Any opinions welcome - kit type

[TZC]

Hello all. For the last 12 months or so I have been looking into e bikes- on and off. There's a lot to learn and a lot of circumstances to consider. At first I was going to get a woosh sirocco CD since I'm heavy and read that crank's best for weight - until considerations led change to something a little more expensive.

I almost bought a Kalkhoff pro connect 24 Xion a while back since it's a very nice bike with decent torque until I found that it couldn't be insured where I had to leave it. The same'd go for any bike left there just to be clear. So then I had to improvise.

Looking into folding bikes to avoid having to leave it outside completely, I found and bought a Montague Paratrooper

it's a great bike for the price I paid

So now I have to choose a kit for it.. Legal for insurance.

I am 103KG so not svelt and I'm afraid that an average, legal kit wouldn't do the job because I'm more interested in hill/wind assistance than speed, I ride around 12-14mph as it is on a mtb. I'm more of a pushing type rider than an ambler. I just can't push very far at the moment, ha

I like the sound of a Falco 250W kit. It has a lot of good points - regen/heart rate monitor: smooth non electric use: wireless LCD, built in controller, 5 year warranty etc and I can't really see any bad, aside from being very expensive. There's not much out there about real world use that I can find.

I wouldn't mind going without the Falco extras and pay less as long as it will do the job of helping me in the tough situations. I've read a lot of posts around the net and still can't get my head around all of it. There's some conflicting info and I can't tell what are opinions based on performance riding or just quality assistance if you get what I mean.

Do you think whatever's on the woosh big bear will do for me? If so could someone please clarify exactly what I'll need? (bafang bpm is it not?) One important thing is, I'd like whatever I buy to have little rolling resistance so that I could ride home ok if the battery ran out or failed - or just felt like trying

I hope to be able to go see the Falco motor for myself in a couple of months to decide if it's worth my money. In the meantime, could anyone help me unravel all the mess of info in my head please?

 

[Cyclezee]

Hi TZC,

Welcome to the forum.

The Falco is indeed a fine kit, but then I would say that as Cyclezee sell them.

If you find the price a bit on the expensive side you might want to consider an eZee kit, we sell those too and right now they are £795 with a 14Ah battery.

 

[TZC]

Hi TZC,

Welcome to the forum.

The Falco is indeed a fine kit, but then I would say that as Cyclezee sell them.

If you find the price a bit on the expensive side you might want to consider an eZee kit, we sell those too and right now they are £795 with a 14Ah battery.

Thanks for the reply Yes the Falco motor seems great to me it's just going to break the bank if I go for it

The way I'd like to put it is, there's a big saving to be had choosing the eZee kit, but then if it's underpowered for a guy at my weight where I need it (hill climbs, I'm sure it wouldn't be underpowered for everyone) then it's the opposite of a saving if you appreciate what I'm saying. Is there any info you could give about the rpm/torque of an eZee kit motor, perhaps?

Maybe I am thinking there's less general assistance than there actually is, in a 250W motor I don't know. I tried a Volt pulse on the flat and was surprised at how it kicked off, it seemed pretty powerful but then I never got to a slight incline even, to test it unfortunately.

 

[Cyclezee]

Hi TZC,

The eZee kit is in no way underpowered, a couple of weeks ago we sold an eZee Forza bike which shares the same motor to guy who weighs over 150Kg so it would have no problem propelling your weight.

I will send you a PM with all the info.

 

[jackhandy]

If you can, try a bike with the Ezee mk2 250w motor, as sold by Cyclezee, as that'll give you a benchmark as to how much grunt you need. You're most likely right in surmising the cheaper kits won't provide the amount you want. (About 70% of the Ezee's grunt).
Ask him if there's an owner near you that'll let you have a ride.
If you're anywhere in the far southwest, let me know - I progressed from an 8fun kit to an Ezee 3 months ago & you can ride both over my gutbusting test route.

 

[falmouthtony]

I live not too far from Jackhandy and was able to try out his Ezee conversion on a 29er. I was SO impressed with the grunt from that motor, and the 5c discharge rate of the battery included in the kit, which allows you to take full advantage of that grunt (important that!), that I put an Ezee kit on my hybrid bike.
I'm coming up to 67 and slightly in excess of your 103kg and boy, do we have some hills down here in SW Cornwall - think 1 in 4! The bike has never let me down yet on any hill and I now enjoy it so much I've bought a second battery to give me anything up to 70+ miles range.
Even carrying BOTH batteries (second one strapped under the crossbar), myself, and another 5 or 6 kilos of clobber no hill has yet given me a problem.
Difference between your bike and mine is that I have 700c wheels and 27 speed. Whether that would see a different result to yours I don't know.
I just hope you end up being as delighted with the performance of whatever you choose as I am. Good luck.

 

[TZC]

Thanks for the comments both of you, it's really helpful. I'll pm you Jackhandy, and work out if there's any chance of seeing one. It's a kind offer

 

[Geebee]

Going of the fact that the Falco is direct drive and comments I have seen about very steep hills with it I would think the Ezee or other geared hubs would be much more suited to your requirements.

 

[shemozzle999]

Hi TZC,

Paratrooper conversion:

http://www.treehugger.com/bikes/montague-paratrooper-folding-cycle-goes-electric.html

http://www.gizmag.com/the-highly-desirable-1000-watt-limited-edition-tidalforce-m-750-x20-electric-fold-up-bike/11674/

Please note you have 32 hole rims when you choose your motor.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

The problem with the Montague is where to put the battery. Get your thinking cap on Cyclezee!

 

[Geebee]

It's got that lovely fat upper tube if only it was possible to stuff it full of batteries.
Otherwise a neat battery option is going to be an entertaining issue

 

[jackhandy]

The problem with the Montague is where to put the battery. Get your thinking cap on Cyclezee!

It LOOKS, from the photo, like a flatpack might sit under-slung the crossbar; with a bespoke fixing...
But that's what I thought about my Mamba - The damn battery's about 12mm too long/wide at the pointy bit

 

[Cyclezee]

Possible battery mounting solutions are an eZee FP battery on a seatpost MTB rack, Bottle battery slung under the crossbar, mounted BionX style as shown below

​

or if there there were enough room which I doubt, an FP battery with this mounting arrangement shown below in the same position as the BionX battery but using the ebikes.ca FP battery holder.​

​

 

[TZC]

Geebee you may be right. The falco has quite decent torque from what I gathered though.

Hi TZC,

Paratrooper conversion:

http://www.treehugger.com/bikes/montague-paratrooper-folding-cycle-goes-electric.html

http://www.gizmag.com/the-highly-desirable-1000-watt-limited-edition-tidalforce-m-750-x20-electric-fold-up-bike/11674/

Please note you have 32 hole rims when you choose your motor.

That should get me moving.. not sure it's UK legal Wouldn't like to try to insure it! I hadn't given the rims a thought, thanks

About the battery, a bottle shape fits near the bb. i couldn't find a pic of that but there's the bionix example underneath. It limits the capacity a bit and I doubt I'd get a crank motor and battery down there together, which after the bike choice got me considering hub.

I hope that this would be an exercise bike/light commuter that could help me home afterwards. I thought an 11.5 would do, the longest I expect to ride is about 12 miles at a time maybe with a couple of long hills. Otherwise there's the option of a seat post rack but I'm unsure about the weight up there.

 

[jhruk]

There's always the backpack battery option. If the battery is not too heavy and you're going to fold/dismantle it at the end of every trip anyway this might not be so inconvenient as it sounds

http://www.exacteditions.com/read/velo-vision/issue-32-december-2008-4594/16/3/

I believe the rims are all standard sizes, so shouldn't be a problem.

 

[Cyclezee]

Both Falco and eZee kits are supplied with the motor already built into a 36 spoke rim and in the case of the eZee kit a Schwalbe Marathon Plus tyre is fitted as standard, so either the front or rear wheel is replaced.
We have MTB seatpost mount rack for the eZee FP battery as shown below.
It also has a mounting point for the controller and the battery is locked to the rack.

 

[TZC]

Both Falco and eZee kits are supplied with the motor already built into a 36 spoke rim and in the case of the eZee kit a Schwalbe Marathon Plus tyre is fitted as standard, so either the front or rear wheel is replaced.
We have MTB seatpost mount rack for the eZee FP battery as shown below.
It also has a mounting point for the controller and the battery is locked to the rack.

View attachment 7835

Thanks it seems like I had underestimated the eZee kit from all the reviews and comments I've seen now. And a seatpost would allow a larger battery for a bit more backup if the weight/winds/hills, or just the fun of being pushed along draw more power than expected! I won't be going extreme off roading anyway so I bet balance would be fine.
I'm glad I posted here you've all been helpful

As I said it'd be perfect if I can visit later on to see both that and the Falco and make the final decision on that experience.

 

[shemozzle999]

A hub battery conversion is still available to you:

http://www.alibaba.com/product-gs/684564224/New_type_36V_10Ah_electric_bicycle.html

 

[TZC]

A hub battery conversion is still available to you

I hadn't realised that was an option! I guess that'd even up the weight distribution to an extent too, I'll try to look into that now