Recumbent trike conversion

[stevew]

I have been thinking about this for a long time now and maybe the time has come!
Trike is a 1999 Trice Classic :-



26" rear wheel and 135mm dropout spacing. Uses a 9 speed cassette that i would like to stick with if poss. Just discovered that there are 9 speed screw on freewheels available so that may open up the options. What i think i want is an "illegal" system that will run a little over the legal limit, say up yo 20mph max. May be happy to stick with 16mph if the range is good. Don't know yet.
Not going to need pedal sensors or brake cut offs, just a s/c and a simple throttle.
I have a good mechanical knowledge but i don't have a vast array of power tools, just a drill and an angle grinder. Got a big vice too!
Not made of money either so s/h would be good but i can't imagine anyone having what i want for sale. So perhaps it will have to be new..................don't know if i will be able to afford new though. Just need advice ATM then i can see what's possible.
Thanks
SteveW

 

[flecc]

I know you are already familiar with the Cyclone motors Steve, very much an economy option with their low prices but available in various powers. Here's a recumbent link showing a main boom motor mounting retaining all 27 speed gears.

In the rear wheel Heinzmann and eZee motors have been used as quite powerful options, but neither at the budget end. Maybe one of the more powerful Chinese hub motors like the Bafang BPM would cost a lot less, hopefully d8veh will pop in and be able to advise on sources and prices for one.

 

[stevew]

Good to hear from you again. Sold the Cyclone powered upright trike some time ago. I'm thinking of this for my entertainment now I'm retired !!

BTW on a completely different tack, where have all your Giant Lafree pages gone ? Had an old bookmark but there is nothing there. I'm still running mine and what a superb bike it is !

 

[flecc]

I had to change the site location after TalkTalk reneged on a previous promise to maintain a service Steve, leaving me unable to even enter redirect links. Here's the two new relevant links on my own domain now:

Giant Lafree

Panasonic Units

 

[Deleted member 4366]

I think that the MXUS cassette motors that I've got would be perfect, They go to about 21 mph , and have the cassette spline, so you don't have to change anything with your gearing. I have two left and about 4 controllers, so you can get the kit with everything except battery for about £265; however' I think that's more than you want to pay.

If price is an issue, there's some quite cheap kits on Ebay, but finding a suitable battery will probably be a problem. If you're lucky, you might find something like that £900 Oxydrive kit that went for £210 with the nice bottle battery. It was a front-wheel drive, so not suitable for this application, but it shows that bargains do come up from time to time.

Rear BPM kits are fairly cheap from BMSBattery, They do a 260 rpm one now for 20 mph cruising. They'll still work out at about £265 including shipping and duty, but you can buy a cheap battery at the same time for very little extra shipping cost. It needs to be a powerful battery,not the 10aH li-ion ones.

From BMSBattery, the cheapest kit that'll do 20 mph is the Q100H with a 10aH bottle or rectangular aluminium case battery,which will work out at about £380 including shipping, duty and all the other things like PAS, throttle and brake sensors. The battery on its own would be about £200.

 

[stevew]

I think that the MXUS cassette motors that I've got would be perfect, They go to about 21 mph , and have the cassette spline, so you don't have to change anything with your gearing. I have two left and about 4 controllers, so you can get the kit with everything except battery for about £265; however' I think that's more than you want to pay.

If price is an issue, there's some quite cheap kits on Ebay, but finding a suitable battery will probably be a problem. If you're lucky, you might find something like that £900 Oxydrive kit that went for £210 with the nice bottle battery. It was a front-wheel drive, so not suitable for this application, but it shows that bargains do come up from time to time.

Rear BPM kits are fairly cheap from BMSBattery, They do a 260 rpm one now for 20 mph cruising. They'll still work out at about £265 including shipping and duty, but you can buy a cheap battery at the same time for very little extra shipping cost. It needs to be a powerful battery,not the 10aH li-ion ones.

From BMSBattery, the cheapest kit that'll do 20 mph is the Q100H with a 10aH bottle or rectangular aluminium case battery,which will work out at about £380 including shipping, duty and all the other things like PAS, throttle and brake sensors. The battery on its own would be about £200.

Mmm, thanks for that. I do like the sound of the MXUS option although it is a little expensive. Does it come in a 26" wheel? Can you supply the battery/charger too? If so can you give me an idea of the cost? If not can you point me to a place where i can get something suitable?
I'm thinking that maybe i could scrape up the £265 plus the batt/charger if they were about £200. Reckon i could find £500 max.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

The battery chargers usually come with the batteries, but not always. I don't have any batteries that I can sell. I'd recommend BMSattery. You can't see the shipping cost until stage 2 of the checkout, ut I can tell you that a 10aH one will be about £200 and a 15aH about £250.

That's the price built into a 26" rim. Send me a PM if you're really interested.

 

[stevew]

So this battery would be OK?
http://www.bmsbattery.com/packs/622-36v-15ah-lithium-ion-alloy-shell-ebike-battery-pack.html

Or maybe this is a better bet
http://www.bmsbattery.com/36v/466-24v-lithium-ion-little-frog-abs-shell-ebike-battery-pack.html

PM sent

 

[Deleted member 4366]

Those two batteries are a it more expensive than the ones that I was thinking of because they're LiFePO4. They're also a bit heavier, but they'll live for longer (hopefully). The 15aH one will be about £320 including shipping and duty.
I'd probably go for this one:
http://www.bmsbattery.com/36v/232-36v-15ah-lithium-ion-electric-bicycle-battery-pack.html
or this one:
http://www.bmsbattery.com/36v/162-36v-10ah-lithium-ion-alloy-shell-ebike-battery-pack.html

 

[twinkle]

Just a query here
I didnt realise you could get a e-hub with 9 speed cassette to fit a 135 mm dropout ?

 

[eHomer]

Mmm, thanks for that. I do like the sound of the MXUS option although it is a little expensive. Does it come in a 26" wheel?.......

Dave built the one that he sold me into a 26" wheel, and I was able to simply swap over my 9 speed cassette on my Giant Trance and not lose any gears.
I fitted the controller in an alloy box from Maplin, to conceal the wires and increase the heat sink area.

(The spots on the hub are dirt from the test ride !)

 

[stevew]

Hi eHomer,

Looks like a nice neat job there. Was the wiring up easy?
What sort of battery are you using and what sort of range do you get?

 

[eHomer]

Hi eHomer,

Looks like a nice neat job there. Was the wiring up easy?
What sort of battery are you using and what sort of range do you get?

Yes, very straightforward. I bought the whole kit from Dave, apart from the battery. The controller, PAS sensor, half throttle, LCD panel, and motor just plugged together.

I've standardised all of my ebikes on a pair of rack type lithium ion batteries, each one being 36v 10ah.

Each one gives me a range of about 20 miles at an average of about 18 mph with moderate pedaling.

I live in Norfolk, so it's fairly flat, but I'm quite heavy, at 95 kg, so I guess that evens it out.

As Dave predicted, the MXUS cassette motor is a very good all-round compromise, it gives a fair bit of power and speed, yet the very light and completely drag free freewheeling motor coupled with the cassette gears means that riding the bike by human effort alone is hardly affected at all.

 

[stevew]

Thanks. It does seem like the way to go. Hope you don't mind a couple more questions!
Where did you get your batteries from?
Were the connectors from Dave's bit compatible with the ones on the battery or did you have to change them?

 

[Deleted member 4366]

I can put any connector you want on the controller.

 

[stevew]

Thanks Dave, Still trying to get my head round all of this!!

 

[eHomer]

Thanks. It does seem like the way to go. Hope you don't mind a couple more questions!
Where did you get your batteries from?
Were the connectors from Dave's bit compatible with the ones on the battery or did you have to change them?

No problem with any number of questions Steve, I've asked many on here myself and got so many really valuable answers.

The controller has what I believe is a fairly standard two spade nylon line plug on a 6" long tail. That connects to nylon line socket that is usually supplied as another tail with unterminated ends. I guess that's because battery connections at the battery end are far less standard. Some batteries have integral sockets in the casing, and others have line connectors on short tails, especially if they're shrink wrapped packs, where I suppose a rigid socket would be tricky to fit.

My first 36v 10ah Lithium Ion battery was part of an ebike kit bought from a UK based ebay seller. It was very neat, in an aluminum case that locked into a rear rack. It had an on/off switch, a fuse, a rear led light, and a battery level gauge. I was very pleased with it, so a bought a spare from the same seller for £200, to double my range, the spare being carried in a pannier bag.

When I discovered this forum and started converting my other bikes, I stayed with those batteries as they're so damn expensive. That meant I had to find a way of connecting to the power socket on the battery without buying a rack for each bike. I found the closest match was an IEC C13 mains plug, like fitted on kettles.

I found that by cutting off the earth pin and filing 1mm of the other two pins, it was a perfect fit in the battery's socket. Admittedly, it's not "keyed" so could be fitted the wrong way round, with possibly dire results. I therefore painted discs of red and blue to show which way it fits. I also used the right angle plug, so it lays flat against the end of the battery, to make it less likely to be knocked.

That particular casing is very sturdy, and the internal connections to the 17amp twin flex is by screwed studs onto crimped eyes, so nice and secure with no weakening shunt effect that thinner terminals would have.

View attachment 7770

 

[stevew]

Found that battery on the Woosh Sundowner
Price is £205 so looks like this is the way to go
Thanks

 

[Cyclezee]

Hi Steve,

Thinking laterally, a complete bike would have all the parts that you require.

Here is one example that would come within your budget from a reputable source http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Sale-Electric-Bikes-Spring-Bargains-warehouse-clearance-save-100-s-/181294053021?pt=UK_Bikes_GL&hash=item2a35f7b69d

Worth trying a best offer?

And here is another http://wooshbikes.co.uk/?secondhand

 

[stevew]

Thanks for the thought John. The one in Buxton is just too far but I'm planning on going to Woosh to have a look at batteries when they re-open in Feb so i can have look at the bike then. I wonder if the motor is a decent one though, their bikes are bloody cheap !