Fighter upgrades and a derailleur install

[Jim_Kirk]

So, you have a Fighter or are thinking of buying one.

The Fighter comes with a single speed freewheel and two speed Schlumpf transmission but that may not be enough for you so how about a 7 speed freewheel and derailleur?  Possible to do if your Fighter comes with the derailleur hanger.  Still, even without the hanger, your fixie gearing options and greatly improved chainline are vastly improved with the 7 speed freewheel.

Maybe you want a better suspension?  Carry some cargo when you go to the store?  Want a cadence sensor for use with your Garmin(Photo 8)?  Add a kickstand?  More speed for street riding so you can add a 40T Surly stainless steel chainring and SRAM twist shifter?  Improve the brakes for improved modulation and better parts availability?

Just thought I'd document these changes on my bike to give you some ideas.  Take a look.

http://www.fareinc.com/Fighter-Kirk-077/All_Mods/

Ride report and comparison to my Bomber in a couple of weeks.  I've got about 100 miles on the Fighter so I'll need more.  My motor is the stock motor not the High Speed Crystalyte.  Top speed with no pedaling is about 35 mph just as the Stealth website says.

-Jim

[John_W]

Some fantastic additions there Jim. Great work on getting the
derailleur setup. How come you cant get the in-between gears ie
12,14,16? I have a derailleur ready to go for mine but I thought I
would see how I go with the Schlumpf first. Your cadence would be
super relaxed with the 11 / 40.

Those Magura MT-8's are the ducks guts. Such a nice light feel but
still with good modulation. I put the MT-2's on mine and just love
them.

Your obviously quite tall going by you seat post height. I find it a
bit of a compromise with the seat height between being able to touch
the ground and having good leg extension while pedalling. To get
around this, I have fitted a gravity dropper seat post. This is a
really good addition for us taller riders.

Nice choice on the suspension too. What is the eye to eye distance on
the rear shock? I ask because I know it can be difficult to find a
shock that suits the Fighter.

My light weight Fighter is nearly ready to go so I will start a
separate discussion on that soon. :)

[Jim_Kirk]

John,

     The available freewheels limit the teeth on the cluster. 11-28, 11-30, and 11-32 are the freewheel available:
http://www.methtek.com/category/accessories/
http://www.bikeparts.com/search_results.asp?ID=BPC376588
     
The teeth on all these freewheels are the same up to the largest (XX) which is either 28, 30, or 32.  They all are 11-13-15-18-21-24-XX.
     
This freewheel removal tool works on the Fighter motor with no modification:
http://www.methtek.com/2011/11/12/freewheel-tool-21/
      
Since the derailleur won't extend to the largest freewheel sprocket you can use any of the 3 freewheels most readily available.  I have several 11-30 from Methtek (Methods on ES) and two 11-28 from bikeparts.
http://www.methtek.com/
     
I would consider the gravity dropper seat but the rack is on the bike all the time and that kills anything but a fixed seatpost  I'm using Thomson seatposts in size 31.6 mm x 410 mm which I then cut as needed.
       http://bikethomson.com/seatposts/
    
I'm 6 feet 1 inch and I set the seat height so that I get good leg extension when pedaling and when I stop I can can put the balls of my feet on the ground and not have to hop off the seat.  For street riding this is OK but if I didn't carry the rack all the time I'd try the gravity dropper.    

     The eye to eye distance for the Fighter rear shock is 8.5 inches so the rear shock is a Fox DHX Air 5.0, 8.5 x 2.5.

     The Magura's are excellent brakes and the MT8 modulation is very good.  I've got the MT8's on both my Fighter and Bomber.  Nice thing is spare parts are readily available in the US and the best Magura supplier I have found is Scott Rainrainwater who I just email at scott at bellsouth dot net.  Pick up the Magura Part numbers from page 35 of this manual:
http://www.fareinc.com/65/MT8/Workshop_manual_EN_2011-06-17_Web.pdf
      Bleeding the Magura brakes is very critical to having them work properly and I highly recommend using the Magura Professional Bleed kit.  I've got a good discussion of MT8 bleeding here:
     http://www.support-english.magura.com/index.php?showtopic=4980

     My collection of Fighter information is here:
http://www.fareinc.com/Fighter-Kirk-077/   

    My collection of Bomber information is here:
http://www.fareinc.com/65/

-Jim

[Paul_G]

I came across this Jim that would be great for the Fighter as it has that type brake I think. No need to hit the re-gen button.

http://www.ebike-easy.com/products/Bicycle-Parts/BionX-Press-Switch-for-Magura-brakes.html 

Paul G

[Jim_Kirk]

I have removed the regen button from the Fighter for several reasons:

1. The Fighter axle nuts are known to loosen from regen and I found that to be the case when I tried it out.  On the Fighter I use a flat washer(on 1st) - internal tooth lockwasher - standard 1/2" x 20 tpi hex nut (not a nylon insert nut).  I torque the axle nuts to 25-28 ft lbs.  So far I have not seen any loosening of the Torque plates or axle nuts on the Fighter. 
   
2. On the Bomber I use the same combination except I am using a nylon insert hex nut, M14 x 1.5 mm, torqued to 32-35 ft lbs.  No loosening on the Bomber (no regen button either).
   
3. The MT8's are too nice a brake to not use all the time.
4. The roads are pretty flat where I ride so no use for regen
5. I grab brake levers to stop in an emergency by riding habit.  I did not want to confuse that habit by becoming accustomed to reaching/pushing the regen button.  Doing all I can to not confuse my aging mind in an emergency.
   

As another FYI point if you want to get some spare axle nuts for your bikes.  The Bomber motor, a Crystalyte 5403, has a M14 x 1.5 mm pitch axle thread.  The Fighter, OTOH, also a Crystalyte motor, has a 1/2" x 20 tpi axle thread. 

-Jim

[John_W]

Why would Crystalyte use a metric thread on one motor and an imperial
nut on a newer motor. Makes no sense.

Thanks for the info Jim. Very useful.

In relation to the regen, I think its still a great feature and
something I use all the time on my Bomber. I have the controller
programmed for the highest available regen and have never had an issue
with the nuts coming loose. I use a flat washer, spring washer, nyloc
nut and torque it up to 3 klicks of the elbow (means as tight as I
can :)) I also service a mates Fighter and use the same method of
motor fitment. Again no issues with the nuts loosening off due to
regen.

Even though i use the regen as much as possible, it still feels
natural to grab a handfull of brake when I really need too.

I must admit I do miss regen on my new Fighter. (No regen with free
wheeling geared motor) However the Magura MT-2's sure do feel good.
Not sure what the real difference is between MT-2's and MT-8's but
even if 8's are 10% better, they must be amazing.

On Apr 24, 10:13 am, Jim_Kirk <jim.kirk...@gmail.com> wrote:
> I have removed the regen button from the Fighter for several reasons:
>

>    1. The Fighter axle nuts are known to loosen from regen and I found that

>    to be the case when I tried it out.  On the Fighter I use a flat washer(on
>    1st) - internal tooth lockwasher - standard 1/2" x 20 tpi hex nut (not a
>    nylon insert nut).  I torque the axle nuts to 25-28 ft lbs.  So far I have
>    not seen any loosening of the Torque plates or axle nuts on the Fighter.

>    2. On the Bomber I use the same combination except I am using a nylon

>    insert hex nut, M14 x 1.5 mm, torqued to 32-35 ft lbs.  No loosening on the
>    Bomber (no regen button either).

>    3. The MT8's are too nice a brake to not use all the time.
>    4. The roads are pretty flat where I ride so no use for regen
>    5. I grab brake levers to stop in an emergency by riding habit.  I did

[Paul_G]

Has NE1 tried a Philidas nut to replace the nylon lock nut?

See demo video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--B4Vebz3wM

Paul G

[Jim_Kirk]

FYI,
"The metallic friction locking fastener usually has a distorted thread which provides a prevailing torque; an example of this category is the "Philidas" nut. Non-metallic friction locking devices have plastic inserts which provides a thread locking function; an example being the "Nyloc" nut."

http://www.boltscience.com/pages/vibloose.htm

Finding distorted thread hex nuts in M14 x 1.5 mm pitch might be difficult.  McMaster-Carr, my normal supply source in the USA, does not carry this size.  They do carry the distorted thread hex nuts in 1/2" x 20 tpi but the Crystalyte axle needs to be strong enough to take the thread loads put on by a distorted thread nut.  Any first try users please post back here after you use the nut for several on off cycles.
http://www.mcmaster.com/#distorted-thread-nuts/=h8slf6

Here's some good diagrams on your Crystalyte motors:
Bomber: http://www.fareinc.com/65/Documents/M5300RD.pdf
Fighter: http://www.fareinc.com/Fighter-Kirk-077/Documents/HS3540RD.pdf

On the plus side for both the Bomber and Fighter Crystalyte motors the freewheel hub thread size is the same:  1 3/8" (1.375") x 24 tpi.  Be sure your screw on freewheel matches this.

-Jim