries 3.450MAH 10A rating. Purchase batteries from a US company here in Texas for a good price so I made my battery, installed my BMS and secured it up with padding and dropped it into a Moosetrek bag and it fits great and it takes me 30 seconds to remove when I really want to wash the bike down.

My previous bike was a Surly Wednesday with a BBSHD 36t chainring and Sturmy Archer 3 spd rear hub and with the 4" fat tires it would roll over anything. It weighs 74lbs with a 38ahr battery.
Pedal assist is better on the Ultra, but the throttle response is better on the BBSHD. Just picked up a programing cable to see if I can remedy that issue.All in all this bike is a different beast. My buddy has a Biktrix and the front head tube angle is WAY to slack for me, good for downhill and stability but a pain in tight single track which we do 90% of the time. Anyone got any questions I can answer hit me up.View attachment 68854View attachment 68855View attachment 68856View attachment 68857View attachment 68858View attachment 68859View attachment 68860View attachment 68861View attachment 68862

Greeno, that is a complete monster EBike build... well done!
Glad you found Puskar as you started with a great frame/motor.

 

[bogus]

WOW! Your battery looks awsome! more than 1700Wh with 10P give the cells good conditions - ca 3A/cell @ 1500W. Please tell me the reason you've decided to go for 38T chainring. This Shimano XT11 is 10-42? I have a stock chainring and i feel that when doing uphill it would be nice to have a higher cadency. Usually i'm using Eco1 up to Eco3 modes to sweat a little bit. I have stock Exess HP-E180 with Inno trace-controller. Maybe 38T is too much for me but i was thinking about 40T chainring. What is your opinion after you started using 38T in mountains? Thank you.

 

[greeno]

The 38t chainring in the front works great for me. I can do high 20's on the flats but 99% of the time its more single track running 10-20mph. Having a quicker cadence is more important to me when climbing so hence the 38t. I also went with the Shimano XT set-up in 11 spd. Running a 10-42 or more recently a 10-34 in the rear and that gives me all the gearing I need. I'm typically a guy that's not afraid to change things around just for the curiosity to see if it makes it better.

I did adjust my stock "Innotrace" programming to better suit my riding style. Typically ride in level 2 ( out of 5 ) 95% of the time unless I want to make it tough for the guys in back of me to follow then I go up to level 3 and let them chase.

Got rid of the 170mm crank arms and now use some 160's and rarely get any pedal strikes like I did with the original ones provided with the motor that Mr. P. gave me.

Built up a 29" front wheel to go with the 27.5" rear tire. It took a couple of rides to get use to but it has probably saved me from flying over the bars a few times on some drops so I am a believer.
Also replaced the 150mm dropper that I got for cheap with a better 120mm post that fits up better as far as height is concerned.

I have found using a 34ahr battery is great when I want to go on those Longer rides and doing my normal 20-25miles treks I still end up with 55-54v when Im done.
So I built up a another smaller 24ahr pack that I now use for my regular rides. I can still get about 5 miles per (1) volt drop on average so I can still get 30+ out of it without a sweat. Shaved 6lbs of battery weight going smaller so all is good.
Plus charging back up is quicker.

Haven't heard about many other Exess owners out there. After I got mine built up my buddy rode it and then immediately ordered his frame and motor that same afternoon but other than that your the first one I've heard about that has one. Did you get it from WW?

 

[bogus]

Thanks for your prompt and detailed answer I got mine straight from Jurgen, Germany. My Exess came with Shimano XT 11-42 but the chainring was Bafang stock. Same as in your case, form me the cadence during uphill is too slow - it's just an energy wasting IMHO. And 99.9% of time i'm riding with guys equipped with shimanos/bosch drives and you already know that feeling It's boring They're slow.
For the battery my goal is to do 90km in mountains.

doing my normal 20-25miles treks I still end up with 55-54v when Im done

I like that info! Since the beginning the only concern regarding this bike was the battery - 14S4P is too stressed when drawing 1500W out of it IMO. 5P is minimum, but yours 10P is brilliant. The second, smaller battery for quick rides is good a idea as well. I guess it is taking some minutes and tools to switchover between the batteries, heh? I'm trying to 'invent' some nice low-profile mount to be able to get rid of the battery within 3 seconds in case of emergency, i.e. smoke/fire (you never know...).

I haven't thought about shorter cranks. But i have hit the road while pedaling many times... My suspension is 180mm/180mm. Is it time to change them?
Regarding the tires - front 29"/2.8" - not to flip over and rear 27.5"/3.0" - for better grip, right?

In my close neighborhood there is 3 Exess HP-E180 bikes including mine.

 

[greeno]

I agree the battery supplied with bike is to small for the riding I do.
Having the center area available for my own battery build was the deciding factor for me on buying this frame and motor from WW. as well as having the battery connection area on the inside of the main triangle ( not on the bottom side ) as well was key. I ended up removing the original battery mount on the frame and tailing out a XT90 pigtail inside the frame above the motor to plug in directly inside the battery bags I use ( Moosetreks Trail/Mtn Med ) to keep it out of the way and protected. Takes maybe 15 seconds to remove bag when I want to wash the bike down good and all I do is just put on a rubber cap on the plug that goes to the motor and I'm good to go.
On longer extended trips to camp and ride I remove the battery to lower the weight on the bike rack as I have to use an extension when I have the camper on my truck. Usually take both battery's and alternate when riding. I also have a small 2k propane generator I run when out on my rides to charge back up the battery's so I don't have to listen to it in camp.

Spot on on the tires. Also it helps having a 29'r on the front when climbing up and over obstacles, it seems a little easier than my 27.5"one.
I'll post up a couple of pics here in a bit.

Actually just built up a 29'r for my buddy today that has the same frame. He went with an Ohlins downhill 200mm fork on the front and kept his 27.5" in the back as well.I'm just running a Wren 150mm fork in front and the spec'd out 230 x 65 Rockshox in the rear.

Here's the smaller battery build. Still got (10) jumpers across each cell group so I'm good to go.
Start off getting the actual space available for the pack and laying it out on my workbench. Actually use pennies to determine the final shape as their the same size as the 18650 cells I am using. Then I draw up a full-size template to figure my cell connections and then that I use that to cut out my nickel jumpers so I don't have any accidents with the actual batteries.

First side installing the jumpers there are no issues of shorting anything out as they are all unconnected on the backside. But once you flip it over you better be certain you know what the heck your doing. Also making sure ALL your batteries have the same voltage charge is good to do so you won't have any cell group trying to equalize to another set at a different value. Once all the jumpers are in place time to mount the BMS and hook up the separate cell sensing wires ( but don't plug into BMS until 100% complete. Hook up your motor and charger positive and negative wires and then do your BMS negative connection, then you can plug in your sensing plug. Check to make sure your voltage is the same on Battery pos and neg, and the motor ( XT90 ), and charger ( XT60 ) plugs and your good.

Then after securing all wiring with Kapton tape I wrap the sides with some contact paper and then wrap the whole thing with 3/16" foam poster board and then seal it up with gorilla tape to make it semi water-resistant.

This design I used was so that I could add another set of (14) batteries to the existing shape without removing any of the existing connections. So right now it's a 7 x 14 pack ( 24ahr ) and if it wasn't enough I could easily turn it into a 27.5ahr pack. But the 7 pack works great and gives me enough range 90% of the time and then it's just an easy change for the big guy.

Here's my bike as it sits now.

Nice to hear other guys are riding these bikes, not much info on them here in the states.

 

[bogus]

Extremely informative post. Thanks mate! But what i'd like to say: your camping equipment ROCKS!