I've decided hub rather than cd

[D C]

I have calculated that the total weight of the bike with all the kit on will only come to about 17kg approximately and I only paid £700 in total for the bike so I'm well chuffed.

That sounds good, what bike did you buy? I'm thinking of getting a new and more suitable bike for my kit.

 

[ray74]

That sounds good, what bike did you buy? I'm thinking of getting a new and more suitable bike for my kit.

I bought a trek 4300 hardtail from ebay, it weighs 12kg and ive beem told that the kit weighs between 4-6kg so I averaged it and got 17kg. I did a bit of research before I bought it but from what I could tell the frame on this bike is really well made, very strong, light and it looks great.

I got the 2012 model for just over 250 on ebay and it costs 550 new.

cant wait to get my kit fitted, I was sweating like a pig on the way home plus it was raining but I still managed to reach my bus stop at the same time as my usual bus did.

 

[D C]

That's a nice bike, I'm sure you've done the right thing and will end up with a top quality bike.
I didn't weigh my kit, (wish I had before fitting it just out of curiosity) but the rear rack battery is marked as 4 kg so with the motor, controller, rack, hub and wiring maybe you'll be closer to 18 kg
Enjoy fitting and don't rush it, particularly the forks filling bit

 

[ray74]

That's a nice bike, I'm sure you've done the right thing and will end up with a top quality bike.
I didn't weigh my kit, (wish I had before fitting it just out of curiosity) but the rear rack battery is marked as 4 kg so with the motor, controller, rack, hub and wiring maybe you'll be closer to 18 kg
Enjoy fitting and don't rush it, particularly the forks filling bit

I definitely wont rush it, the fork filing is the only part that I'm not looking forward to but I am going to take my time on it and make sure its all installed neat and correctly, its got to last me at least 1000 miles to pay for it self so rushing it is not an option.

I have opted for the bottle battery because my commute is 10 miles to work and then I can top up the battery when I'm there and another 10 miles back so the 9ah won't be a problem for me, plus I prefer the weight of the battery closer down the frame rather than above the rear wheel. if I was doing more miles then I would of gone for the rack battery but for now I think this one should do me fine.

 

[rustic]

Hi Ray,

Are the front forks made from steel ? If not, will they be strong enough for a front hub motor?

 

[Deleted member 4366]

Your bottle battery should easily do the 20 mile round trip. You need to think about how to do your brake cut-offs if you have hydraulic brakes. You'll either have to make your own switches or "T" in one of those Magura hydraulic switches that cost about £30. Another solution is to swap the rear hydraulic caliper for a cable one.

It's a shame to put a kit like that on such a nice bike like that.It deserves better. There's nothing wrong with your kit. but it would have been much nicer with a rear cassette motor and a high power bottle battery. I could have sold you a a nice kit with cassette motor and LCD display very cheaply if you'd asked first. I've got three motors left if anybody's interested. See the classified section.

 

[ray74]

Hi Ray,

Are the front forks made from steel ? If not, will they be strong enough for a front hub motor?

Hi rustic. I'm not sure if they are steel or alloy but I have been told by 2 different e bike dealers that my forks will be fine. They are suntour forks similar to the ones on the cyclotricity revolver and stealth. Failing that though if they aren't any good then I can get another pair of forks cheap enough. My friends father owns a bike shop and always stripping bikes down to sell the parts.

 

[ray74]

Your bottle battery should easily do the 20 mile round trip. You need to think about how to do your brake cut-offs if you have hydraulic brakes. You'll either have to make your own switches or "T" in one of those Magura hydraulic switches that cost about £30. Another solution is to swap the rear hydraulic caliper for a cable one.

It's a shame to put a kit like that on such a nice bike like that.It deserves better. There's nothing wrong with your kit. but it would have been much nicer with a rear cassette motor and a high power bottle battery. I could have sold you a a nice kit with cassette motor and LCD display very cheaply if you'd asked first. I've got three motors left if anybody's interested. See the classified section.

Sorry d8veh, I didn't know you had any other wise I would have looked into them. I know what you mean about the front hub on a bike like that. I've seen Some really nice looking quality bikes with rear hubs and the cassette and brake disc hides it away nicely.
I think for my first ebike though I will be happy with this one. I like the idea that if anything went wrong with my kit I can just get it sorted in one place rather than trying to remember where I go each bit from.

I've sourced a motor cycle mechanical brake switch and I'm going to attach it to the bars and join it to the brake lever with a spring wire. I've seen a few videos on you tube of other people doing it and it looks quite easy.

Just out of curiosity, would your LCD displays fit with the kit I bought and I so would you just sell the display on its own?
Thanks in advance.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

The motorbike brake switch is a good idea. Which switch exactly will you use? Some are a bit bulky. If you also do a search on Endless Sphere for hydraulic brake switches, there's a few nice solutions, or if your brakes are such that you can screw on a bracket, you can take the switches out of your kit brakes and use them. I did that on my Rocky Mountain, and also, Amigafan's solution is very neat.

Post#160
http://www.pedelecs.co.uk/forum/electric-bicycles/9442-new-build-16.html

Post#16
http://www.pedelecs.co.uk/forum/electric-bicycles/12481-rocky-mountain-element-conversion-2.html


My LCD displays can work with a number of different controllers, but my controllers can't work without the display, so I can't separate them.

 

[ray74]

No probs, I thought that might be the case with the controller.

Those pics are a great idea. I didn't think of fixing them on like that but it looks really good so I will have to do something along those lines myself ( no pun intended ). I'm on endless sphere now having a look because the switch I got is I little longer than the ones shown in the pictures. I'll sort it one way or another.
Thanks for the pics, I can picture how I can fix them on now without it looking a mess.

 

[ray74]

If I've done this right you should see here a picture of my brake lever, I should be able to fix an hydraulic switch on to it like the pictures you posted earlier