8fun kit?

[GBNeil]

Hi,

quick intro: I'm 56, male & a keen cyclist. Averaging about 2500 miles/year between 13-16 mph. I'm 72kg, 6' & fairly fit. I bought a 2nd hand road bike this year to complement a 7 year old 'Deore' hybrid. I use the hybrid for shopping & Winter riding.

I'm toying with the idea of a kit for the hybrid, really as a way to lengthen my biking season, motivating me out when it's cold/windy outside. It's not too hilly round here (Essex/Suffolk border), but can be pretty windy. Ok, I've done a bit of homework and I'd like your opinions on:

8Fun Ebike Electric Bike Conversion Kit 36V 250W | eBay

This is really the upper limit of what I'm prepared to spend without some experience of e-bikes. I don't want another bike either, although it'd probably be cheaper to pick up something 2nd hand.

Ok, what do you think? - I'd be really obliged for any/all input

Cheers!

 

[Deleted member 4366]

They're good kits for the money. Should be a very straight-forward installation. If you get any difficulties when installing, post again and we'll be able to help.

8fun also do this kit with the bottle battery, which looks neater and will allow you to keep your rack and panniers. Give 8fun a call, they might still have some. I'd go for a front motor with the rack battery, or a rear motor with the bottle battery - for looks and balance.

 

[eddieo]

I think if you ask they will supply with their bottle battery instead which some of their ready built bikes come with. Better looking and better weight distribution as well. There is a long thread on here (use search facility) where a member built this kit and goes into great detail with pics etc....

With you being a keen cyclist I would think you would prefer a Cytronex system on a decent bike.

 

[jerrysimon]

I agree the one with the bottle battery looks much better. I also agree that while the Cytronex is another option its not yet available and my guess is it will be WAY more expensive than this great value kit you have found.

You could get up and running cheaper but it would envolve sourcing parts from overseas and a lot more DIY. The kit you linked to is pretty much plug and play and we should be able to help you out here if need be. Being UK based they will also help you and of course you will have easy access to them if anyhting fails.

Welcome to the exciting world of ebiking

PS they do one ready built here. Not sure what the donor bike is like though.

Regards

Jerry

 

[banbury frank]

Hi

Please have a look at Juicybike Bit more money BUT they speak English and there support it second to none SUPPORT SUPPORT

Juicy Bike Accessories: add more electric cycle style

Frank

 

[GBNeil]

Thanks all for the quick responses

The water bottle battery does look better, but could be pinched easily though - not sure if that's an issue?

The reason for considering an e-kit is really just to extend my biking (exercise/hobby) season. I usually give in during the Winter for the usual reasons, but perhaps some assistance into headwinds would induce me out when I'd otherwise stay in.

I'm hoping this kit would allow me to do a 40 mile ride, roughly half with minimal assistance, the other half 90% off. Is this realistic?

My hybrid is a good candidate for this I think, old but solid components. A fancy e-bike might be on the cards if this little experiment works out. The battery technology is just sooo prohibitively expensive currently.

 

[eddieo]

Most ebikes are a pig to ride without power.....Best to go out and test ride a selection.

 

[Caph]

I bought the exact same kit a while back as an upgrade to my existing ebike kit so that I could swap out the front wheel for a standard wheel as and when I wanted.

I highly rate the kit. Unlike some ebikes (including my other commuter ebike) you don't notice any drag on the flat above motor assistance which seems to be a shade under 19mph. You will however notice the hills take more out of you if you ride without power but that's just down to the added weight. The battery capacity is very good indeed. Expect something like 30 miles using full throttle with mild to moderate rider input.

Through the summer I was using full throttle for 13 miles to meet up with friends on the other side of town after work, then doing a 20-30 mile unassisted ride with them before using full throttle for the 13 miles back home getting in at about 11pm. I wouldn't have bothered on a work night if I hadn't got the motor and some nights there was almost zero rider input from myself on the way home.

Images of the rebuild in this thread - Pimped my ride. One thing though, if you do want to be able to swap back and forth between motorised and non-motorised front wheel I'd advise a front disk brake mechanism that allows both pads to be moved e.g. Avid BB7. Also, you'll probably find you need a larger front rotor than the standard 160mm for this kit. I run a 185 but someone else who fitted the kit recently went for the 203. It depends on the clearance of your front disk brake mech. You'll also need the spacer to match your mech to the larger rotor size unless you buy a brand new oversized mech but we're only talking a few pounds here.

[EDIT] I can see from your photo that you'll be using rim brakes. Just ignore all the stuff I said about the disk brakes.

 

[Dicky Blighter]

PS they do one ready built here. Not sure what the donor bike is like though.

Regards

Jerry

i've got that bike - had it since June and very pleased - donor bike is well made and riding it without power is just like normal bike.
some more pics of it here:
Electric Bike - a set on Flickr
They are very helpful if you phone them (yes they do speak english Frank) and spares are cheap and sent out quickly. Bought a second charger for mine to keep at work for £20.00 - check out what others charge.
Done over 600 miles on it now backwards and forwards to work with no problems - only change I would reccomend is swap tyres to City Slicks for road use, battery life almost doubles.
I took it to an event in the summer and one of the oldest ebike companies had a good look at it and were amazed at what you get for the money and impreesed with quality as well.

 

[rustic]

It looks a reasonably priced bit of kit. What would the cost be of a replacement battery for this? I'm imagining somewhere approaching £400 which is pretty much the cost of this entire set up! Would one of the Lifepo4 batteries sold by companies such as Kudos be compatable with this kit, or would it need major adaptation?

 

[Deleted member 4366]

It looks a reasonably priced bit of kit. What would the cost be of a replacement battery for this? I'm imagining somewhere approaching £400 which is pretty much the cost of this entire set up! Would one of the Lifepo4 batteries sold by companies such as Kudos be compatable with this kit, or would it need major adaptation?

Your imagination is running riot. The cost of a replacement battery is closer to £200. You can use any battery you want as long as you can find a place to put it. That's one big advantage of building from a kit. The aluminium shell batteries from BMSbattery are really convenient because they come with a locking mounting plate that you can fix to any rack.

I heard somewhere that there's been problems of water getting into these bottle batteries, so it might be worth adding some silicon sealant to all the joints if you have one.

 

[rustic]

So one of the rear mounted Lithium Ion batteries 36v 9ah can be purchased for around £200? I think I have been reading too many horror stories about batteries on here!

 

[Deleted member 4366]

The price of batteries from some bike manufacturers has been discussed as to whether they are overcharging. The point many have been making is that you can get batteries from China for so much less. I think most people (if not all) that got their batteries from BMSbattery in China have been happy with them. If, however, something goes wrong with it, you're on your own. They'll probably insist on it being returned at your cost before they refund only the cost of the battery. If you order lots of stuff direct from china, in the long term you'll be better off, but if you only order one thing and it goes wrong, you'll be cursing. I've been very lucky - 5 batteries , 4 kits, 5 motors plus other stuff and no financial loss so far. If one part does go wrong, I don't care too much because I'm so far ahead (pricewise) than I'd have been buying from European suppliers. I guess I'm not very patriotic and partially responsible for the financial meltdown. Sorry!

 

[rustic]

Can someone advise what that white box is in front of the rear wheel, I thought it was the controller housing, but am advised by the retailer that this is housed in the rear rack just in front of the battery.

Ta, Rus.

 

[rustic]

Can someone advise what that white box is in front of the rear wheel, I thought it was the controller housing, but am advised by the retailer that this is housed in the rear rack just in front of the battery.

Ta, Rus.

I just had an email from the retailer:

hi Rus,that's the controller box,but that's the old version, i have just changed the picture to an updated one to reflect the kit. regards


So that clears that up then. It looks a reasonably good kit at the price, I am quite tempted.

 

[davis]

I bought this kit from 8fun 2 years ago in 2009 . The motoris excellent. I have a 28 '' 36V 10 ah kit. The motor hub is 8fun and the parts various sources.

I have used it most days, it s a work horse and I carry shopping and small kids on a trailer pulling up to 120 kgs .The wheel is sound and the motor appears unstopable.

the new kits are better than the one I bought. The double walled wheel rims appear to be higher quality. Mine came with an unusable carrier, a crude steel thing that did not fit my bike, no ECO 3 stage display, just a throttle, and controller.

700+ charges up my original Li-ion battery is slowly fading so I'm about to buy a LiFePo4 12Ah unit from China. This will give me those extra kms between charges and no more worries about flickering yellow/red lights on the way home

 

[mike_j]

I converted my giant hybrid - description of the work here http://www.pedelecs.co.uk/forum/electric-bicycles/9468-8fun-conversion-story.html

It has behaved very well, few minor tweaks to eliminate rattles and reroute a bit of wiring. Makes the bike a pleasure to use again.