Sunlova kit arrived today - looks good!

[JohnD]

My Saturday purchase turned up today - a day early.



1st impressions are very good - the wheel and hub look great and I note the hub has the fittings for a brake disc. Battery and carrier look like many of those I have seen on here - the controller is pre wired and everything arrived connected.
Minor niggle is that the pedelec sensor is connected on a very short wire - IF I was intending to actually fit it I would have to mount the controller on the bottle rack! That said there are warnings regarding letting the controller 'breath' so I shall have to asses how hot it gets.
The brake levers are of good quality and I like the look of the motorbike type throttle - complete with battery level indicator lights.

No time to play with this until the weekend

 

[Polar753]

Hi

Just had a look at the site Sunlova Bike - Electric,Ladies,Folding bikes,Electric Scooters Looks good value. I would almost be tempted to get the whole bike for only £100 more. An ebike for almost the same price as some charge for just the battery. I hope the quality is ok. Let us know how it goes, I'm interested in converting my MTB.

 

[jayuk]

Good to see you got the kit delivered ok, looks promising. will you be using yours with a disc brake as i need to know if i have to purchase the bigger size disc & extending bracket so the caliper doesnt hit the hub motor.

thanks
jason

 

[caleb]

Hi John,

Very interested to hear how you get on as the kit looks very similar to the Alien one but about 100 quid cheaper. 2 quick questions. Do you know the model number of the motor? How/where is the controller sited?

Hope it's a good kit!
Caleb

 

[JohnD]

Quick replys

Yes - I took a closeup 'photo of the Hub motor (But I don't have it at work - I will post it later). On the inside of the wheel is says 8 fun in huge letters!

No - unforunatly I'm not intending to run with a disk - yet. I admit that I have looked up prices for a 700c fork with caliper fittings but as I have yet to fit the kit I have decided to KISS.

Controller siting - unclear - see above re comments about the v short sensor wire and chinglsih warinings about letting it 'breath' - I want to run it from a little bag under the sadle - we shall see if that works.

 

[eTim]

John,

Interesting kit, I have a couple of Marins MTB's with disc brakes that I keep eyeing-up and wondering about a conversion. I take it the 26" wheel kit has standard dropout sizes etc? How long did the kit take to arrive and did you speak to them on the phone?

How big is the throttle twist grip (it's not clear on the website), I'd be looking at compatibility with trigger and twist shifters, would the brake levers be compatible with those?

Is it possible to bypass the pedelec sensors and brake levers and just install a throttle? I know this would illegal, but it would only be for use on 'private land'.

Cheers, Tim.

 

[JohnD]

More pics

OK;- the hub:-


The number visible seems to relate to a Chinese patent infringement case - that 8fun won ! This doesn't help much - I will see what's on the other side.

The controller and other bits:-



As can bee seen - quite small - the 'throttle' is on the right of the pic and is huge! It also has end caps so I will loose my 'bar ends'.

i'm going to install without movement sensor and initially brake sensors so I will let you know if it works.

 

[caleb]

I asked the seller which motor it was.

"hi caleb,thanks the model on the motor is 36SWX01-
250, it is the SWXK
series which is the latest one-
without hall sensor so it is very
reliable.regards
sunlova"

 

[daniel.weck]

This hub motor is the one I am using on my e-Brompton (albeit with a different internal gearing, so it achieves higher rotations per minute to suit my small 16" wheels). Very nice motor, I think.

http://www.pedelecs.co.uk/forum/electric-bicycles/4682-diy-stage-1-received-bafang-tongxin-kits-photos.html#post59185

 

[daniel.weck]

View attachment 1229

I am surprised that the spokes are all laced on the inside of the hub flange...the purpose of the in/out alternation is to increase the tension between pairs of spokes (as they press against each other more at the crossing point)

View attachment 1228
As can bee seen - quite small - the 'throttle' is on the right of the pic and is huge! It also has end caps so I will loose my 'bar ends'.

You could *probably* safely cut off a good length of the plastic handle, and end-up with something similar to a "twist grip" gear shifter.

Cheers, Dan

 

[emissions-free]

Yeah that is a bit of a strange way to lace the rim. I know that on the side where the disk brake is fitted it's recommended that the spokes are fitted as per the attachment to avoid the caliper hitting the spokes but not sure why it's been done that way on the other side also??

 

[daniel.weck]

Yeah that is a bit of a strange way to lace the rim. I know that on the side where the disk brake is fitted it's recommended that the spokes are fitted as per the attachment to avoid the caliper hitting the spokes but not sure why it's been done that way on the other side also??

Ah, well in that case it is better to be consistent from one side of the hub to the other.

 

[jayuk]

In reply to the lacing of the spokes, i see the ebay listings photos display the wheels with the spokes laced as daniel pointed out, using both sides to interlace for strength (the photos apear to be the older version with the cable going into the thread of the wheel. I wonder why they changed the design when using the newer version of the 8fun hub motor. im still very interested in getting one of the kits after i see some feedback from johnD

 

[Herb]

I wonder why they changed the design when using the newer version of the 8fun hub motor.

I don’t think the Bafang hub motor with the cable emerging from the centre can be fitted with a disc brake.

My SWXB with Halls will not.
I think the Bafang is a smashing motor but the model selection is down to the need for disc or Halls.

I dont think you can have both.

Herb

 

[Andrew harvey]

Some new SB motors have been designed to take discs, for the front hub motors this has meant reducing the width of the motor itself, using smaller magnets and so forth. The SWXK motors with the disc compatability do indeed need to be laced from outside to in, if you were to do lace the right hand side differently it would cause uneven stresses, one side being stiffer than the other.
The sensorless controllers are great for repairs as they will run older motors with broken hall sensor cables, I've fitted them to several bikes, including a Lafree, the best bit about them is the ability to fit a 3 pin plug and socket for wheel removal.

 

[JohnD]

. im still very interested in getting one of the kits after i see some feedback from johnD

Fitted today - very pleased - fuller response coming with pics!