Help! Lafree twist lite chainring

Stephen Britt

Finding my (electric) wheels
Jun 7, 2011
9
1
Hi. I need a new chainring for my lafree lite. its 37t. I followed fleccs link and have had a duscussion the Giant at Shoreham. They can provide a chainring kit that has 37t and 28t chainrings. They need to be ordered from holland but they dont have any more information. at over£80 i want to make sure theyll fit. does anyone know what this kit is? do they bolt to a slier etc??
 

flecc

Member
Oct 25, 2006
52,763
30,349
As you know Stephen, the Lafree has a chainwheel, not chainring. The standard Lite chainwheel is 37 tooth, has a splined centre and is retained by a circlip.

I've never heard of this kit and the Lafree never had a 28 tooth chainring and cannot have dual chainwheels, so I think someone has misunderstood what is required. Best point this out and ask them to recheck, since Giant in The Netherlands always used to know exactly what's needed.

Perhaps mail them this photo to show only the wheel on the right is what you need:

 

Stephen Britt

Finding my (electric) wheels
Jun 7, 2011
9
1
I already sent them that image of the side of the motor. Im dealing with giant nl through giant uk. im affraid hes had enough of me after about 10x emails in 2 days... im stuck. that chainring looks wonderfull. no sharp bent teeth there.
 

Stephen Britt

Finding my (electric) wheels
Jun 7, 2011
9
1
Full emails here-

Hi Stephen,

I think that’s a question to ask Giant, I believe they should fit to your spline but the chainrings are attached together as a spider type configuration. As mentioned they are not in stock in the UK and the info Giant UK has is a little sketchy due to the age of the bike and the relative info they have on a product that is 10-12 years old.

Thanks,

Charlie.

Giant Store Shoreham | 01273 46 35 79
Giant Store Shoreham | Unit 1 Falconers Court, Little Highstreet | Shoreham-by-Sea | West Sussex | BN43 5JF
Giant Store Shoreham | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Website



From: stephen.e.britt [mailto:stephen.e.britt@gmail.com]
Sent: 08 May 2019 13:57
To: info@giant-shoreham.co.uk
Subject: RE: E bike chain ring needed

Thanks Charlie

One last question. I think your assuming the crank arm has a spider to bolt the chain rings to. Thats not the case. Its a plain crank arm same as on the rigjt. It bolts over the full chain ring with splined middle hole, which to be fair is more a sprocket than chainring. pic attached. Can you confirm if your chain rings need to be bolted to a spider? If so i can rule them out.

Thanks for your patience.

Bes regards
Stephen



Sent from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone.

-------- Original message --------
From: Giant Shoreham <info@giant-shoreham.co.uk>
Date: 08/05/2019 13:39 (GMT+00:00)
To: "'stephen.e.britt'" <stephen.e.britt@gmail.com>
Subject: RE: E bike chain ring needed

Hi Stephen,

You can call Giant UK on a Freephone number it’s 0800 0159 110 or use their contact form from their website.

Thanks,

Charlie.

Giant Store Shoreham | 01273 46 35 79
Giant Store Shoreham | Unit 1 Falconers Court, Little Highstreet | Shoreham-by-Sea | West Sussex | BN43 5JF
Giant Store Shoreham | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Website



From: stephen.e.britt [mailto:stephen.e.britt@gmail.com]
Sent: 08 May 2019 12:17
To: info@giant-shoreham.co.uk
Subject: RE: E bike chain ring needed

Could i have the email address of your giant contact. ill request a photo.

best regards
Stephen



Sent from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone.

-------- Original message --------
From: Giant Shoreham <info@giant-shoreham.co.uk>
Date: 08/05/2019 12:11 (GMT+00:00)
To: 'Stephen Britt' <stephen.e.britt@gmail.com>
Subject: RE: E bike chain ring needed

Hi Stephen,

As mentioned earlier, I spoke to Giant and unfortunately that’s the part they still have. The bike is probably at least 10-12 years old and they have a limited range of spares still available. I believe the two Chainrings come on a fixed spider and not sure if they can be separated.

Sorry, but I don’t have any images available for the part.

Thanks,

Charlie.

Giant Store Shoreham | 01273 46 35 79
Giant Store Shoreham | Unit 1 Falconers Court, Little Highstreet | Shoreham-by-Sea | West Sussex | BN43 5JF
Giant Store Shoreham | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Website



From: Stephen Britt [mailto:stephen.e.britt@gmail.com]
Sent: 08 May 2019 11:32
To: info@giant-shoreham.co.uk
Subject: Re: E bike chain ring needed

Yes I have the crank arms, had to remove to get the ring off, and try to find one... covered in muck but even after a good clean, no clues as to where to get one... hence these emails.

Best
Stephen

On Wed, May 8, 2019 at 11:15 AM Stephen Britt <stephen.e.britt@gmail.com> wrote:
Hi Charlie

Thanks for getting back to me. Whats the 28t? Nothing on my bike is 28t, ie there is only one chain ring - 37t with internal splines to fit onto shaft. Then the motor drive sprocket -14t and the 16t on the nexus hub at the rear wheel. None of those are 28t. And are all original. Do you have any images of the parts youve found?

Best regards,
Stephen

On Wed, May 8, 2019 at 9:44 AM Giant Shoreham <info@giant-shoreham.co.uk> wrote:
Hi Stephen,

I’ve just spoken to Giant UK and they do have the 37t and 28t chainrings available as a set. These would be coming from Europe and would cost £74.99 + £8.40 postage. Do you have the crank arms?

If you would like to order these then we would need full payment and as they are a custom order you will not be able to return these for a refund/exchange.

Please let us know if you would like to go ahead.

Thanks,

Charlie.

Giant Store Shoreham | 01273 46 35 79
Giant Store Shoreham | Unit 1 Falconers Court, Little Highstreet | Shoreham-by-Sea | West Sussex | BN43 5JF
Giant Store Shoreham | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Website



From: stephen.e.britt [mailto:stephen.e.britt@gmail.com]
Sent: 07 May 2019 21:01
To: info@giant-shoreham.co.uk
Subject: RE: E bike chain ring needed

Appologies. I found the frame number on the drop out lh side. pic attached.

Best regards,
Stephen



Sent from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone.

-------- Original message --------
From: Giant Shoreham <info@giant-shoreham.co.uk>
Date: 07/05/2019 14:16 (GMT+00:00)
To: "'stephen.e.britt'" <stephen.e.britt@gmail.com>
Subject: RE: E bike chain ring needed

Hi,

If you can send us a photo of the frame number, the bike itself (side on) and a photo of the BCD that the chainring attaches too, that would be great. We can use these to identify the parts needed.

Alternatively, you can bring the bike into the store for us to take a look at. But we wouldn’t be able to work on the bike ‘whilst you wait’ and would need to book it into our workshop. At the moment we have plenty of availability next week.

Hope this helps.


Thanks,

The team at Giant Shoreham.

Giant Store Shoreham | 01273 46 35 79
Giant Store Shoreham | Unit 1 Falconers Court, Little Highstreet | Shoreham-by-Sea | West Sussex | BN43 5JF
Giant Store Shoreham | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Website
Giant Shoreham




From: stephen.e.britt [mailto:stephen.e.britt@gmail.com]
Sent: 07 May 2019 13:47
To: info@giant-shoreham.co.uk
Subject: RE: E bike chain ring needed

Hi

I saw it last night when i had the bike updide down to get the crank arm etc off. 1301 could be 1601, from memory. Will check when i get back and send the image.

I dont suppose those chainrings changed? its the 3 speed nexus one. Bought in on ebay many years back but never used it much due to the worn parts. im hoping the chain ring is still available??

Best
Stephen



Sent from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone.

-------- Original message --------
From: Giant Shoreham <info@giant-shoreham.co.uk>
Date: 07/05/2019 09:03 (GMT+00:00)
To: "'stephen.e.britt'" <stephen.e.britt@gmail.com>
Subject: RE: E bike chain ring needed

Hi Stephen,

Do you have the frame number & year of manufacture for the bike? We can use these to look up your bike on our system.



Thanks,

The team at Giant Shoreham.

Giant Store Shoreham | 01273 46 35 79
Giant Store Shoreham | Unit 1 Falconers Court, Little Highstreet | Shoreham-by-Sea | West Sussex | BN43 5JF
Giant Store Shoreham | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Website




From: stephen.e.britt [mailto:stephen.e.britt@gmail.com]
Sent: 06 May 2019 22:53
To: info@giant-shoreham.co.uk
Subject: E bike chain ring needed

Hi

Can you supply the 37t chain ring for a Giant Lafree lite? pic attached.

Best regards
Stephen



Sent from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone.
I already sent them that image of the side of the motor. Im dealing with giant nl through giant uk. im affraid hes had enough of me after about 10x emails in 2 days... im stuck. that chainring looks wonderfull. no sharp bent teeth there.
 

flecc

Member
Oct 25, 2006
52,763
30,349
Full emails here-
The pair from Giant are definitely no good to you Stephen, they wont align to the motor sprocket, only the correct chainwheel will do that, andf there;s no mounting for rings on your bike. It seems Giant no longer have the spare for the Lafree, it doesn't surprise me since they ran out of the other sprocket some while back.

The 35 or 41 tooth chainwheels that vfr400 has linked to are for the later Panasonic unit which has many differences and I don't know if the splined centre is the same. There's a good chance it is, so count the spline ridges in your chainring. If there's 28 you may be ok, but if it has a thicker centre boss it might not permit the circlip being refitted, so there's a small risk in buying it. If close to fitting you may be able to grind off any surplus though.

The 35 tooth one will be the nearest match, leaving you very slightly lower geared and the chainwheel still fitting inside the cowlings ok.
.
 
Last edited:

Stephen Britt

Finding my (electric) wheels
Jun 7, 2011
9
1
Giant NL identified the part

item no- 241-NBICW37T-0
name- 37T UCP FOR NBI POWER MOTOR

hope that information may help others

Thanks for your help
Stephen
 
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Reactions: flecc

flecc

Member
Oct 25, 2006
52,763
30,349
Giant NL identified the part

item no- 241-NBICW37T-0
name- 37T UCP FOR NBI POWER MOTOR

hope that information may help others

Thanks for your help
Stephen
Thanks for the information Stephen, I've added it to my Lafree website spares availability page on this link

I've also added your name to the information credits at th foot of the page on this link
.
 
Last edited:

Stephen Britt

Finding my (electric) wheels
Jun 7, 2011
9
1
Thanks for the credits flecc. I have to ask an embaressing question. does the chain from the bottom of the chainwheel go under or over the motor drive sprocket? i split the chain and pulled it out without taking off the side cover. ive looked at all your great technical posts to no avail.
 

flecc

Member
Oct 25, 2006
52,763
30,349
Thanks for the credits flecc. I have to ask an embaressing question. does the chain from the bottom of the chainwheel go under or over the motor drive sprocket? i split the chain and pulled it out without taking off the side cover. ive looked at all your great technical posts to no avail.
I answered on your other post inquiring about this Stephen.

Here's the link to that

The photo you'll see there is from my site, but under the New Unit details. Sometimes it's an idea to explore that as well since there are some similarities.
.
 
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