Could you give me your opinion on this kit?

[Woosh]

That's all there is to this kit.

It's a pretty high quality build, Hollowtech crankset, torque sensing. The whole thing as you see on the picture weighs 1,023grs on my scales.

I have been riding around town with it for a month.
I absolutely love it. The whole thing is virtually silent, no creaking noise whatsoever.
I find that I just use the gears instead of changing assist levels on an LCD.

Would you pay £120 for it? My first thought was it's pretty expensive for a controller as all donor bikes have already got a crankset. But then, I love its minimalist approach. I would pay it but would you?

 

[wheeliepete]

Looks interesting Woosh, There's not a lot of choice with TS kits, so you could be onto something. I don't think it's silly money. I'm sure you could offer it with a motor and battery for a reasonable price. The motor lead looks a bit short to join up with the motor.

 

[Woosh]

thanks pete.
The motor lead was for an Aikema motor which comes with its 9-pin cable about 4" longer than usual.

This is how the wiring looks:

 

[Nealh]

That simple TS kit is ideal for any 9 pin hub motor and neater then the BMSB KT TS kit with TSO6S controller. Shame it is only single chain ring a double would be great.
What it the controller rating and voltage ?
Who makes it ?
Also are TS/controller available in case of failures.

I have for a while been considering a TS crank kit for at least one of my bikes but wary that TS06S doesn't appear to be available as a separate spare part.

 

[Woosh]

it works well with all the 9-pin motors I've tried.

Shame it is only single chain ring a double would be great.

it has 135 BCD system ring, so more rings may be possible.

What it the controller rating and voltage ?

currently runs at 36V 15A sine wave

Also are TS/controller available in case of failures.

it would be a straight swap out, 5 minutes job, no special tool, just allen keys.

I am thinking it would suit high quality bikes where customers may be willing to pay a premium to avoid wiring.

 

[Laser Man]

Looks very good - had it been available when I did my bike last autumn I would have been very tempted.

It took me most of a day to sort out fitting the PAS sensor to my hollowtech - and that's with having all the tools I could need (including a laser cutter). Brilliant to just bolt it in and be ready to go!

I don't see a wire for a display - is it a bluetooth thingy or do you have to fly blind?

 

[Woosh]

I don't see a wire for a display - is it a bluetooth thingy or do you have to fly blind?

the battery cable has 6 pins.
The LCD plugs into the battery.
If you don't want to use the LCD, you change gear to adjust the ratio pedal pressure to speed.
I thought at the beginning that it won't fly without an LCD and +/- buttons to change assist level but after a few minutes, I found it's just as natural to change the gears instead of pressing the +/- buttons.
If you run without the LCD, you may break current law on limiting speed assist to 15.5mph.

 

[anotherkiwi]

48v ? If your manufacturer could make a PAS + 48v sine wave controller with Hollowtech crankset and 130 BCD spider you would have a customer at £120. I would also want a seperate LCD connector + battery + motor out.

 

[Woosh]

48v ?

I am sure that can do that.

130 BCD

I must say I was disappointed - 130 BCD is certainly 10 times more popular.
unfortunately, they've already made the tools.

I would also want a seperate LCD connector + battery + motor out.

you can make your own LCD connector, I keep spares for that. The connector on the battery takes the same KM529 and KD68C LCDs that we use on our kits and bikes.

 

[wheeliepete]

130 BCD is certainly 10 times more popular.

I find it really strange when this sort of thing happens, why not go with a popular size? It must be one of the first considerations when planning the design surely, or maybe I'm missing something. i guess the space needed for TS and controller could have made them go the few mm's larger.

 

[anotherkiwi]

The Chinese are good at cheap and easy - they have issues with good industrial design.

 

[Woosh]

I find it really strange when this sort of thing happens, why not go with a popular size?

if there is much demand for 36T/38T rings, I would bring them in from China, they charge me about the same money for 130 or 135 BCD (about £10).

 

[Nealh]

I would want 32/48 or 34/48 double a hub drive even a TS hub drive, for me I find a single doesn't either cut it on hills or on the flat. Either spin too much or to high a gearing even with 9/10 speed.

 

[Laser Man]

Most people doing a conversion are (or were in the past) fairly keen cyclists who are used to lots of gears.
It could be a better sales ploy to fit dual chain rings as standard - a more attractive buy even if the cost is marginally higher.

I seriously considered a Rio MTB before going down the conversion kit route : it was that single chain ring that put me off buying one.
Now with 27 gears on hand, I find that I use the middle chain ring extensively when riding (slowly) with unpowered friends - the large ring is reserved for when I'm whizzing along by myself.

 

[Woosh]

I will look carefully at 34T/48T.
Chinese New Year holiday starts next week, I can't do much until they come back in a month's time.

 

[Nealh]

Thanks for the reminder Tony, Chinese New Year. Not a good time to order anything.

 

[mechaniker]

Would you pay £120 for it?

I think 120 is rather cheap than expensive if it works reliable. Not my favourite solution but the idea is not bad..... torquecontrolling and hollowtech-II compatible is for sure something nice in compare to other cheap solutions on the market. Where is the chain-line, less than 50mm?

 

[Woosh]

Where is the chain-line, less than 50mm?

On my Giant test bike, it's on gear No 5 of 8, so it should be less than 50mm.

Edit: just measured it: 50mm.

 

[Woosh]

I think 120 is rather cheap than expensive if it works reliable.

that price £120 is as it is. You can fit an optional LCD if you wish.
I find that I cope easily without the LCD, just change gears to suit the terrain.
No need to run the LCD cable to the handlebars.
I am getting a very compact 36V 10AH battery made to go with it. The battery weighs just 1.2kg.
The main problem is the length of the BB. It's made for 68mm / 73mm bottom bracket. Quite a few nice bikes are fitted with wider BB.

 

[wheeliepete]

am getting a very compact 36V 10AH battery made to go with it

Hmm, I smell 21700'sdon't tell AK, he'll start dribbling again(admin,we need a Homer emoji)