Tonsheng tsdz2 fitted to old Dawes hybrid

[TJS109]

I have been testing this out for the last few days. I have the 250W motor with the VLCD5 display. The battery is the Power Pak 36V 10 Ah from Panda Ebikes.
First impressions are very good. There are 4 assist levels the bottom one is a bit subtle I tend to use the 2nd normally and bump it up to 3 on hills. the top setting is fairly outrageous. So far have travelled 40 miles in a series of short trips actively seeking out hills, the battery is down to the bottom bar after 40 miles so I am well pleased with that. I find I am only using the top 3 gears and I end up cruising about 16 MPH where the assist tops out, although the max. speed is adjustable up to 25 MPH.
Two issues to sort out.
1) The battery was good value at £175 but is in a basic box that you can put in a pannier etc. so no intrinsic security. not a problem so far, if you disconnect the lead it looks like the battery has been removed anyway.
2) I could not fit the additional clamp for the motor and have found that the main mounting nut has loosened off. I will re- tighten it with some thread lock but think I need to find a way of fitting the additional clamp. There is a plate on the bike that gets in the way and am reluctant to cut it.
I intend to try a fairly long trip once I have sorted out the motor mounting problem

 

[anotherkiwi]

Glad you are having fun!

The problem with gears and mid-drive motors is that you can up the gearing by about 3 gears but then you are in trouble if you run out of battery. It is hard to find a reasonable compromise. I am experimenting with a wide range cassette ATM knowing that the bottom gear will hardly ever be used, I have it just in case. When I was setting up Number Two with the GSM I bought a couple of cassettes before I found the right one. My big chainwheel is a couple of teeth too small but I have been able to live with that, the little one is "just right"

I have been living with my battery in a panier for quite some time. It can be done but it isn't fun every day, sometimes you have to carry it about for ages. On the trike it will be in a locked custom made battery box locked to the bike.

Maybe you should be cutting the clamp and not the plate on the bike? I had to have the second lock ring on the GSM thinned down so that I could get the PAS to fit. Yes the GSM does have internal PAS but I fried mine

 

[Deleted member 4366]

You can make the battery fairly secure if you put it in a football boot bag. You need the type of bag in the photo that has a zip around the bottom. You cut a piece of 5mm plywood the same shape as the inside of the bag, then bolt through the plywood and bag to fix it to a rack. Arrange it so that the zip puller is at the front when zipped up. Use a cable tie around the seatpost to stop anybody unzipping it. Use polysyrene blocks to pack around the battery to fill up the exact shape of the bag. Put something underneath the battery so that bolt heads don't wear through it. I use coach bolts that have pretty flat heads, which helps.

I used this method gor a couple of years leaving my bike everywhere without problems. I wouldn't leave it in the same place every day though.

I think self-made racks are better because you can get the battery right up close to the seatpost. All you need is some aluminium tube from Wickes, cut to length and bash the ends flat to make struts. Drill holes to fix it together and to the plywood. Basically, two rails attached to the plywood and seat-stay fixinfs, plus two struts from the drop-outs to 2/3 of the way along those rails does it.

 

[cycling weakly]

Hi TJS. Welcome to the Madhouse. Is the plate that's in the way welded between the chain stays. If so, could it be drilled & bolted to the anchor bracket on the motor. I don't have any experience of this motor, but I am waiting on delivery of one.

 

[TJS109]

Hi TJS. Welcome to the Madhouse. Is the plate that's in the way welded between the chain stays. If so, could it be drilled & bolted to the anchor bracket on the motor. I don't have any experience of this motor, but I am waiting on delivery of one.

Its welded to the underneath of the rear forks, behind the bottom bracket. I might be able to drill a larger hole, I haven't the courage to remove it with an angle grinder. I think I will be able to bolt some form of simple angle bracket in place if all else fails I can use a tie wrap. I have asked if they will supply an additional nut for the motor then I would have a lock nut.

 

[TJS109]

Glad you are having fun!

The problem with gears and mid-drive motors is that you can up the gearing by about 3 gears but then you are in trouble if you run out of battery. It is hard to find a reasonable compromise. I am experimenting with a wide range cassette ATM knowing that the bottom gear will hardly ever be used, I have it just in case. When I was setting up Number Two with the GSM I bought a couple of cassettes before I found the right one. My big chainwheel is a couple of teeth too small but I have been able to live with that, the little one is "just right"

I have been living with my battery in a panier for quite some time. It can be done but it isn't fun every day, sometimes you have to carry it about for ages. On the trike it will be in a locked custom made battery box locked to the bike.

Maybe you should be cutting the clamp and not the plate on the bike? I had to have the second lock ring on the GSM thinned down so that I could get the PAS to fit. Yes the GSM does have internal PAS but I fried mine

I have asked if they can supply a second nut as lock nut. I think I can make some form of bracket that will do the job I was hoping that the motor torque would tighten the fixing nut looks like I got that wrong

 

[TJS109]

You can make the battery fairly secure if you put it in a football boot bag. You need the type of bag in the photo that has a zip around the bottom. You cut a piece of 5mm plywood the same shape as the inside of the bag, then bolt through the plywood and bag to fix it to a rack. Arrange it so that the zip puller is at the front when zipped up. Use a cable tie around the seatpost to stop anybody unzipping it. Use polysyrene blocks to pack around the battery to fill up the exact shape of the bag. Put something underneath the battery so that bolt heads don't wear through it. I use coach bolts that have pretty flat heads, which helps.

I used this method gor a couple of years leaving my bike everywhere without problems. I wouldn't leave it in the same place every day though.

I think self-made racks are better because you can get the battery right up close to the seatpost. All you need is some aluminium tube from Wickes, cut to length and bash the ends flat to make struts. Drill holes to fix it together and to the plywood. Basically, two rails attached to the plywood and seat-stay fixinfs, plus two struts from the drop-outs to 2/3 of the way along those rails does it.

View attachment 22071

Thanks for that idea. I am using a rack mounted top pannier box like the football bag in your picture now. The tie wrap is a good idea and I can do that easily. I was thinking of a lockable top box but the locks are not much good and they advertise the value of the contents.

 

[DouglasXK]

Take the plate with the 35mm hole which is the one you’re hoping to add a lock nut to and, with a good quality sharp chisel, cut into the plate radially off the 35mm hole and form little ridges - you want to push the metal out with the chisel. What you want to happen is that when you tighten the plate down, the little ridges will dig into the bike’s bottom bracket and lock it into position.

This is the way Bafang secure their motors and it works fine. I have found that when you use the clamp arrangement, you can distort the motor mounting unless you’re very careful.

 

[TJS109]

Take the plate with the 35mm hole which is the one you’re hoping to add a lock nut to and, with a good quality sharp chisel, cut into the plate radially off the 35mm hole and form little ridges - you want to push the metal out with the chisel. What you want to happen is that when you tighten the plate down, the little ridges will dig into the bike’s bottom bracket and lock it into position.

This is the way Bafang secure their motors and it works fine. I have found that when you use the clamp arrangement, you can distort the motor mounting unless you’re very careful.

Thanks for that I will give it a go. I have sorted out an angle bracket that should do the job but I don't want to use it unless i have to

 

[footpump]

got the same moter and display fitted to Carrera subway one, but at 68 I use sport mode all the time 30 miles on 10.4ah if not too hilly.
you can adjust the amp setting on display, if running at 12amps got nearer 40miles range, but normally run at 16.

I tried setting speed to 25mph but I seemed to go no faster than 17mph.