After a lot of time thinking about it, I've decided to go a different direction on the e-bike. Although I quickly got the Cliffhanger up to date on maintenance, and rode it a few times, it wasn't right for this project. I was annoyed that it was difficult to source a battery that would fit in the frame.

Because of Canada's dumb tariffs on Chinese-made batteries, the cost of the ebike packs I wanted became at least 25% more expensive overnight, with no comparably-priced Canadian option available (or any Canadian option at all, since they all source Chinese cells.)

Making efficient electric personal transit way less affordable? I bet they wonder why people doubt Canada's commitment to fighting climate change. I digress.

Since the bike is a soft-tail, the down tube and top tube are too close together to store a large-capacity battery, especially one that's off the shelf. I did a couple of drafts on paper to see how many cells I could fit in if I built an entire custom thing out of 18650s and CAD'd up an enclosure for it. Although I was able to reach a 52V series configuration, there wasn't much room left over for much else. So I started looking for other frames that might work.

In the alley close to where I found a kid's bike last summer, I found this Canadian-assembled Raleigh Tomahawk. It's also got a steel frame, but it's a hard tail, so there is tons of room for even a standard downtube battery pack.

There's a couple problems with this bike that I identified while pushing it home:

1. It's old and rusty, with almost every fastener rusted up. I'm guessing this spent a lot of time in a backyard or a shed, exposed to the elements;
2. The handlebars and the front wheel are nowhere close to aligned;
3. The front tire is dead flat;
4. The rear brakes are completely loose, whereas the front brakes are too tight;
5. The back wheel seems out of alignment with the derailleur;

All of these can be fixed with some elbow grease (I think that's the part of the body that Boeshield comes from.) I was happy to find that the thing shifts properly, although I really don't like the shifters it has (or the bull-horn handlebars,) so I decided on the spur of the moment to take it home.

Seat post

I have only had time to do one thing to this bike, and it has already ended in tragedy.

Since I saw some rust developing near the bottom bracket, I wanted to make sure that the frame wasn't compromised, and so I went to remove the seat post. Someone else had the same idea, because the seat post clamp was completely loose and the seat wasn't coming out. This is probably part of why the bike was parked.

After some soaking in Seafoam Deep Creep, pounding with a mini-sledge, and profanity, the seat post popped right out.

I've never seen a seat post this mangled before. After asking around, it seemed most likely that someone had adjusted it all the way up and then cranked the clamp on as hard as possible, crumpling the bottom part of the post. Since it's compromised, I threw the thing in the metal recycling bin. "Don't risk an ass."

So far, all I've seen inside the frame is a bunch of spiderwebs. There is some evidence of rust inside, but it's not scabby or all the way through.

Right as I was about to start spraying it down, I realized I ran out of Fluid Film. I'll probably fill this with the sheep gunk, hit whatever rust on the outside I can find with a screwdriver to make sure it's not penetrated, and call it a day.

I'll be continuing with work on this bike as I can get free time; next up will be steering alignment and trying to fix the front tire.