Which Donor Bike to start with?

[Klang180]

Woosh now have all there new motors 250w marked, the old BPM is 350w.
The Yose hubs are etched on the side plate 350w, the Akiema Q128C is 500w the sticker fall off and the motor is small like the Yose.

I like Woosh and actually my partner has an old Gallego that works well BUT they seem expensive and only appear to do 36v, which as discussed above appears to be inferior.

 

[Woosh]

if you are heavy or you live in a hilly area, then take a look at the 48V SWX02 kit.
It's very good on mountain roads.

http://wooshbikes.co.uk/cart/#/product/uid-188-swx02-48v12ah/bafang-swx02-48v-250w-rear-hub-kit-with-48v-12ah-battery

Mark F took his bike with this kit to Mont Lachat (Savoie Mont Blanc) for 3 weeks. He's done 2,000 miles with it so far.

 

[sjpt]

Woosh certainly do 48v kits, eg http://wooshbikes.co.uk/?hubkits SWX02 48V rear 26" wheel with 48V 12AH battery: £569. (they mention 700c wheels as well) .... beaten to it.....

 

[Klang180]

if you are heavy or you live in a hilly area, then take a look at the 48V SWX02 kit.
It's very good on mountain roads.

http://wooshbikes.co.uk/cart/#/product/uid-188-swx02-48v12ah/bafang-swx02-48v-250w-rear-hub-kit-with-48v-12ah-battery

Mark F took his bike with this kit to Mont Lachat (Savoie Mont Blanc) for 3 weeks. He's done 2,000 miles with it so far.

Thanks for the link and suggestion. I am sorely tempted but your kit is £170 more than if i bought the "350w" from Yose Power, I appreciate you have to make a profit and hate to ask but what is the advantage of your kit over theirs? I am not being an arse I am genuinely interested and would consider your kit, even if it is more than i envisaged spending.

 

[Nealh]

I reckon you could be right about the 350w as your rationale stacks up.

I like the look of the Akiema but I can only find them as just hub motors which means building the wheel around it. I am pretty good mechanically with bikes but building a wheel is not in my wheel house (sorry). Do you know if anyone makes them on wheels already or am I scared of this step unnecessarily?

vfr has already provided a link in #34 for Q128C motor wheel.

 

[Nealh]

Woosh kits are everything needed inc battery with full UK warranty, for the novice it is perfect as spares are despatched next day. No quibbling, toing and froing that's why they have such a good rep on here and folks speak highly of them for their CS.
There are other UK sellers but none come close to Woosh.

Only down side I see is only one cassette offering.

 

[Woosh]

I appreciate you have to make a profit and hate to ask but what is the advantage of your kit over theirs? I am not being an arse I am genuinely interested and would consider your kit, even if it is more than i envisaged spending.

it's the motor winding code. The 36V motors usually have code 12-13, the 48V SWX02 has code 16, both give the same working speed range, maximum power at 15mph and maximum unrestricted speed at 19-20 mph, 21mph with 700C rims. You get the torque and not attracting troubles.

 

[Klang180]

vfr has already provided a link in #34 for Q128C motor wheel.

Ah so he has, my apologies. Thanks for making me aware.

 

[Klang180]

Woosh kits are everything needed inc battery with full UK warranty, for the novice it is perfect as spares are despatched next day. No quibbling, toing and froing that's why they have such a good rep on here and folks speak highly of them for their CS.
There are other UK sellers but none come close to Woosh.

Only down side I see is only one cassette offering.

Thanks for this, now i understand the slight mark-up on getting the stuff direct, thanks for letting me know.

 

[Klang180]

it's the motor winding code. The 36V motors usually have code 12-13, the 48V SWX02 has code 16, both give the same working speed range, maximum power at 15mph and maximum unrestricted speed at 19-20 mph, 21mph with 700C rims. You get the torque and not attracting troubles.

Thanks, understood. I will have to have a think about this. Seems my options are go with this kit for the least trouble or go with the DIY route with VFR's selection and pay about the same price for a higher power motor with a "workaround" for the law.

Thanks to everyone who has contributed to this disscusion. I have gone from thinking I know what i wanted to having no idea to having some idea and really that is the learning experience in a nut shell. I thank you all for helping me out along the way especially VFR and Neilh who have been very patient with a noob like me.

 

[Nealh]

Thanks, understood. I will have to have a think about this. Seems my options are go with this kit for the least trouble or go with the DIY route with VFR's selection and pay about the same price for a higher power motor with a "workaround" for the law.

Thanks to everyone who has contributed to this disscusion. I have gone from thinking I know what i wanted to having no idea to having some idea and really that is the learning experience in a nut shell. I thank you all for helping me out along the way especially VFR and Neilh who have been very patient with a noob like me.

We were all noobs once, the last five years alone has seen a much greater choice of component parts/ kits etc,etc become more widely available.

If you want legal rated, plug and play and 100% compatibility use a kit supplier like Woosh.

If you are happy mixing and matching the go the China route and by component parts. Typical sellers are BMSB, GBK,TBK, PSWPower and Aliexpress.

Bafang complete kits without battery, add a good Panasonic celled battery then Woosh price makes good sense with UK/local backup.

258.23US $ |Bafang 8fun 36V 250W Gear Hub Motor E bike Electric Rear Wheel Drive Bicycle Conversion Kit G020.250.D G020.250.DC Motor|Electric Bicycle Motor| - AliExpress

Smarter Shopping, Better Living! Aliexpress.com

www.aliexpress.com

 

[Nealh]

I always buy my parts separately, but that makes it a bit more expensive.
Q128C motor wheel(48v 328 rpm) from BMSBattery in China (£197 plus maybe VAT or other duty)

Q128C-135mm 500W Rear Driving EBike Hub Motor Wheel RPM 201 Voltage 36V

Q128C-135mm 500W Rear Driving V-brake, rim-brake, Disc-Brake compatible E-Bike Hub Motor Wheel. Waterproof hall sensor connector.

bmsbattery.com

15A or 17a controller kit (LCD, throttle, PAS and speed sensor) from PSWPower in China (around £70 - never paid duty on a controller)

Sinewave Controller-Controller - PSWPOWER.com

www.pswpower.com

48v 11.6Ah Dolphin battery from Eclipese Ebikes UK. (£275)

EclipseBikes

eclipsebikes.com

Get a pair of 10x12 torque arms from BMSB while you're there. Probably around £600 all up

For a touring nature I'm now a coverted 9 fet KT user either 22 or 25a model having experienced heat issues/ thermal cut outs with 6 fet ones on long rides of up to 160km. That said locally on flat terrain the 6 fet is ideal and have no issue with it on my commute/errand town bike with a trailer.
For about £310 a 748wh 13s/6p Sony VTC5 (a great cell ) in soft pack form, frame bag and charger can be had from Harvestmoon/Enercell seller on ebay.

 

[vfr400]

Thanks for this. Not sure i am quite up to buying it all separately as I am not sure what i am looking for and this is my first build. I see that you linked to a 500w rear hub, can i ask why you would do this over a 250 or 350? I realise that neither the 350 nor the 500 are legal but I thought one might "get away" with the 350w?

Would I be better off looking at a Bafang 500w rather than the 350 Yose kit as they are both illegal so may as well go for the higher power right? I was kind of sold on the Yose Power until i realised they only had freewheel models left and I considered they were illegal anyway. What is the very best legal motor i.e. the one that spins the fastest?

The power mentioned in the listings is absolutely meaningless. All these motors can handle and give the same sort of power as each other, which is around 1000w as long as you're sensible with them. They're all roughly the same size and weight. Basically, the bigger the motor, the more power it can handle. The q-series motors (like Q128) punch a bit above their weight because they spin faster inside and use a larger reduction ratio, though other motors are starting to copy that now. The power comes from the controller, not the motor.

 

[vfr400]

Seems my options are go with this kit for the least trouble or go with the DIY route with VFR's selection and pay about the same price for a higher power motor with a "workaround" for the law.

There's no power marked on the motor. It's the same size and shape as any regular 250w motor. Nobody would ever question it. As I said, all these motors make the same power regardless of how they're marked. The Chinese mark them however they want for different markets and legal requirements.

 

[Woosh]

The q-series motors (like Q128) punch a bit above their weight because they spin faster inside and use a larger reduction ratio, though other motors are starting to copy that now.

I ride the 85SX Aikema everyday which has a two stage high reduction gear ratio and can compare it against its traditional Bafang SWXH/SWXK older brother which has single stage gear. Both are supposed to offer the same torque but the Aikema is a lot more sensitive to the speed you are climbing at. Its power just drops sharply below about 6mph. The Bafang does not do that. I still stick to the Aikema because of its lightweight. The 85SR weighs 1.7kgs, the SWXH 2.9kg.
Every motor has trade offs.

 

[Klang180]

There's no power marked on the motor. It's the same size and shape as any regular 250w motor. Nobody would ever question it. As I said, all these motors make the same power regardless of how they're marked. The Chinese mark them however they want for different markets and legal requirements.

Haha i see, i would never have got this from a website or youtube channel on these things so thanks for the inside track. I will have to think long and hard. I am even putting the mid drive back in the mix now just because i started to consider converting my old mountain bike with a hub but seen as it has 26" wheels and I might want to convert a 29er or 700c in the future the mid-drive would allow me to do this. I am still worried about all that torque through the chain though as I can well remember them failing whilst standing on the pedal (makes me wince to think about it).