Bafang Fun conversion for Boardman Hybrid Pro. Advice needed please.

[SteveRuss]

I haven't got around to selling my few year old Boardman Hybrid Pro. It's in excellent mechanical condition so I thought i'd offload it to the general public as is.

I've however been toying with the idea of converting it myself to a street legal Pedelec using one of the Bafang BBS kits that you can buy in the Uk (250 watt. Is it a BBS001 or BBS002 and what is the difference?) to sell on to an interested friend. I suspect it would make for a pretty lightweight, competent and reliable Pedelec.

I don't think i'll make any extra money out of it as a Pedelec but that's not my intention. I'd however like some advice as to whether this is a smart move or not. I presently can't see any flaws in the idea but there probably are some. Battery choice, BMS and any upgrades to the frame or any other considerations I may be missing would be appreciated.. !

This is the exact bike other than it now has Schwalbe Marathon tyres. Thanks in advance..

http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/bikes/hybrid/product/review-boardman-hybrid-pro-10-37976/

 

[trex]

the woosh GSM is also a legal 250w CD kit but has 18A controller instead of 15A
woosh also sell 4 different downtube batteries to go with it.
http://wooshbikes.co.uk/?cdkit#gsmkit

 

[mfj197]

Eminently sensible idea. The BBS01 is the one that comes in 250W. I converted a very similar bike with the same motor. The whole conversion, including battery, weighs about 7kg. The thread on the conversion is http://www.pedelecs.co.uk/forum/threads/bbs01-cube-sl-road-pro-conversion-and-long-distance-commuting.20706/

Michael

 

[SteveRuss]

Eminently sensible idea. The BBS01 is the one that comes in 250W. I converted a very similar bike with the same motor. The whole conversion, including battery, weighs about 7kg. The thread on the conversion is http://www.pedelecs.co.uk/forum/threads/bbs01-cube-sl-road-pro-conversion-and-long-distance-commuting.20706/

Michael

Hmm.. An inspiring read indeed. Interesting also that you are getting away with not using a BMS.

I suppose the problem with the bike i'd be using is that it's white so keeping the cables even remotely tidy won't be easy, or even possible.

With regard to the reprogramming that you did (i'm jumping ahead of myself here) did you just wing your way through the settings until you found a formula that you liked?

 

[Nealh]

Like Trex a GSM kit fitted will be about £100 cheaper and capable of near 30mph or more on a road bike ideal if fast riding is occasionally needed.

 

[SteveRuss]

Like Trex a GSM kit fitted will be about £100 cheaper and capable of near 30mph or more on a road bike ideal if fast riding is occasionally needed.

I don't know much about the GSM kit and although I appreciate Trex's input (as always!) I haven't found as much information about the GSM kit as I have of the Bafang machine. Your advise will push me even further to find out more though. Thx.

I'm totally open minded here and it does look cheaper, which is obviously a bonus in this situation. I think it's probably that there isn't as much information about it as I can easily find about the Bafang. Torque figures, reliability etc. Maybe i'm not looking deeply enough..

 

[Nealh]

GSM is new to the market having been trialled earlier in the year by Woosh the maker is GS Moon, reliability wise their have been issues but members here have had top class cs from Woosh and so far no there have been no further issues reported here. I myself have only had gripes about the wiring being to long and the twist throttle was a bad idea. Power wise so far I feel is greater then the BBS01 but on the down side battery usage is looking a bit higher.

 

[mfj197]

Hmm.. An inspiring read indeed. Interesting also that you are getting away with not using a BMS.

I suppose the problem with the bike i'd be using is that it's white so keeping the cables even remotely tidy won't be easy, or even possible.

With regard to the reprogramming that you did (i'm jumping ahead of myself here) did you just wing your way through the settings until you found a formula that you liked?

I read all through the massive Endless Sphere thread about programming these motors first, so knew what could be adjusted and why. I also knew that the motor probably wouldn't meet my needs out of the box, but that it could easily be adjusted to fit my requirements. Being able to provide partial assistance throughout the pedal cadence range was important to me as I'm a cyclist anyway and don't want to run the motor at full power all the time but I still want to pedal at a cadence that is comfortable for me. I did wait until I had the motor fitted to try it out with the default programming which confirmed it would be better adjusted.

Running a battery pack without a BMS is certainly only something to do with your eyes open. In my case I'm using very stable, very safe cells, and I'm only charging to 4.1V per cell. This gives a whole 0.1V leeway before any of them start overcharging and, to date, they haven't even fluctuated by 0.01V from each other.

White can still look great with black. I routed the wires around under the bottom bracket and then up under the downtube to try and keep them out of sight.

I'm afraid I don't have any knowledge of the GSM motor other than what I've read on here. It's a more recent, cheaper motor. I think Nealh has both so is in a great position to compare.

Michael

 

[SteveRuss]

I read all through the massive Endless Sphere thread about programming these motors first, so knew what could be adjusted and why. I also knew that the motor probably wouldn't meet my needs out of the box, but that it could easily be adjusted to fit my requirements. Being able to provide partial assistance throughout the pedal cadence range was important to me as I'm a cyclist anyway and don't want to run the motor at full power all the time but I still want to pedal at a cadence that is comfortable for me. I did wait until I had the motor fitted to try it out with the default programming which confirmed it would be better adjusted.

Running a battery pack without a BMS is certainly only something to do with your eyes open. In my case I'm using very stable, very safe cells, and I'm only charging to 4.1V per cell. This gives a whole 0.1V leeway before any of them start overcharging and, to date, they haven't even fluctuated by 0.01V from each other.

White can still look great with black. I routed the wires around under the bottom bracket and then up under the downtube to try and keep them out of sight.

I'm afraid I don't have any knowledge of the GSM motor other than what I've read on here. It's a more recent, cheaper motor. I think Nealh has both so is in a great position to compare.

Michael

Thanks Michael. I love your front light design by the way. So many front bicycle lights are very blotchy and overly diffused.