Evening all,
I received my 250w BBS01 kit from Eclipse on Tuesday and am now up and running. I did most of the conversion on Tuesday evening and it went pretty smoothly. The worst part was shifting the right hand bottom bracket nut, which eventually gave in to the large Stilsons and scaffold tube. I also had some hassle trying to get the BBS01 through the bottom bracket tube given the tight fit and the need to file away some welds inside (a Dremel is one of the few tools I don't have).
I am pleased with the end result. The Gary Fisher Monona seems an ideal donor hybrid bike, with the final converted weight not too heavy at 18.4kg. I went for the 14.5Ah battery to give a decent range.
My first ride was a brief 3 mile run at 10pm on Wednesday evening. It was pitch black (rural Devon) and the only light I could rig up was my phone LED flash, which resulted in a few arguments with pot holes. I got home absolutely frozen and not really able to evaluate much.
This evening I did 12 very rural miles in the chilly sunshine in about 45 minutes. I broke the rules about trying before buying and opted for a crank drive having not experienced one (nothing available around here) but am quite impressed. I tackled a few pretty serious hills and got up them well through correct use of the gears. The brake lever blip technique when gear changing means it is no different to when the bike was previously unassisted.
I topped 33.4 mph at one point on a brief main road stretch. Normal cruising speed on the level about 20mph. I went into the settings and played with raising the maximum speed to 40 kph and there seems to be no 15mph cut off.
I would be interested to hear of the difference between the 250w and 350w versions to ride. I decided to stay legal with motor power by going smaller, though I gather only the controller settings make the difference between the 250 and 350w.
What I do like about the crank drive is that my legs still feel as if I have done a bike ride (but I can still speak afterwards!) and am sure fitness levels will benefit as a result. I didn't want to make life too easy. I am very impressed at how quiet and refined the BBS01 is in use.
A couple of times I whacked up the throttle to aid hill climbing (whilst pedalling) - will this do any harm to the motor long term? Gearing was kept low to maximise torque and not strain the motor too much.
A couple of photos attached, before and after. I never got round to taking any during the conversion work.
I received my 250w BBS01 kit from Eclipse on Tuesday and am now up and running. I did most of the conversion on Tuesday evening and it went pretty smoothly. The worst part was shifting the right hand bottom bracket nut, which eventually gave in to the large Stilsons and scaffold tube. I also had some hassle trying to get the BBS01 through the bottom bracket tube given the tight fit and the need to file away some welds inside (a Dremel is one of the few tools I don't have).
I am pleased with the end result. The Gary Fisher Monona seems an ideal donor hybrid bike, with the final converted weight not too heavy at 18.4kg. I went for the 14.5Ah battery to give a decent range.
My first ride was a brief 3 mile run at 10pm on Wednesday evening. It was pitch black (rural Devon) and the only light I could rig up was my phone LED flash, which resulted in a few arguments with pot holes. I got home absolutely frozen and not really able to evaluate much.
This evening I did 12 very rural miles in the chilly sunshine in about 45 minutes. I broke the rules about trying before buying and opted for a crank drive having not experienced one (nothing available around here) but am quite impressed. I tackled a few pretty serious hills and got up them well through correct use of the gears. The brake lever blip technique when gear changing means it is no different to when the bike was previously unassisted.
I topped 33.4 mph at one point on a brief main road stretch. Normal cruising speed on the level about 20mph. I went into the settings and played with raising the maximum speed to 40 kph and there seems to be no 15mph cut off.
I would be interested to hear of the difference between the 250w and 350w versions to ride. I decided to stay legal with motor power by going smaller, though I gather only the controller settings make the difference between the 250 and 350w.
What I do like about the crank drive is that my legs still feel as if I have done a bike ride (but I can still speak afterwards!) and am sure fitness levels will benefit as a result. I didn't want to make life too easy. I am very impressed at how quiet and refined the BBS01 is in use.
A couple of times I whacked up the throttle to aid hill climbing (whilst pedalling) - will this do any harm to the motor long term? Gearing was kept low to maximise torque and not strain the motor too much.
A couple of photos attached, before and after. I never got round to taking any during the conversion work.
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