Hi- I’m new to the Forum- been watching g it for a while while funds were waiting for the right time to buy a conversion kit.
There are a range of kits on eBay, but to suit my budget I had to choose something cheap- but having had a nasty experience buying a folder 2 years ago- I didn’t want to make a mistake
The Folders are, so I found- not very good- I brought a Tiger Colombia and it had no power and a nasty gearbox which soon stripped- twice- and a pedalec controller on a brushed DC motor. All the mistakes cost me dearly
About me- well, I used to cycle 32 miles a day, but that was many stones ago and probably 30 years ago. I have 3 kids and cycled since then- I also had an imposed spell of no car licence in the early 90’s, so did a fair bit of cycling then! I’ve always kept a bike nearby and age, weight-gain and a dodgy knew that’s been operated on 3 times now- I thought I’d cheat a bit and go electric.
I brought a Kit off EBay- I paid £260 for it, Inc. 24v SLA batteries- very heavy! It took me about 7 hours to do the conversion- much of the time trying to sus out the wiring- the chap who sold and is selling them still is very honest and states very clearly the problems likely to be experienced- the controllers that came with the kits when HE brought them didn’t work as they are for the wrong ratio gearing- I think they are meant for a direct drive- but these kit are geared 5:1. You do get a controller that will work- it’s just the leads are all different colours and the plugs are mostly different- so there is some fun and false assumptions in wiring the motor, braking it (to my surprise, I’d have expected the breaks to short-circuit the brake- switch,, but in fact they OPEN circuit it) the throttle control wires, the 3-speed switch and the battery-level indicator. Suffice to say- my fist run was at about midnight- but everything worked, so I slept well. Next morning I woke and went out to tidy all the wiring, adjusting the brakes a bit more and fitting a breaker/switch to isolate the battery.
The donor bike is a heavy British Eagle with a set of sprung-forks. I make this latter point as I doubt the front hub motor would have fit between standard forks. I’m well over 16 stone / (I think) and I can mage about 15mph on the flat- 24v, 250 watts. I’m pulling less that 10 amps full throttle; until I go up a hill and really need some assistance- then I pull over 10a and trip the breaker! Anyway- the breaker did what I expected- albeit a bit of a shock on a hill with loads of bank-holiday traffic behind me.
The kit is obviously road-legal- even though there are no markings on the hub motor of controller- the controllers sourced on e-crazyman- and its programmable- I’ve yet to have a go at all that- but I’ve ordered a USB/TTL interface- for curiosity more than anything else.
If someone is considering buying one of the kits- I’m happy to give what advice/assistance I can.
I’ve ordered LI-IONph batteries, so I can lighten the load- the SLA batteries weigh about 12kg.
There are a range of kits on eBay, but to suit my budget I had to choose something cheap- but having had a nasty experience buying a folder 2 years ago- I didn’t want to make a mistake
The Folders are, so I found- not very good- I brought a Tiger Colombia and it had no power and a nasty gearbox which soon stripped- twice- and a pedalec controller on a brushed DC motor. All the mistakes cost me dearly
About me- well, I used to cycle 32 miles a day, but that was many stones ago and probably 30 years ago. I have 3 kids and cycled since then- I also had an imposed spell of no car licence in the early 90’s, so did a fair bit of cycling then! I’ve always kept a bike nearby and age, weight-gain and a dodgy knew that’s been operated on 3 times now- I thought I’d cheat a bit and go electric.
I brought a Kit off EBay- I paid £260 for it, Inc. 24v SLA batteries- very heavy! It took me about 7 hours to do the conversion- much of the time trying to sus out the wiring- the chap who sold and is selling them still is very honest and states very clearly the problems likely to be experienced- the controllers that came with the kits when HE brought them didn’t work as they are for the wrong ratio gearing- I think they are meant for a direct drive- but these kit are geared 5:1. You do get a controller that will work- it’s just the leads are all different colours and the plugs are mostly different- so there is some fun and false assumptions in wiring the motor, braking it (to my surprise, I’d have expected the breaks to short-circuit the brake- switch,, but in fact they OPEN circuit it) the throttle control wires, the 3-speed switch and the battery-level indicator. Suffice to say- my fist run was at about midnight- but everything worked, so I slept well. Next morning I woke and went out to tidy all the wiring, adjusting the brakes a bit more and fitting a breaker/switch to isolate the battery.
The donor bike is a heavy British Eagle with a set of sprung-forks. I make this latter point as I doubt the front hub motor would have fit between standard forks. I’m well over 16 stone / (I think) and I can mage about 15mph on the flat- 24v, 250 watts. I’m pulling less that 10 amps full throttle; until I go up a hill and really need some assistance- then I pull over 10a and trip the breaker! Anyway- the breaker did what I expected- albeit a bit of a shock on a hill with loads of bank-holiday traffic behind me.
The kit is obviously road-legal- even though there are no markings on the hub motor of controller- the controllers sourced on e-crazyman- and its programmable- I’ve yet to have a go at all that- but I’ve ordered a USB/TTL interface- for curiosity more than anything else.
If someone is considering buying one of the kits- I’m happy to give what advice/assistance I can.
I’ve ordered LI-IONph batteries, so I can lighten the load- the SLA batteries weigh about 12kg.
