July 12, 20241 yr I'm looking for a new BBS01B and a small 36v battery with rear rack to fit to my new bike. The Bafang kit I have now was purchased from Custom Built Ebikes in Exeter but they are no longer in business, I chose them even though they weren't the cheapest, my current kit was £1,000. Has anyone got any recommendations for reliable suppliers? Cheers, Rich.
July 12, 20241 yr Check PSW Power. Why rear rack battery? Quite an unusual combination with mid drive.
July 13, 20241 yr I just got a 36v 250w from amazon. 5% off untill the end of this month. Unusual in that it is free delivery on these kits too, as most charge £20 on Amazon https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B0D479XT84?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_image
July 13, 20241 yr Author Why rear rack battery? Quite an unusual combination with mid drive. I guess I'm quite an unusual person! I use my bike every day for commuting, shopping, etc., I know that a middrive is not considered best choice for this type of work but again, that's me... Having a rear rack and panniers means I have somewhere to carry the stuff I need. Having the battery incorporated into the rack seems the logical place for it. Further away from puddles. More protection from knocks. Slightly more hidden if I do leave unattended. Edited July 13, 20241 yr by Brik
July 13, 20241 yr Author I just got a 36v 250w from amazon. 5% off untill the end of this month. Hmmm, cheers for that, £375 with dpc-18 display. No battery though. Also it says delivery by next week, do you think their stock is in the UK? PSW have a motor for £286.70 sent from Germany so presumably import tax to pay too. I'd prefer to get the motor and battery in one order, preferably from within Europe/UK. Edited July 13, 20241 yr by Brik
July 13, 20241 yr After sales service 100% EXCELLENT https://www.cogsygogs.co.uk/contact-us/ TWO of my bikes done
July 13, 20241 yr Hmmm, cheers for that, £375 with dpc-18 display. No battery though. Also it says delivery by next week, do you think their stock is in the UK? PSW have a motor for £286.70 sent from Germany so presumably import tax to pay too. I'd prefer to get the motor and battery in one order, preferably from within Europe/UK. Has your old outfit worn out or something? I'm just curious why you want another set if you already have one. How have you found the reliability of the BBS01B? I keep reading of reports from people who don't like mid drives, of their 'unreliability.' Mine has never given a problem, other than that I needed to re-tighten the castellated nut a couple of times, which I did as soon as I heard creaking from the Bottom Bracket. I don't hammer my motor by asking it to run at high power very much, and I put some rubber mastic around the joins in the casing in case any water got in, but unlike your bike, mine only comes out for some fun, and not as a form of daily transport, winter and summer. If yours has worn out, how far has it been ridden? How long did the battery last?
July 13, 20241 yr Having the battery incorporated into the rack seems the logical place for it. I arrived at the same conclusion when I was converting my first bike... then I had to make a quick U-turn. Battery on rear rack was very badly affecting balance of the whole bike. I see you have hybrid bike. It should be OKish if you ride slow on smooth surface and don't corner much. I ordered few things from PSW. Never had to pay anything extra. I have my doubts how it is possible, but prefer not to ask any questions.
July 13, 20241 yr I arrived at the same conclusion when I was converting my first bike... then I had to make a quick U-turn. Battery on rear rack was very badly affecting balance of the whole bike. I see you have hybrid bike. It should be OKish if you ride slow on smooth surface and don't corner much. I ordered few things from PSW. Never had to pay anything extra. I have my doubts how it is possible, but prefer not to ask any questions. Yes, the lower and the more central the battery, the better the handling. Anything can work. It's just a question of whether you want adequate or excellent. That's the same as your choice of motor position, torque sensor or cadence sensor, speed control or current control, and cable brakes or hydraulic brakes.
July 13, 20241 yr Author After sales service 100% EXCELLENT https://www.cogsygogs.co.uk/contact-us/ £415 for a motor but they don't appear to do rear rack batteries.
July 13, 20241 yr £415 for a motor but they don't appear to do rear rack batteries. That is very expensive. TSDZ8 from Woosh is better option IMO (£330). Way more powerful than BBS01, but it might be an overkill for your bike.
July 13, 20241 yr Author Battery on rear rack was very badly affecting balance of the whole bike. I see you have hybrid bike. It should be OKish if you ride slow on smooth surface and don't corner much. I often have a 12 pack of 500 m.l. bottles of water in one pannier and an 8 pack of dogfood or Coke etc. in the other pannier this is in addition to my 5 kg battery pack, now admittedly I'm not the most experienced cyclist and don't really have anything to compare it to but, I can say that I've never fallen off due to balance issues. Also the bike will do 30 whilst carrying that weight.
July 13, 20241 yr Bike with heavy battery on rear rack just feels off. Trust me. I wouldn't ride so fast on bike like yours especially with fully loaded panniers. Can you upgrade to disc brakes?
July 13, 20241 yr As a general rule you want to keep weight on a bike as low as possible (within reason). Battery low, panniers low etc. Speaking ow which, can you lower your rear rack? I would install rear hub on bike like yours, but of course respect your choice.
July 13, 20241 yr Author TSDZ8 from Woosh is better option IMO (£330). Way more powerful than BBS01, but it might be an overkill for your bike. I went for Bafang rather than Tongsheng as I didn't like the idea of having to pedal harder to get more power, also research at the time led me to the conclusion that Bafang were stronger and more reliable.
July 13, 20241 yr I went for Bafang rather than Tongsheng as I didn't like the idea of having to pedal harder to get more power, also research at the time led me to the conclusion that Bafang were stronger and more reliable. On the contrary. Bafang BBS01b has less power, so you might find yourself in situation when you will have to pedal hard to get uphill. I didn't try Bafang, but I can tell you I don't have to pedal TSDZ8 hard at all. I don't use third and fourth level of assistance at all. I can't compare reliability. TSDZ8 is new and I didn't see any failure reports.
July 13, 20241 yr Hmmm, cheers for that, £375 with dpc-18 display. No battery though. Also it says delivery by next week, do you think their stock is in the UK? PSW have a motor for £286.70 sent from Germany so presumably import tax to pay too. I'd prefer to get the motor and battery in one order, preferably from within Europe/UK. I got mine delivered in less than 3 days after ordering. Must be uk stock!
July 13, 20241 yr Author Has your old outfit worn out or something? I'm just curious why you want another set if you already have one. How have you found the reliability of your motor? If yours has worn out, how far has it been ridden? How long did the battery last? The old bike is fine and continues to serve me well, in fact I have it listed for sale here... https://www.pedelecs.co.uk/forum/threads/giant-hybrid-with-bafang-middrive.47407/ When I got it back in September 2022 (4500 miles ago) I hadn't been on a bike for over 30 years so I wanted something that would get me to work effortlessly which this bike certainly does but it can chew through brake blocks. And wheels. Oh and chains too. Other than that it has been reliable and needed no maintenance. I did have trouble with the lock nut loosening initially but it's fine now with the extra strapping. It's a joy to ride with the 3 speed hub gears, I have the display set up to give three power levels to match. The battery doesn't seem to have lost any efficiency either. Here is a video of the bike when it still had its 7 speed derailleur fitted going up a very steep hill. The reason I want a new kit is because I have recently purchased a brand new non electric bike with disk brakes and belt drive. I'm a lot fitter now and have ridden the new bike to work a few times but I know I'll still need a little extra help every now and again.
July 13, 20241 yr https://reddragonebikes.co.uk/shop/ tho if you use the programming cable you loose warranty but not support which is fair enough tho doubt you could pop a bbs hd with a stock controller at 30A 52v batt will explode first
July 13, 20241 yr Author I wouldn't ride so fast on bike like yours especially with fully loaded panniers. Can you upgrade to disc brakes? Chicken. I did look into putting disks on it, the front looked easy enough to do but in the end I decided to buy a whole new bike...
July 13, 20241 yr OK... I see now why you don't want rear hub. Nice bike but, How do you plan to marry mid drive with belt? Is the belt strong enough to survive extra torque?
July 13, 20241 yr sure you ca get carbon belts brose use them for there motors but any more than 60nm on a gear hub will rip it to bits. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/265563985982?chn=ps&_ul=GB&_trkparms=ispr%3D1&amdata=enc%3A1H8YhkZvzQ-mp0GkyTJKpSQ38&norover=1&mkevt=1&mkrid=710-134428-41853-0&mkcid=2&mkscid=101&itemid=265563985982&targetid=1646683156259&device=c&mktype=pla&googleloc=9191037&poi=&campaignid=17206177401&mkgroupid=136851690655&rlsatarget=aud-1657461039828:pla-1646683156259&abcId=9300866&merchantid=110768966&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjwy8i0BhAkEiwAdFaeGJwwnh66AJ5jaC6Nlk1906nPJfVAYtrkY7EU2Xr4UDCh6G--lAd6aRoCBqUQAvD_BwE tho if you up the motors amps dump the gear hub and just run with one gear at the back but the belt /chain will need to be straight or wont last 5mins.
July 13, 20241 yr Author sure you ca get carbon belts brose use them for there motors but any more than 60nm on a gear hub will rip it to bits. BBS01 @ 36 volts is only around 60 - 80 Newtons so I should be ok, hopefully.
July 13, 20241 yr BBS01 @ 36 volts is only around 60 - 80 Newtons so I should be ok, hopefully. It would be interesting to see how that SRF3 hub copes with the mid drive power. I've been inside one of my SRF3 hubs that had done 4000 miles plus and it was pretty much unworn. They are quite sturdy inside, so if you are not using high levels of assistance from the motor, they might last ok.
July 13, 20241 yr Author It would be interesting to see how that SRF3 hub copes with the mid drive power. They are quite sturdy inside, so if you are not using high levels of assistance from the motor, they might last ok. I fitted the hub end of March this year or around 600 miles ago and so far it's all good. I do use all of the power some of the time and occasionally will put the motor on full power in gear one and power up and over bridges or hills etc. I did notice that the indicator chain has become twisted somehow so I need to source a replacement, I do sometimes allow it to change gear whilst the motor is supplying power because it feels good to quickly bang through the gears, possibly not the most sympathetic use though...
Join the conversation
You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.