GSM 250w any advice

[stumpylee]

Hi all, just purchased the gsm 250w kit along with the 11.6Ah bottle type battery from woosh.

I am new to this E-bike craze and any tips and advice for fitting, setup and using the kit would be greatly appreciated.

Also like to hear what people using this kit think of it!!!

As it goes knowledge is power

 

[anotherkiwi]

I like the motor, it is my first mid-drive and after 70 or so km on a full tank (10.4 Ah) and a couple of hills think it is maybe better suited to my terrain than the hub motor I have.

Mounting: follow the instructions and you could have a running bike in 30 minutes. My build thread is is in my signature bellow I took a little longer because I built the bike up from a frame and front fork. The bottom bracket had a couple of options for mounting and because of my choice of stand I had to choose the simple bracket.

I have the external controller version and the controller I chose isn't playing along but the only issue is the speedo doesn't work. cut off is set for 25 km/h and it does cut off about there because of my usual cadence.

If yours hasn't been re-greased by Woosh it would be a good idea to pop the cover and get some grease in there before mounting it. Mine had a reasonable amount of grease in it but now that it is packed it makes a little less noise.

The cranks I got, well they are black, the same colour as my frame... The left one I have swapped for a Shimano forged crank already and I am working on getting the other of the chainwheel so that I have a matching pair of forged, not cast cranks.

If you have a natural cadence of between 80 and 90 you are good to go, my motor doesn't even get luke warm on my regular climb. You will love the way it helps you off the line and up hills. You just need to have the right gearing to maintain that cadence over your usual riding area. I need a lower first gear because I have the occasional section of 12-15% to be climbed. Chain line is good on my bike, not perfect but correct. I have had no issues with changing gears, no need to ease off or anything like that and no noisy changes.

Mount a motor cut-off switch because the PAS is very sensitive and if you move the pedals ever so slightly at a red light the motor will kick in. Could be embarrassing if you are in assistance level 5...

That is about it for now, as I said only 70 km done but probably a few more tomorrow.

 

[stumpylee]

Thank You for your comments, I will definitely open it up and check the grease.

Sounds as if your enjoying the motor, can't wait to receive it.

 

[anotherkiwi]

I think that Woosh are now greasing the motors before delivery if you don't have it yet probably best to ask them.

 

[stumpylee]

Called them, Yes they do open them up and add more grease.

I will still check just to make sure!!

 

[KirstinS]

Mine was one of the very first they shipped. I think greasing and controllers have been improved since then. Mine is the internal controller version

However, I'm very happy with the motor .

Word of warning. If you remove the 15mph restriction I am convinced it pulls far more than the 18a. This can kill batteries that are not designed to do so.

Best just keep it legal (especially as yours in in warranty). I do as it is in my hardtaul.

Anotherkiwi is dead right about the brake switches. I don't have any and, as a result, quite often switch to 0 pas and use the throttle on more technical trails. Otherwise balancing on the pedals can flick the power on just when you don't want it

For clarity this isn't a gsm specific issue

I've done about 2500 miles by the way

 

[davidg]

Just fitted mine at the weekend to an existing bike. Impressed at the delivery, 24 hours to France. They have a new controller for the latest batch from Lishui.

Fitting in 30 minutes? Maybe if you've done hundreds of them already and have already stripped your bike. It took me hours just to get my old bike stripped and ready. Then it is a fairly straightforward process to mount battery and motor but quite a long time to get brakes and control panel fitted and connected and more time making the wiring neat and tidy. Reckon about 4 hours if you are fitting to an old bike - I've made a video which I'll post sometime. Perhaps a couple of hours to a new bike if there are no issues.

I've shortened my battery cable, although I should have done it differently. Pedelec cable is a bit long and I need to find a better routing for this. I'm still not 100% sure why there is both a pedelec and throttle - although you can ride around without pedalling on the throttle alone.

Tips:

Make sure you get the motor mounting bracket round the right way, the little indents go on the frame side.
Grease the BB ends
Waterproof the cable exit from the motor
Do fit the cutoff brakes (as said above)

 

[stumpylee]

Thanks KirstinS, I think the new batch limit the amps being pulled from the motor, I maybe wrong anyhow i will stick to the 15mph limit.

thanks davidg I will definitely follow your tips.

Get the video posted on here it would be very helpful.

Have you used it yet? what are your thoughts?

 

[davidg]

I'm impressed how quiet the motor is. Also quite easy to pedal with no power. Handling is still ok despite the extra 7kgs weight. I took it up to the top of our village last night, which is a 250 meter climb at 8%, motor was just warm at the top but nothing extreme, you do need to be in the right gear though. Brake lever's are better than the ones I removed.

If you do shorten the battery lead - for example attach the Woosh supplied adapter lead directly to the battery holder - I would look at taking the bottom apart and soldering directly. I cut and spliced the lead and soldered it but it was fiddly to do.

The battery indicator on the controller doesn't seem very accurate. The battery seemed to show it was full (leds on battery) but the controller panel only had 2 bars after my short climb.

 

[stumpylee]

Thanks,
There are some killer hills near me sounds as if it will do the job.

Sounds like your so far happy with the kit. You will have to let me know how it preforms on a good run.

Which battery have you got?

 

[davidg]

Woosh 11.6 aH. I will take it to work on Friday - 20km round trip with some small climbs. If it doesn't rain. I should have the wiring tidy by then.

There is a small click when first pedaling - I assume this is the clutch engaging?

 

[stumpylee]

Lets hope its not Raining

 

[anotherkiwi]

Woosh 11.6 aH. I will take it to work on Friday - 20km round trip with some small climbs. If it doesn't rain. I should have the wiring tidy by then.

There is a small click when first pedaling - I assume this is the clutch engaging?

Yes I hear the clutch engaging.

 

[trex]

the clutch is very like a bog standard freewheel. Same pawls, making the same noise when you turn the cranks backward.

 

[anotherkiwi]

Just for laughs my four wire PAS kicks in if the pedals go forward OR backwards. This is a controller/LCD3 issue nothing to do with the motor itself. It is surprising the first couple of times...

Each time I ride this bike I am loving it more! Today I had a full charge so very sprightly indeed!

 

[stumpylee]

Well Got it all fitted today, took about 3hrs to do a neat and tidy job.

Been on a 5 mile run just to test (hoping to do more tomorrow)

1st impressions are very good, tackled one of the steepest hills not long but steep PAS level 5, 12 mph with help from me. Battery still showing full.

Think that a 38t cog would be a little better especially for off road. What do others think?

 

[anotherkiwi]

Well Got it all fitted today, took about 3hrs to do a neat and tidy job.

Been on a 5 mile run just to test (hoping to do more tomorrow)

1st impressions are very good, tackled one of the steepest hills not long but steep PAS level 5, 12 mph with help from me. Battery still showing full.

Think that a 38t cog would be a little better especially for off road. What do others think?

Neat and tidy is on my list of things to do, for the moment I need a means of transport...

Gears are way up there on the list too. It isn't so much the 46 on the front that bugs me (road use only) but the 11-28 on the back isn't going to be enough when I am tired. If I was to be reasonable I should go to an 8 speed 11-34 but I don't want to spend too much and will make my own 7 speed from a couple of dismantled cassettes.

 

[davidg]

This was my Friday commute:-

https://www.strava.com/activities/626709259

including a 180 V+ climb at around 10%. I have a ?? to 32, 6 speed cassette on the back and the standard GSM front cog. Seems ok gearwise. I was 3secs off the kom ;-) on the climb.

 

[anotherkiwi]

Wheelie (controlled, acting my age... ) in fourth from a red light! Didn't realize I was in fourth and feeling that I was slow away from the line stood on the pedals a wee bit... Wheelies in second are easy peasy

Loving the torque!

First time back up the 2 km climb with some steeper sections. Motor warmish at the top (less than 40°C, cooler than my washing machine), didn't see anything over about 450 W all the way up mostly in the high 200s.

I had to work hard but I was out for a bit of exercise for once. I think 46:11-34 will be perfect, the 11-28 is just a little short for those days when you need more assist. Having something under the pedal all the way down (3.8 km, I would say in the high 50s ) and cars struggling to pass near the 70 km/h speed camera near the bottom justifies the 11 tooth top gear.

Loving the GSM so far.

Down side: I have a seat or mudguard noise more debugging to do.