Viking e-go

[Wiccabasketuk]

I have just received delivery of my 3rd electric bike, the Viking e-go. I also have a powacycle windsor and previously had a Thompson (lead acid battery). I am semi disabled and need a bike to get around as i cant walk very far. I mainly use my bike for shopping and have panniers on my windsor.
I have just noticed that the e-go has no throttle and requires pedalling to work so i'm now wondering if this is a suitable bike for me. I also cant see how i would attach a rear carrier to it.
does anyone have any experience of this bike?

 

[Deleted member 4366]

A rack would be very difficult because of the battery and rear suspension. You should be able to fit a basket too the front.

I'd be very surprised if there isn't still a throttle connector on the controller, in which case you can retro-fit one. To check, you need to take the side off the compartment below the battery. There's two big screws and three or 4 tiny screws with nuts that are very fiddly to put back. Pull out the controller to see if there's a spare 3-pin connector, which is normally white with red, black and white or green wires to it. If you're unsure, take a photo of the connectors.

 

[Cabo]

Hi -I have a Tesco Hopper which is almost the same bike. I took off the basket at the front on mine, as i found the steering very twitchy , especially going slowly, and every time you put the bike on stand the front wheel did a 180 degree.
Bought (at £15.00 from Tesco) a seatpost clamp-on rack. Got a pair of Ortlieb Back Roller waterproof panniers. May be a bit pricey, but worth every penny. So secure and takes 2 seconds to lift on and off. These are slightly smaller than the standard ones. But it puts less strain on seatpost, and they are not too close to the ground with 20" wheels. But can still carry a bit more than a basket. There is plenty of room for suspension travel and you can still add or remove battery, and see the LED,s.
You can remove the rack very easily and theres room for a small seat bag for tools, etc.
p.s. I don't work for Tesco, i just live 400yds from the store.

 

[Emo Rider]

Hi -I have a Tesco Hopper which is almost the same bike. I took off the basket at the front on mine, as i found the steering very twitchy , especially going slowly, and every time you put the bike on stand the front wheel did a 180 degree.
Bought (at £15.00 from Tesco) a seatpost clamp-on rack. Got a pair of Ortlieb Back Roller waterproof panniers. May be a bit pricey, but worth every penny. So secure and takes 2 seconds to lift on and off. These are slightly smaller than the standard ones. But it puts less strain on seatpost, and they are not too close to the ground with 20" wheels. But can still carry a bit more than a basket. There is plenty of room for suspension travel and you can still add or remove battery, and see the LED,s.
You can remove the rack very easily and theres room for a small seat bag for tools, etc.
p.s. I don't work for Tesco, i just live 400yds from the store.

Exactl

Hi -I have a Tesco Hopper which is almost the same bike. I took off the basket at the front on mine, as i found the steering very twitchy , especially going slowly, and every time you put the bike on stand the front wheel did a 180 degree.
Bought (at £15.00 from Tesco) a seatpost clamp-on rack. Got a pair of Ortlieb Back Roller waterproof panniers. May be a bit pricey, but worth every penny. So secure and takes 2 seconds to lift on and off. These are slightly smaller than the standard ones. But it puts less strain on seatpost, and they are not too close to the ground with 20" wheels. But can still carry a bit more than a basket. There is plenty of room for suspension travel and you can still add or remove battery, and see the LED,s.
You can remove the rack very easily and theres room for a small seat bag for tools, etc.
p.s. I don't work for Tesco, i just live 400yds from the store.

Exactly what I would suggest as well.

 

[los monty]

Just bumping up this topic as someone is asking about panniers on a similar bike

 

[D C]

Not fully answering but these seem to be very small panniers, not the cheapest but neither the most expensive either.
http://www.electricbikeworld.co.uk/electric-bike-range/electric-bike-accessories/small-panniers-for-electric-bikes/
Maybe there's a small rack to match them.

 

[Cabo]

With 20" wheels i think you have to accept smaller panniers as the full size ones come a bit close to the road.
In the description of the bikeworld panniers i did not read they were waterproof.

 

[eHomer]

Just out of interest, has anyone had a look at the controller and motor on these ?

There seems to be quite a few around now, with many turning up secondhand, as the same model seems to have been sold under different names in large numbers.

The basic layout of folding frame, 20" wheels, rear suspension etc., sounds quite usable. If one came up cheap with a dud battery, I was wondering if a 36v lithium battery would transform it, if the controller and motor could take it ?

Would that front motor be a Q100 ?

 

[Deleted member 4366]

As far as I can see from photos, the Motor's a Bafang QSWXK. A 36v battery will clip straight on, and will give significantly more power and speed. You'll get the normal problem that you won't be able to keep up with the pedalling. A change to a DNP 11T freewheel gearset would help. You can't use a cassette wheel because of the drum brake. It looks like a 42T front chain-wheel, which also needs to be increased to at least 48T

 

[eHomer]

As far as I can see from photos, the Motor's a Bafang QSWXK. A 36v battery will clip straight on, and will give significantly more power and speed. You'll get the normal problem that you won't be able to keep up with the pedalling. A change to a DNP 11T freewheel gearset would help. You can't use a cassette wheel because of the drum brake. It looks like a 42T front chain-wheel, which also needs to be increased to at least 48T

It's nice to know that the electrics would take a 36v battery ok.

I'm mindful of the improvement in power/efficiency/speed from small motors when voltage is increased, rather than current.

Anyone looking for a really cheap (but still worthwhile) ebike is going to have more choice when these lighter lithium based ones hit the secondhand market, rather than the older SLA powerbyke types.

I agree about the chain ring size !

About 5 years ago I put a cyclone kit on my Dahon.

It was a complete failure, partly because the two SLA 14ah batteries were so heavy and short range, but mainly because the Cyclone's freewheeling chainwheel was sized for a 26" wheel, so the max speed available on the 20" wheel was around 12mph. The original Dahon chain wheel is much bigger.

I did think of putting it on the Hase trike, because the single chainwheel on that is the same size, so in theory the full gear range would be unchanged.

I tried googling "cyclone 36v" to see if anyone had successfully run it at 36v (my lithium battery packs), but it sounded as though there could be problems with the built-in controller's electrics.

 

[Cabo]

As far as I can see from photos, the Motor's a Bafang QSWXK. A 36v battery will clip straight on, and will give significantly more power and speed. You'll get the normal problem that you won't be able to keep up with the pedalling. A change to a DNP 11T freewheel gearset would help. You can't use a cassette wheel because of the drum brake. It looks like a 42T front chain-wheel, which also needs to be increased to at least 48T

The motor on mine is marked BFSWX - dont know if thats the same.
The crainring is 48T.
I fitted the DNP 11T - 7 Speed, and it makes a fair improvment.
Was thinking of 52T Chainring, but they look quite expensive.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

F = Bafang.
SWX = their generic 250w motor.

Motors don't care how much voltage you give them. The voltage affects the speed to which the motor will spin to, and it's efficiency at low speed. They become inefficient if you give them max throttle at a speed less than half the maximum no-load speed. The slower you go, the more inefficient they become. The more inefficient they become, the faster they'll heat up and burn out.

The amount of current you give them affects the torque. If you go too high on the torque, it can damage the gears.

Assuming that your motor has a no-load speed of about 15 mph and a current of 14 amps max at 24v, you could increase the current to about 20 amps at 36v, which will give about 30% more speed, and about double the torque for hill-climbing and acceleration. Power would be approximately double. The motor should be ale to handle that OK.