New project - Ezee kit on Giant Seek 0

[benjy_a]

I use my electric Brompton every day to commute to London but I have realised that I do not always need a folding bike on the train due to my shifts and the fact that I often travel out of rush hour when a full sized bike could be used and be faster and more comfortable on the potholed roads which I travel on.

Also, much as I love my Brompton it was just too uncomfortable when I used it to ride the whole way to work (70 miles total return journey) and would like a bike to do this more comfortably should I wish to do so as I enjoy the exercise and freedom from the train.

So....I have justified to myself the decision to spend more money and I’m going to fit an Ezee front hub conversion to my hybrid Giant Seek 0.

This bike has Alfine hub gears hence the decision to do a front conversion; it’s a top quality bike and should be a very strong and reliable long distance commuter. The front forks are fluid formed from a single piece of Aluxx aluminium and look very strong. There are bolt holes for mudguards which I think will be perfect for bolting torque arms onto.

 

[benjy_a]

I anticipate a challenge to get the pedelec sensor fitted as this bike has hollowtech cranks, eccentric bottom bracket and the Alfine chain-ring which leaves absolutely no gap for the magnetic sensor ring to be fitted. I am hoping to be able to cut the middle of the sensor ring out and glue the outer disc (with magnets) to the concave inside of the chainring. The sensor itself will have to be epoxied somewhere so that it picks up the magnets. I would be grateful for any thoughts or feedback about this idea.

This just about shows the concave chainring where I think I may be able to glue the magnetic ring.

 

[PJM]

I have recently posted up a thread of my fit to a Trek 6000. I went down a throttle only route and have found it fine. I don't plan to go with the sensor.

 

[benjy_a]

I really want the sensor as I don't want to have to constantly hold the throttle in any given position. The Ezee kit comes with the ability to select from 7 different levels of assist which I would like to retain so I can decide how much exercise I want and just pedal.

On my Brompton I have a cruise control switch so I can easily choose a throttle level, set it and then just pedal which gives a similar effect.

 

[amigafan2003]

I really want the sensor as I don't want to have to constantly hold the throttle in any given position.

Take the spring out of the throttle

That's what I've done with my thumb throttle - it then stays wherever you set it (which is usually at max!)

 

[PJM]

Even with the spring in the throttle i have not really found it an issue. It's quite intuitive to hold the throttle where you want. That is even with a left handed throttle. I took John's advice as the LH throttle leaves your right hand available for Rh signalling whilst maintaining throttle control. It is bit redundant as I picked up a set of Bycygnals for £15 out of the bargain bin at my LBS.

 

[benjy_a]

I appreciate the input and ideas, however I have owned a few electric bikes now; some with pedelec sensor and some without and I know exactly what it's like to ride bikes both with and without.....I know that I do want one fitted to this project so I need to figure out how to achieve it.

I don't want a throttle with no spring as I think it's dangerous; even with stop switches it would be all too easy for the bike lurch off if you forget to move the throttle to the off position; also if you come off the bike the motor may still carry on at full throttle and the bike would be totally out of control.

So I will stick to plan A at the moment and look to install the magnets on the chainring...we'll see how that goes when I get the kit next week.

 

[PJM]

The disc has an external diamaeter of about 68mm and the width of the disc is 4mm. It is slightly wider at the centre of the disc but you would obviously be cutting this away. On the sensor it is attached to the mounting plate with two small screws and has a shaped base that should fit over the shape of your bottom bracket. I assume that the seven pedelec levels must be from the Mk2 kit?

 

[benjy_a]

The disc has an external diamaeter of about 68mm and the width of the disc is 4mm. It is slightly wider at the centre of the disc but you would obviously be cutting this away. On the sensor it is attached to the mounting plate with two small screws and has a shaped base that should fit over the shape of your bottom bracket. I assume that the seven pedelec levels must be from the Mk2 kit?

Thanks this is useful info! The 68mm disc will definitely fit inside the concave area on the inside of my chainring, but I will need to cut the centre hole to about 41mm so that it doesn't foul the bottom bracket. Will the disc take a 41mm hole without destroying it or interfering with the magnets?

The sensor itself will have to be removed from it's mounting plate and just stuck somewhere on the frame. There is literally no clearance between the bottom bracket and crank on this bike to install the mounting plate.

I made a mistake...the blurb for the MK2 kit says that there are 5 pedelec levels not 7:

From Cycleezee website:
"Display Console Version 2.0
Battery gauge 5 levels taking both voltage and current algorithms, with LED indicators
Pedelec or PAs speed/power setting 5 levels
Multi mode selections : dual mode, pedelec mode with 6 km/h ebike mode, ebike throttle mode
Microchip PIC 16F886
Casing in black polycarbonate plastic"

 

[benjy_a]

I just came accross these....hmmmmm.....wondering if they will fit!

ELFEi PAS Magnets for Octalink and Hollowtech bottom brackets ELFEi PAS Magnets

I already intend to use one of these for a brake stop switch:

BionX Press Switch for Magura brakes | enables motor cut-off even for hydraulic brakes

 

[benjy_a]

Or how about these....glued into holes on the inside of the chainring:

Pack of 20 Neodymium rod magnet 3mm dia x 10mm N35 grade reed switch magic | eBay

The sensor could be glued to the bottom of the frame with epoxy somewhere nice and close to the magnets.

 

[PJM]

I like the look of the magnets to go in my Shimano chainset. I think you will need to be very careful as this will be quite a fragile ring if you take 41mm out of the centre. It will leave you about 7 mm cleareance from the magnets. The disk itself feels like quite a brittle plastic.

As to the brakes I was not so keen on messing with the hydraulics and made up small coat hanger wire clips that I have fitted into to the brake lever. The lever increases the 'throw' enough to activate the brake switches that I removed from the levers that came with the kit. Working well.

 

[benjy_a]

OK so I've gone ahead and ordered some 4mm diameter magnets from eBay. The holes in my chainring are exactly 4mm so this should work really well. I will have 20 magnets so if anybody else wants to do this (if it works) you'll be welcome to some.

Pack of 20 Neodymium rod magnet 4mm dia x 10mm N35 grade reed switch magic | eBay

@PJM - fair play for getting the reed switches to work, at the moment I'm leaning towards the hydraulic switch as it looks like a nice professional way to get a stop switch. I'm not too worried about tapping into the rear brake hose.

 

[Cyclezee]

OK so I've gone ahead and ordered some 4mm diameter magnets from eBay. The holes in my chainring are exactly 4mm so this should work really well. I will have 20 magnets so if anybody else wants to do this (if it works) you'll be welcome to some.

Pack of 20 Neodymium rod magnet 4mm dia x 10mm N35 grade reed switch magic | eBay

@PJM - fair play for getting the reed switches to work, at the moment I'm leaning towards the hydraulic switch as it looks like a nice professional way to get a stop switch. I'm not too worried about tapping into the rear brake hose.

An excellent idea Benjy, I regularly use Neodymium magnets for an entirely different purpose unrelated to bikes and hadn't thought of using them for this application.

We get them from Eclipse Magnetics Neodymium magnets (rare earth).

They are quite powerful, so some experimentation may be necessary.

 

[benjy_a]

Stage 1 of converting this bike into a commuting machine is complete; mudguards and rack added.

Now I just need Marathon Plus tyres and the Ezee kit and I should be good to go!

The rack is very high and unfortunately not quitel level because the mounting points on this bike are so high....anybody think this will be a problem? I will have 10-15kg regularly on it.

 

[banbury frank]

Hi Try one off these they do them in 3 sizes

Bike Seatpost Clamp With Carry Rack Bolt Mounts 31.8mm | eBay

Also these racks brake on the welds at the bottom we use the following racks made in silver or black

we saw off the curved ends to allow the battery to slide on

Avenir Bike / Cycle Pannier Rear Rack 26 inch - 700c Silver 5023857367053 | eBay

Frank

 

[benjy_a]

Thanks for the reply Frank but the clamp is not the issue, my bike has holes to screw the rack onto. The rack I have is extremely strong - it's one of these in black and can carry 35kg:

Wiggle | TorTec Expedition Alloy Rear Rack Pannier Racks

The height is from the length of the rack upright and cannot be changed, my only option would be to buy another rack which is shorter but if I can get away with this one I'd rather save the money.


(EDIT) I'm with you now Frank...use the clamp instead of the existing mounts to raise the front of the carrier....great idea thanks; I was being thick!

 

[banbury frank]

Hi The clamp replaces the one on the bike on the seat post it would bring the arms up slightly

the rack i showed you has bottom brackets for 26 in and 700 c so you can lower it

Frank

 

[lowranger]

I inititailly tried to mount the magnets directly because of clearance issues with the sensor. I ground a flat section from the crank and cut the middle from the ring then fixed it by drilling and tapping for countersunk screws. This then gave room for the sensor mounted on its ring as well. My kit is a mk 1 front hub on a giant escape and it has made an excellent bike, I don't have a throttle as I prefer to pedal to do have the eaf control for variable power.

 

[benjy_a]

I inititailly tried to mount the magnets directly because of clearance issues with the sensor. I ground a flat section from the crank and cut the middle from the ring then fixed it by drilling and tapping for countersunk screws. This then gave room for the sensor mounted on its ring as well. My kit is a mk 1 front hub on a giant escape and it has made an excellent bike, I don't have a throttle as I prefer to pedal to do have the eaf control for variable power.

Fair play for getting this to work but I'm definitely not grinding these (exceedingly expensive) hollowtech cranks! I'm really hoping that magnets on the chainring will work for me. I agree about wanting to have assistance without worrying about throttle all the time...I want both!