Hello and advice on converting my bike

[wehey]

Hiya all. It's my first (of many I'm sure) post here so treat me gently

I have been interested in buying a conversion kit for some time now. I have done a fair bit of reading in the last few weeks and think I have an idea about what I want. Unfortunately, no matter how much I read and try to understand, I just end up a little more confused than before I started.

I would like a front wheel conversion for my bike and I am thinking that a 500w 48v hub motor would be about right. I am a keen cyclist and fairly fit and just want to add a little more "whizz" to my riding allowing me to travel further and explore more than my current fitness will allow.
I would like a simple twist or thumb throttle with battery level indicator, I don't want peddle assist, (I think this is the right term) and a range of 20 miles with me peddling most if the time.

Do I need a control unit? What do they actually do?
Do the twist grip/thumb throttles interfere with the normal gear shifters?
Is there a kit off the shelf that will full fill my requirements?
If not, where is the best place to shop for these bits and pieces?

Any help will be greatly appreciated
Many thanks

 

[Deleted member 4366]

It's probably better to start with a list of requirements rather than picking out a motor and trying to decide if it's any good. See if you can answer these questions:

How heavy are you?
What bike do you want to convert?
How fast do you want to go?
What sort of hills do you need to climb?
How much money do you want to spend?
Why do you want to rule out a pedal sensor, which will make your bike easier to ride?

The basic things you need are a battery and charger, a controller that regulates the motor speed or power, a motor and a throttle. Additionally I'd recommend brake sensors, a torque arm or other means of resisting the motor torque and a pedal sensor.

 

[Alan Quay]

Hiya all. It's my first (of many I'm sure) post here so treat me gently

I have been interested in buying a conversion kit for some time now. I have done a fair bit of reading in the last few weeks and think I have an idea about what I want. Unfortunately, no matter how much I read and try to understand, I just end up a little more confused than before I started.

I would like a front wheel conversion for my bike and I am thinking that a 500w 48v hub motor would be about right. I am a keen cyclist and fairly fit and just want to add a little more "whizz" to my riding allowing me to travel further and explore more than my current fitness will allow.
I would like a simple twist or thumb throttle with battery level indicator, I don't want peddle assist, (I think this is the right term) and a range of 20 miles with me peddling most if the time.

Do I need a control unit? What do they actually do?
Do the twist grip/thumb throttles interfere with the normal gear shifters?
Is there a kit off the shelf that will full fill my requirements?
If not, where is the best place to shop for these bits and pieces?

Any help will be greatly appreciated
Many thanks

Controller: Yes, you definitely need one for a brushless DC motor.

Throttle interfere: Not if you get the right one. Stick a photo on of your setup and someone can advise.

Off shelf: possibly, although 500w is not legal, and 48v is less common. 36v is most common.

Where to buy: I use BMS battery , but there are others in China. There are also UK suppliers, but I've never personally used them. Ezee have a good reputation

 

[wehey]

Thanks for the reply

How heavy are you?
13st 7
What bike do you want to convert?
It's a mountain bike that I have built out of random parts. Front suspension, 8sp hub gear etc
How fast do you want to go?
Up to 20mph on occasions
What sort of hills do you need to climb?
Whatever hills I come across on the day. I have no regular routes and just cycle where I fancy
How much money do you want to spend?
£500 ?? But more if necessary for the right setup
Why do you want to rule out a pedal sensor, which will make your bike easier to ride?
I don't really think it's necessary. (but am ready to be corrected/educated) I would really like to ride as I normally do and use the hub to boost speed when I fancy it etc when riding into a headwind or incline.

The basic things you need are a battery and charger, a controller that regulates the motor speed or power, a motor and a throttle. Additionally I'd recommend brake sensors, a torque arm or other means of resisting the motor torque and a pedal sensor.

I dint understand the brake sensor thing? I ride a motorbike too, and when I want to stop I throttle off and and apply the brakes. I can understand why this is necessary with pedal assist (I think)

What's a torque arm?

Sorry for all the questions and if they sound dumb, im just trying to get my head around all of this new information

 

[wehey]

Controller: Yes, you definitely need one for a brushless DC motor.

Throttle interfere: Not if you get the right one. Stick a photo on of your setup and someone can advise.

Off shelf: possibly, although 500w is not legal, and 48v is less common. 36v is most common.

Where to buy: I use BMS battery , but there are others in China. There are also UK suppliers, but I've never personally used them. Ezee have a good reputation

Thanks for the reply. I will get a pic up of my current shifter tomorrow or do they make a thumb shifter for the LHS if not?
I didn't realise that 500w 36v was more common, I will base my research on these figures thanks

 

[Alan Quay]

Can you just confirm something please: Hub or derailleur gears?

 

[wehey]

It has a Shimano Nexus 8sp hub with thumb shifter and single chain ring on the front.
I was going to add the electric hub to the front.
hope this helps

 

[Alan Quay]

Cool, just checking.

Yes, you can get a LH throttle. I have one that I got from BMSB.

On my hub geared bike though, I moved the gear shift to the left, and used a RH throttle. This does mean that the shifter is a bit upside down, however to me it seems less wrong than throttle on left. Just my opinion.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

The throttles on motorbikes don't break and go full on. Neither do they let water in, which causes them to go completely random and often full on, so you don't need break cut-offs on them. It's different on an electric bike.

When you have an electric bike with a throttle, it's very difficult to hold the throttle still, due to road bumps and pedalling. It's not like a motorcycle at all. Therefore it's difficult to get efficient use of the battery. You can get round that by using a pedal sensor, which with a controller that has settable levels, works like a sort of cruise control. Alternatively, you can make a cruise control with another throttle or by modifying your existing one. The cheap kits often have pedal sensors with only one level (max), which are close to useless.

This is a torque arm to stop your axle twisting out of your drop-outs:

 

[wehey]

ahhhhh.......thanks D8veh, that makes a lot of sense now. It's more of a safety feature to prevent a "full power can't turn this damn thing off crash type situation" lol

 

[Deleted member 4366]

If you don't install a front motor right, it can pop out before you even fire it up, leaving you with a bill for new forks. A 250w motor is OK in most forks if you do it correctly. 500W motors can be very dodgy, so I'd need to see a photo of your drop-outs to advise further. The cheaper 500W direct drive motors often have 14mm axles, which brings further complications. If you have steel forks (like Zoom) you won't have so much to worry about.

 

[Cyclezee]

Hiya all. It's my first (of many I'm sure) post here so treat me gently

I have been interested in buying a conversion kit for some time now. I have done a fair bit of reading in the last few weeks and think I have an idea about what I want. Unfortunately, no matter how much I read and try to understand, I just end up a little more confused than before I started.

I would like a front wheel conversion for my bike and I am thinking that a 500w 48v hub motor would be about right. I am a keen cyclist and fairly fit and just want to add a little more "whizz" to my riding allowing me to travel further and explore more than my current fitness will allow.
I would like a simple twist or thumb throttle with battery level indicator, I don't want peddle assist, (I think this is the right term) and a range of 20 miles with me peddling most if the time.

Do I need a control unit? What do they actually do?
Do the twist grip/thumb throttles interfere with the normal gear shifters?
Is there a kit off the shelf that will full fill my requirements?
If not, where is the best place to shop for these bits and pieces?

Any help will be greatly appreciated
Many thanks

Welcome to the forum Whey,

Most of your questions have been answered, but I would add a few comments to what has been said already.

Firstly 500w will more than a little whizz.

Good kits come with both pedelec and a throttle at no extra cost, but it is up to you which you want to use.

We specify left hand throttles for our eZee kits sold in the UK for couple of reasons. The right hand turn across oncoming traffic is the more dangerous than a left hand turn so with a left hand throttle you can signal you are turning right and still keep your hand on the throttle to give you a boost if required.
Another reason is you can more easily change gear and use the throttle at the same time.

Finally an eZee kit includes everything that you need, even torque plates which we also sell separately to user of other kits.

 

[wehey]

Here is a pic of my gear shifter

 

[wehey]

And the fork dropouts

 

[Deleted member 4366]

You need a plain half-throttle to fit over your RH gear-changer. Your forks look perfect because of the thick flat drop-outs. Are they steel? Test with a magnet. The Quick release wheel means that the slot could be 9mm, so see if a 10mm bolt or whatever will fit in the drop-out. You might need to do a bit of filing.

Your 500w kit might be OK, ut you need to think about the battery. 500w is approximately 10 amps at 48v, although the current will be double that when climbing slowly. You need to find out what the maximum current is that the controller will allow, which is probably 20 or 22 amps, in which case you need a battery capable of giving that, so a minimum of 12aH unless you get a high-discharge rate one. Have you thought about which battery?

 

[Cyclezee]

The forks look nice and meaty and the unused disc brake mounting is good point for the attachment of torque plates.

 

[wehey]

You need a plain half-throttle to fit over your RH gear-changer.

Do you have a pic of link for one of these as I'm not sure what I should be looking for?

 

[wehey]

Have anyone brought one of the kits off eBay ? They seem to be reasonably priced but I don't want to be buying a pile of c**p lol

 

[Deleted member 4366]

http://www.ebikes.ca/shop/ebike-parts/throttles/t-htwist.html

 

[Cyclezee]

http://www.ebikes.ca/shop/ebike-parts/throttles/t-htwist.html

We have these in the UK, but left hand only, they are the same as were used on Mk1 eZee kits.