Alright guys. Newbie. Looking for advice for rear hub conversion for MTB

[jokey67]

Hello guys and girls. residing in sunny south ayrshire, Lovely coastal paths and trails down here. I am a leisure biker, I have a calibre two cubed MTB. I am lookng to put a conversion kit on the rear hub. I seen one from yose power. I did see in their recomedations that wont work with hydraulic brakes, so how to do we get round about that?. Im looking for something pretty cheap as the bike itself was only 400 so Im not wanting to spend silly money. Can anyone vouch for these kits and possibly recommend similar kits. If I was to buy to the kit myself , In terms of labour cost, what kind of rates do folk charge to convert it for you as matter of interest?.

https://www.yosepower.com/en/product/Hub-Motor-36V350W-27.5%22-Rear-Motor-with-Cassette-Bicycle-E-Bike-Hub-Conversion-Kit-Silver-DIY-E-bike-LCD-Display-124.html

My bike is 27.5 and here is the full spec. Basically can it be done? https://www.bikeradar.com/reviews/bikes/mountain-bikes/calibre-two-cubed-review/

Cheers folks.

John R.

 

[Fat Rat]

Welcome to the site

 

[jokey67]

Welcome to the site

Cheers

 

[Benjahmin]

OK, so the bike has a square taper bottom bracket, so problem fitting the pas disc. Need to make sure that the rear motor is compatable with your 9 gear cluster. I can never remember wether that makes it a cassette or freewheel, someone will be along in a bit to confirm. Hydraulic brakes are not a problem, you keep your levers and put on a magnet and reed switch which will operate the cutoff for you. Can get into detail later.
Rear forks are 135mm so will need stretching to 140mm, well within tolerances.
I see the wheels are on qr skewers, you need to check the rear. Hub motor axles are 12mm diameter with 10mm flats to fit into the dropout. You need to get the whole 12mm into the dropout plus an anti-rotation washer, so you need 14mm depth in all. Most dropouts need some filing to get the axle fully bedded.
All in all I think it's on.
Have no idea if there's anyone in Ayreshire to do the conversion. It's perfectly achievable yourself if you are even mildly 'spannerish' - if that's a word. All kits bought from one supplier are plug and play allowing for a bit of set up on the display/controller. Plus you end up knowing the workings of your bike very well -but be warned, it can be addictive!
Yosepower are good, used them myself as have many on here.
Have a look at Woosh bikes. Got the kit you need. Excellent customer service, backup and info.

 

[jokey67]

OK, so the bike has a square taper bottom bracket, so problem fitting the pas disc. Need to make sure that the rear motor is compatable with your 9 gear cluster. I can never remember wether that makes it a cassette or freewheel, someone will be along in a bit to confirm. Hydraulic brakes are not a problem, you keep your levers and put on a magnet and reed switch which will operate the cutoff for you. Can get into detail later.
Rear forks are 135mm so will need stretching to 140mm, well within tolerances.
I see the wheels are on qr skewers, you need to check the rear. Hub motor axles are 12mm diameter with 10mm flats to fit into the dropout. You need to get the whole 12mm into the dropout plus an anti-rotation washer, so you need 14mm depth in all. Most dropouts need some filing to get the axle fully bedded.
All in all I think it's on.
Have no idea if there's anyone in Ayreshire to do the conversion. It's perfectly achievable yourself if you are even mildly 'spannerish' - if that's a word. All kits bought from one supplier are plug and play allowing for a bit of set up on the display/controller. Plus you end up knowing the workings of your bike very well -but be warned, it can be addictive!
Yosepower are good, used them myself as have many on here.
Have a look at Woosh bikes. Got the kit you need. Excellent customer service, backup and info.

Thanks and great advice mate, I had actually posted it up on the 3rd may and since then I bought a 350watt rear hub one with 36v 13 ah battery from yose power (still waiitng on arrival), On the calibre bike it is 9 speed cassete, so this kit will be compatible. Your right the dropouts for my axel is M10 so I will need to file them. I bought a magnetic switch for the brake. I will carry it out myself and got torque arms as well. How does one stretch the forks to 140mm? I think I may also need a special tool to get the shimano rotor disc off as well, does that sound about right because its a https://bike.shimano.com/en-EU/product/component/tourney-tx800/SM-RT10.html and I think it needs spefic tool to remove. Thanks for all your help

john

 

[darren66]

Why do you assume the rear stays should be spaced to 140mm?

 

[Nealh]

The centre lock disc uses the same tool to undo as a cassette lock ring.

 

[jokey67]

The centre lock disc uses the same tool to undo as a cassette lock ring.

Thanks mate

 

[jokey67]

got the battery today, jesus its so wide, I have 1mm to spare on the frame and 1 mm on the pedals from hitting the battery lol. My bad. once its in , its in. be a struggle to slide in and out. Bearing in mind I had zero knowldge on e bikes a fortnight a night ago. Other options for battery are underside or back bracket. 15cm wide is ridiculous , whats is everyone elses, arond 10cm no doubt? waiting on the wheel coming, should have came same time as its orderd from yose power.

what issues can you see me having with pas and how would one remedy that. Got a small JB for controller from RS online and that will fit no probelm

 

[Nealh]

Err that's not a down tube battery, it's a rack battery.

 

[jokey67]

Err that's not a down tube battery, it's a rack battery.

lol, Ill need to buy a rack then.

 

[jokey67]

Err that's not a down tube battery, it's a rack battery.

Err that's not a down tube battery, it's a rack battery.

Hi mate
.so as expected ran into some.problems..

Shimano brake disc not compatible. So will get the one with mounting holes. Looking at pics i prob need to stretch frame. Screwed rod method? Also the drop outs. Do they need to be a lot deeper because on the gear side theres no where else to go really. Any advice appreciated.

 

[Prefect]

Hi, I expect you will need to upgrade to 180mm for your disk. So dont worry about tools for removing your ols disk, you will be buying new standard scresa fitting.
It all looks tight!
Please post how you get on with the RS controller.
Good luck.

 

[jokey67]

Hi, I expect you will need to upgrade to 180mm for your disk. So dont worry about tools for removing your ols disk, you will be buying new standard scresa fitting.
It all looks tight!
Please post how you get on with the RS controller.
Good luck.

Thanks mate. You reckon ill need to stretch the frame. What about the drop out situation?

 

[Nealh]

The rhs isn't in deep enough but you are hampered by lack of material to remove , you might gain another mm or two by gently rounding the derailleur hanger d/o so the hub axle sits fully in and hard against the hangers d/o seat area also you will have to go a bit deeper on the lhs as well so the hub sits in level across the plain.

The blue lines indicate the areas to carefully file so the gap is lost to the d/o seating area, also if able to fit a torque arm on this side as well.



The brake rotor/disc certainly needs a spacer on the inside of the d/o, did the hub not come with some thick tabbed anti rotation washers ? You can't use one on the rhs but you can on the lhs as there is plenty of material so you can remove enough material to the depth of the tab and fit the tabbed washer on the inside.

The area marked in Blue needs removing so the tab of the A/R washer can sit in.

 

[Nealh]

Tbh this frame is not an ideal candidate for a hub motor conversion due to the limitations of the drop outs, the rhs doesn't allow for axle to sit deep enough and lhs hampers the brake rotor.

 

[jokey67]

Tbh this frame is not an ideal candidate for a hub motor conversion due to the limitations of the drop outs, the rhs doesn't allow for axle to sit deep enough and lhs hampers the brake rotor.

fair point mate, but ill defo give it a bash and see what happens. ive bough the kit and commited now. I have one of these, but drop outs look same drill https://www.halfords.com/bikes/hybrid-bikes/carrera-subway-1-mens-hybrid-bike---s-m-l-frames-641465.html

 

[jokey67]

The rhs isn't in deep enough but you are hampered by lack of material to remove , you might gain another mm or two by gently rounding the derailleur hanger d/o so the hub axle sits fully in and hard against the hangers d/o seat area also you will have to go a bit deeper on the lhs as well so the hub sits in level across the plain.

The blue lines indicate the areas to carefully file so the gap is lost to the d/o seating area, also if able to fit a torque arm on this side as well.
View attachment 35406


The brake rotor/disc certainly needs a spacer on the inside of the d/o, did the hub not come with some thick tabbed anti rotation washers ? You can't use one on the rhs but you can on the lhs as there is plenty of material so you can remove enough material to the depth of the tab and fit the tabbed washer on the inside.

The area marked in Blue needs removing so the tab of the A/R washer can sit in.
View attachment 35407

hi mate, thanks for pointing out this stuff. great help btw. yes they came with washers. do you think ill need to stretch the frame with screwed rod? Im hopeful I can get this to work. where there is a will there is a way. I have torque arms aswell .

 

[Nealh]

You should be able to pull the frame out enough by hand to fit the motor wheel , the issue is punctures and the faff of removing the wheel when out and about. So you have two options as I see it, go tubeless a faff in it self t times setting up or use a Gaadi tube which are brilliant. A double ended tube meaning no need to ever remove the wheel.

 

[jokey67]

You should be able to pull the frame out enough by hand to fit the motor wheel , the issue is punctures and the faff of removing the wheel when out and about. So you have two options as I see it, go tubeless a faff in it self t times setting up or use a Gaadi tube which are brilliant. A double ended tube meaning no need to ever remove the wheel.

good idea, ill keep you update with this progress. thanks