My WW Custom Design / Build Diary

[mradel]

Hello All.

I'm excited to share with the forum my new design / build journey from start to finish. The timeline for a completed build is early August 2021. I will update this thread as I move through the different steps in the process. Design, component selection, finishing touches, and my first ride.

I wanted to introduce myself and share my background, as I know I will seek advice from all of you. I'm 50 and male, live in Minneapolis and bike year-round. I do not own a car and use biking as my main form of transportation. I ride around 25-30 miles per day, five of seven days a week. Of that riding time, 50% is asphalt roads, 40% is dirt trails, and 10% is muddy and wet. Love riding trails along the Mississippi and Minnesota Rivers.

My vision is for a hybrid TI fat-tire commuter, cruiser, and cargo with an emphasis on range and comfort for all terrains in my area.

Here is the frame porn. My new frame will be based off the Salsa Blackborow GX Eagle.

(For clarification – the second picture showing the TI frame is a Salsa copycat and not a WW frame. I found the image down the Google rabbit hole and then tracked it back to the Salsa.)

More to follow.
Michael

 

[onlineaddy]

Did you weld the motor mounting bracket to the stock Salsa frame?

 

[BillP]

Did you weld the motor mounting bracket to the stock Salsa frame?

That's not a Salsa frame... Looks more like a WW TI frame to me!

 

[mradel]

The frame is not built yet, still working on the final frame design with Pushkar, which will be based off the two pictures in the OP.

 

[onlineaddy]

Really neat project

 

[Deacon Blues]

That titanium frame is a work-of-art.

 

[reed scott]

Be following this with great interest. Fantastic project.

 

[Ayl]

IGH and a belt drive, or the drive train on the green bike pic?

 

[mradel]

Planned drive train is the Bafang Ultra with Archon X1 (1000w ver) with a gates belt and an IGH. When I started dreaming of my perfect build, Rohloff was my choice, but I'm now seriously considering the Kindernay.

Battery plan is a custom case that sits behind the seat-tube. The goal is a 52v 29ah battery using 21700 50e v2 cells.

Samsung 21700 50e v2 cells
https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0697/3395/files/INR21700-50E2_Cell_Specification.pdf?v=1590419404

 

[Ayl]

@mradel Will you be making this battery pack from scratch?

 

[AdilDesai]

This is exactly the bike I wanted when I stumbled across WW. Now I'm waiting on the Helios, but this bike looks super. I would definately want the IGH and belt though. And a frame integrated battery. Really nice!

 

[mradel]

@mradel Will you be making this battery pack from scratch?

Yes - Pushkar now has / will soon have the ability to 3d print cases and he has a US battery source for custom packs.

 

[mradel]

This is exactly the bike I wanted when I stumbled across WW. Now I'm waiting on the Helios, but this bike looks super. I would definately want the IGH and belt though. And a frame integrated battery. Really nice!

The Helios is a great looking bike, so nice and clean with integrated battery and internal cables.

 

[brake034]

Love the design of this "cargo max", have 3 suggestions;
1) consider adding a bolt on front cargo rack allowing for a more balanced cargo load and also consider the rear rack as bolt on instead of weld on. Bolt on allows more flexibility.
2) consider designing in a center stand for easy loading.
3) for easier production consider designing in steel instead of TI. Steel welding is far easier than TI and steel is more economical. I do understand TI is lighter but that's hardly an issue with this design? TI is also stronger which is a plus for this design.

 

[Deacon Blues]

Love the design of this "cargo max", have 3 suggestions;
1) consider adding a bolt on front cargo rack allowing for a more balanced cargo load and also consider the rear rack as bolt on instead of weld on. Bolt on allows more flexibility.
2) consider designing in a center stand for easy loading.
3) for easier production consider designing in steel instead of TI. Steel welding is far easier than TI and steel is more economical. I do understand TI is lighter but that's hardly an issue with this design? TI is also stronger which is a plus for this design.

.....but the titanium looks SO NICE!

 

[mradel]

Update 1

Today I'm working on the preliminary frame geometry for Pushkar, starting my build document, and compiling a component list. Taking all my thoughts and chicken scratch post-it notes and organizing them into a coherent plan.

More to follow.
Michael

 

[mradel]

Love the design of this "cargo max", have 3 suggestions;
1) consider adding a bolt on front cargo rack allowing for a more balanced cargo load and also consider the rear rack as bolt on instead of weld on. Bolt on allows more flexibility.
2) consider designing in a center stand for easy loading.
3) for easier production consider designing in steel instead of TI. Steel welding is far easier than TI and steel is more economical. I do understand TI is lighter but that's hardly an issue with this design? TI is also stronger which is a plus for this design.

Thank you. Great suggestions. #1 - I had already considered, #2 - I will use your suggestion, #3 - My heart belongs to titanium for this build.

 

[onlineaddy]

Looks like there’s plenty of room behind the seat tube of that copycat Salsa frame for one large-capacity battery.

 

[Zachdds]

I would like the 2 batteries vs 1 custom one. It would allow you to easily save 10 pounds of weight if going for a small trip, and it would be a lot easier to get a replacement for when the battery eventually goes out.

 

[Ebiker33]

I would like to see dual battery design.

Hikobike UTE

Ride The Glide Cargoroo

I would like to see dual battery design.

Hikobike UTE

Ride The Glide Cargoroo

The one girl is super excited and the other one(her sister) is not at all, look at that face.
Anyways it looks like you guys are doing the first ever prototype Watt Wagon cargo Ebike, and once it's built he can then offer this special build to anybody.
I hope the finished project is posted.


Here is another Ti Cargo bike