Just found your channel due to a similar build I'm researching to do on my Schwinn Boundary, but first a comment as to your video production. I found it to be extremely unique in the ebike conversion/review space. Your approach to evaluating and "theory crafting" the project as well as walking us through the progression with pictures where appropriate and including specific parts list and price was amazing and demonstrate how other content creators can improve. I would love to see more videos on how your ebike journey/builds have progressed. I will be doing my second ebike build. My first was a Mongoose fat tire bike with a 1500w direct drive hub and 48v 20ah battery. More than I needed, but I passed onto my wife. This Schwinn build, I'm leaning toward a Grin Tech geared hub motor with regenerative braking and 72v battery to deal with these big hills in East Tennessee. Geared hub seems to be the best for my situation, especially since I don't have to deal with the drivetrain components.
Thank you for the critique. I have been contemplating directions to take the channel, so the feedback is helpful... and I have done half a dozen conversions since this video. I am now trying to focus on full-squish bikes that make good candidates....so I do need to document some of those. You have some good components lined up. I have been interested in the geared hubs also and i am a fan of Mongoose as well...I have 2 in my stable right now, one has been converted and the other is still waiting.
Nice video, but I'm glad it wasn't out when I did my Bafang conversion on my 4 year old Boundary. I had NONE of the problems you describe and replaced NONE of the components on my bike other than the rear derailer CABLE that I messed up installing the shift sensor. People need to keep in mind, once Bafang kit is installed, you don't need to shift anymore! Keep it on smallest rear sprocket and GO!
I’m glad you think it’s a good upgrade model I bought a boundary for work a while ago and now my job is double the distance, 6 miles so I wanted to upgrade it and I didn’t want to do the research.
Great coincidence that I found this video and appreciate your work describing your experiences. Thinking of moving my BBSO2B setup from my ancient Trek 830 to the Schwinn Boundary and in addition to what you've pointed out wonder about your thoughts on the quality of the wheels, cassette gears and rear derailleur...? I have converted my present bike to Avid mechanical disk brakes and they work well, wondering also about the quality of the mechanical brakes that come with the Boundary..? Thanks again for the great video and account of your experiences with the conversion!
Thanks for this video! I'm on the fence about my "donor" bike. It's an old Schwinn frontier that is in good shape (i bought it new in the early 2000's) but is a 26'er and is just small and nervous handling. The Boundary is in stock at a local Walmart in 29" so it's an option too.
I have done 3 conversions since this bike. All of those have been 26s. It is true that you may get more twitchyness from them than a 29...but that might be due to frame angles than tire size. On my 26in conversions I often upgrade the forks to longer travel, and greater offset and larger tires. This "virtually" changes the head angle and gives a different feel.
My impressions on the bike remain the same...awesome commuter with confidence inspiring geometry. Frame held up well. I have since moved on to several other ebike builds that I need to do videos on, more full suspension type though.
I hate to tell you this There's another set of mounting holes holes on the battery 3 if you remove the 3 philips headscrefill up said screws the cover comes off and reveals the other mounting holes I actually mounted my battery upside down It actually fits better in the frame and looks better
I think i saw those when i had to disassemble the base because the factory installed the aluminum channel upside down, but although the holes were in the plastic, i do not remember seeing the ability to mount it reliably from that location...in other words, it looked like there were additional mounting holes that would be good to "supplement" the install, but not to replace the intended install. I could be wrong though...post some pics of the mount points you are talking about, because if they are what i think they would not make goo candidate mounts on their own.
Pretty cool video! I used a bbshd on my build, Those nut inserts can be crimped by hand with a high tensile nut and bolt with spanners if you only have a couple to do. Nice attention to detail i enjoyed watching it 👍
Great tip! ...No need to spend $50, thanks for adding that. I am rebuilding bikes all the time and have wanted a tool before, so I decided to bite the bullet. I saw less expensive tools on amazon too, but HF is right down the street. I am currently rebuilding a 1998 Diamondback and had to install more riv-nuts, so i am glad i got it.
@@affordabletechsolutions6917 cool that's the go! I just subscribed for the methodical detail you go into🤗👍 when i bought my donor bike i was looking for similar stuff.. tapered headset, no cables around that bottom bracket, hydraulic Shimano brakes (i scored 180mm front & back) standard, 120mm travel air forks with special coating, battery space in the frame, i bought a 27.5 inch 2017 Fuji Beartooth.. very similar to what you have but had all the stuff as standard.. i payed $400 for it (it was an unwanted gift put in storage from new, i scored big time). I put a Lekkie 36 tooth front sprocket on my setup for mountain riding on trails and the offset is off but it works great no problems at all aside from wheeling it backwards in a hight gear it jumps off but that's just something to be aware of (it has a Shimano XT derailleur so that could help a bit for keeping on going forwards) i can see your a leader not a follower, great content😄
@@rossg9363 Fuji bikes are great. I have had half a dozen Fuji over the years and no complaints, Some I really regret selling, but with bikes as a hobby...The Beartooth is very similar to my Mongoose Ruddy...which is about to get an upgrade...:D You are going to love that bike. I have also converted my Mongoose Salvo Pro full-squish, which i need to do a video on.
@@affordabletechsolutions6917yeah it's very similar to that ruddy bike looking at the data spec's on it! Nice! Great chatting mate i am subscribed with the bell on🤙 👍
Great video, I am also looking for a MTB that's the most suitable for the same conversion. I'm willing to spend a little more for a bike that already has a good front shock, hydro brakes ect, but most of these bikes come with a crazy small chain ring, like 32t. My main concern is being able to put a bigger chain ring on without hitting the chain stay, which on most of these bikes flare out really wide right behind the crank. I'd have to shim 46t chain ring out really far to work, but then I'm sure my chain line would be way off. This has been my main biggest concern since thinking about doing this. I wish I could find a frame where the chain stays don't flair out so soon to use a bigger chain ring. No way could I stick with a stock 32t. I'd be spinning my legs off my body trying to reach 15mph in the highest gear. Would getting a frame with a 68mm BB help in any way with larger chainrings and chain line?
I have done half a dozen conversions since this video, and chain line issues are always the biggest concern. The biggest factor in the chainstay clearance is what size tire/wheel the bike was intended to accommodate. There will be greater clearance issues on a 29er with 2.4 wide tires than there would be on a bike designed for 27 x 2.1. For example, I have now converted several classic DiamondBack V-Links from back in the day, which provides ample flexibility in chainring selection. Of course, back then, a 2.1 tire was considered fairly wide. I still end up putting wider tires on them, because I like the aesthetic, but that just means I have less internal tire clearance, which is fine IMO, for road riding. I am not building bikes for hard core mountain use. On my builds, I have found that a 42t chainring is a comfortable blend of speed/power/clearance....but, i never select a bike frame for conversion before inspecting/calculating that clearance.
@@affordabletechsolutions6917 yes, but it's hard to inspect that clearance looking at bikes online. I'll look at videos and pause the video if there happens to be good view of the chainring clearance to the frame, but it's still hard to see. From what I can tell, most of these MTB's don't have much clearance. Oh well, I'll have to keep on searching. I just don't want to buy a bike to find I can't use all the gears because of chain line issues. I'll start going to bike shops and look at some bikes in person. Thanks for your reply. 👍
@@18andlikeit ...another consideration is how many speeds the bike in question has/will have. All things being equal, if a bike has a 135mm rear axle (just for example), Chain line will be far more difficult to get right on a 10/11/12 speed bike than it would on a 7 or 8 speed. I have never put anything more than 10 speed on an e-bike, and honestly, when it comes to e-bikes, i think 10 is unnecessary. I am able to go just as fast on the 7-speed boundary as on my 10 speed Diamondback, and when i am road-riding i just end up shifting a lot on the 10 speeds....so it all depends on what you are hoping to achieve from your bike, but I just didnt know if you had thought of that part....IMO I would not always consider more gears as an asset
@@affordabletechsolutions6917 yes I'm thinking 9 speeds would be good. But then it all goes back to the chain ring again. If I can fit a 46 or 48t chain ring on without clearance issues, I'd like to have at least a 9 speed for the lower gearing to compensate for the bigger chain ring. If I cant fit a chainring any bigger than 44t, I'm sure I would be fine with a 7 or 8 speed, I wouldn't need the bigger cogs in the back for lower gearing with a smaller chainring. As I've said before, most of these 1X bikes come with a very small chainring up front, which makes sense for hill climbing with human power only. But with a 750w or 1000w mid drive, gearing this low isn't needed with all that motor power and I'd like to get a better top end speed without ghost pedaling to soon. My current factory made hub drive e-bike has a 46t chainring with the highest gear in back being a 11t. I wouldn't want gearing any lower than that on a new DIY bike build. I've been thinking of putting a 48t on it because after 25 mph or so I'm spinning way to fast to be comfortable. I guess I'll never really know how big a chainring I can use until I actually buy a bike and see how everything pans out after the motor is installed and hope for the best.
Thank you for this video! This video inspired me to purchase the Schwinn Boundary and I plan to clone your build using the BBS02B...May I ask if you had any other motor install issues besides the chainring needing to be shimmed?? I specifically am wondering if the BBS02B installed into the Boundary without the motor drive "flange" hitting the chainstay?? I plan to learn from your hard earned experience and start with a 42 tooth chainring. I'm hoping for at least a clean motor install with no motor- to - chainstay clearance issues. Wonderful video and extremely helpful, love your work!
Thanks for the feedback. The only other motor related issue that comes to mind, you might run into on this frame, is that the Bottom Bracket is a 73mm. Since it is larger than the common 68mm, the lock-ring won't fit and so i would recommend using thread locker on the lock nut. If you use the green lock tite 290, it is designed for post-assembly application, so you dont have to put it on until you test the bike out and make sure everything is working correctly.
Wow! I so appreciate you taking your time to not only reply, but to reply so fast and with so much more helpful info! Thanks so much brother, be safe and have fun!
Great video. I have a schwinn boundary and bafang bbso2b. After I install the plate and gray lock nut there is no more threads sticking out for the black lock ring. My bottom bracket is 73.24. Any tips?
You will want to use some thread locker. The BBS02 was intended to fit the 68mm bottom bracket. They later started including the longer bolts with the 3 washers as a band-aid to claim the motor also fit 73mm shells...the problem is that the lock ring wont fit. So I use thread locker, because that lock nut will come loose over time without it. If you use the green loctite 290, it is for use post assembly so you shouldn't need to remove anything.
I made one from a BBS02 by Bafang and a 2020 Giant Talon bike. Wasn't a hard build and had very few issues. I like it. Is that guitar behind you a Fender Strat, or did you build it or is it another brand?
That guitar is a Michael Kelly. I am not usually a fan of Fenders designs, i always thought the traditional look was kind of boring unless you paid a ton of Money...But I just like the look of this one, and it has the custom shop wiring with so many tone options it's crazy. I found it on big sale last year @ SamAsh, i believe, I couldn't pass it up.
Is the battery you chose the "Ultra Slim Shark"? I've been printing out the cutouts and noticed this battery would be very difficult to install with only the upper mount points. The "mini shark" and "jumbo shark" have upper and lower mount points. The Boundary has a nice large triangle to work with.
I only use the top mounting bolts for water bottle mount, and with the squarish tube it seems to be good. When the tube is round, I supplement the mounting with a few beads of silicone at the battery base. This virtually eliminates rattle from the battery and ensures it won't break off easily
Great video! I have a couple questions. Would the 44t chain ring work with the 750 watt without shimming? The only 42t chain ring I can find is on the 1000 watt bafang. I would spend the extra for the power if it will still install easily on the boundary bike. Is the 42t BBHD chain ring compatible with the BBs02? I can buy it separately? I really want to buy the right parts straight away and get riding... Thank you
The HD vs the BBS02 chain rings, are not the same bolt pattern (i learned that the hard way). The 02 has a larger center hole also. And it is much harder to find after market rings for the BBS02 than the HD, for some reason. When you buy a Bafang motor, you select which chain ring you want with it, so they should match up the correct one. For the BBS02 I have always preferred a 44t as it has a bit more offset to it (it wraps around the motor more) than the smaller ones. There are a lot of factors involved in whether you need to shim it or not, and that is more dependent on the frame and cassette. On this frame, if i went with the 42t or smaller ring, i may not have had to shim it out, but the chain line would have been too far biased toward the high gear. Dealing with the chain line issues is really the toughest part of the conversion, and there are no guarantees you wont have to get creative with shimming. On a different build, I had a pretty bad chain line. I bought the DeRuiz chain ring for the HD on Amazon so that I got a much greater offset, then just drilled it out to fit the BBS02, and that worked pretty well, but not everyone has the option to do that if you lack a mill and lathe. I don't know why, but no one seems to make a bling ring type the BBS02.
I have been commuting on this bike, and have not gone far enough in a day to fully drain the battery...but my commute is a total of 20 miles, and even with mostly throttle, I still have battery left. I would say that with mild pedal assist, I should be able to get 40 miles.
