April 14, 20206 yr Hi all, i have been toying with the idea of buying an electric bike for some time but the cost has put me off... I have three bikes and am thinking of converting one of them. The obvious contender is a 2015 Whyte Dorset. The main issue with that is the drop handlebars. The other bikes are a circa 1997 Gt Karakoram hard tail mountain bike with front shocks, and a circa 1986 Raleigh Competion 12 - a light weight racer. I have a feeling that the Raleigh would be unsuitable, though at under 10kg would be pretty rapid and efficient. What would be yer better bike for convening and what kit would you recommend? I am leaning towards the GT as I would like to do more mountain biking but the hills around me are quite severe!
April 14, 20206 yr I would convert the Whyte Dorset with a crank drive torque sensing Tongsheng TSDZ2 or a stealthy Aikema 85SX to keep it lightweight. https://wooshbikes.co.uk/cart/#/product/uid-207-tsdz2-12ah/tsdz2-cd-kit-48v-12ah https://wooshbikes.co.uk/cart/#/product/uid-177-85sx-17ah/akm13085sx-rear-hub-kit-with-17ah-battery whyte Dorset: My Giant road bike with TSDZ2: Woosh Faro with Aikema 85SX:
April 15, 20206 yr on the Faro, it's inside the downtube (8AH) or on the downtube (17AH) If you get it in kit, it will be on the downtube like this: https://wooshbikes.co.uk/?faro
April 15, 20206 yr Where is the battery on the Aikema? The smaller battery (12ah I think) is in the down tube. A larger battery is available but is external.
April 15, 20206 yr Author thanks. Would the TSDZ2 also be suitable for the GT karakoram? ( a circa 1997 hardtail mountain bike)
April 15, 20206 yr yes, it would work very well and easy to fit. You can have double chainring with the TSDZ2 but most people are happy with the supplied single chainring.
April 15, 20206 yr Author Thanks. Do you offer kits with smaller displays? The vlcd5 looks huge to me!
April 15, 20206 yr No. The advantage of the VLCD5 is its versatility. You have a USB port and remote buttons. It has sockets for brake sensors. It will fit on any handlebars. It works well with gloved fingers and bright enough in daylight.
April 16, 20206 yr Author Hi, would the kit be suitable for this hilly route (650m climb) ? I have had to split it over two google maps as google doesn't recognise a cycle path in the middle of the route. I am approx 100kg and would need a lot of assistance on this route! https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Northern+Ave,+Cardiff/51.7152381,-3.63915/@51.6234086,-3.5816,11z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m9!4m8!1m5!1m1!1s0x486e1bb13da76a47:0xc8a4e9c3624d0d0d!2m2!1d-3.241226!2d51.52697!1m0!3e1!5m1!1e3 https://www.google.com/maps/dir/51.7152381,-3.63915/Glynneath/@51.7343671,-3.6378308,15.6z/data=!4m9!4m8!1m0!1m5!1m1!1s0x486e4437572ad4cf:0x50d8b23d4978570!2m2!1d-3.617823!2d51.74876!3e1!5m1!1e3
April 16, 20206 yr one way (37 miles) yes, return on the same battery no. the 48V 12AH is good enough for about 50 miles, but with a tough climb, you may just about reaching Cardiff.
April 16, 20206 yr Author one way (37 miles) yes, return on the same battery no. the 48V 12AH is good enough for about 50 miles, but with a tough climb, you may just about reaching Cardiff. Thanks, that surprises me, i didn't think it would cope with such a large climb! Are there any kits that would do a return? PS, how long would the battery take to charge? Edited April 16, 20206 yr by not dave
April 16, 20206 yr if you go with the TSDZ2 with a 48V 15AH rack battery, you may just about make it back (75 miles) but still a very hard day's ride. The charger gives out 2A, so for 12AH, it would take 6 hours from flat. For the 48V 15AH rack battery, 7-8 hours. https://wooshbikes.co.uk/cart/#/product/uid-235-tsdz2-15ah-rack/tsdz2-cd-kit-48v-15ah-rack
May 7, 20205 yr Author Hi, are all of the TSDZ2 48v downtube kits sold out ? PS, what are the pros and cons of rack vs downtime batteries? My bike has a pannier rack.
May 7, 20205 yr No. It's in stock. https://wooshbikes.co.uk/cart/#/product/uid-236-tsdz2t-15ah-rack/tsdz2-cd-kit-48v-15ah-rack-battery-with-throttle We are currently out of hub kits until next week, so we use the last few days to catch up with the backlog. We can now deliver the CD kits without delay.
May 13, 20205 yr Author No. It's in stock. https://wooshbikes.co.uk/cart/#/product/uid-236-tsdz2t-15ah-rack/tsdz2-cd-kit-48v-15ah-rack-battery-with-throttle We are currently out of hub kits until next week, so we use the last few days to catch up with the backlog. We can now deliver the CD kits without delay. Hi, that link goes to the rack kit (unless i am being dull...!) I cant find the downtube kit on the site... Hopefully will be ordering within the week. Have sold some gym equipment and have 550 saved so far. 200 to go!!
May 13, 20205 yr I cant find the downtube kit on the site... that was last week. It's all gone. Most of the stock for the year have been sold out in the last 7-8 weeks. I have to fly new stock in but batteries can't be flown in, so the next sea shipment arrives end of June.
May 13, 20205 yr Author Must be a busy time for you! Do you still have the kit without the battery? If so, what battery spec do i need to look for? I assume it is a 48v battery with the Ah i need (between 12 and 17). Are there specific connectors i need? Do you have chargers? What are the pros and cons of rack vs downtube batteries?
May 13, 20205 yr What are the pros and cons of rack vs downtime batteries? some bikes can only have a rack battery.
May 14, 20205 yr Author Unfortunately the BBSHD is out of my price range... Going back to the batteries, can a rack battery be customised to mount on the downtube? While the rack battery would be fine for the Whyte (its basically a commuter with a pannier rack already fitted), i f i wanted to fit a kit to my hardtail mountain bike, a rack would look out of place and i imagine the handling would be poorer with the battery up high. Given the Whyte is a commuter bike the handling is of less concern to me.
May 14, 20205 yr I don't think you'd want to customise the battery, more make a racklike mounting for it on the downtube. It might be uncomfortably wide. You could probably do a lashup with string and rope just to see how it would feel.
May 14, 20205 yr A new member has fitted a rack battery inadvertently thinking it was also a downtube one as well, they are rather wide generally to do so.
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