Hi All,
Having got back into cycling in recent years to help recover from an extensive DVT I found that cycling in the summer I was just getting too hot. Even though I take it reasonably seriously I draw the line at 'special' cycling clothes. So I thought an assisted bicycle would be the answer for the hotter days and those days in the week when you have overdone it and just want to get home from work.
After a good bit of research on here I converted my 20 odd year old Claud Butler aluminium framed MTB into an electric, practical bike. The kit was from GBK and a front drive Q100 motor with 36V 15AH battery with built in sine wave controller.
The conversion was reasonably easy. The trickiest parts being modifying the PAS to fit on the chainring and correctly dishing the front wheel as it was rather offset initially.
Here's the result:
I had a few teething problems at first with the controller being faulty and cutting out, until finally giving up entirely, which made me glad that I had chosen a decent lightish bike to start with as it rides perfectly well un-assisted.
I'm happy to report it's all running perfectly now and I've had some time and miles to test it out.
It's like riding a bike, only better. The assist is very evident pulling away and on hills and has some serious climbing performance, especially if you put in the same effort as you would without any assist! Noise-wise there is virtually none from the motor, the tyres are louder. Once up to speed on the flat I find myself quickly riding past the speed of the motor and generally cruise along at 20-23 mph depending on the wind.
The range is very good indeed. I did a few trips totaling almost 60 miles last week with plenty of battery to spare. This morning on a fresh charge I took a very convoluted ride into work of 26 miles at an average speed of 20mph which was a complete pleasure, no problems with battery capacity (Meter still showing 38.6V).
So far it seems to be fulfilling the criteria of keeping my legs and circulation going in the summer without overheating and being very practical transport with the addition of the full mud guards and rear rack.
Having got back into cycling in recent years to help recover from an extensive DVT I found that cycling in the summer I was just getting too hot. Even though I take it reasonably seriously I draw the line at 'special' cycling clothes. So I thought an assisted bicycle would be the answer for the hotter days and those days in the week when you have overdone it and just want to get home from work.
After a good bit of research on here I converted my 20 odd year old Claud Butler aluminium framed MTB into an electric, practical bike. The kit was from GBK and a front drive Q100 motor with 36V 15AH battery with built in sine wave controller.
The conversion was reasonably easy. The trickiest parts being modifying the PAS to fit on the chainring and correctly dishing the front wheel as it was rather offset initially.
Here's the result:
I had a few teething problems at first with the controller being faulty and cutting out, until finally giving up entirely, which made me glad that I had chosen a decent lightish bike to start with as it rides perfectly well un-assisted.
I'm happy to report it's all running perfectly now and I've had some time and miles to test it out.
It's like riding a bike, only better. The assist is very evident pulling away and on hills and has some serious climbing performance, especially if you put in the same effort as you would without any assist! Noise-wise there is virtually none from the motor, the tyres are louder. Once up to speed on the flat I find myself quickly riding past the speed of the motor and generally cruise along at 20-23 mph depending on the wind.
The range is very good indeed. I did a few trips totaling almost 60 miles last week with plenty of battery to spare. This morning on a fresh charge I took a very convoluted ride into work of 26 miles at an average speed of 20mph which was a complete pleasure, no problems with battery capacity (Meter still showing 38.6V).
So far it seems to be fulfilling the criteria of keeping my legs and circulation going in the summer without overheating and being very practical transport with the addition of the full mud guards and rear rack.
