Electric Bikes Conversion Kits EMTBS eRoad/Commuting What's New?

Brake Levers

D

Deleted member 4366

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Are the connectors for the brake switches that are on the controller three wires?
 
jackhandy

jackhandy

Esteemed Pedelecer
May 20, 2012
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the Cornish Alps
2 I think - Can't be sure without opening up the silicon-sealed box it's in.

Just had a butchers at the pdf manual & it describes the connectors as 2 wire, but refers to brake levers, which were supplied with earlier kits, I believe :confused:
 
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D

Deleted member 4366

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Can't you disconnect it and look in the connector to see how many pins/holes?

The picture on BMSbattery clearly shoes three wires with a connector like a pedal sensor one and a diagram showing red 5v, yellow 0v and blue signal, but I've never seen a controller with connectors for these, so you can't connect them directly to your controller even if you have the high voltage brake wire on it. The 8Fun controller in their kit must be specifically designed for them.
 
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Waspy

Waspy

Esteemed Pedelecer
Sep 8, 2012
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jackhandy said:
My 8fun kit came with the inline brake cutout switches: I've got 'em fitted front and rear & they work a treat.
I have similar combined brake lever & gear shifts to yours.

If you go with a kit that doesn't have them, I think they're less than a fiver each.
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What exact kit did you buy please?
 
D

Deleted member 4366

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I just had a look at a bike that I built a while ago to see how I got round the problem:

I chucked the left side integrated lever and used one of the supplied levers with brake switch. I then pinched a twist-grip changer off a really cheap scrap bike that I had, and then used a thumb throttle on the left side.

While you've got power, you'll always be on the biggest chain-ring, so gear-changing isn't going to be a problem on that side and it works perfectly anyway. Although it's better to have two brake switches, one on the back brake is adequate.

So, when choosing a kit, make sure you get one with a thumb throttle - the type with three LEDs and a switch in it. Greenbikekit.com is going to be your best bet, then you can get one of their nice headway batteries to go with it for a bit more climbing power. The whole lot will be about £450.
 
Waspy

Waspy

Esteemed Pedelecer
Sep 8, 2012
431
170
d8veh said:
I just had a look at a bike that I built a while ago to see how I got round the problem:

I chucked the left side integrated lever and used one of the supplied levers with brake switch. I then pinched a twist-grip changer off a really cheap scrap bike that I had, and then used a thumb throttle on the left side.

While you've got power, you'll always be on the biggest chain-ring, so gear-changing isn't going to be a problem on that side and it works perfectly anyway. Although it's better to have two brake switches, one on the back brake is adequate.

So, when choosing a kit, make sure you get one with a thumb throttle - the type with three LEDs and a switch in it. Greenbikekit.com is going to be your best bet, then you can get one of their nice headway batteries to go with it for a bit more climbing power. The whole lot will be about £450.
Click to expand...
OK, let's see if I have this right.

Remove the left side integrated lever and option of no front mech and just use the biggest chainring OR fit a twistgrip gear changer on the left.

Use the brake lever supplied in the kit on the left with cut-off sensor for the back brake.

By the way, are those brake levers in the kits suitable for V-brakes?

Fit a thumb throttle on the left, a bit weird after having ridden motorbikes but do-able.

You say choose a throttle with 3 LEDs and a switch, what do the LEDs and a switch do exactly on a throttle?

I see no mention of the word 'Headway' on Greenbikekit's website.

If you have the time, I would be very grateful if you could write me shopping list for Greenbikekit, for a front motor 700c bike.
 
D

Deleted member 4366

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Waspy said:
OK, let's see if I have this right.

Remove the left side integrated lever and option of no front mech and just use the biggest chainring OR fit a twistgrip gear changer on the left.

Use the brake lever supplied in the kit on the left with cut-off sensor for the back brake.

By the way, are those brake levers in the kits suitable for V-brakes?

Fit a thumb throttle on the left, a bit weird after having ridden motorbikes but do-able.

You say choose a throttle with 3 LEDs and a switch, what do the LEDs and a switch do exactly on a throttle?

I see no mention of the word 'Headway' on Greenbikekit's website.

If you have the time, I would be very grateful if you could write me shopping list for Greenbikekit, for a front motor 700c bike.
Click to expand...
Yes, you have that all right.

What kit you get depends on what power and speed you want and how much you want to spend Personally. I prefer a rear motor because theyre more stealthy, but the downside is that you have to spend an extra £25 on a 11T free-wheel from Cyclezee. This one will do about 20mph but is not the best climber:
GBK-100R 36V250W rear driving electric bike kit for DIY electric bike-GreenBikeKit online store for electric bicycle components-GreenBikeKit.com

If you want to go for a front motor, then this one:
36V250W electric bike kit for front wheel, DIY your smart electric bike-GreenBikeKit online store for electric bicycle components-GreenBikeKit.com

Here's the throttle:
Wuxing Thumb throttle with battery switch and battery capacity display for electric bicycle online store for electric bicycle components-GreenBikeKit.com

For the battery, you need to decide on how much range you want. Using a lot of power. 10aH will get you 20miles. 15aH 30 miles. You can double that with a lot of pedalling at lower speed. Bigger batteries weigh more and spoil your bike so decide carefully. If you get a 15aH battery, you won't need Headway battery with that motor, but for 10aH it allows you to turn up the current a bit in the controller to give better climbing and the ability to maintain a higher speed.

Here's the Headway batteries - all the ones with blue cells:
phosphate, lifepo4, lithium battery manufacturer, electric bike kit supplier online store for electric bicycle components-GreenBikeKit.com
Plus this one:
lifepo4 36V10AH 38120 battery with ebike carrier and suitable case for e-bike-GreenBikeKit online store for electric bicycle components-GreenBikeKit.com

Apart from the white one, the others come as a shrink-wrapped brick with charge and discharge leads, so you have to make an enclosure. I like to fit them in a football boot bag with plywood base, which is nice and stealthy. If you switch externally and have the charge connector on the outside, you can cable-tie the zip, which keeps our light-fingered friends away -up to a point. Here's an example with 12aH Headway battery and controller in there too plus an extensive toolkit (causing the bulge):
 
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jackhandy

jackhandy

Esteemed Pedelecer
May 20, 2012
1,820
323
the Cornish Alps
d8veh said:
Can't you disconnect it and look in the connector to see how many pins/holes?

The problem is, all my connectors are in here Bike box.jpg
and I don't really want to disturb it until I'm ready to solder the shunt over the weekend, if I decide to do so :eek: If I do open it up, I'll repost.

@ waspy: I bought the 26 wheel kit with bottle battery, but they do kits with bigger rackmount batteries for about the same money

8Fun Ltd

The bottle battery they supplied me apparently has panasonic cells & is labelled 15w continuous; 18w pulse (10 minutes), which seems to be a stronger battery than that supplied previously...

BUT Check for Yourself - don't take my words as gospel :eek:
Click to expand...
 
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