Radrover gearing

[pxpaulx]

Over the weekend I did some work on my two fat bikes before it gets to around here! Swapped the forks again, swapped the better brakes onto the radrover (avid bb5s), and moved several tires around including putting the larger 4.5 inch juggernaut (this tire is a great price around $60 at aebike online) onto the rear of the radrover.

The last thing, and biggest change, I did was add my new dnp 11 to 32t freewheel. This replaced the 14 to 28t Shimano sprocket. That is a 21 percent gear reduction! The high gear is now noticeably harder to pedal, which was what I wanted. Anyone wanting a higher gear should consider this swap! It also added an easier low gear for climbing, a win-win.

One thing to note. The axle is quite long. In fact the park tool freewheel removal tool wouldn't go on! Thankfully the tool had a hole drilled in the center, for smaller axles I presume. I just suck it in a vice and drilled until it fit over the axle. If anyone wants to do this they can borrow my crudely drilled park tool, at cost of shipping on both ends (I would want it back!).

Anyway that was my bike prep weekend!

 

[scmike]

Over the weekend I did some work on my two fat bikes before it gets to around here! Swapped the forks again, swapped the better brakes onto the radrover (avid bb5s), and moved several tires around including putting the larger 4.5 inch juggernaut (this tire is a great price around $60 at aebike online) onto the rear of the radrover.

The last thing, and biggest change, I did was add my new dnp 11 to 32t freewheel. This replaced the 14 to 28t Shimano sprocket. That is a 21 percent gear reduction! The high gear is now noticeably harder to pedal, which was what I wanted. Anyone wanting a higher gear should consider this swap! It also added an easier low gear for climbing, a win-win.

One thing to note. The axle is quite long. In fact the park tool freewheel removal tool wouldn't go on! Thankfully the tool had a hole drilled in the center, for smaller axles I presume. I just suck it in a vice and drilled until it fit over the axle. If anyone wants to do this they can borrow my crudely drilled park tool, at cost of shipping on both ends (I would want it back!).

Anyway that was my bike prep weekend!

Paul, Great mods, I was thinking of changing my freewheel too... I did not think 11 was possible... Where did you get the 11-32 ? So, in high gear how fast are you going... is the motor even helping .. must be way above 25 mph.. What park tool did you drill out?? since I ride mostly on pavement, I just got some 3.5" VEE Tire Speedsters to try...I'm planning on going tubeless.. I've got the the Orange seal, gorilla tape and 949 alum schrader nipples.... Just need to make some spare time.. Any pics of your latest mods out there??

 

[pxpaulx]

Paul, Great mods, I was thinking of changing my freewheel too... I did not think 11 was possible... Where did you get the 11-32 ? So, in high gear how fast are you going... is the motor even helping .. must be way above 25 mph.. What park tool did you drill out?? since I ride mostly on pavement, I just got some 3.5" VEE Tire Speedsters to try...I'm planning on going tubeless.. I've got the the Orange seal, gorilla tape and 949 alum schrader nipples.... Just need to make some spare time.. Any pics of your latest mods out there??

dnp is the only company that currently makes freewheels that go to 11t. you can find them on ebay just search dnp 7 speed 11-32t, they also have 28t and 30t versions. the only reason i knew of them is because the motor/battery seller em3ev.com sells them and i had been considering building my own electric fat before the radrover came along.

the freewheel removal tool is the park tool fr 1.2 it is labeled for both shimano and dnp freewheels. if you check it out you'll see it has an open center, that is the part i had to hollow out more to get it over the axle. i only had a chance to do a couple short trips to check my work last weekend, i'll make sure to get a ride report in this weekend!

 

[scmike]

Thanks Paul, Found them... looking forward to your ride report... That 32t gear seems like it will be pretty low... and an 8t jump from the next gear.. it must work or they wouldn't make them... I did notice the current 28 t low gear wasn't low enough for my needs... maybe 30t is enough??

 

[Scottv]

Hi everyone ebikes.ca makes a Custom Freewheel Removal Tool made for removing freewheels off of eBikes.

 

[samdavis]

Over the weekend I did some work on my two fat bikes before it gets to around here! Swapped the forks again, swapped the better brakes onto the radrover (avid bb5s), and moved several tires around including putting the larger 4.5 inch juggernaut (this tire is a great price around $60 at aebike online) onto the rear of the radrover.

The last thing, and biggest change, I did was add my new dnp 11 to 32t freewheel. This replaced the 14 to 28t Shimano sprocket. That is a 21 percent gear reduction! The high gear is now noticeably harder to pedal, which was what I wanted. Anyone wanting a higher gear should consider this swap! It also added an easier low gear for climbing, a win-win.

One thing to note. The axle is quite long. In fact the park tool freewheel removal tool wouldn't go on! Thankfully the tool had a hole drilled in the center, for smaller axles I presume. I just suck it in a vice and drilled until it fit over the axle. If anyone wants to do this they can borrow my crudely drilled park tool, at cost of shipping on both ends (I would want it back!).

Anyway that was my bike prep weekend!

What size drill bit did you use on the freewheel tool?

 

[RoyL]

dnp is the only company that currently makes freewheels that go to 11t. you can find them on ebay just search dnp 7 speed 11-32t, they also have 28t and 30t versions. the only reason i knew of them is because the motor/battery seller em3ev.com sells them and i had been considering building my own electric fat before the radrover came along.

I managed to get my hands on the last few of these screw-on freewheels --> https://www.sheldonbrown.com/mega7/ ie the Shimano 11T - 34T items. These cover all bases on an Ebike, speed and climbing all in one and better quality than the chinese dnp.

 

[samdavis]

What size drill bit did you use on the freewheel tool?

Half inch

 

[pxpaulx]

I managed to get my hands on the last few of these screw-on freewheels --> https://www.sheldonbrown.com/mega7/ ie the Shimano 11T - 34T items. These cover all bases on an Ebike, speed and climbing all in one and better quality than the chinese dnp.

So that's where they all went huh?

I do wish Shimano still made them! Freewheel is kinda the low end and much less used gearing these days, would be nice to see the motor manufacturers make the switch over to cassette type gear mounts to give us more options.

 

[samdavis]

Thanks pxpaulx for sharing your mods, this was exactly what I was looking for. I installed the new freewheel and now can feel resistance on pedal assist level 5. I'm going a little faster and saving battery, while burning a couple more calories.

Scmike, I have been using the speedsters for about two months and definitely glad I got them. First and foremost I have not gotten a flat since I switched to them. I was getting a flat almost every week with the juggernauts. Definitely feel less rolling resistance and the speedometer had me going 1 mph faster after the switch. I don't know if that is because of the size change or what, but that's the reading I get.

 

[pxpaulx]

took a few pics this morning. went out for a fun half hour ride including a little off roading! the new gearing is great, i defnitely find it easier to pedal at higher speed now. i also turned the motor off and really appreciate the 32t low gear ring, in the event of a dead battery it will make the ride home easier. took a few pics of my bike as well, here ya go!

 

[Nirmala]

Looks nice! By the way, what size is your front chainring?

 

[pxpaulx]

Just the stock one. I think it is 60t but you'd have to check the radrover site to double check.

 

[Nirmala]

Wow, 60 teeth would be very high gearing. That is what it says on the Radrover website, but the picture does not actually look like that big a chainring. My Ui5 has a 48 tooth front chainring.

 

[pxpaulx]

That is my thought as well, never taken the time to sit and count them!

 

[scmike]

That is my thought as well, never taken the time to sit and count them!

Just counted... 42 I thought it was more too.. EBR listed 60 in it's Summary..

 

[Nirmala]

42 sounds more appropriate with the 14-28 rear cogs. That would make the new 11 tooth high gear even more helpful, as 42 is not that big.

 

[Christopher85083]

What is a comfortable cruising speed with the new gearing?

I generally stay around 22 mph with the stock sprockets, but would be interested in adding a few mph if possible. My hesitation is that the motor would contribute so little that I would be pedaling slower and with more effort, and going the same speed as before.

 

[pxpaulx]

What is a comfortable cruising speed with the new gearing?

I generally stay around 22 mph with the stock sprockets, but would be interested in adding a few mph if possible. My hesitation is that the motor would contribute so little that I would be pedaling slower and with more effort, and going the same speed as before.

I'm a bigger guy, so was going around 18mph in top gear and pedaling comfortably (not pushing it) - with the new gear I'm pedaling significantly harder, and even with less RPM I'm pushing it to 21mph. Also keep in mind I've got the 4.5 inch tire on my bike as well (doesn't sound like much difference, but standing it an a 4 inch tire next to one another adds at least an inch to the diameter to the eye). I need to throw some batteries in my gps and see what speed I'm actually hitting.

 

[scmike]

I'm a bigger guy, so was going around 18mph in top gear and pedaling comfortably (not pushing it) - with the new gear I'm pedaling significantly harder, and even with less RPM I'm pushing it to 21mph. Also keep in mind I've got the 4.5 inch tire on my bike as well (doesn't sound like much difference, but standing it an a 4 inch tire next to one another adds at least an inch to the diameter to the eye). I need to throw some batteries in my gps and see what speed I'm actually hitting.

My RR didn't come with a detailed instruction manual for the display... I'm pretty sure there is a way to program tire diameter and maybe increase the mph limit?? Pxpaul, if you have not corrected the speedo... your mph will be reading slightly low.. With Speedster tires I think it will read high.. With the stock tires (28" diameter?) , checking my stock speedo against my GPS showed the speedo to be pretty close to right on.. Maybe there is a tutorial video on our RR displays or an online manual ?? With stock gearing in high gear, 14t, I can't pedal fast enough to stay above 20mph... on flat ground that is... I think the 11 maybe be just the ticket.. I'm just not sure I need a 30 or 32t low gear... If I can jump off and push the bike faster than I can pedal then the gear is too low... imho...