Which make of electric bike do you own?

[nigel]

Hi all
had my torq a couple of weeks now and i love it i have removed mudgards and rack put a more streamlined saddle on and a mirror and removed tyres for marathon plus and it looks the part even my son who is 21 likes it i will have to keep my eye on him in case he fancys a ride a fantastic ezee machine nigel

[flecc]

I bet it looks great without all the trimmings Nigel, it seems to be a natural for that treatment. You've left the lights on I take it?

I do too much utility riding, shopping etc, and riding in the rain to do that with mine. If you get a chance sometime, no rush, post a photo of it for us to see.

P.S. Tell your son 21 is far too young to be riding a Torq!
.

[nigel]

Hi flecc
quite right flecc 21 is still to young i will let him have 1? go this is the first electric bike that he really likes may be ezee should bring out a sport version of the torq. Also this time round i will look into bike insurance as well it will be double locked not going to take any chances 2nd time round PS yes i did also take of lights going back to security at the moment i find a good electric bike does draw attention which is ok with the younger kids but it seems to be from 14 to18 which seems to be the problem they know they are worth good money.nigel

[Pageant]

I have a 250watt hub kit (24v)

Well I am sitting here watching and waiting for my battery to recharge (a watched kettle never boils!) . Then I can take advantage of the rain having finally stopped!

I have read and re-read all the posts on this forum that seem of interest and now I thought I’d write my own whilst waiting for the charger to turn from red to green.

I had been thinking about an electric bike for some time and had read many forums and checked out many ready built and kit bikes that were for sale. I had also come across quite a few videos abnd had watched some very impressive (and some very dangerous) looking bikes and kits.

I was initially thinking about a Currie Electrodrive kit - but was put off by the battery casing being fitted into the triangle of the frame, as it turned out my 18” frame would have been too small anyway. Also the motor, being fixed to the side of the rear wheel didn’t really appeal to me. I decided on a hub kit instead. The area where I live has more than its fair share of ASBO collectors and I figured that if I had a bike that looked electric then it wouldnt be long before the little herberts made an attempt at pinching the bike either from my garage or wherever I locked it up.

I eventually found a supplier and ordered my hub kit. I knew that the hub was 140mm wide and so I searched for a secondhand bike to fit it on. I bought a secondhand Raleigh Max MTB on ebay for £40, it was 26" wheel on an 18" frame. The handlebars and saddle were easily raised and still within their 'Safe markings'. This helped keep the weight down rather than a 20" frame. I did not want aluminium as I knew I was going to have to spread the rear wheel spacing and perhaps do a bit of bending (the bike, not me).

I found a link somewhere to “Sheldon Browns frame setting” guide. It proved quite useful rather then just stretching the rear frame apart and hoping that each side were equidistant (is that a real word?) It didn’t take too much effort at all to get the 140mm spacing from the 130mm original spacing between the drop-outs, but anymore would have either fouled the pedals or misaligned the bike chain.

The kit was a 250 watt rear hub kit with a 24volt 6.8ahr Li-ion battery. The controller (15amps) was fitted in a plastic housing which was supposed to fit the bikes frame where the water bottle would normally be fitted. It didnt fit well and left too many wired connections exposed which were supposed to be taped up, 4 from the throttle, 8 from the hub and a load of surplus wiring from the controller all taped up just above the crank, yuk!. Also the battery itself came with a quick release fitting that should fit to the saddle stem, but didn’t without padding out the stem with loads of insulating tape, yuk! -

My next problem was that the kit came with a twist-throttle and I already had two twist fittings on the handlebars for the front and rear gear changes. I didn’t fancy a thumb control throttle so I decide to remove the crank chain gears twist control and just leave the 5 rear sprockets functional and put the throttle on right-side handlebar. I left the chain on the largest chain wheel as I very rarely changed this gear anyway, finding the rear 5 more than adequate for my purposes. I moved the rear sprocket twist control from the right handlebar to the left side, works fine but now in opposite direction to change up or down (you get used to it, a bit like having cars indicators lever on the opposite side).

I then bought a cheap frame bag from Aldi (£3.99) and put the controller in that with all its wiring/connections it seemed tidier and more showerproof than the taping-up idea. I then found and old 'wash/shaving kit bag' which was just the right size for the battery - A bit of Velcro webbing soon made an effective and easily removable battery pack.

The problem was that although I could now easily remove the battery when leaving the bike, the frame bag had to be left on with the controller inside - it would have taken too many multi-pole connectors to make it viable to take the battery and controller off together.

Finally, I decided to ditch the frame bag idea and I bought an ‘eddystone’ enclosure box from Maplins. It was just the right size to take the controller and all its wiring and keep it all neatly (almost) waterproof. I drilled the underside of the box and fitted grommets to take the incoming wiring and just left the two power wires protruding from the bottom of the box with bullet connections for the battery. I also drilled two holes on the bottom of the box to bolt down to my rear rack and fitted two ‘u’ type screw brackets to further fasten it to the rack to prevent it from being pulled or ripped off. I have checked the temperature of the controller inside this box and it doesn’t even get warm at 24volts.

The wash/shave kit bag for the battery was a temp measure and I have since bought a rear rack bag from Halfords (now reduced to £18.99) which measures 30cm long x 15 cm wide x 15cm high. This easily took my 24v Li-ion battery and now takes my Powabike Windsor 24v NiMh battery as well as extras like padlock, lights etc. The bag came with a shoulder strap and is easily removed from the rack with Velcro straps. The weight of the bag/battery is no real problem. I have made up a connection for the battery wires to come through a small hole in the end of the bag with bullet connectors to fit the controllers. I used a male and female connector on the controller and on the battery (rather than two males and two females on each) to prevent any chance of connecting them the wrong way round.

I have found the new Windsor NiMh pack far better than my Li-ion pack - the kit gives me about 17mph (power only) on the flat and about 12 miles on one charge with very little effort at pedalling. I have only charged the Windsor twice since getting it earlier this week and will hopefully get even better range once the battery has been discharged and charged a few times.

So far its very early days to give a true verdict on the kit but for now (with the new battery) I am very happy with it.

I have linked a few photos below.

All the best, Richard
(Hopefully my battery is almost ready to come off the charger now!)

[Brad]

As far as electric bikes available to the public, I have several Charger Bicycles made by Aerovironment, who I work for. I also have an EV Global that has a bad battery pack. But I ride the Charger everyday to work till now, as I built my own electric cycle.

Brad

[flecc]

Originally Posted by Pageant

I have found the new Windsor NiMh pack far better than my Li-ion pack - the kit gives me about 17mph (power only) on the flat and about 12 miles on one charge with very little effort at pedalling. I have only charged the Windsor twice since getting it earlier this week and will hopefully get even better range once the battery has been discharged and charged a few times.


All the best, Richard

Those 6.8 Ah Li-ion batteries I think a bit under capacity for typical 250 watt motors Richard, so I'm not surprised you find the 8Ah Powacycle NiMh battery better.

On the range, NiMh batteries gradually increase their capacity slightly over the first 100 charges on average, so you've more to look forward to. After that roughly 100 charges, they start a very gradual decline in capacity.

I hope it's fully charged by the time you read this!
.

[fishingpaul]

i started with a sakura s300, which was great fun to ride.but i felt such a plonker riding it,i only used it around eight times in a year,i now have a giant suede, which i feel is very underrated,i now go to work on my bike and enjoy it,i have tried a powacycle salisbury, yamaha easy,powabyke euro,and a whisper 905e,and none seem any better to me,in assist mode

[MikeB]

Hi
just taken delivery of a Wisper Works 905e (5th Oct) and as it was a demo with a fair discount I shant complain overly. A couple of moans to Wisper first and then when I've had chance to to use it in anger (this week) I shall give a full report.
So far it is clearly the fastest electric bike of the four types used to date and clearly the best looker, not only my opinion but that of passing admirers.

Watch this space.................

[flecc]

I'll look forward to your report Mike, we need more feedback on the 905e to get a proper idea of how a variety of users find it.
.

[Nick Stride]

Hi all

I also have a Wisper 905e (bought it in mid August) and ride it just for fun on the woodland trails and back roads - really enjoying the electric bike experience! I added Marathon Plus ATB tyres, removed the rack, replaced mudguards for higher style, replaced the bars for wider rising bars plus a few other odds and ends. It looks great to me and seems quick enough - really enjoy using the throttle as well as the normal pedal assist mode - although this saps the power quickly!!

Looking forward to trying it on a few days out on the trails in the New Forest.

Enjoy the forum and find it most informative.