Replacement motor/controller/wiring loom for Byocycle chameleon

[Ja_T]

Hi all, Can anyone point me in the direction of a good conversion kit (20" rear wheel) that I can use for my Byocycle Chameleon. I have looked on ebay.co.uk and Amazon and seen this ebay link
but I'm not sure of the motor as no details on brand. I have a fairly new 15AH 36v battery which has been running fine so I don't really want to splash out on another battery. If possible would like to have a 20" wheel included ready laced .I have laced a new rim on my old motor but it didn't work out very cost effective cost £35 for rim and £30ish for spokes. So if I can get a conversion kit for between £150 and £250 which includes controller, display, pas, wires, brake levers, plus wheel with motor this seems much more cost effective. I may consider paying more for higher power and quality. I'm not seeing many 20" rear wheel kits about hence this post.
Many thanks , Jason

 

[Ja_T]

Thanks for all your enthusiastic replies yay. If anyone is interested I bought the kit above for £147 from ebay.co.uk, it was delivered 4 days later. I am going to install it probably 25th / 26th of April as I'm off work those days.

 

[guerney]

I went with a Bafang bbs01b mid-drive for my Dahon folder, because I couldn't at the time (Dec 2020) find a 20" rear hub motor kit in the UK.

 

[Ja_T]

I went with a Bafang bbs01b mid-drive, because I couldn't at the time (Dec 2020) find a 20" rear hub motor kit in the UK.

I'm not sure that would work with my folding frame, it's very low to the ground already and has the protective bar/rest under the bottom bracket which may inhibit fitting the mid drive motor, what bike do you have?
I am quietly confident for a bargain basement refit the kit I have bought will be fine. The bike wouldn't handle anything with much power as it has v brakes which in my experience will soon wear out alloy rims.
All my future ebikes will have disc brakes. My Byocycle is 6 years old and has plenty of use riding to work and back and also many off road excursions down remote footpaths along rivers looking for good fishing spots.
I also have a Volt metro which cost double the byocycle but shredded its nylon gears trying to hang with the byocycle and its old MXUS XF06 motor, seemingly indestructible. Luckily the volt was still under warranty at the time.
After taking the MXUS motor apart to examine and seeing the Volts spintech motor innards, the Cheaper MXUS motor had much more robust looking planetary gears.
The unbranded the motor in the kit I bought looks exactly like the MXUS Xf07 in pictures so hoping it's at least as good if not better than the original motor in my Chameleon.

 

[guerney]

I'm not sure that would work with my folding frame, it's very low to the ground already and has the protective bar/rest under the bottom bracket which may inhibit fitting the mid drive motor, what bike do you have?
I am quietly confident for a bargain basement refit the kit I have bought will be fine. The bike wouldn't handle anything with much power as it has v brakes which in my experience will soon wear out alloy rims.
All my future ebikes will have disc brakes. My Byocycle is 6 years old and has plenty of use riding to work and back and also many off road excursions down remote footpaths along rivers looking for good fishing spots.
I also have a Volt metro which cost double the byocycle but shredded its nylon gears trying to hang with the byocycle and its old MXUS XF06 motor, seemingly indestructible. Luckily the volt was still under warranty at the time.
After taking the MXUS motor apart to examine and seeing the Volts spintech motor innards, the Cheaper MXUS motor had much more robust looking planetary gears.
The unbranded the motor in the kit I bought looks exactly like the MXUS Xf07 in pictures so hoping it's at least as good if not better than the original motor in my Chameleon.

Good luck with the repair. I might well someday try a hub build.

Yes I'm getting through V brake pads a little faster than before the electrification of my very old bike from 2006. I'm very pleased with my 250W conversion... it has gained weight. I don't know how much it weighed before conversion but fully loaded with the Bafang bbs01b kit, pannier rack, wider tyres and wheels, bottle cage, many lights, wide rear reflectors on arms, mudguards, handlebar end mirrors, GPS tracker, new MK-1 folding pedals, Hornit horn, cabling etc. it weighs 18.27kg without the 19.2ah LG MH-1 cell battery, and 22.41kg with. That it gets me 45 miles of zero effort and zero knee strain ghost pedalling, continues to entertain me a great deal. On reflection I'm glad I went with a mid-drive, especially this highly customisable one. And it still folds

Link

 

[Ja_T]

Sounds sweet, that's not massively heavy for those specs with your nice big battery. I may try a mid drive conversion with my volt metro when controllers and wires start to corrode etc as they have with the byocycle.

 

[guerney]

Must say I'm rather envious of the front suspension on your Volt - there are no suspension options for my bike, but fitting wider 1.75" tyres have made the ride much more comfortable. I might try to work out if those Volt forks could be made to fit my bike, but I very much doubt it... For my strictly on-road cycling needs, a non-suspension bike is ok for now, if our holey roads degrade even more, I'll convert a Jetstream:

 

[Ja_T]

The Volt also has a suspension seat post which I take out and use on the Byocycle also. That could be an option for you in the short term it, does help. Something like this Link

 

[guerney]

Cane Creek used to make Thudbusters in a 33.9 diameter tube for Dahon, but their current 27.5 diameter version does fit inside the Tern telescopic seat post, which is 27.5 at the top - so that's an option too... but I'd rather have suspension forks. The 1.75 inch wide tyres make it sufficiently bearable, for the current road surface acrapalypse.

 

[sjpt]

The Volt also has a suspension seat post which I take out and use on the Byocycle also. That could be an option for you in the short term it, does help. Something like this Link

Those seat posts are better than nothing. The Suntour NXC are nearly twice as expensive, but much better. I've never tried the Cane Creek and other really expensive ones.