2 Swytch conversions and a kit from Amazon

Largered

Finding my (electric) wheels
Apr 12, 2022
15
0
Yes thanks, by coincidence I found the same thing with a Swytch throttle now selling on ebay here in the UK. If you zoom in on the image FT-21X is stamped on it.
 

Largered

Finding my (electric) wheels
Apr 12, 2022
15
0
Also, if you put in a search for FT-21X on aliexpress.com, you get quite a few hits but not all have a female connector.
 

Nealh

Esteemed Pedelecer
Aug 7, 2014
20,822
8,480
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West Sx RH
Throttles are mainly made by Wuxing company China and can have any connector on the end the client wishes, the ft21x is a Wuxing. With the switch kit there is no guarantee that third party one will work esp if the pin outs are changed.
If one isn't to bothered then the simple option is to cut off both connectors and solder the wires directly and shrink each one.
 

Nealh

Esteemed Pedelecer
Aug 7, 2014
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Blimey what a huge mark up !!!
 

Largered

Finding my (electric) wheels
Apr 12, 2022
15
0
Absolutely, I think they are about £7 on aliexpress including postage. Problem is delivery is end of May beginning of June.
 

Nealh

Esteemed Pedelecer
Aug 7, 2014
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West Sx RH
I have ordered a few things on ali and they all say delivery may/june or 40 -60 days, most arrived within 14 days. The reason for the long dates is they can't be 100% sure of customs etc at both ends.
 

Nealh

Esteemed Pedelecer
Aug 7, 2014
20,822
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Small items under $20 don't get held up and often they put just a dollar or two on the pricing, it isn't worth customs time and effort to hold these up as they are after the high value items.
Part of my latest order arrived over a week ago and was for £30 and was posted on 23 march, some items are still outstanding though an update says they have arrived in destination country.
 

guerney

Esteemed Pedelecer
Sep 7, 2021
11,180
3,172
Small items under $20 don't get held up and often they put just a dollar or two on the pricing, it isn't worth customs time and effort to hold these up as they are after the high value items.
Part of my latest order arrived over a week ago and was for £30 and was posted on 23 march, some items are still outstanding though an update says they have arrived in destination country.
I'm amazed that your motor arrived before the mods and other parts. All that waiting around for vital things to arrive before I can get the job done, drives me crazy. That's why I order from two different suppliers, if it's a low priced item and I can justify two purchases of the same item, on the basis that it's good to have another of that particular thing as a spare - one always arrives earlier.
 
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Nealh

Esteemed Pedelecer
Aug 7, 2014
20,822
8,480
61
West Sx RH
It didn't come from AliExp though but the UK warehouse link you saved.
 

guerney

Esteemed Pedelecer
Sep 7, 2021
11,180
3,172
It didn't come from AliExp though but the UK warehouse link you saved.
That was a very impressive speed of delivery... I've safely squirrelled that supplier away in a folder marked "Fast supplier of useful ebike bits that Nealh ordered from which arrived without duty or tax IMPORTANT".
 
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Bonzo Banana

Esteemed Pedelecer
Sep 29, 2019
801
460
Absolutely, I think they are about £7 on aliexpress including postage. Problem is delivery is end of May beginning of June.
It's the nature of Swytch's business model. Their kits have a full retail price of £1000 and half that for pre-orders but if a Chinese supplier configured a kit like that with a small geared hub motor and a tiny capacity battery you might be able to buy that kit for £250-300 retail price. I suspect at some point we will see Chinese supplier's directly competing with Swytch. Strangely you can often buy full ebike's for £400 with similar motors and batteries but a kit containing just the ebike parts are not available separately.

Maybe there is something on aliexpress already but its a mess of a site with an awful search engine and very poor filtering. I can find an initial price of something of lets say £10 delivered but spend another 30 minutes and I've found it for £4 delivered by finding a seller that from another link hidden on another page at the bottom. Also most of the prices shown are clickbait links that actually change dramatically when you get to the page in question as soon as you click on any item. It's a completely dishonest and unfair site in so many ways but still bargains to be had if you spend some time and make sure you always pay with a credit card that has good fraud protection.
 

Nealh

Esteemed Pedelecer
Aug 7, 2014
20,822
8,480
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West Sx RH
The kits like switch keep you tied in to their product as they do their home work so charge a premium for them, they may use generic electronics like Kt, wuxing etc but often spec a connector that is opposite to most supplied or might change the wire sequence in the modular parts. Hubs all afaik and have tried all are wired with the 9pin Julet to a std sequence in the industry, likewise controller connection to hu as well. What differs is what comes out of the controller to the peripherals.

Kit wise one could spec a similar low power hub controller kit and small battery for approx. 40% of the switch price, small/light hubs aren't very common in kits so switch play on that as well with the mark up.
One can but a sub 2kg small hub for < £100 for Aikema or about double for a Bafang.
 

jdunphy

Finding my (electric) wheels
Apr 12, 2022
16
1
Victoria, BC
If you have a throttle or something fancier and it doesn't work with your Swytch (eco) this might help.

I ordered what I thought was a compatible FT-21X female WP (water proof) throttle cable last night and it arrived this morning. It fit but it didn't work. Brought out the MM and found Swytch has swapped the signal and ground from what Bafang expected. The solution was to update the throttle cable and swap it back. So any of the BaFang model BBS01/BBS02/BBSHD will work which is what I had.

Another solution might be to order an extender cable and fix it there which would allow you to use any throttle in the future or from your parts bin should the Swytch specific one fail.
 

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yumseyo

Finding my (electric) wheels
Jul 9, 2019
10
0
If you have a throttle or something fancier and it doesn't work with your Swytch (eco) this might help.

I ordered what I thought was a compatible FT-21X female WP (water proof) throttle cable last night and it arrived this morning. It fit but it didn't work. Brought out the MM and found Swytch has swapped the signal and ground from what Bafang expected. The solution was to update the throttle cable and swap it back. So any of the BaFang model BBS01/BBS02/BBSHD will work which is what I had.

Another solution might be to order an extender cable and fix it there which would allow you to use any throttle in the future or from your parts bin should the Swytch specific one fail.
If I got the Bafang throttle to work, would I loose the PAS or would both work simultaneously?
 

matthewslack

Esteemed Pedelecer
Nov 26, 2021
1,808
1,307
If I got the Bafang throttle to work, would I loose the PAS or would both work simultaneously?
Should work together: if you pedal the PAS will do its thing. If you use the throttle alone, it will do its thing. If you pedal and apply more throttle than the PAS setting generates, then the throttle setting will override the PAS.
 

yumseyo

Finding my (electric) wheels
Jul 9, 2019
10
0
Should work together: if you pedal the PAS will do its thing. If you use the throttle alone, it will do its thing. If you pedal and apply more throttle than the PAS setting generates, then the throttle setting will override the PAS.
Thank You ! I will now buy a Bafang throttle and re wire it..