Bafang central motor kit

[ade]

I wonder if anyone has had any experience with the bafang central motor kits? i'm currently using a front bpm 350w with 22A contoller which is used off road for towing a trailer around a wildlife park with very steep pathways/lanes, looking at the spec on the cental motors the torque is much better i was thinking about the 500w watt kit so if there were too much power it can be switched down a level rarther then buy the 250/350w and not have enough power

 

[Fordulike]

I wonder if anyone has had any experience with the bafang central motor kits? i'm currently using a front bpm 350w with 22A contoller which is used off road for towing a trailer around a wildlife park with very steep pathways/lanes, looking at the spec on the cental motors the torque is much better i was thinking about the 500w watt kit so if there were too much power it can be switched down a level rarther then buy the 250/350w and not have enough power

I used to run a MAC 10T rear hub with a 30A controller at 48v.
Now I have a Bafang BBS02 25A 750w 48v.

I have tackled very steep hills with the Bafang, that the MAC would have stalled on.
Although fairly similar in total power, this is all down to the Bafang's ability to utilize the bikes gearing.

It does take a different riding style to change from a hub motor to crank drive, but you soon get used to it.

Buy one, I swear you will not be disappointed. I doubt if I'll go back to a hub motor, as the BBS02 is a lovely piece of engineering.

 

[Geebee]

If you are not fussed about how fast you climb the BBS01 will climb anything as you can adjust the gearing to suit terrain.
I have geared my recumbent trike low as I can't assist much and it has no trouble with the type of hills that make a lot of cyclists walk, it has a BBS01 250/350w mine is stamped with both?

I also have a Tonaro (36v 15a simiar power crank drive) that I often use off road and I ran across a few hills (MTB map shows the track as difficult pushing required) it could not do without decent rider input, so I lowered its gearing and now it climbs them easily on motor only and can wheel stand on take off on the steeper hills

 

[tommie]

I wonder if anyone has had any experience with the bafang central motor kits? i'm currently using a front bpm 350w with 22A contoller which is used off road for towing a trailer around a wildlife park with very steep pathways/lanes, looking at the spec on the cental motors the torque is much better i was thinking about the 500w watt kit so if there were too much power it can be switched down a level rarther then buy the 250/350w and not have enough power

With the trailer i would definitely go for the 750w item. You have up to nine levels of `assist` that you can select to your taste when tackling a hill.

 

[Kinninvie]

I would go for the 750 for your needs as its not much more than the smaller versions and you can limit the power simply by selecting a low assist level .
I started with a 250 watt motor and within weeks moved to a 1000 watt hub as the 250 could not manage my local hills at all.
The 1000 was better but still could not manage the really steep hills here so I then got the BBS02 750 and,by using appropriate gearing, it will now get me up anything including al the forest trails here.
Its done 2077 miles to date and has never missed a beat even in last weeks major thunderstorm.

 

[tommie]

@ kinninvie, just out of curiosity what gearing do you have? Mine is the standard BBS02 46T front ring and a 14T-34T on the back. So far it seems to deal with hills ok.

 

[Kinninvie]

I have a 44\t front and 34-11T rear.
The 11T is only used on downhills as it alows pedalling up to 38Mph.
I weigh 17 stone and with 48Ah of batteries on,the bike can weigh another 4 stone almost.

 

[Fordulike]

Just for comparison with kinninvie, I'm using a 42T chainring and 11-13-15-18-21-24-28T at the rear.

I've dialled out the 32T on my rear cassette, as it can sometimes throw the chain off the chainring on rougher ground. Don't miss it with the 750w though.

I use the 11T quite often on flat ground or slight inclines, as it provides a nice relaxing cadence when used with the lower PAS levels.

 

[Kinninvie]

What make is your 42T chainring?
I hane never lost a chain off even when jumping off kerbs and on rough root covered tracks and mines a standard Bafang chainring.
I do have the front derailleur fixed in place on mine .

 

[Nealh]

Since conversion to my mtb the chain has come off a few times when off road so may well have to stick the front derailleur back on, never came off once during the 1k miles it was on the 700c even with bumpy roads.

 

[Fordulike]

What make is your 42T chainring?
I hane never lost a chain off even when jumping off kerbs and on rough root covered tracks and mines a standard Bafang chainring.
I do have the front derailleur fixed in place on mine .

Alcedo Italia custom ring. With the standard Bafang chainring, I couldn't use the lowest two gears.
The chainline is much improved with the Alcedo, but I can still get the odd issue with the lowest gear. I adjusted that one out to eliminate this issue, as I didn't want the chain coming off whilst riding up very steep tracks.

I have no front derailleur fitted.

The kit is also fitted to a fairly cheap bike, so I guess geometry might not be perfect.

 

[tommie]

I have a 44\t front and 34-11T rear.
The 11T is only used on downhills as it alows pedalling up to 38Mph.
I weigh 17 stone and with 48Ah of batteries on,the bike can weigh another 4 stone almost.

Are you on a standard bike chain?
With all this torque, weight etc, ordinary bicycle drive components look a bit light to me. You just have to look at that flimsy quicklink for a start.

 

[Kinninvie]

I use KMC X8 chain and in 2077 miles have not had a single problem.
I also used to change gear under power when using the first 3 out of 9 assist settings.
I have fitted a pushbutton to one of the brake disconnects a couple of weeks ago and now use that when changing gear.
The first chain was never cleaned and only oiled 4 times and was replaced at 1500 miles along with the rear cassette when it started skipping in the top 3 gears (8 speed).
About half my mileage is on road and the rest is mainly forest trails and moorland peat bogs.
I also changed the original WTB Nine Lines rear tyre this week as it was bald.
I have put a Smart Sam Plus tyre on and it seems to grip as well as the last tyre and has the puncture resistant insert in as well.

 

[ade]

anyone know of a reliable uk seller for these kits?

 

[Nealh]

BBS01/02 are sold by Woosh, Eclipse and Panda, these are the 3 most comparable sites.

 

[ade]

ok great thanks

 

[mike killay]

Are you on a standard bike chain?
With all this torque, weight etc, ordinary bicycle drive components look a bit light to me. You just have to look at that flimsy quicklink for a start.

Is a quick link flimsy though?
Seems to me that it has the same size rivets and side plates as a normal link.

 

[EddiePJ]

Ref chain jumping..

Put a rear mech on the bike that uses a clutch. From my experience (Bosch motor), with the clutch engaged, the chain won't jump off the front sprocket. Without the clutch engaged, it's a given certainty that it will off before reaching the bottom of a bumpy descent.