As my first ebike conversion is now finished, I decided to do a write-up about it which some of you may find interesting, perhaps even helpful.
Background and reasons for doing a conversion
After test-riding an electric bike last November and being impressed by ebikes, (but not by the prices), I decided to have a go at doing a conversion. I'm not the most mechanically minded person, but after seeing some of the conversions in the forum it inspired me to have a go. It looked like a lot of fun and considerably cheaper. What also appealed to me about doing a conversion is that you can choose the ideal bike for you, and then convert it in a way that suits your own requirements, both in terms of how the bike looks and functions.
Choosing the kit
I started this project by choosing the kit. I had seen Vitenso kits mentioned in the forum and after checking them out at rftec I knew right away that was the kit for me because it had an LCD console and I'm a sucker for gadgets. Although there weren't any reviews or forum appraisals of the kits, some of the parts (the motors and LCD) had been used by other notable manufacturers, so I decided the kit couldn't be all that bad and decided to go ahead and order one at 330 euros delivered. That was without a battery. The batteries were available but the cost was off-putting to say the last, at 400 euros..it seemed over-priced to me. I had already heard in the forum about cheaper batteries being available on eBay directly from China, so I decided to come back to the battery question later.
The motor in the kit (2.3kg) was supplied spoked into a wheel. I opted for a front-wheel kit as it seemed a much simpler way of converting a bike from what I'd read. The motor and controller are 36 volts 250 watts rated. I considered 24 volts for the smaller battery sizes, but got the impression that higher voltage is better for ebikes if you want decent performance.
Choosing the bike
Choosing the right bike was quite difficult and I spent about a month looking at different bikes. I live in a second floor flat, and I had decided that I would not be storing my precious ebike in the outside shed. So it made sense to get a folding bike so it would be easier to carry up the stairs and easy to store away in a cupboard without taking up too much space. Obviously the lighter the bike the better too. Initially I looked at Dahon, Raleigh and some other branded bikes but they were all rather expensive or too heavy or just not quite right in how they looked (I'm a fussy bugger!). I finally decided on the Dahon Espresso, a 26" folding bike which I knew converted well. Then just as I was about to purchase one I saw a company called Bicycles4u offering bikes with a frame style similar to the Espresso for £150, so I decided to get one and check it out to assess whether it could be converted.
Modifying the bike
The bike itself had a similar spec to the Dahon Espresso, Shimano 21-speed gears, 26" wheels, V-brakes, folding pedals, quick release saddle, but obviously lower spec components. The bike also weighed 14.5kg only 1kg heavier than the Dahon, on account of having a steel frame as opposed to the Dahon's aluminium alloy. I figured a steel frame would be better for electric conversion with stronger forks. I set about upgrading the bike and fitted a nice comfortable saddle, some comfortable ergonomically shaped grips, and then later I replaced the inner tubes and tyres. The 21-speed gears seemed unnecessary on an electric bike, and the two gear shifts took up too much space on the handlebars. I needed one side free for the throttle and LCD console. So I decided to remove the front gears, leaving the bike with 7 gears operated by a twist gear shift on the right-hand side.
The cost of the bike upgrades came to £65.95, giving me a pre-conversion bike cost of £215.94.
Before I even started converting the bike, I tested it out as a normal bike and rode it a bit to see how it handled and what things would need to be altered or changed, and also to get a feel for the bike in order to make some comparisons when riding unpowered with the motor fitted. That proved quite useful.
Choosing a battery
After reading OldTimer's review of a cheap Chinese LiFePo4 battery he had purchased from on eBay, I decided to take the plunge and order from the same supplier. At this stage I still had no clear idea how I would store the battery and controller. All I knew was, I wanted the battery as small and light as possible, but without sacrificing range too much. The reason for this was I decided I wanted a battery I could remove off the bike and carry.
The smallest battery the seller was offering was 10Ah..way too heavy at nearly 4kg. So I asked him would it be possible to make me two batteries, 5Ah each, with separate BMS and one charger. No problem he said. £174 all inclusive. Sold I said. The batteries arrived in about 7 days from China. They were cube shaped, 10x10x14cm, each weighing 1.83kg. This was about the maximum weight I could comfortably carry around, so I was confident I had struck the right balance between power and weight. I had done a bit of research into batteries on the forum and calculated that they should definitely be good for a minimum of 10 miles. But obviously I was still uncertain at this stage how these small batteries would perform in the real world.
Doing the conversion
The first thing I did was fit the front wheel with the motor and then I started thinking about where and how I would mount the controller and battery. The kit provided a little material controller bag with velcro straps which was pretty useless. Fixing anything to the seat post was quickly ruled out as the seat post didn't have sufficient height and clearance from the rear wheel for a battery and a controller. I had decided at this stage that it made sense to keep them both together, primarily for ease of removal and neatness.
One of my main reasons for doing a conversion was to end up with a bike that does not look like an electric bike. So I wanted the battery and electrics to be discrete and not noticeable.
It soon became apparent to me that the best place to put the controller and a battery, was on the handlebars. My thinking behind this was two-fold. Firstly, since the motor was in the front wheel, it made sense to have everything directly above it. Less wiring across the bike frame, and easy to remove stuff. Secondly, when I eventually get round to fitting a rear rack to the bike, I would want it kept free for carrying shopping and other things.
I found a cheap £5 handlebar bag on eBay which as luck would have it was the perfect size for my battery and controller. It is reinforced inside with plastic which was nice and attaches to the handlebars securely with velcro straps and had no problem supporting the weight. It looked discrete and it was neat.
I continued on with the conversion and fitted the throttle and LCD console. I opted for a thumb-throttle rather than a twist throttle, which as it turned out was a good choice and much simpler to fit.
After trying various places on the handlebar and a bit of fiddling around, it became apparent that the best place for both throttle and LCD, was together, on the left hand side. This not only looked better, but it was more comfortable position.
All that was left was the pedal sensor which fits into the crank and regulates the level of pedal assist power. This proved to be the most challenging part of the conversion so far, mainly because I didn't quite understand where to fit the sensor (my conversion kit manual was in German!) and how the crank assembly came apart. After getting some help in the forum I knew where the sensor had to be mounted and I did a bit of research into the crank assembly and figured it all out. Once I knew what to do the actual installing of the sensor went very smoothly as did re-assembling of the crank. And luckily for me, it worked first time. It was rather pleasing to turn the pedals on the upturned bike and hear the motor whir into action!
Unusually this kit has no brake cut-out levers. The controller is so efficient that it is able to cut out the motor instantly the second you stop pedalling. I had my doubts this would be the case, but was proved wrong as it did exactly what it said on the tin when tested. This I think is a big bonus as it saves the hassle of messing with brakes and means you can use whatever brake levers you like.
There were a lot of loose wires hanging around and I wanted a way to keep these out of sight and neat. Cable ties provided the solution. Using 3mm cable ties I was able to secure the sensor cable to the gear shift cable along the underside of the frame out of sight. The cable ties are so small you can hardly notice them.
So with the battery and controller mounted on the handlebar, and the LCD, throttle and pedal assist sensor all mounted, that completed the conversion work. The total weight of the bike with everything on it, comes to a little over 20kg. I would of liked it below 20kg but it's not too bad. I can carry the bike up and down the stairs folded without straining too much.
With the extra cost of the battery (excluding my spare battery) and charger, plus the handlebar bag coming in at £95, that brought the total cost of the project to £602.
Background and reasons for doing a conversion
After test-riding an electric bike last November and being impressed by ebikes, (but not by the prices), I decided to have a go at doing a conversion. I'm not the most mechanically minded person, but after seeing some of the conversions in the forum it inspired me to have a go. It looked like a lot of fun and considerably cheaper. What also appealed to me about doing a conversion is that you can choose the ideal bike for you, and then convert it in a way that suits your own requirements, both in terms of how the bike looks and functions.
Choosing the kit
I started this project by choosing the kit. I had seen Vitenso kits mentioned in the forum and after checking them out at rftec I knew right away that was the kit for me because it had an LCD console and I'm a sucker for gadgets. Although there weren't any reviews or forum appraisals of the kits, some of the parts (the motors and LCD) had been used by other notable manufacturers, so I decided the kit couldn't be all that bad and decided to go ahead and order one at 330 euros delivered. That was without a battery. The batteries were available but the cost was off-putting to say the last, at 400 euros..it seemed over-priced to me. I had already heard in the forum about cheaper batteries being available on eBay directly from China, so I decided to come back to the battery question later.
The motor in the kit (2.3kg) was supplied spoked into a wheel. I opted for a front-wheel kit as it seemed a much simpler way of converting a bike from what I'd read. The motor and controller are 36 volts 250 watts rated. I considered 24 volts for the smaller battery sizes, but got the impression that higher voltage is better for ebikes if you want decent performance.
Choosing the bike
Choosing the right bike was quite difficult and I spent about a month looking at different bikes. I live in a second floor flat, and I had decided that I would not be storing my precious ebike in the outside shed. So it made sense to get a folding bike so it would be easier to carry up the stairs and easy to store away in a cupboard without taking up too much space. Obviously the lighter the bike the better too. Initially I looked at Dahon, Raleigh and some other branded bikes but they were all rather expensive or too heavy or just not quite right in how they looked (I'm a fussy bugger!). I finally decided on the Dahon Espresso, a 26" folding bike which I knew converted well. Then just as I was about to purchase one I saw a company called Bicycles4u offering bikes with a frame style similar to the Espresso for £150, so I decided to get one and check it out to assess whether it could be converted.
Modifying the bike
The bike itself had a similar spec to the Dahon Espresso, Shimano 21-speed gears, 26" wheels, V-brakes, folding pedals, quick release saddle, but obviously lower spec components. The bike also weighed 14.5kg only 1kg heavier than the Dahon, on account of having a steel frame as opposed to the Dahon's aluminium alloy. I figured a steel frame would be better for electric conversion with stronger forks. I set about upgrading the bike and fitted a nice comfortable saddle, some comfortable ergonomically shaped grips, and then later I replaced the inner tubes and tyres. The 21-speed gears seemed unnecessary on an electric bike, and the two gear shifts took up too much space on the handlebars. I needed one side free for the throttle and LCD console. So I decided to remove the front gears, leaving the bike with 7 gears operated by a twist gear shift on the right-hand side.
The cost of the bike upgrades came to £65.95, giving me a pre-conversion bike cost of £215.94.
Before I even started converting the bike, I tested it out as a normal bike and rode it a bit to see how it handled and what things would need to be altered or changed, and also to get a feel for the bike in order to make some comparisons when riding unpowered with the motor fitted. That proved quite useful.
Choosing a battery
After reading OldTimer's review of a cheap Chinese LiFePo4 battery he had purchased from on eBay, I decided to take the plunge and order from the same supplier. At this stage I still had no clear idea how I would store the battery and controller. All I knew was, I wanted the battery as small and light as possible, but without sacrificing range too much. The reason for this was I decided I wanted a battery I could remove off the bike and carry.
The smallest battery the seller was offering was 10Ah..way too heavy at nearly 4kg. So I asked him would it be possible to make me two batteries, 5Ah each, with separate BMS and one charger. No problem he said. £174 all inclusive. Sold I said. The batteries arrived in about 7 days from China. They were cube shaped, 10x10x14cm, each weighing 1.83kg. This was about the maximum weight I could comfortably carry around, so I was confident I had struck the right balance between power and weight. I had done a bit of research into batteries on the forum and calculated that they should definitely be good for a minimum of 10 miles. But obviously I was still uncertain at this stage how these small batteries would perform in the real world.
Doing the conversion
The first thing I did was fit the front wheel with the motor and then I started thinking about where and how I would mount the controller and battery. The kit provided a little material controller bag with velcro straps which was pretty useless. Fixing anything to the seat post was quickly ruled out as the seat post didn't have sufficient height and clearance from the rear wheel for a battery and a controller. I had decided at this stage that it made sense to keep them both together, primarily for ease of removal and neatness.
One of my main reasons for doing a conversion was to end up with a bike that does not look like an electric bike. So I wanted the battery and electrics to be discrete and not noticeable.
It soon became apparent to me that the best place to put the controller and a battery, was on the handlebars. My thinking behind this was two-fold. Firstly, since the motor was in the front wheel, it made sense to have everything directly above it. Less wiring across the bike frame, and easy to remove stuff. Secondly, when I eventually get round to fitting a rear rack to the bike, I would want it kept free for carrying shopping and other things.
I found a cheap £5 handlebar bag on eBay which as luck would have it was the perfect size for my battery and controller. It is reinforced inside with plastic which was nice and attaches to the handlebars securely with velcro straps and had no problem supporting the weight. It looked discrete and it was neat.
I continued on with the conversion and fitted the throttle and LCD console. I opted for a thumb-throttle rather than a twist throttle, which as it turned out was a good choice and much simpler to fit.
After trying various places on the handlebar and a bit of fiddling around, it became apparent that the best place for both throttle and LCD, was together, on the left hand side. This not only looked better, but it was more comfortable position.
All that was left was the pedal sensor which fits into the crank and regulates the level of pedal assist power. This proved to be the most challenging part of the conversion so far, mainly because I didn't quite understand where to fit the sensor (my conversion kit manual was in German!) and how the crank assembly came apart. After getting some help in the forum I knew where the sensor had to be mounted and I did a bit of research into the crank assembly and figured it all out. Once I knew what to do the actual installing of the sensor went very smoothly as did re-assembling of the crank. And luckily for me, it worked first time. It was rather pleasing to turn the pedals on the upturned bike and hear the motor whir into action!
Unusually this kit has no brake cut-out levers. The controller is so efficient that it is able to cut out the motor instantly the second you stop pedalling. I had my doubts this would be the case, but was proved wrong as it did exactly what it said on the tin when tested. This I think is a big bonus as it saves the hassle of messing with brakes and means you can use whatever brake levers you like.
There were a lot of loose wires hanging around and I wanted a way to keep these out of sight and neat. Cable ties provided the solution. Using 3mm cable ties I was able to secure the sensor cable to the gear shift cable along the underside of the frame out of sight. The cable ties are so small you can hardly notice them.
So with the battery and controller mounted on the handlebar, and the LCD, throttle and pedal assist sensor all mounted, that completed the conversion work. The total weight of the bike with everything on it, comes to a little over 20kg. I would of liked it below 20kg but it's not too bad. I can carry the bike up and down the stairs folded without straining too much.
With the extra cost of the battery (excluding my spare battery) and charger, plus the handlebar bag coming in at £95, that brought the total cost of the project to £602.
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