My new bike with Currie kit installed.

[Andycap]

Hi.

Just thought I would share a pic of my new bike that I have installed my Currie kit on. The bike is a Halfords Apollo FS26 22" frame full suspension mountain bike that I got in the current sale. I have owned the Currie kit for just over 12 months and previosly had it fitted to a hybrid.

I do not see much about the Currie kits on here and would be interested in your views on them. One thing that I worry about is the small chain from the motor, it does not look too strong but so far (Touch wood) I have not had any problems with it.

I have recently found a very small video camera that fits well on the bike and does quite a good job. The camera is a Veho Muvi micro camera and you should be able to see it on the pictures. I found that Ebuyer was the cheepest price for it. Mine is mounted in a rubber mount that I made to hold it steady.


Hope the pics get attached as this is my first post with attachments.

Andy.

 

[flecc]

Hi Andycap, thanks for the pics. I do often mention the Currie Electrodrive as a budget option, but it isn't so popular now for several reasons. For example, it's one of the oldest e-bike motor designs around now and it's rather noisy while modern e-bikes have been getting much quieter. Some have also suffered broken spokes due to it's drive attachment method. The range on the standard SLA batteries is very short by today's standards, and there have been a number of motor failures. In fact the motor type or cooling has been changed at least four times in it's history. Finally the main agent, Electrodrive UK has been giving a very erratic sales service which falls well short of what's needed, only a mobile phone often not answered, no online ordering and often no answers to emails.

However it's not all bad news as you know. It's cheap, it's relatively easy to fit, it's quite powerful and it performs quite well, there have been many performance tuning items available for it over the years, and it's a good way of adding power to an off-road bike as you've done. I don't think you need to worry about the primary drive chain, it usually lasts well and is much stronger than it looks.
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[AndyOfTheSouth]

Hi Andy

Thanks for posting this. It looks very good and it would be very interesting to hear about how it rides, especially over tricky surfaces and up hills. The centrally placed battery presumably means that it handles well. I like the way you have incorporated a camera from the start.

Please post some more in a few days when you've had a chance to ride it?

Andy

 

[Michael of Gwynedd]

Hi Andy,

I’ve had a Currie electro drive for three years and its now on it’s second bike, and found it very powerful but as Flecc mentions it’s noisy, very noisy.

Getting spares is a problem, especially the thumb throttle, I am on my third, and in the end had to make one using a 5K potentiometer. This fitted nicely into the existing thumb throttle housing with a bit of tweaking. This is not the best of solutions as the throttle has no spring return so you have to be careful, I linked an emergency switch next to the potentiometer to kill the power in an emergency.

I also find the Teflon chain adjuster has worn and may have to replace this with a small roller type bearing.

My SLA batteries are now over three years old and still going strong, I charge them after every ride and it’s excellent at hill climbing.

My main bike is an eZee Florza with a Ping 15AH battery, so the Currie now gets used a lot less!!

Camera sounds interesting, could have been handy earlier this week when cycling on my eZee to Caernarfon along the cycle track – Lon Eifion – when a group of cyclists coming towards me obviously did not see me till the very last minute and I had to make an emergency stop and turn onto the bumpy grass edge of the track, I did however get an apology from the errant cyclist. The camera would have recorded this.

Michael

 

[flecc]

Spares certainly can be difficult in Britain, but in extremis EVdeals in the USA will often be a good source as they've specialised in Currie spares and tuning items for years now

EVdeals
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[lectureral]

Looks good Andy - I ran the kit on a MTB for a couple of years - see

My bike with Currie electric kit fitted on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

A great little hill climber and whizzed along without input when that was what I wanted. The first motor expired after about a year and although I got another I finally gave it up because it kept breaking back wheels - first it broke a couple of spokes and when I got those fixed it broke the axle part of the wheel away. I had a lot of fun with it and don't feel it owed me a lot by the end. Nice to have a much more maintenance-free bike now though!

 

[Andycap]

Thanks for the comments Flecc, I do agree that it is quite noisy but re-greasing the gearbox with some silicon grease has quietened it down a little. My last E-bike was in fact one of the origional E-Bikes imported from the states and was made in 2001, now that was a noisy bike with the Heinzmann rear hub motor. Touch wood I have not had any spoke issues with this motor yet, I had it on my other bike for just over 12 months and it was used as a commuter bike every day. I have found that the batteries only last about 12 months but then I am buying budget batteries from Rapid electronics and they only cost £30 for the pair. I consider that cost for the batteries as a sort of road tax. Fuel is free because I charge it up from a wind turbine that I built last year (Made from a front 36v hub motor).

I will stop worrying about the chain on your advice, just seemed very thin compared to the normal chain on bikes.

AndyoftheSouth.

I find it great to ride, the batteries are a lot better mounted low and central compared to on the supplied rack, I found the bike too top heavy with the rack mount which could cause the back of the bike to sway at times. I have been up Cannock Chase today on the bike and found it to handle great. Much better that the non suspension bike that the kit was fitted to before. The suspension really smoothes the ride but at the same time is quite firm, Taking into account that I am a 44 year old 6ft 2" 19 stone heavyweight. I have done a video of my ride and will upload it to youtube and post a link once done.

Michael.

I had the same problem with the chain tensioner, I used some Delrin that I had lying around to make a new tensioner. I like the bearing idea though, might give that a try. What type and make batteries are you using on yours? Mine are Haze 10ah at £14.99 each from Rapid Electronics but do not last much over a year. (probably my large fram is a bit too much for them )


lectureral.

Your bike is very simular to my previous bike that I had the Currie kit on. I am currently saving to get a replacement kit for when this one dies, I keep reading the forums and have not yet made my mind up on a replacement yet.


Andy.

 

[flecc]

My last E-bike was in fact one of the origional E-Bikes imported from the states and was made in 2001, now that was a noisy bike with the Heinzmann rear hub motor.

That was probably one of the higher power Heinzmanns, being from the States. They use a steel gear which made them very noisy, but our EU legal ones with lower power use a nylon gear which makes them a bit quieter, though still a bit more noisy than the best Chinese hub motors.
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[Andycap]

I think you are propably right flecc. It sounded like a jet engine when it wound itself up to a sub light speed of 12mph.

What hub motor would you suggest as a replacement for my Currie kit ? taking into account that I am no lightweight and would like to use my current bike.

What do you think of the cyclone kits ?

My uses for the bike are a short range commute to and from work and also I like going off road (Not Extreme) so hill climbing is also important to me.

Cheers. Andy.

 

[flecc]

The Cyclone would be good for those purposes Andy, hill climbing would be unconditionally good as it drives through the gears and the motor placement is best for off road shocks as it's central. Ground clearance needs to be watched though. They aren't particularly good quality and need a bit of D.I.Y. water and rust proofing, but they do work well.

The Alien kit with the Bafang type motor is ok as a hub motor kit and moderately powerful. Their batteries seem to have given some trouble but they've always changed them without quibble.
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[Andycap]

I have finally had chance to upload the video that i took with the Muvi video camera on Cannock Chase

Here is the link and it is best viewed in HQ.

YouTube - Bike ride on Cannock Chase 12-07-2009

I got the date wrong on the video though. Should be 12-07-09

 

[Vikki]

Cor! The quality on that little camera looks really quite good. Might consider one of those myself.

By the way, you Halfords bike is the same one I used when I transferred my PowaByke Euro 6 electrics to it. The ride was indeed exceptional. Smooth as can be. Then I got the Wisper 905se City and poor Old Faithful didn't see the light of day again. Now, Wisper electrics on a frame like that would make me one happy lady. Slim tyres though, would want slim tyres, like the 905se.

best regards.

Vikki.

 

[Andycap]

Hi Vikki.

Yes that little camera is great. I did have to make a custom mount though for it out of rubber, I found with the supplied clip on mount that there was too much shake on the camera. The mount i made was easy, It is just a hard rubber block that I shaped with a knife and put a hole in so that the camera would push in snugly.

I am really happy with the bike now. I have changed the front forks for some Rock Shocks though as the origionals were the only thing that I thought let the bike down.

I have changed the tyres sor some semi slick, I find them better for my commuting and also still have the ability to use them off road.

Andy.

 

[Straylight]

30mph downhill on a rough/loose suface - on SEMI SLICKS??? As a purely tarmac man I admire your bravery!

 

[Andycap]

Ha ha, no I changed the tyres over to the semi-slicks after that ride. Although my semi slicks are road/offroad tyres with the knobbles around the edges of the tyre and a thin road type tread in the centres.

 

[Michael of Gwynedd]

Andy,

Sorry about the delay in coming back to you.
Many thanks for the info on the chain tensioner.

My batteries on my currie are still the original once and are “Japan storage Battery Company” model PE12V12 (12 volt 12 AH)

Michael