September 7, 20169 yr Think self build may be the way to go to get what I need at a competitive price but not sure where to start. About me 6ft 7in tall and about 125kg so I'm a big lad. This means many of the off the shelf bikes arent made in my size and means I need to be spending about £2000- £2200 to get a ready made bike in 60cm + frame size and then would have to sell my cube to free up space and money. However I do have a number of bikes that maybe suitable for conversion?: Option 1. Late 1990s Custom Built Steel Frame Road Bike with nice Campagnolo groupsets from that era and decent wheelsets. (dont use this much but really dont want to sell it as its a lovely bike and would really love to make more use of this) Option 2. 2007ish GT Avalanche 2.0 that has skinny tires on that was my commuter bike before the commute became too long to be feasible on a regular basis. (well abused and needs a bit of tlc) Option 3. 2016 Cube Ltd Race 29er The problem is my commute is about 20-21 miles with a bit of a short but painful climb half way and me being fat and unhealthy meant about 1hr30 min ride time when I have done it in the past but realistically it needs to be achievable in about sub 1 hour to make it workable for my available time to ride each way so need to look at something unrestricted to achieve close to this. Budget ideall <£500ish for kit build? Is this sufficient to allow me to achieve what I need. Am I being unrealistic in what I'm looking for? Front hub, mid, rear drive better suited to any of these? Really there seems to be so many options of motors and batteries I'm a bit lost as what makes a good place to start to see if using an ebike as a more regular commuter fits with my family commitments.
September 7, 20169 yr http://www.bga-reworking.co.uk/insat-li-nmc-ebike-battery-10ah-24v-36v-48v.html batts are not cheap so 500 quid might not be enough for that sort of range.
September 7, 20169 yr Author I expected to have to recharge the battery whilst at work for the return journey and then buy second battery at a later date once I had a few months to determine if the concept of cycling 40 miles a day was realistic.
September 7, 20169 yr http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/36V-48V-250-350W-68mm-BB-8Fun-Bafang-Mid-Drive-Motor-Ebike-Conversion-Kit-BBS01-/331892166925?var=&hash=item4d4650910d:m:mekC1HU-4zfP_2vN-KcRaIA some ppls bikes can go 70-80 miles just depends how big the batt is and how fast you go.
September 7, 20169 yr Have a look at the thread about the Q128C motor post#19. The complete kit is about £500 from BMSBattery.com. http://www.pedelecs.co.uk/forum/threads/q128c-kit-on-mtb.23343/ It would go nicely on your road bike or anything else. A road bike conversion is good because it's very efficient and you don't look out of place when you're going faster than you have a right to. If you buy the 48v motor with the 48v battery and controller, it'll max out at about 20 mph. The 36v motor with the 48v battery will reach about 26 mph.
September 7, 20169 yr Author Thanks for the answers so far. I'd read the Q128C thread and thought that looked like an elegant solution as the motor seemed more subtle than some of the mid ones. So Q128C 36V in 201RPM I'm assuming would be the best choice for 700c wheelset. Then what other components need to be paired with it? 48V battery 10ah or 11.4ah or more? Sine wave controller? (whatever that does) how do I link controller to brakes?
September 7, 20169 yr For simplicity buy the dolphin 09 battery and the compatible 09 controller kit. My 201 hub is marked/labelled as 201 but easily gets up to 21 - 26mph with the pas not throttle @36v. 48v should get you near 30 with 700c. The controller kit comes with 20a controller,a pair of brake levers for cable op, a nice lcd, pas sensor and magnet ring and throttle. All nice simple plug and play with ample length on the wiring, a speed sensor isn't needed as the Q128 has an internal sensor. The controller doesn't significantly change speed in the assist levels but gives extra torque by increasing amps in each assist level. What breaks do you currently have on your bikes, rim, disc , hydraulic ? Edited September 7, 20169 yr by Nealh
September 7, 20169 yr Author What breaks do you currently have on your bikes, rim, disc , hydraulic ? Rim braked
September 7, 20169 yr Rim braked At the higher speeds and with a heavier bike you wiil or may wear through the wheel rims quicker. Upgrade the front wheel to a disc brake set up and leave the rear as it is, and just use the left hand rear brake lever/sensor if you want a brake cut off. The front brake does 70% of the braking.
September 8, 20169 yr Author At the higher speeds and with a heavier bike you wiil or may wear through the wheel rims quicker. Upgrade the front wheel to a disc brake set up and leave the rear as it is, and just use the left hand rear brake lever/sensor if you want a brake cut off. The front brake does 70% of the braking. The problem is that the levers are integrated with shifters on the road bike so I wouldnt be able to use the supplied brake leavers. Would just having PAS on the crank be sufficient? Or what other options for brake sensors can be used seen some hidden wire sensors are these what I would need to fit to some race bike calipers? The brakes work pretty well slowing me up on fast downhill descents not as good as hydraulic disks of course. its getting the motor to cut off though is my main concern when I am braking.
September 8, 20169 yr Author So what is my shopping list missing apart from a second charger so I can have one at home and one in the office? Q128C-135mm 500W CST Rear Driving EBike Hub Motor Voltage : 36V, RPM : 201 A Pair of EBike Torque Arm Size : M12 HWBS - Hidden Wire Brake Sensor 1pcs 48V11.6Ah Bottle-09 Panasonic Battery Pack includes 1. A 48V11.6Ah battery pack included a 20A sine wave controller and a S180 charger. 2. One S-LCD3, One Thumb throttle, A pair of Brake Grip, One PAS And Waterproof Easy Assemble Wires.
September 8, 20169 yr So what is my shopping list missing apart from a second charger so I can have one at home and one in the office? Q128C-135mm 500W CST Rear Driving EBike Hub Motor Voltage : 36V, RPM : 201 A Pair of EBike Torque Arm Size : M12 HWBS - Hidden Wire Brake Sensor 1pcs 48V11.6Ah Bottle-09 Panasonic Battery Pack includes 1. A 48V11.6Ah battery pack included a 20A sine wave controller and a S180 charger. 2. One S-LCD3, One Thumb throttle, A pair of Brake Grip, One PAS And Waterproof Easy Assemble Wires. That's it. You can choose an extra throttle or PAS if you want a different one. As others have said, disc brakes are better, but you can only fit one if your forks have the mounting lugs, then you need a new front wheel that has the a hub with the 6 holes for the disc.
September 8, 20169 yr The HWBS solves your motor over run issue . You will only need one TA on the LHS, all my TA's I fashion my self so that they blend in with the axle drop out shape. A spoke key very handy and cheaper then chips. https://bmsbattery.com/bicycle-parts/511-spoke-wrench-bicycle-parts.html
June 22, 20178 yr JustinBedford, this was posted a while ago now, so I wonder what do you think of your build and the 20 mile commute with it? I am thinking of following set up this as well. Thanks a lot! Best regards
June 22, 20178 yr I have the same setup on my bike, except I'm using a separate 15 amp controller. This kit is e-bike perfection. It's fast, powerful, silent and drag-free. At the moment, I'm more or less one-footed, but I can still pedal along comfortably at 22 mph on the flat. It has plenty of torque for climbing too, but with that 20 amp controller, it will give 33% more torque. I doubt that anyone would want to use level 5, but it there for when you come across an exceptional hill. I don't use brake switches because the cut-off is more or less instant when you stop pedalling.
June 30, 20178 yr Hi! Thought I'd hi-jack this thread as I am after something similar. I'm about 70 kg and want to convert either my old MTB or a steel/aluminium racer/cx. It's for a flat commute, mostly paved, 25km one route. I could charge the batteries at work. I reckon 500w is a wee too powerful (?), and think a front hub would best suit my needs + be simpler to install. I'm not the soldering type. The last couple of weeks I've made some research but I'm losing it. Too many options. So. Could you guys help me out? A shopping list for a dead simple kit (as good as...) About the same budget as above, as light as possible, preferably w/ wheel as I don't know how to lace my own. Sincerely, Oscar
June 30, 20178 yr If you don't want to solder, you're pretty well stuck with a proprietary kit. A rear motor would be preferable to a front one. If you have 8-speed or more rear gears, you need a cassette motor, otherwise you can use any. Woosh are the only people I know in the UK selling a complete cassette motor kit. If you still want to go with a front motor, you can take your pick, but make sure that you get a battery from the same supplier that has the correct connnector on the battery to match the controller. Whichever kit you get, make sure that it has an LCD with several levels of PAS.
June 30, 20178 yr If you don't want to solder, you're pretty well stuck with a proprietary kit. A rear motor would be preferable to a front one. If you have 8-speed or more rear gears, you need a cassette motor, otherwise you can use any. Woosh are the only people I know in the UK selling a complete cassette motor kit. If you still want to go with a front motor, you can take your pick, but make sure that you get a battery from the same supplier that has the correct connnector on the battery to match the controller. Whichever kit you get, make sure that it has an LCD with several levels of PAS. You mean not go with a Q100/128 or Bafang Swxk2, but rather cyclotricity or similar? I thought the lots from bms was pretty much plug and play. Cheers.
June 30, 20178 yr Hi! Thought I'd hi-jack this thread as I am after something similar. I'm about 70 kg and want to convert either my old MTB or a steel/aluminium racer/cx. It's for a flat commute, mostly paved, 25km one route. I could charge the batteries at work. I reckon 500w is a wee too powerful (?), and think a front hub would best suit my needs + be simpler to install. I'm not the soldering type. The last couple of weeks I've made some research but I'm losing it. Too many options. So. Could you guys help me out? A shopping list for a dead simple kit (as good as...) About the same budget as above, as light as possible, preferably w/ wheel as I don't know how to lace my own. Sincerely, Oscar I've just fitted an XF08 rear wheel kit kit from Woosh using my 9 speed cassette, quite easy to fit and speedy technical advice from Andy at Woosh if required. Details here http://pedelecs.co.uk/forum/threads/new-26-xf08c-rear-wheel-kit-with-13ah-battery-cassette-fitting-easy-wiring-£499.26343/ and on the Woosh web site. The controller is integrated with the battery mount which makes for easy and neat fitting. I found them to be nice folk to deal with and very good communications. Dave.
June 30, 20178 yr You mean not go with a Q100/128 or Bafang Swxk2, but rather cyclotricity or similar? I thought the lots from bms was pretty much plug and play. Cheers. The BMSB kits with the controllers integrated into the battery don't require any soldering.
June 30, 20178 yr Have a look at the thread about the Q128C motor post#19. The complete kit is about £500 from BMSBattery.com. I have placed an initial order for 48V kits which should be compatible with the Q128H but running at 17A instead of 20A. It's meant to be used with the SWX02C rather than Q128H. The 48V kit should arrive in September and priced to compete with bmsbattery.
June 30, 20178 yr If you feel 500w is too much power, there aren't many plug and play 250w geared hub kits. Most are 350w or 500w, for 250w go for a kit maybe from Panda. Alternatively you need to get a separate hub motor/wheel and a get a complete controller kit with lcd etc, Kt ones from PSWPower are good. Largely most battery connections are bullet so a battery can be sourced from the UK, however sometimes soldering is necessary. 2.2kg light motor. http://www.greenbikekit.com/electric-bike-kit/rear/100cst-cassette-freewheel-e-bike-kit-36v-250w.html Any good cycle shop can build a wheel for you. http://www.greenbikekit.com/electric-motor/rear-bldc/e-bike-cassette-freewheel-hub-motor-36v-250w-light-weight-high-speed.html to go with, KT controller kit 5 pas levels. http://www.pswpower.com/peng/iview.asp?KeyID=dtpic-2016-3F-39N8.50CQE https://www.pandaebikes.com/shop/conversion-kits/panda-250-smart-electric-bike-kit-36v-250w-black-motor/ Panda use KT controller. Edited June 30, 20178 yr by Nealh
June 30, 20178 yr Make sure you get a KT controller, to experience the silence when under full power. 20A for the Q128H is nothing. With the KT controller, you can always turn it down. Mind you, at your weight, that motor will fly at only 15A with 48v.
July 1, 20178 yr Daft question perhaps, how easy is it to fit the motor to the wheel and keep it true?
July 1, 20178 yr Like everything, it's easy when you know how. There's loads of Youtube guides on how to lace a wheel. I learn't from Sheldon Brown's guide. You can get the motor pre-built into a wheel from BMSB. The cost is nearly the same overall. Their wheel-building isn't fantastic, they usually leave the spokes too loose, but that's no problem because you'll probably have to adjust it anyway to get the rim central in your frame.
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