Converting a little folder
- Thread starter Peter.Bridge
- Start date
Well I won't argue with you on that one. You've done many and I haven't. Really, it would be a bit of a sacrilege to mess up a bike like that anyway. Possibly you might fit a nice BBS01 on the BB. No idea where the battery would go. No one would convert that bike anyway.
front wheel hub motor and swytch style controller/battery positioning??
There was an ARCC conversion for exactly that bike, though a bit expensive.
Electric Bike Review: ARCC Electric Moulton® TSR - ARCC Bikes
Cycle Magazine’s Richard Peace earlier this year took the ARCC Electric Moulton® TSR for an in-depth review. See what he had
www.arccbikes.com
I've never found a bike that couldn't be converted, but I often ask why someone would want to go through the trouble and expense when there are easier options.
That video was interesting. Waves of nostalgia here thinking about my old TSR 27. She is right, it is built to be a fast bike, especially, I would say the one I had with 27 speed campagnolo gears. I said before, I rode it 40 miles in 2 hours and 2 minutes and I was about 49 or 50 and was never a crack speed rider. It just flew along, so it would probably be quite efficient with an electrical assist system. Mind - it was not a cheap bike, which was in the end why I sold it, because it was barely being used. The guy I sold it to, I met on a folder forum and I kid you not, he flew from San Francisco to Heathrow to get it when I said I would not be happy posting it. He was a Dot Com millionaire. I never understood quite why he made that trip. I am sure he could have bought a new one and had it delivered. He did say he had thousands of miles of Air Miles so the trip cost him nothing, but still... A bit weird really.There was an ARCC conversion for exactly that bike, though a bit expensive.
Electric Bike Review: ARCC Electric Moulton® TSR - ARCC Bikes
Cycle Magazine’s Richard Peace earlier this year took the ARCC Electric Moulton® TSR for an in-depth review. See what he had
I've never found a bike that couldn't be converted, but I often ask why someone would want to go through the trouble and expense when there are easier options.
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"When you bolt the caliper on and hit the brakes the bracket bends which binds the pads against the rotor."
https://www.amazon.com/RUJOI-Conversion-Adapter-Alu-Alloy-Threaded/dp/B09MQLZ9V2
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I’m sure it’s just me being a wimp, but I would be very wary of some hookey front wheel after market disc adapter. I’m not handsome but a faceplant isn’t going make me any more so…
Simplest conversion ever. Swap the front wheel, fit the snap on PAS, connect up to the KT controller (also in battery bag). Seems very good, more powerful than I thought, less than 4 kg added including battery.
Easy to pedal with no assist.
Redid my little test circuit
Unbelievably (and I know noone here will believe it) the battery dropped from 42V to 40.5v (measured with multimeter) for a 36v 10Ah battery (I did double check Woosh hadn't sent me a bigger battery by mistake) which would give a range of > 50 miles !
Random musings on my part
1) The kit came with a KT 36V/48V 6 mosfet controller with max current 15 A, which seemed quite a lot for the little AKM-74 . Topbikekit also sell a AKM-74 48V version (I presume with different winding) - 48V 15A seems a lot of power for a microhub.
2) I wonder if the 20 inch wheel mitigates the small torque from the motor - so you end up with something that is a lot better climbing hills than I would expect
3) The front hub seems to work quite well and having the battery over the front wheel seems to help the balance - The riding position is very upright, so I think more of the weight would be over the back wheel. Its quite well balanced to move around and carry. I did add an extra strap to the battery bag, to strap it onto the front vertical bar - it is very secure now.
4 ) I wonder if the lightness of the motor mitigates some of the usual front hub disadvantages - I know @Nealh has a bike with the Bafang micro hub in a front wheel
5) I converted this bike for a specific purpose - having a bike to take in the campervan with us on holiday, so it would do limited mileage. However my wife has quite taken to it (especially how easy it is to get out and put back). I might have to persuade her for us to change to a disc braked folding donor bike and move the kit across (which wouldn't be a big job)
6) I can see how you could use a kit like this for a lightweight bike, as per Woosh Faro. There's plenty of 10kg road bikes of ebay/marketplace/gumtree. You can add a similar kit with a 36V 10Ah (or even a 36V 15Ah or 48V 10Ah) bag battery and still end up with a very light e-bike
1) The kit came with a KT 36V/48V 6 mosfet controller with max current 15 A, which seemed quite a lot for the little AKM-74 . Topbikekit also sell a AKM-74 48V version (I presume with different winding) - 48V 15A seems a lot of power for a microhub.
2) I wonder if the 20 inch wheel mitigates the small torque from the motor - so you end up with something that is a lot better climbing hills than I would expect
3) The front hub seems to work quite well and having the battery over the front wheel seems to help the balance - The riding position is very upright, so I think more of the weight would be over the back wheel. Its quite well balanced to move around and carry. I did add an extra strap to the battery bag, to strap it onto the front vertical bar - it is very secure now.
4 ) I wonder if the lightness of the motor mitigates some of the usual front hub disadvantages - I know @Nealh has a bike with the Bafang micro hub in a front wheel
5) I converted this bike for a specific purpose - having a bike to take in the campervan with us on holiday, so it would do limited mileage. However my wife has quite taken to it (especially how easy it is to get out and put back). I might have to persuade her for us to change to a disc braked folding donor bike and move the kit across (which wouldn't be a big job)
6) I can see how you could use a kit like this for a lightweight bike, as per Woosh Faro. There's plenty of 10kg road bikes of ebay/marketplace/gumtree. You can add a similar kit with a 36V 10Ah (or even a 36V 15Ah or 48V 10Ah) bag battery and still end up with a very light e-bike
Far too rich for my blood! This one has SRAM Dualdrive, therefore might have 135mm rear dropouts? If so, easy no-spread insertion of powerful rear hub motor perhaps? For dudes who enjoy that sort of thing.
Moulton TSR27 Spaceframe Shimano XT LX Jagwire Ergon SRAM DD3 DUAL DRIVE Carbon | eBay
Shimano XT Jagwire Ergon SRAM DD3 DUAL DRIVE Carbon Front & Cone Rear suspension - in excellent almost mint, blemish free condition. Jagwire XEX & CSX Low Friction colour matched cables on all brakes/shifters.
www.ebay.co.uk
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It was a very nice ride that bike. To be honest, it had so many gears and was so easy to ride, I don't think I'd need any electricity to ride it anywhere - even now many years later. I sold it because it seemed just too valuable to be lying in the garage, and I never dared leave it alone outside, anywhere I rode it.Far too rich for my blood! This one has SRAM Dualdrive, therefore might have 135mm rear dropouts? If so, easy no-spread insertion of powerful rear hub motor perhaps? For dudes who enjoy that sort of thing.
Moulton TSR27 Spaceframe Shimano XT LX Jagwire Ergon SRAM DD3 DUAL DRIVE Carbon | eBay
Shimano XT Jagwire Ergon SRAM DD3 DUAL DRIVE Carbon Front & Cone Rear suspension - in excellent almost mint, blemish free condition. Jagwire XEX & CSX Low Friction colour matched cables on all brakes/shifters.www.ebay.co.uk
PostScript
My mother in law came up for the weekend and had a go on the folder - she was blown away.
She loved how light it is(including 36v 10Ah bag battery + pannier it is 16.3kg) to get out and put away and how easy it was to pedal with no assistance and how comfortable the pedalling position was
Even up hills she was only using level 2 PAS ( out of 5) - she is at at guess 50-55 kg though !
She used to cycle a lot but hasn't done recently and she asked if I would do one for her. I have persuaded her to start off with a donor bike with disc brakes . might swap the freewheel to a DNP one if needed
Thinking
www.compass24.com
Or https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/7844967482208701/
(Seems to get good reviews - https://road.cc/content/review/carrera-intercity-disc-9-speed-folding-bike-292787 )
Interesting in that review it mentions that it can be a bit light over the front wheel, using a front hub motor and battery on the handlebar stem would help.
Just checking if all those are steel forks (would it matter for such a low toque motor?)
My mother in law came up for the weekend and had a go on the folder - she was blown away.
She loved how light it is(including 36v 10Ah bag battery + pannier it is 16.3kg) to get out and put away and how easy it was to pedal with no assistance and how comfortable the pedalling position was
Even up hills she was only using level 2 PAS ( out of 5) - she is at at guess 50-55 kg though !
She used to cycle a lot but hasn't done recently and she asked if I would do one for her. I have persuaded her to start off with a donor bike with disc brakes . might swap the freewheel to a DNP one if needed
Thinking
Compass folding bike 20 inch blue
Robust 20" aluminium wheel with new design. Easy to assemble thanks to simple fasteners. Equipped with a fixed luggage rack, 7-...
www.compass24.com
Folding bike 20 inch wheels 7 speed shimano gears disc brakes Dolphin 2 model Black or white colour
New ALUMINIUM dolphin model 2.0 - 20 inch wheel folding bike with 7 speed shimano gears with free tool kit. Avaiable in colours black with green or white with red Easy folding and ideal for commuting and storing away. Free tool kit worth £9.99 Features: FRAME : Aluminium SHIFTER LEVER ...
buydirectltd.co.uk
Or https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/7844967482208701/
(Seems to get good reviews - https://road.cc/content/review/carrera-intercity-disc-9-speed-folding-bike-292787 )
Interesting in that review it mentions that it can be a bit light over the front wheel, using a front hub motor and battery on the handlebar stem would help.
Just checking if all those are steel forks (would it matter for such a low toque motor?)
Glad it worked so well. Hope it proves durable. You seem to have achieved a highish average speed. Does it cut off at 15.5 mph? Your average speed is above that. Also, very good efficiency with so little of the battery used. Amazing really.
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That's with the cutoff set to 17mph (15.5 +10% leeway that is legal). With the @saneagle DNP Freewheel (11 teeth for the highest gear) I can go at a faster speed down the hills without any assistance.
I think it should be OK reliability wise (cross fingers
)- it's just an Aikema hub motor, PAS sensor, KT controller and LCD and battery
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Does the controller use speed control? If it does, it makes no difference whether your in level 1 or 5. The power is the same as long as you go slow because you get max power in every level until you reach the speed limit.
No - its a KT 36/48V 6 mosfet 15A sine wave controller from topbikekit with the power based pas levels -the hills weren't that steep mind
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