Thioughts on removeable kit,

[harrys]

My nephew has a newer Trek gravel bike, 700 wheels, that he wants to motorize. Trouble is he wants to remove the kit in summer. He uses the bike to commute, about 8-10 miles one way. I rode his route last August. Beautiful paved path, goes between his house in the suburbs and right to the downtown of a big city. His bike has plenty pf room for a downtube battery, and I would give him one of my spares.

My initial thoughts were BBS02 or TSDZ2 to keep with the character of his bike, Take the battery off the cradle for summer, and these mid drives have minimal drag, but now he's lost the front derailleur, and is stuck with a 42 or 44T.

He was talking about a Swytch, but they're overpriced and it's a carbon fork,

Rear motor remains, I'm thinking a Q128C, to preserve his derailleurs front/rear. Might have to drop a few rings to get a thinner cassette to fit. The Q motors can fit tighter droputs too by shortening their spacers. Then it's easily removeable,

Any ideas that I might have missed?

 

[matthewslack]

Front hub in a different fork?

 

[Az.]

Any ideas that I might have missed?

Yes. Buy another bike. Many nice and cheap options in bargain basement now.

For Sale - Bargains

I put a cheeky bid in for that frame before the auction ended. Didn't hear anything back, just as well really, I didn't really fancy a 17 inch frame anyway (although there's always a way to make it work). I see 0 bids. What size are you looking for?

www.pedelecs.co.uk

Personally I wouldn't want to convert and deconvert a bike on regular basis. Sounds like a lot of fuss.
Front hub motor maybe would do the trick, but it is carbon fork, so only rear hub or mid drive remain. I would buy another bike.

 

[chris_n]

Another vote for another bike here. I would have thought he would be much happier with a torque sensor bike, certainly not one with a speed controller.

 

[saneagle]

My initial thoughts were BBS02 or TSDZ2 to keep with the character of his bike, Take the battery off the cradle for summer, and these mid drives have minimal drag,

Where did you get that from? It's not my experience at all. It's true that they have no drag when freewheeling, but they have drag all the time you're pedalling, which can become quite noticeable when you're pedalling over the 15 mph limit. The faster you pedal, the worse it is. You can test the drag by removing the chain from the chainwheel, then turning the crank with your hands with the power switched off.

 

[Az.]

Not only there is a drag, but also there will be added weight to the bike if you leave mid drive. I am guessing for commuting your nephew will want powerful motor and powerful motors tend to be on heavy side.

There are nice deals on ebay or facebook. Buy cheap bike and convert. Keep carbon Trek for summer.

 

[eas2lv]

Why do so many say Swytch is pricey? Swytch is probably the cheapest option for front hub kits at their 40% to 50% sale price that is available all the time. Where can you get a wheel, controller, PAS and battery( 36V, 10Ah) for $450 + $50 shipping to the US? That's where Swytch GO++ pre-order is priced at right now -- inclusive of vat in some countries. I would get a cheap bike and use Swytch. What is bad about Swytch is unpredictable delivery delays, not price.

 

[Peter.Bridge]

.Where can you get a wheel, controller, PAS and battery( 36V, 10Ah) for $450 + $50 shipping to the US?

Last time I looked , it was £500 in the UK for the sale price of the Switch kit. eta The Swytch Go (180Wh) is £359, sale price, (if you sign up to a waiting list ! )- that is a very small battery. There is Go+ (280Wh) and Go++ (370Wh). Woosh do a front hub wheel, sensor (with the option of a bottom bracket torque sensor), controller and display and 36v 10Ah (360Wh) grade A Panasonic celled battery, together with quick delivery (I received everything next day) and unrivalled advice, customer service and support for £449 (and you don't have to sign up to a waiting list)

Yosepower do a front hub kit with 15.6 Ah 36v battery for
£365

Pswpower do a front hub wheel kit with 10Ah battery including shipping from Germany £255

 

[Az.]

Why do so many say Swytch is pricey?

Swytch is IMO one of the worst available conversions on the market if not the worst. In terms of price, delivery and customer service. What they are good at is marketing. They hire many influencers and pay for many ads, but at the end of the day it is a customer who is paying for all of it.

Do yourself a favor and research before you buy.

PS They reduced prices recently, so it is a bit better now, but still you can buy something better.

 

[guerney]

We don't know how much cycling effort the OP's nephew wants to put into his 8 to 10 mile each way daily commute. If "Not much", consider a cadence sensored conversion?

There's rather a lot of motor drag on my BBS01B, so I was surprised by the assertion of "minimal drag" on the BBS02:

My initial thoughts were BBS02 or TSDZ2 to keep with the character of his bike, Take the battery off the cradle for summer, and these mid drives have minimal drag, but now he's lost the front derailleur, and is stuck with a 42 or 44T.

Is there room for a larger chainwheel, or do the chainstays or BBS02 rule that out? Stock Bafang chainwheels up to 52T are available for the BBS01B. If the firmware or parts thereof isn't locked, the BBSXX(X) series is quite customisable. He won't need as many gears if all firmware parameters are writeable, up to 720W is possible with the 36V BBS01B. Best check the controller is fully writeable with the seller before purchase, if going the BBSXX(X) route. I've read about more 48V controllers not being fully writeable than 36V. Gear sensor works perfectly on my awesome 20" wheeled Dahon Helios P8 (2006) folding bike BBS01B conversion, chainline is ever so slightly off but bearable... other dudes haven't been as lucky; reports of chainline and gear sensor issues, pfaff with Lekkie Bling Rings and associated things etc.

My average cycling speed is much higher with electrical assistance - personally, I wouldn't trust a carbon fork to not shatter hitting potholes at 25kph for 16 to 20 miles a day.

 

[harrys]

Yes, I have taken the chains off. I cannot turn the bare shaft of my wife's TSDZ2B by hand, but it moves OK with leverage from a pedal. My TSDZ2 and BBS02B are less stiff. In my opinion the force required to move the wheel with the chain is much much higher. If the weight is down, and you have good tires, these bikes are rideable w/o power. I feel the same about geared hubmotors. We have thousands of miles on Q100's.

The kid says he only "only" has room for one bike, Two kayaks, a tandem, two kids bikes, his wife's bike and his commuter. I think I will lend him one of my bikes and get him hooked. We can convert one next Spring,

Cold weather recharging is a concern. The kid will be riding in a colder anbients where the daily highs are +/- 2C. He'll have to ensure the pack is above freezing when he recharges it, and I don't think it's wise to bring it indoors because of condensation.

 

[Az.]

I think I will lend him one of my bikes and get him hooked

I think it is a good plan, but you will still have to take his Trek for winter.
Did he try e-bike before? There is a good chance he won't go back to cycling without assistance.

 

[eas2lv]

Woosh do a front hub wheel, sensor (with the option of a bottom bracket torque sensor), controller and display and 36v 10Ah (360Wh) grade A Panasonic celled battery, together with quick delivery (I received everything next day) and unrivalled advice, customer service and support for £449 (and you don't have to sign up to a waiting list)

Yosepower do a front hub kit with 15.6 Ah 36v battery for
£365

Pswpower do a front hub wheel kit with 10Ah battery including shipping from Germany £255

Many options in the UK and EU, but none of them ship to where I am (Canada), unless I missed something.

Swytch is IMO one of the worst available conversions on the market if not the worst. In terms of price, delivery and customer service.

We pay dearly for everything here. Current Swytch price for their GO line is by far the best I can find from here for a kit using parts from manufacturers I've at least heard of -- Aikema wheel, Lishui controller etc in case of Swytch.
Agreed delivery times is bad for someone who needs it right away (or $$$ for quick delivery). But Swytch CS is yet to disappoint me.

 

[Az.]

Many options in the UK and EU, but none of them ship to where I am (Canada), unless I missed something.

Google Grin Technologies.

 

[eas2lv]

Google Grin Technologies.

For what? I'm from Canada and you think I do not know GRIN Technologies?

 

[Az.]

I'm from Canada and you think I do not know GRIN Technologies?

Well... that is exactly what I thought...
I was just trying to help. No need to get upset.

 

[saneagle]

Where can you get a wheel, controller, PAS and battery( 36V, 10Ah) for $450 + $50 shipping to the US?

Yosepower, Topbikekit, Greenbikekit, Elifebike, Amazon, Ebay (until end of month),BMSBattery, Aliexpress and many more.

 

[SkyMonkey]

Ebay (until end of month)

Why is this?

 

[saneagle]

Why is this?

New rules. There's a thread currently running about it.

 

[nmmelectric]

Interesting. I am about to do just that, but mine is for a recumbent trike, which makes this task much easier, though still a bit complicated. The reason is that I don't want to give up the option of touring in the Highlands (camping out), and the only two plausible kits (TSDZ2 and Photon) are not waterproof enough. I know that my Schlumpf Mountain Drive is, and that I can't get up serious hills without one or the other.