New Conversion

[Aliddee]

I’ll try posting this again without photos
looking to convert my new bike, Vermont James Cook, 56” frame, 24 speed, hydraulic rim brakes Magura, 28” wheels, 700 x 40c schwalbe road cruiser, looks like 69mm bottom bracket, there’s a screwed on guide & cables under the bracket that would foul on a mid drive I think. I’m 5.11” 85kg...cycle mostly about town & load up with shopping, occasional longer excursions/ looking to increase these, not that hilly here would like a peppy motor with the traffic being so bad here, no throttle required, enjoy exercise of a pedelec, previously owned older Giant escape 2 with rear hub motor was great, recently used a focus jarifa ex2 for 6wks with Bosch cx gen2 motor, the bike was too small for me, it was a opportunity to test that motor, maybe spoiled me a bit, put off by the Apple style control of Bosch I’ve heard. Ideally I would like a compact strong Hub drive or a mid drive but unsure of the clearance at the bottom bracket. Any questions, advice recommendations appreciated. Can spend 5-6 though have a bit of cash after sale of other bikes and purchase of this 4 month old bike. Tempted to go for cheaper hub drive kit off eBay.

 

[Nealh]

48V 250w hub with a 17/18a controller, look at woosh bikes to see what kits are available. Cheap ebay kits tend to have crappy control systems.

 

[sjpt]

A hub drive should be fine, and make it much simpler to keep your 3 speed front changer. I assume the current 8 speed back is a cassette, so make sure you get a conversion with cassette. Most people reckon you don't need 24 speeds once its electric; we certainly do on the tandem.

Do NOT go for the nominally very powerful direct drive units on ebay. They are good at high speeds on the flat and not much else good. They are excellent at requiring a very expensive battery to provide the current, and getting a very poor range out of it. And they are illegal. You'll see lots of problems on the pages here from people who started by buying those, then coming here to see if they can sort out all the problems. The Yose on ebay are mostly pretty decent; quite a few are nominally 350w rather than the legal nominal 250w. A slightly more expensive source would be Woosh, but really good for a first conversion because of the excellent service they give.

 

[Nealh]

Any motor is illegal if it isn't marked 250w, so mattes not if it is 350w or 1000w.

 

[Aliddee]

Thanks for these replies helps me looking at options

 

[1boris]

If you want the strongest legal hub motor.look no further.This is a 250w mac motor with phaserunner controller and adjustable torque sensor.Imo the best kit avaliable by far! but expensive

Puma RTR Umbausatz: Pedelec oder schnelles E-Bike

The EBS BergFex Conversion Kit ... The EBS BergFex e-bike retrofit kit is the mountain champion among our conversion kits. Extreme gradients…

www.ebike-solutions.com

 

[Aliddee]

Since its my first conversion I’ve gone for a Yose power kit , had a yose power battery on my Giant ebike was still going good 4/years on when I sold it, did look after it, if this goes well I’ll look at other kits, I’ll post details once it’s sorted and tested in the crazy traffic here!

 

[Aliddee]

The Yose power kit arrived quickly, complete with tools, it fitted without any real problems, minor adjustments to the battery holder bolts were sitting proud, the cable routing from motor to battery was a little tricky, I repositioned the motor cable down to avoid water ingress , and made slight adjustments to the rear derailleur 2-3mm it was a good fit and the rim is identical to the original, retaining the 24 gears is just ideal with the Hub motor, I tackled a steep incline yesterday and being able to use a really low gear assists the hub motor, I’m glad it feels a step up from my Giant and the Focus Bosch motor setup. I now believe I made the right decision moving on my other three bikes, getting a frame size that fits and the yose kit has worked out really good, and it goes good quick..

 

[UnclePuncher]

The Yose power kit arrived quickly, complete with tools, it fitted without any real problems, minor adjustments to the battery holder bolts were sitting proud, the cable routing from motor to battery was a little tricky, I repositioned the motor cable down to avoid water ingress , and made slight adjustments to the rear derailleur 2-3mm it was a good fit and the rim is identical to the original, retaining the 24 gears is just ideal with the Hub motor, I tackled a steep incline yesterday and being able to use a really low gear assists the hub motor, I’m glad it feels a step up from my Giant and the Focus Bosch motor setup. I now believe I made the right decision moving on my other three bikes, getting a frame size that fits and the yose kit has worked out really good, and it goes good quick..

Looks good. Which kit did you get?

Which speed controller?

 

[Aliddee]

Its the 350w 36v/13Ah, with integrated Lishui controller supposedly up to 18A, was out yesterday again and it just goes good! feels quick in traffic, so far good on inclines, tried some off road, integrates really well with the 24 gears, cadence sensor with slight delay to start no problem, comparing it to the Bosch cx drive I used for 6 weeks, which had 224mls on it, definitely liking this. The traffic here is terrible, lots of narrow congested roads , lots of irate drivers just now regularly cut up by them, this bike feels safer in traffic no doubt, I went for this kit for the lighter weight battery & motor combination seemed good value. Though its early days how reliable this will be and sort of pas/mls I can expect, I may want the 48volts later for increased range, i dont think I can just plug in a larger battery into to this controller, having read lots of great posts on the subject here.

 

[UnclePuncher]

Its the 350w 36v/13Ah, with integrated Lishui controller supposedly up to 18A, was out yesterday again and it just goes good! feels quick in traffic, so far good on inclines, tried some off road, integrates really well with the 24 gears, cadence sensor with slight delay to start no problem, comparing it to the Bosch cx drive I used for 6 weeks, which had 224mls on it, definitely liking this. The traffic here is terrible, lots of narrow congested roads , lots of irate drivers just now regularly cut up by them, this bike feels safer in traffic no doubt, I went for this kit for the lighter weight battery & motor combination seemed good value. Though its early days how reliable this will be and sort of pas/mls I can expect, I may want the 48volts later for increased range, i dont think I can just plug in a larger battery into to this controller, having read lots of great posts on the subject here.

Thanks. It looks great.

I only ask as I was thinking about buying that controller.