Chaos

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Feeling the need for speed, i quickly realized the " Downtube " was not going to be the right bike for the job, at 72v the folding bike was a white knuckle ride and getting to a quick stop was an exhilarating process.. pot holes were even worse.. so i went hunting for a bicycle that could take some abuse..

In early 2006, during a visit to " Bungay's Bike Shop " here in Moncton NB. I found a 2005 Norco Chaos.

It was advertised at 1200 $, on sale for 950 $, and a " We pay the tax event " ..

I looked it over carefully, good components, 8" mechanical disk brakes, fully adjustable front and rear suspension, 10mm rear dropouts with 150mm spacing !

I wanted to replace the front wheel from a stock 26" to a 24", and have a wide high-pressure road type tire installed instead of the stock knoby tire. The rear wheel was to be replaced with a Dual-Speed crystalyte 406/409, laced into a 20" rim that had previously been on the Downtube FS bike.

The bike shop owner was quite surprised, not sure what to say about the idea, but agreed and i took it home !

My entire life, i've had cheap bicycles, Co-Op " supercycle " type 150 $ or less.. bad brakes, heavy, and always shifting rough.. etc...

A major step up from the " Giant " . I got it home and went for a test ride, i was absolutely amazed at what a good bicycle feels like.. almost threw myself over the handlebars before i got to the end of my driveway.. who knew brakes were supposed to lock up a wheel !

But..I had big plans for this bike, and the project started !

I removed the rear motor from the folding bike..

And bolted it to the Chaos

Funny looking bike ? ! I took this outside and went for a pedal test, surprisingly the smaller rear wheel did not impact the handling too much, more rake makes the bike stable at high-speeds, only negative is it makes the bike lean when turning hard, but not a problem once you get used to it.

The batteries were a bit more of a challenge.. I went thru many different materials.. like gas cans, tool boxes, rubber maid containers, I went to all the local dollar stores looking for ideas.. Made a big mess, learned alot about materials..

Nimh batteries get hot during charge/discharge, and this heat needs to be managed. Preventing rain from entering into the pack, preventing shorts, or damage from a fall, and venting the heat, all make for a rather complicated thing..

Finally settled on this metal box setup, my neighbor just happens to work with sheet metal for a living, this comes in handy !

At 72v, 20 amps, the Chaos was a great setup, pot holes were no longer a problem, I couuld stop in the rain with the disk brakes, something that no V-brakes i've had so far could do , it sure did not look good with the strange metal box on the rear rack, but it got the job done.

This is how the 2006 season ended, i rode this bike all the way to December, the cold, snow and ice came and i parked it in the living room for the winter.

Continued....

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