Wheelchair trike conversion

Matthew Hutchinson

Pedelecer
Apr 1, 2018
87
4
54
Leeds
Hi, I will be ordering an electric conversion kit next week for my pdq power trike built on to a frame from eBay. Needing a 20" wheel has cut my options so I'm looking at ordering this wheel
https://www.electricbikeconversions.co.uk/categories/conversion-kits/product/500-watt-front-conversion-kit-with-downtube-battery/500FDT~1500023

Has anyone had any experience with this seller and if anyone knows of an alternative kit from a UK seller it would be much appreciated

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Deleted member 4366

Guest
That motor will be very inefficient in the range 0 - 10 mph. Ideally, you need a slower one. You need around 260 rpm for a top speed of around 15 to 18 mph. I haven't seen a reseller listing one that slow. You could try sending an email to MXUS directly, as they supply kits and make the motors. They're Chinese, so keep sentences simple, like:

I need a direct drive motor in a 20" wheel. It must have a maximum speed around 230 to 270 rpm. Can you help me please?

The girls at MXUS are normally very friendly.

http://www.mxusebikekit.com/ebikekit.aspx

If they say yes to the motor, you can then ask for the battery and other stuff in a kit.
 
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Matthew Hutchinson

Pedelecer
Apr 1, 2018
87
4
54
Leeds
That motor will be very inefficient in the range 0 - 10 mph. Ideally, you need a slower one. You need around 260 rpm for a top speed of around 15 to 18 mph. I haven't seen a reseller listing one that slow. You could try sending an email to MXUS directly, as they supply kits and make the motors. They're Chinese, so keep sentences simple, like:

I need a direct drive motor in a 20" wheel. It must have a maximum speed around 230 to 270 rpm. Can you help me please?

The girls at MXUS are normally very friendly.

http://www.mxusebikekit.com/ebikekit.aspx

If they say yes to the motor, you can then ask for the battery and other stuff in a kit.
Thanks for your help, I've sent them a message as you have suggested. Would you buy the battery from there as well or would I be better ordering that in the UK

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Matthew Hutchinson

Pedelecer
Apr 1, 2018
87
4
54
Leeds
That motor will be very inefficient in the range 0 - 10 mph. Ideally, you need a slower one. You need around 260 rpm for a top speed of around 15 to 18 mph. I haven't seen a reseller listing one that slow. You could try sending an email to MXUS directly, as they supply kits and make the motors. They're Chinese, so keep sentences simple, like:

I need a direct drive motor in a 20" wheel. It must have a maximum speed around 230 to 270 rpm. Can you help me please?

The girls at MXUS are normally very friendly.

http://www.mxusebikekit.com/ebikekit.aspx

If they say yes to the motor, you can then ask for the battery and other stuff in a kit.
Just realised that you helped me with the same question a few weeks ago and pointed me towards this

https://bmsbattery.com/ebike-kit/598-q128-48v500w-front-driving-v-brake-e-bike-motor-wheel-ebike-kit.html#/214-rpm-328

Do you still think this would be a good option and are there any uk suppliers for batteries, I'm just a little concerned spending battery sort of money in China

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Deleted member 4366

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There's no problem ordering from China. MXUS is a very reputable company. They will always help you, but it's obviously more difficult to deal with a company that's over seas.

As we said before, a geared motor only works in one direction, so reverse is not possible. For reverse with a DD motor, you need a special controller, which you're unlikely to find in a standard ebike kit.

If you're happy with only going forwards, that BMSB kit would probably be OK, but I'd go for the 48v version, which will have a bit more oomph. The 48V 201 rpm in a 20" wheel would give about 13 mph max speed depending on how much charge is in the battery. that would make it very efficient throughout its speed range.

https://bmsbattery.com/ebike-kit/399-q128-48v400w-500w-front-driving-v-brake-e-bike-kit-ebike-kit.html#/213-rpm-201

If you order from them, tell them that the 201 rpm is very important, otherwise they might think you made a mistake and fit the normal 328 rpm one for a 20" wheel
 
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Matthew Hutchinson

Pedelecer
Apr 1, 2018
87
4
54
Leeds
There's no problem ordering from China. MXUS is a very reputable company. They will always help you, but it's obviously more difficult to deal with a company that's over seas.

As we said before, a geared motor only works in one direction, so reverse is not possible. For reverse with a DD motor, you need a special controller, which you're unlikely to find in a standard ebike kit.

If you're happy with only going forwards, that BMSB kit would probably be OK, but I'd go for the 48v version, which will have a bit more oomph. The 48V 201 rpm in a 20" wheel would give about 13 mph max speed depending on how much charge is in the battery. that would make it very efficient throughout its speed range.

https://bmsbattery.com/ebike-kit/399-q128-48v400w-500w-front-driving-v-brake-e-bike-kit-ebike-kit.html#/213-rpm-201

If you order from them, tell them that the 201 rpm is very important, otherwise they might think you made a mistake and fit the normal 328 rpm one for a 20" wheel
I might be making an idiot of myself here but the email address for mxus doesn't work, am I missing something obvious, also there are no prices for any of their kits on their site

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Matthew Hutchinson

Pedelecer
Apr 1, 2018
87
4
54
Leeds
There's no problem ordering from China. MXUS is a very reputable company. They will always help you, but it's obviously more difficult to deal with a company that's over seas.

As we said before, a geared motor only works in one direction, so reverse is not possible. For reverse with a DD motor, you need a special controller, which you're unlikely to find in a standard ebike kit.

If you're happy with only going forwards, that BMSB kit would probably be OK, but I'd go for the 48v version, which will have a bit more oomph. The 48V 201 rpm in a 20" wheel would give about 13 mph max speed depending on how much charge is in the battery. that would make it very efficient throughout its speed range.

https://bmsbattery.com/ebike-kit/399-q128-48v400w-500w-front-driving-v-brake-e-bike-kit-ebike-kit.html#/213-rpm-201

If you order from them, tell them that the 201 rpm is very important, otherwise they might think you made a mistake and fit the normal 328 rpm one for a 20" wheel
I think my £500 limit is leaving me no choice but to go with a 36v system, so having decided that could you point me to the right battery to use, I had no idea things were this complicated when I started lol. Also do customs normally put vat on or do most get through. Can't thank you enough for your help with this.

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Deleted member 4366

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Customs is a bit of a lottery. Mostly, you have to pay - typically around £40 for a complete kit.

Try this email. It's Shine Wang. She's lovely. Their kits will be relatively cheap because no middle men.
mxus012@hotmail.com
 
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Matthew Hutchinson

Pedelecer
Apr 1, 2018
87
4
54
Leeds
Customs is a bit of a lottery. Mostly, you have to pay - typically around £40 for a complete kit.

Try this email. It's Shine Wang. She's lovely. Their kits will be relatively cheap because no middle men.
mxus012@hotmail.com
I have emailed shine, would you normally pay using paypal, I'm just thinking about insurance.

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Deleted member 4366

Guest
Yes, pay with Paypal. You're covered by Paypal when you buy goods.
 

Matthew Hutchinson

Pedelecer
Apr 1, 2018
87
4
54
Leeds
Customs is a bit of a lottery. Mostly, you have to pay - typically around £40 for a complete kit.

Try this email. It's Shine Wang. She's lovely. Their kits will be relatively cheap because no middle men.
mxus012@hotmail.com
The more I'm looking in to this build the more I'm realising that any advantage gained in using lithium batteries will be lost in traction due to the loss of weight over the front wheel which is where the SLA batteries were mounted on the original PDQ trikes (probably to counter balance the trike which is back end heavey) , so if I move back to using SLA I gain traction and can spend money saved on a more powerful wheel, does this make sense to you, my logic has to fight through some pretty powerful medication so don't worry about pointing out obvious errors lol.
I've attached a pic of the trike so far.


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anotherkiwi

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jan 26, 2015
7,845
5,786
The European Union
Your CG is in front of the rear axles so 3 kg of battery out on that boom will be fine + the 3 kg or so if motor. You will be much happier with the power and duration of a lithium battery. The person I saw on a wheelchair trike also had saddlebags up front rather than a bag hanging of the back of the seat. He had an aluminium shell Li-ion bottle battery on the boom.

I would use a Big Ben Plus tyre, they are very sticky rubber and have just enough tread to be good on gravel.
 

Matthew Hutchinson

Pedelecer
Apr 1, 2018
87
4
54
Leeds
Your CG is in front of the rear axles so 3 kg of battery out on that boom will be fine + the 3 kg or so if motor. You will be much happier with the power and duration of a lithium battery. The person I saw on a wheelchair trike also had saddlebags up front rather than a bag hanging of the back of the seat. He had an aluminium shell Li-ion bottle battery on the boom.

I would use a Big Ben Plus tyre, they are very sticky rubber and have just enough tread to be good on gravel.
Ok that makes sense, thanks for your input

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Matthew Hutchinson

Pedelecer
Apr 1, 2018
87
4
54
Leeds
So I'm still waiting on MXUS to get back to me on anything suitable but otherwise I've found a tiny bit more money so I can just about stretch to this 48v wheel 201rpm https://bmsbattery.com/ebike-kit/399-q128-48v400w-500w-front-driving-v-brake-e-bike-kit-ebike-kit.html#/213-rpm-201
And I've found https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https://www.ebay.co.uk/ulk/itm/192443148130 capable of running 1000 watt so this should be fine unless anyone knows of any reason it wouldn't be.

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Woosh

Trade Member
May 19, 2012
20,376
16,875
Southend on Sea
wooshbikes.co.uk
"unless anyone knows of any reason it wouldn't be."
you should take into account how fast can you go round a corner at present. Your wheelchair cannot tilt like a proper trike. The original kit has a gentle start speed for that very good reason.
 

Matthew Hutchinson

Pedelecer
Apr 1, 2018
87
4
54
Leeds
"unless anyone knows of any reason it wouldn't be."
you should take into account how fast can you go round a corner at present. Your wheelchair cannot tilt like a proper trike. The original kit has a gentle start speed for that very good reason.
I'm not concerned with that, I'm not that disabled that I cant get myself back up again should the worse happen although I'm not saying I would be happy getting bucked out of it every time I set off lol. I just want plenty of torque to get across a bit of rough land, I've spent last decade only getting as far as a small crappy mobility scooter would get me, which is surprisingly far judging on people's reaction but the larger wheels and clearance on this setup should allow me to get a little further off the beaten track.

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Woosh

Trade Member
May 19, 2012
20,376
16,875
Southend on Sea
wooshbikes.co.uk
if speed is not your priority, then you don't need more than 30-40NM torque for the wheelchair. You can get it with an SWX motor, or better, Aikema 100SX. it's not only lightweight, it's also cheap to run.
 

Matthew Hutchinson

Pedelecer
Apr 1, 2018
87
4
54
Leeds
if speed is not your priority, then you don't need more than 30-40NM torque for the wheelchair. You can get it with an SWX motor, or better, Aikema 100SX. it's not only lightweight, it's also cheap to run.
I'm not planning on racing round but that said I would rather have a little extra power should I decide to use it, so I would rather it be an overkill than under powered

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