My First Electric Bike

[jerrysimon]

Just checked out Schwalbe tyres. I guess they would be cheaper and easier than fitting new suspension forks.

Schwalbe UK

My current tyres are 26*1.9 (on the new front wheel) and 26*1.95.

Would the Schwalbe Big Apple 26*2.0 fit ok ?

I don't think I want to go up to 26*2.35. I will see if Halfords will take the new one back

Ebay seems as good as anywhere pricewise to pick them up.

Regards

Jerry

 

[flecc]

The 2" should be no problem, your forks and mudguards look as though they'll easily take them. We've got some members using Big Apples who swear by them and reckon they make a big difference to comfort on poor roads.
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[jerrysimon]

Thanks

Jerry

 

[jerrysimon]

Well I must have been inviting a punchure. Just went out to check my bike and the back tyre is flat

To be fair the back tyre is 10 years old. For now I will chuck in a new inner tube until my two Schwalbe Big Apple's turn up

With the Schwalbe's do you recommend any specific type of inner tube ?

Regards

Jerry

 

[flecc]

Not really Jerry, though I've often used Schwalbe's own inner tubes bought from SJS:

Schrader valve inner tubes at St Johns Cycles
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[Barnowl]

Well I must have been inviting a punchure. Just went out to check my bike and the back tyre is flat

Jerry

A blessing in disguise. Better that than on the way to work.

 

[jerrysimon]

A blessing in disguise. Better that than on the way to work.

Very true!

It was a slow one wnt down over night I think.

Well its all fixed now. Its a while since I fixed a puncture. It sort of all came back as I did it. The worst bit is finding the puncture in the inner tube. I always use a bowl of water and this puncture was so tiny without water I doubt I could have found it. Is there another way ?

I put a patch on, even though I have a brand new bottle of slime I could of used. Thought I would save that for emergencies.

The back tyre def needs changing as the wall is starting to perish, but I will have to wait till my Schwalbe's to arrive. I will fit two new inner tubes when they do and I change out the new front and back tyres.

Anyway back on topic I have now taken the final pics to will finish of the thread.

Regards

Jerry

 

[jerrysimon]

Lets Continue

Thumb Throttle

Again fitting this took a little thought. I had to move it in a little so it did not fowl my gear changer. I also had to cut a bit off the grip rubber. Good tip here to get your rubber grips off is to slide in a screw driver and spray in a little WD40. It then comes off a treat.

One other thing I noticed, in the way I fitted it, is that if when I didn't cut enough and the rubber grip touched the thumb throttle it jammed it on

Power Meter

This was pretty simple remove the rubber grips and brake/gear change assembly and slide the loop holder on. Oh and in my case take off the bell.

Front Cable

The cable runs up the fork and there is a connector that plugs into the wire going off to the controller box. It has a water proof rubber that needs to be seated back over the connector after you are finished. Cable tie as required.

 

[jerrysimon]

Controller

The kit makes this really easy in that every cable and connector is numbered each end. Just match up the numbers. Strangely in my case one end of the thumb throttle connector wire was not labelled, but as it was the only one left it was easy to identify. Note many of my wires are not connected because I chose not to fit the brake power cut outs or the pedelec system

Putting The Controller In The Bag

I post this picture as its the best way round I found to fit the controller in the bag and put all the wires in neatly. Note the little yellow pot (at the end of the blue wires covered in black heatshrink), which allows adjustment of the potentiometer. A little screw driver in here to turn it will increase speed for off road use ONLY according to instructions. Note this will also reduce your range.

 

[jerrysimon]

Bag Closed

Finally zip it all up. Note I cabled tied the zip shut probably a little OTT but at least it won't slip open and might prevent inquisitive fingers.

You then need to tidy up all the cables. Note you will need lots of cable ties. Make sure all the cables around the front wheel can move with the wheel turned full lock either way without snagging or stretching.

 

[jerrysimon]

Conclusion

Converted ebike

Here it is done and with all the cable ties now black

As I said I am well chuffed. I have been using it all weekend and its a blast. See the start of the post for my overall assement.

Points to note:

1. Download the instructions from the AlienOcean web site to check all dimensions of your forks for tolerances for fitting the wheel.

2. Take your time. Overall it took me about 3 hours to do though I hit a few snags. Even then I have been fiddling around with cable ties over the weekend until I got it right.

3. Note the instructions about using the charger specifically not switching it on at the mains end untill AFTER you have plugged in the battery at the other end. Again all in the instructions.

I also tried to fit a cheap wireless bike computer/speedometer from Argos but the electronics kept interfering with it. There are lots of other posts about this here already which I should have read first. Argos currently do a wired one for about a tenner which I have now fitted and it works perfectly.

Finally thanks to every one here for thier help, advice and encouragement. I hope this post helps those readers who are considering a kit to fit to an existing bike.

Regards

Jerry

 

[flecc]

Nice job Jerry, one you feel proud of as you ride it.
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[jerrysimon]

NP. Over the next few months I will update the post if I need to add anything.

Regards

Jerry

 

[Vikki]

Really nice job there, Jerry. Well done and enjoy the fruits of you labour.

Vikki.

 

[jerrysimon]

I have learnt a few more things since I fitted the kit mainly I had not thought about the possible problems if you have Aluminium forks (I thought mine were but later found they were not by using the magnet test). There is a chance that under heavy torque the wheel shaft may twist in lugs at the bottom of the forks. Probably less common for the lower powered motors like this but definately worth thinking about if you get a larger 500W or 1000W kit.

A common solution is to fit a torque bar/plate and there is lots of info on the forum if you do a search.

This is my related post to it here which shows a quick homemade torque plate I made from the many designs posted on the forum. I probably didn't need it with steel forks and a 250W motor but I preffered the peace of mind that fitting it gave me.

Finally I had an early failure of the motor (apparantly quite rare), but AlienOcean (Bob) repsonded really quickly and sent out a new one which is now fitted and working perfectly. If I get chance I will post some pictures of the hub insides which I found facinating and which the engineers at my work were really impressed with.

I am now cycling to work two or three times a week and so far all my expectations have been met.

Will report back after a few months or before if I have anything to add.

Regards

Jerry