First conversion advice

[fufkin]

Hi all,
I'm looking to add a conversion on a budget to a single speed bike, and from what I've seen so far, installation in the front wheel would probably suit me best.
The bike has 700c wheels.
I don't mind getting my hands dirty, so I am wondering if any of you experienced can give a total novice like me any advice?
Where is a good place to buy the kit?
Is it possible to buy second hand kit and the pro's and con's for doing so?
Anything else you can think of.
Sorry for being a bit general on the scope of the questions!!!

 

[Deleted member 4366]

A rear motor would be much better. Why do you want a front one?

Please give us more details about your proposed project so that we can put advice into some sort of context.

 

[fufkin]

Hi d8veh,
I did apologise for the vagueness!!!
The reason I thought of going for the front wheel hub is that I though the installation would be simpler. Having a rear wheel conversion just seemed a little more complicated to me.
I want to use the bike for commuting to and from work several days a week.
The trip is roughly 14 miles each way, but I can charge the battery at work as well as at home.
There are 2 hills that are a bit of a nightmare on the single speed, so the main reason is to help me up them.
The bike is Specialized Globe Roll 2, link below.
https://www.sigmasport.co.uk/item/Specialized/Globe-Roll-2-Bicycle-2012/5B8

 

[Deleted member 4366]

That's not so bad because it's steel. You want a light motor, like a 260rpm Q100H, which you get from BMSbattery. The whole kit will cost about £500 with a battery, S06S sinewave controller, throttle, lcd and PAS. Avoid the S06P controller because it needs special settings to work with that motor. If your budget is too tight, just get the 260 rpm motor wheel, ku65 controller PAS and throttle, then look on Ebay for a cheap downtube battery. That will bring the cost down to about £425, though not as good as the sinewae controller with LCD.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Electric-Bike-Battery-36v-10AH-Charger-For-250W-Motors-Li-ION-Lithium-/382219818438?hash=item58fe1395c6:g:9dYAAOSw1G1ZrvKj

https://bmsbattery.com/ebike-kit/632-q100h-36v350w-front-e-bike-motor-wheel-ebike-kit.html#/327-rpm-260

https://bmsbattery.com/ebike-kit/752-s-ku65-for-led810-250w15a-6mosfets-controller-ebike-kit.html

 

[fufkin]

Thanks d8veh,
The links you provided are in China. Have you ordered from them before?
Are they ok for delivery to the UK?

 

[Deleted member 4366]

Thanks d8veh,
The links you provided are in China. Have you ordered from them before?
Are they ok for delivery to the UK?

I've used then loads of times - about 40 orders now.

 

[fufkin]

Ah ok, that's good to hear.
The motor you put in the link is 350W. Isn't this illegal for electric bikes? Shouldn't you use 250W?

 

[Woosh]

if you are not in a hurry, I have front XF07 in 700C rims coming in next month. They should do well on your bike.
http://wooshbikes.co.uk/?hubkits

 

[fufkin]

Hi Whoosh,
I don't see that kit on the website.

 

[Woosh]

Hi Whoosh,
I don't see that kit on the website.

the XF07 is similar in performance to the XF08 CST kit. Only the motor wheel is different. The XF08 CST is for rear wheel, cassette fitting. As you want a front 700C motor wheel, your kit will be the same as XF08 CST but with the XF07 front motor wheel. The cost will be the same.

 

[fufkin]

Ok, I will check it out, thank you.
£499 is probably over my budget right now though.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

Ah ok, that's good to hear.
The motor you put in the link is 350W. Isn't this illegal for electric bikes? Shouldn't you use 250W?

The motor is tiny - much smaller than most 250w motors. It has an easy to peel off label. Nobody would ever think to ask about its power. Some are marked 250w - 350w whatever that means.

 

[John_S]

You could try a Q100 kit from BMSBattery. It comes in a range of wheel sizes including yours. It is 250w rated so is road-legal.

 

[fufkin]

Thanks John_S.
I have looked at this kit. Seems to be able to do what I want.

https://bmsbattery.com/ebike-kit/576-q100-36v350w-front-e-bike-whole-kit-ebike-kit.html#/213-rpm-201/380-display-lcd3

 

[fufkin]

The kit in my post above comes with S06P controller.
d8veh, should I swap this for the S06S controller?

 

[Woosh]

fufkin,
for your first kit, you may need a lot more support.
If you buy from China, how are you going to send back if anything goes wrong?

 

[fufkin]

Hi Woosh,
It's always a worry, but BMS is in my budget.
I'm not overly impulsive, so I'll take my time to make sure I get the right kit at the right price. The BMS kit is around my budget price.
Prices from UK are more expensive, but for that I suppose you get more come back if anything goes wrong.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

The S06P is sensorless. The Q100 series motors don't work very well sensorless because of their high commutation speed. You have to experiment with the P1 parameter in the settings to get them to work smoothly. It's very hit and miss. The S06S works perfectly, so does the S-KU63 and S-KU65. S06S for the win.

 

[fufkin]

Thanks d8veh.
And am I correct in using the 201 rpm on a 700c bike?
Also, what would the import charges be on something like this, if any?

 

[Deleted member 4366]

Thanks d8veh.
And am I correct in using the 201 rpm on a 700c bike?
Also, what would the import charges be on something like this, if any?

That's where it gets a bit complicated. The 36v 201 rpm motor at 36v gives good power to about 13 mph, then it ramps down. It's fairly effecient for hill-climbing. If you don't want any assistance past the legal 15.5 mph, it's a good choice, but remember, it doesn't give full power at 15.5 mph.

The 36v 260 rpm version at 36v makes good power to about 18 mph, then it ramps down. It can therefore give full power at 15.5mph, so it would feel more powerful than the 201 rpm one around that speed. Also, it can handle a bit more current, so you can tweak your controller up to say 18 amps, which would give 25% more torque and more assistance at take off at the cost of range.

Out of the two, I'd bet on the 260 rpm being more suitable. The good thing about these motors is that they share the same hub shell, so you could buy one as a built wheel plus one as a bare motor. The bare motor is cheap when you buy it with the rest of your order. If you don't like the one you bet on, you can swap over the cores, then sell the spare one in the forum classifieds to get most of or all your money back on it. It takes about an hour to swap over the cores, starting and finishing with a working bike.