Front hub kit suggestions for Brompton clone with 20 inch wheel
- Thread starter paulc1976
- Start date
A hole? PLA filament is a bit weak, ABS seems a better choice, custom formed to fit your battery. Leave a hole for your battery wires. There don't seem to be any off-the-shelf small front boxes for Brompton, not that I can find anyway. I guess if you want to build electrical connections into the mount, you'll have to design and print your own mount.
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If there were a generic slide in style electrical battery\controller connector pair it should not be difficult to fit it to one of adapter plates that allow stuff to be connected to the Brompton bag block.
I wouldn't worry about all that stuff until he's found a motor that's going to work in it.
Converting a little folder
That perfect steel framed folder might just be this Pashley Moulton TSR 27 that I used to have and sold about twenty years ago. I rode it powered by me 40 miles in two hours and two minutes. It isn't exactly a folder, but you could withdraw a pin and it came into two pieces so it was easy to fit...
www.pedelecs.co.uk
that was using the topbikekit 74mm AKM-75SX 20inch front hub and Woosh bag battery
Has Paul decided to get one yet? Is it suitable for him? I don't think he said his weight.Converting a little folder
That perfect steel framed folder might just be this Pashley Moulton TSR 27 that I used to have and sold about twenty years ago. I rode it powered by me 40 miles in two hours and two minutes. It isn't exactly a folder, but you could withdraw a pin and it came into two pieces so it was easy to fit...
that was using the topbikekit 74mm AKM-75SX 20inch front hub and Woosh bag battery
Hi all,
Thank you for your very helpful replies. Sorry to waste people's time, but I've decided to cancel the order on that bike for a couple of reasons - one being it didn't seem a very good donor for a conversion.
I still would like a trifold bike to put in the car as I have 3 other full size bikes (BBSHD, BBS02 and TSDZ8 mid drives). I'm 15.5 st 5ft 11 but trying to lose a bit of weight.
I might save up for a Brompton g line and look at converting that but they are a lot of money.
I want something I could fold up easy to chuck in the boot of my Yaris. I've already got a towbar and bike rack but it can be a faff to set up with the big bikes.
Paul
Thank you for your very helpful replies. Sorry to waste people's time, but I've decided to cancel the order on that bike for a couple of reasons - one being it didn't seem a very good donor for a conversion.
I still would like a trifold bike to put in the car as I have 3 other full size bikes (BBSHD, BBS02 and TSDZ8 mid drives). I'm 15.5 st 5ft 11 but trying to lose a bit of weight.
I might save up for a Brompton g line and look at converting that but they are a lot of money.
I want something I could fold up easy to chuck in the boot of my Yaris. I've already got a towbar and bike rack but it can be a faff to set up with the big bikes.
Paul
Why not just buy a used Brompton and convert it. There are several kits designed specifically for them. It's a waste buying a new bike anyway because you lose any warranty as soon as you put the kit on.
These are easy to convert and fold up (bi fold rather than tri fold) but my mother in law gets it in her supermini
Help! - Converting folder bike to cassette
Hey, leave some Carrera Disc 8s for the rest of us bro!
www.pedelecs.co.uk
I might look at a used Brompton. I have seen them on the trains a few times and marvel at how small they fold up.
The thing that puts me off a bit is the supposedly sketchy ride, although I admit I've never tried riding one. I live in the sticks and it's full of potholed lanes so I stick to my full size bikes at home but fancy something I could store easily in the house.
That Carrera bike looks pretty cool too although it's not really what I was after, I bet it's a comfy ride.
The thing that puts me off a bit is the supposedly sketchy ride, although I admit I've never tried riding one. I live in the sticks and it's full of potholed lanes so I stick to my full size bikes at home but fancy something I could store easily in the house.
That Carrera bike looks pretty cool too although it's not really what I was after, I bet it's a comfy ride.
16" wheels would be even better for hill climbing, motor depending. Somehow... 16" wheels with 3" fat tyres, disc brakes. Aftermarket fork and rear triangle. There's a bald dude who throttles about locally on his tiny wheeled fat tyred ebike, and always at night, so I haven't had a clear view of the bike. Not a delivery rider, just likes throttling about in the evenings bald without a helmet. Those fat tyres sounded loud when he whizzed past me walking on the pavement the other night. Unusually, unlike most of the cyclists I see, he was using the road. Seems you can have everything you want for a price. Every bike thief will want to chase you down for this.
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Well, I have one, and it does ride very well indeed. More like a full sized bike really, completly different to a 16" Brompton. Much much better on pot hole infested roads.
Its not as good in commuter bike mode, as in carrying on trains and busses, as the 16" Bromptons, but it still folds smaller than most all 20" folders I have seen. It rolls really easy and well on the rear rack wheels.
The non-electric version comes with a 8 speed rear hub gear (good) whereas the electric version is rear hub motor and 4 gears only.
So a front hub conversion might be more versatile, the bike could be ridden in non-electric mode if you wanted, still with plenty of gears.
However the front forks are alloy and with a through hole axle fixing, so it might not be so easy to fit a standard front hub motor.
I have checked using weights, if there were say a 10Ahr battery on the front luggage block and a front hub motor then with a slight mod to the roller wheels it wont tip over when folded and resting on the rack.
The version with rear rack and roller wheels is about 15kg.
The fat tyres do look 'cool', especially for social media posts etc, but they are a bit thin. I have fitted Marathon plus 20x1.75 tyres, adds about 500g to bike weight but I wanted good puncture resistance.
The supplied Schwalbe G-One Allaround tyres and rims are tubeless ready, so thats an option I guess.
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