Cyclotricity Front wheel Kit - thoughts on wheel centering

[Gillian]

Hi all

I've converted my Dutch-style bike with a 250 watt front wheel motor and pannier rack battery from Cyclotricity. The motor works really well and has more than enough power for the hills . Where I am having a problem is setting the front V brakes. One side of the brakes keeps hitting the mudguard, and the brakes look lopsided when adjusted. It has been suggested that the wheel might not be properly centered, so I measured from the edge of the wheel to the fork and found that the motor side has a clearance of about 3.5mm and the non-motor side has a clearance of about 6.5 mm. The arrangement of the wheel and forks is:

Fork - Torque washer - motor - torque Washer Fork

I could try centering the wheel more with a 12 mm washer but I wanted to see if anyone had any thoughts on this?

Thanks
Gillian

 

[D C]

Hi all

I've converted my Dutch-style bike with a 250 watt front wheel motor and pannier rack battery from Cyclotricity. The motor works really well and has more than enough power for the hills . Where I am having a problem is setting the front V brakes. One side of the brakes keeps hitting the mudguard, and the brakes look lopsided when adjusted. It has been suggested that the wheel might not be properly centered, so I measured from the edge of the wheel to the fork and found that the motor side has a clearance of about 3.5mm and the non-motor side has a clearance of about 6.5 mm. The arrangement of the wheel and forks is:

Fork - Torque washer - motor - torque Washer Fork

I could try centering the wheel more with a 12 mm washer but I wanted to see if anyone had any thoughts on this?

Thanks
Gillian

When you filed or dremeled the dropout slots did you go deeper on one side than on the other?
You could try temporarily fitting the wheel the wrong way round and see if the different clearances change sides or if you still have the original wheel try that back.

Dave.

 

[Nealh]

If you are unable to center using washer etc then the wheel can be dished, you will need a spoke key and it is dead easy to do. Starting at the valve and the side with smallest clearance undo all spoke nipples exactly one half of a turn, then on the other side tighten all nipples the same measure clearances and repeat if necessary. For fine tuning go 1/4 turn

 

[Deleted member 4366]

There's something else you can do that's very easy. If you look at the brake block going up the bolt to the nut, there's a spacer and a dished washer. then the bracket on the lever, and on the other side of the bracket is another dished washer then a wider spacer, a thin washer and finally the nut.

You can swap round the thick and thin spacers so that the brake block is further from the bracket on one side compared with the other. That can compensate for about 3mm of offset in the rim. You can also add in a couple of ordinary 6mm washers to get a couple of mm more.

You can see the thick an thin spacer here:

 

[Gillian]

Thank you for all your replies - that gives me something to go on. I'm so pleased to have got the bike going so sorting the brake out has been a bit frustrating

 

[Sutty86]

What motors do they use I've tried emailing them but I'm not going to lie they are useless , no replys , not answering calls and online chat guy doesn't know anything
I was looking at the revoltion urban but not going to bother if I can't get hold of them (all week)

 

[Gillian]

I'll be looking at the bike tomorrow and get back to you. I agree completely with your comments regarding their sales and service.

 

[Sutty86]

On

I'll be looking at the bike tomorrow and get back to you. I agree completely with your comments regarding their sales and service.

On that note I'd personally stay away, I believe they have been good in the past.
When I did manage to get hold of someone on online support he wouldn't answer me 'what motor they used in the 250w'
Stated not allowed to disclose that information....

I mean cmon

 

[Deleted member 4366]

On

On that note I'd personally stay away, I believe they have been good in the past.
When I did manage to get hold of someone on online support he wouldn't answer me 'what motor they used in the 250w'
Stated not allowed to disclose that information....

I mean cmon

They used to use MXUS motors. I haven't checked recently. Not that it makes any difference. There's little to choose between any of the manufacturers, though I personally like the Aikema motors and their clones because of the large reduction ratio.

 

[Sutty86]

They used to use MXUS motors. I haven't checked recently. Not that it makes any difference. There's little to choose between any of the manufacturers, though I personally like the Aikema motors and their clones because of the large reduction ratio.

Off subject dv8eh but is there anywhere I can find more info about different 250w motors I was under the impression the bafang bpm is one of the better ones
The greenedge has a xiongda (never heard of them to be fair)

 

[Deleted member 4366]

All motors are good. It just depends what you want them for. There are a lot of different versions of the BPM with completely different characteristics. there are 250w/350w and 500w ones, 36v and 48v, and different speeds from about 180 rpm up to 400 rpm. They're all relatively heavy.The Bafang CST is similar, but with a cassette spline.

My favourite hub-motor is the Q128C, which gives a nice balance of weight, speed and power, but for heavy riders and towing, a BMP or CST might be better.

There are also clones of the BPM and CST from MXUS and Xofo, which some would argue are better.

 

[Sutty86]

All motors are good. It just depends what you want them for. There are a lot of different versions of the BPM with completely different characteristics. there are 250w/350w and 500w ones, 36v and 48v, and different speeds from about 180 rpm up to 400 rpm. They're all relatively heavy.The Bafang CST is similar, but with a cassette spline.

My favourite hub-motor is the Q128C, which gives a nice balance of weight, speed and power, but for heavy riders and towing, a BMP or CST might be better.

There are also clones of the BPM and CST from MXUS and Xofo, which some would argue are better.

Cheers

 

[Gillian]

On

On that note I'd personally stay away, I believe they have been good in the past.
When I did manage to get hold of someone on online support he wouldn't answer me 'what motor they used in the 250w'
Stated not allowed to disclose that information....

I mean cmon

I looked at the motor and it has lettering saying JDLAX.... printed on it. I guess that might be a serial no.

 

[Gillian]

Update on my wheel centering saga. I managed to squeeze in a spacer washer on the axle and swapped the spacers on the front brakes around. Although still slightly lop-sided they now work properly (yay!). When I have summoned up courage I'll try dishing the wheel (it is supposed to be easy, right?)

 

[Nealh]

When I have summoned up courage I'll try dishing the wheel (it is supposed to be easy, right?)

Even for the first time it is easy If you are methodical and have no interruptions 15 - 30 mins. Might look daunting but isn't (takes me a few minutes ).
Spoke/nipple key correct size or mutli-use one, if the later mark the correct size with tippex.
Don't lose track of the nipple you are working on, mark each one as you go. Mark the spoke in turn with a marker pen, tippex or bit of masking tape.
Start at the valve work one side first (every other nipple), loosen each nipple on the side that is to close first and then tighten the other side one at a time.
Don't go mad use 1/4 or 1/2 turn on all nipples, measure the spacing and repeat if not enough.
Once done flex each pair of spokes at X over point to release any built up tension, often you will feel and hear them as the tension is released.
Finally ping the spokes generally they should all have the same pitch /ring, any that sound dull or have more flex in them tighten 1/8 turn and then re-ping until they match.

Barring that you local LBS should be able to dish it to centralise.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

Make sure that you get a four-sided spoke key like this one to avoid rounded off nipples:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Topeak-Spoke-Wrench-Duo-13G-4-3mm/232663236103?hash=item362bcf3e07:g:GJgAAOSwExlagaOF

You can find cheaper ones than that, but you have to search them out. Only the size is important (13g or 4.3mm). That's assuming that you have 13g spokes and nipples. You need to measure the nipple if you're not sure.