Alan needing assistance

[alan spencer]

Hello,I am a new member.This is my first posting.Trying to start cycing againat the age of 79.I am pretty fit for my age But feel I need electric assist on my byke so I don't have to push it up hills.I have a Giant mountain byke which I have had for about 15 years.It is light and well maintained.I would really like to keep this byke but need some guidance on what conversion kit would be best for me and where to have it fitted or do the job myself.Was at one time a fitter in the aircraft industry so am pretty handy.I will be camping in France in August on a site visited last year.There are e-bikes for hire so will try one out to see how I like it.Help in deciding what to go for would be much appreciated.

 

[KirstinS]

Welcome Alan!

There is a great wealth of information and very knowledgeable, helpful people on here so you’re in good hands. Can I ask a few questions of you, the answer to which will help folk provide useful advice

1. What sort of range requirements do you have ?
2. Where do you live and How hilly is it live (or intend to mostly use the bike)?
3. What is your budget ?
4. Does your bike have standard BB ?
5. Does your bike have suspension forks or ridgids ? And what distance is the gap both between the dropouts and about 10cm up
6. What brake system does your bike have ? presumably rim/callipers ?
7. How heavy are you ? ( nothing personal but it makes a difference !)
8. How important is a warranty and customer service to you ?


Depending on your answers you may find that a new bike is better bet. Even if not then I would still recommend test driving a few different models, in particular a crank drive vs a hub drive to feel the difference

15 year old bike is pretty old, suspension in partilcar has moved on by leaps and bounds since then. Whilst you might love your old bike, a new more comfortable one may suit better ? I'm not quite clear how long you have been away from cycling ?

Cheers
Kirstin

 

[Deleted member 4366]

Could you post a couple of pictures of your bike that show good detail: One from the side and one that shows the handlebar layout?

Use this method if you can post#3:
http://www.pedelecs.co.uk/forum/announcements-feedback-support/15268-does-forum-picture-upload-work.html

 

[alan spencer]

Thanks for your reply.My weight dressed is 12 stone.The suspension forks were fitted about 3 years ago by my son who borrowed the byke for his son and rides a lot off road so byke is ok and comfortable for an old un like me.Budget for a conversion 600 to 800.Has a standard bb.if by that you mean bottom bracket.Brakes are centre rim.Warranty would be advisable.I have looked at an Alien Ocean and reports are good if they are to be beleived.Gap at forks is 100mm.possibly 2mm less.Just checked with wheel in situ.

 

[alan spencer]

Thanks for quick response!will take pics asap and post

 

[Cyclezee]

Hi Alan,

From what you say about your bike, an eZee conversion kit would be compatible and there is a choice of front or rear motor wheel.

At £950, our kits are over your budget, but eZee are not the generic Chinese type widely available, they are higher quality and offer better all round performance.

Enough of the sales patter, you can read more about them here eZee Conversion Kits - electric bikes and conversion kits and download the eZee Mk2 installation guide from this page eZee Downloads - electric bikes and conversion kits

 

[alan spencer]

Hope you get 2 pics ok

 

[alan spencer]

At a bit of aloss to undersand how you don't reccommend chinese kits and yet on the website there are bykes from you from about £550 upwards these surely have cheaper kits than £950.I would be prepared to buy at arond £500 to £600.but which? £950 too dear for me.

 

[Cyclezee]

Sorry if you don't understand Alan.

The cheapest bike we sell at £575 comes with an 8Ah battery and is a bargain for that money.
In contrast the high end eZee kit comes with a 14Ah battery, more powerful motor, etc, etc, and is still good value for money if compared to similar quality kits.

The bottom line is we can't afford to sell eZee kits for 500 to £600, but there are plenty of other kits available that will come within your budget and plenty of people on the forum who can advise you what to buy.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

That's about the easiest bike you can get to convert and you don't have any special requirements, so any kit would be suitable. You only have to decide how much you want to pay. There's UK suppliers of Chinese kits. They give after-sales support:
Electric Bike Kit - from £399 with brushless 250W motor. Buy online at Cyclotricity
8Fun Ltd
Juicy Bike Accessories: stylish electric bikes and scooters
Electric Bicycles - 36v Road Legal Kits £599

Then, if you want more torque for hill-climbing, there's the Ezee kit
eZee Conversion Kits - electric bikes and conversion kits

If you want more power, and are not bothered about legality, there's the 350w Alien kit and Frank's Xipi kits
Kits

You can buy most of this stuff direct from China. It doesn't work out much cheaper, but you can have a better choice of motors, controllers and batteries. you can get more speed and/or power, but no warranty.
LiFePO4, EV Charger, EBike Battery, Bike Conversion Kit, Motor, Controller - BMSBATTERY
Electric bike kit, lithium battery, lifepo4, hub motor, controller, bike parts-GreenBikeKit online store for electric bicycle components-GreenBikeKit.com
Home-Elifebike Online Store --- Electric Bicycle Parts
BTN HOLDING GROUP CO.,LTD - Small Orders Online Store, Hot Selling electric bicycle middle drive motor kit,electric bike mid-drive motor kit,cheap hub motor kit and more on Aliexpress.com

Finally, there's the new Bafang BBS01 crank-drive kit that you an get from Woosh or the link immediately above. They're easier to fit than a hub-motor.
8-Fun BBS01 CD kit | Chain Drive Electric Bike Kits from Woosh

Whatever one you get, I'd advise you to get one that has a control panel with at least three levels of power assist as well as an independent throttle.

 

[D C]

That's a lovely old bike and nicely looked after. The brake levers not being combined with the gear shifters would simplify fitting of a kit and I'm sure it would be very well within your capabilities as an ex aircraft fitter to file the forks drop out that will likely be required.
My kit was certainly not the most expensive but it was easy to fit (on a very similar bike to yours) it does exactly what I want and what you seem to want, just a bit of help with the hills.
If I was still in Rochdale I would invite you round for a go but the Scottish Highlands is a bit far and not on route to France either.
I would encourage you to fit a kit, I'm sure that like me you will be delighted with the outcome.

 

[eeagles]

Hi Alan, I don't know much about bikes, especially the terminology, but I just bought myself a cheap bike and kit and have been fitting it with a friend who knows more than I do. Having said that I am very technical and it's not actually been that difficult to learn. The 8Fun kit is pretty good and has cost about £450 with a new bottom bracket. It worked straight away when installed in terms of the computer, throttle, motor, battery, etc. That was all very straight forward and they all took about 1/2 hour to install, i.e. without tidying the cables straight away. Of course, having removable grips is a good idea, as you might find yourself taking them off a few times. But, for us the pedelec has been more problematic, which is a known issue. There are two main issues: 1) the length of the BB might not allow the sensor wheel to rotate/sense properly, and 2) the bars on the bb (sorry, don't know correct term) might not hold the pedelec sensor wheel so it freely rotates (and might need adapting). I have 3 BBs and two of them have issue 2 and one has issue 1. I've ordered a new, longer one for £6.95 but can't be sure if it'll be ok without adapting it. It'd be ideal if I could take the sensor wheel to a shop and try it.
The 8Fun kit I bought comes with the bottle battery and a front wheel motor. There are a few like this on the market to choose from. Some claiming to be of higher quality. So, I'd look into what differentiates them. But, I just chose the cheapest I could find. I know, not always the best option.
The only other issues we had are:
a) The battery not being held on too well, so we've added a strap, which doesn't look to bad to be honest. This holds it in place well.
b) Tried the wheel on an old Saracen bike and the end of the fork (sorry don't know term) was too wide, causing the motor to rotate and the wire get caught under the fork sheering the surface of wire. Fixed that and ensured the cheap bike we then bought had compatible forks as not all of them are.

Anyway, hope this is of some help.

 

[eeagles]

P.S

I spoke to Cyclotricity and they were very helpful. Unfortunately, my friend ordered my kit (on behalf from ebay), the 8Fun kit and despite the bottle falling off and the wire being sheered, I am carrying on with the conversion. But, if I were going to do this again, I might be inclined to take the bike to a Cyclotricity dealership (as I was going to) and pay them £50 to fit one. Their kits cost the same, i.e. £399 for the kit, then £50 for the pedelec/basic computer that I have.

 

[alan spencer]

Hi,Think I have decided on a cyclotricity kit.This has a 10 amp battery which seems adequate.Would you advise going for the basic kit or add the pedal assist which adds £100.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

I'd spend at least the £50 on the LED display with three levels of pedal assist. The LCD one seems a bit steep at £100. In my mind, the upgrades would be more reasonable at £25 and £50, considering you can buy a controller and LCD plus other bits for £50 elsewhere.

 

[D C]

Hi,Think I have decided on a cyclotricity kit.This has a 10 amp battery which seems adequate.Would you advise going for the basic kit or add the pedal assist which adds £100.

I'm not really qualified to advise as I haven't fitted the pedal assist but I'll add my two pennoth anyway.
I find that throttle only is perfect for the way I personally want to cycle and have had over 34 miles range with apparently a good bit left in the battery.
I did fit one of these

K1BO DC 15 to 120V Waterproof Red LED Panel Meter DC Digital Voltmeter Two-wire | eBay

a recommendation from d8veh (thanks) in another thread, it helps me see how the battery is doing on a ride.
My logic was to buy throttle only as there's less to go wrong, then add the pedal assist if I felt the need, which so far I haven't.
Maybe I'm missing something and would be interested to try pedal assist for myself though I really don't want help all the time. Maybe in a year or two I may!
I fitted the thumb throttle to the left as I wanted to be able to change gear on the right whilst under power.
I would think more folk will be along who've tried both systems and can give you more informed advice.

 

[alan spencer]

Thanks again for your advise.I have more or less decided a cyclotricity kit with 9amp bottle battery would be ok for me.I could go on and on looking but have got a short list.just one more question.If I go for the pedal sensor will I have to have a new bottom bracket .I have been told I need a semi sealed square one which is fitted to the majority of bykes.Looking at mine on the Giant the housing looks round.All the bykes i've owned looked the same.How do I know if mine is ok.Sorry to be a pain but am confused.Is it easy to convert if I need a new one.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

You don't need any special type of BB, but you do need space to put it. Ideally you need a 5 mm gap between the crank and the BB. If you haven't got space on the right side, there's often space on the left one.

 

[alan spencer]

Thanks dev.Have talked to Kevin at ucycle2 and he was very helpful.Off to france with caravan on sunday and will hire an ebyke to get the feel.thanks for tip on bb.

 

[alan spencer]

Hi agaain.Have been in France for a few weeks.Took my byke to a cyclotricity dealer today.Was going to order a kit but dealer wasn't sure if pedelec sensor would fit.seemed like he hadn't fitted one before.The bottom bracket shaft is square,he used apuller to get it off.he said there is no locking ring to hold the sensor in place.I showed it to my local byke dealer here in Burnley.He said it is a cartridge type and semi-sealed.It has a seal at both ends.not much of a gap I noticed from the pedal to the seal.I thought my bottom bracket was the right one.Do all these sensors need this locking ring?Don't know what to do now.Any advise please.