mitty

Any thoughts on whether a mid drive could be mounted on to my bike ? Also can the xiongda 2 speed be bought in Europe as a kit ? Thanks again M

Photos are from eBay but show the same model as my bike and show how the eccentric BB is tightened up

Thanks again, so mid drive might be possible with a tensioner ? If so would I be getting significantly better range for the same battery weight ? Also any other pros/cons of mid drive with the rohloff, wear and tear,changing under load etc ? Which mid drives/batteries would most suit my touring needs. Ps I live in cornwall so hills a plenty ! Cheers M

Thanks for the links. Am I right in thinking I can't use mid drive kit because my thorn bottom bracket rotates to tension the chain for the rohloff hub ? Also does anyone in Europe sell a xiongda kit like lunacyles in the states ? Thanks again M

Hi, looking for advice on best conversion for my thorn Raven rohloff. Ideally I want a lightweight front motor kit enough torque to assist pushing up to 160kg (bike,panniers and myself )uphill when touring not so fussed about on the level assistance as I need some exercise ! Batteries in the bottle cages low in the frame maybe or split between the front set of panniers ? Lightweight charger would be nice. Range ? I hope to average 60km + a day but mixed gradients. Easy to swap out for original wheel to use as normal bike would be useful too. I did like the sound of the two speed xiongda but am open to suggestions Budget up to £1000 Thanks Mitty

Hello all, I thought I would clear out some of my older bikes to make room for some shiny new ones In the stable we have the following Giant lafree twist cross bar frame size medium 3 speed nexus, gold and blue. This one needs attention as stopped working. I checked the switch which was corroded a bit but have not got any further, battery still shows 4 lights after charging. - offers Giant twist 2.0 silver 7 speed nexus very good condition bike with 2 Nhm batteries both working but one lasts longer than the other ! - £450 ono Ezee Liv (sprint frame ) 3 speed nexus bought new in december 09 so VGC. It came with a new charger but with an older ex demo lithium battery which still does 8 to 10 miles in hilly Cornwall. - £ 350 ono I live in Falmouth, Cornwall but I am happy to deliver up to 100 miles at cost or send by courier or pack up to be collected by your own courier. The bikes have all been stored in my shed and come with chargers and manuals etc. Any questions please call 07939569616 or email

Hi I just saw your recent post. Do you know if these packs are suitable for the twist 2.0 batteries ? or just the older twists as I have both ! Thanks mitty

We are based in falmouth, so me coming to you when I get back is no problem. Good luck with the move ! Happy Easter, Mitty

Thanks for the reply Andrew, do you mean you have converted an old lafree into a throttle driven bike ? I would be interested in how you did this, does it work well ? I was considering a lafree xtracycle hybrid for a down and dirty cargo bike. so having a throttle control might work well. Apart from range are there any drawbacks ? All food for thought Thanks again, Mitty

Great, thanks for the response, I am away next week camping with the kids in devon and somerset. Would it be ok to contact you when I get back in the county ? Many thanks mitty

Hello, has anyone got an old lafree twist switch ? I am trying to coax a twist back to life and the switch may be the problem. Many thanks mitty

I'll try to bypass the switch and see if there is any life in the motor. Thanks for all the advice, Mitty

Thanks Flecc, There was some power coming from motor when I collected the bike ! Both me and the bike got drenched for 30 min and then the power seem to drop off, I presumed it was the battery so I turned off the pedal assist. When I got home I did a refresh on the battery charger as per the instructions.(It went from refresh to charging in under 30 min then took about 5 hours to charge ) When the battery was charged, I tried the bike again but got nothing. so I brought bike inside to dry out and took the switch apart as per your instructions which was fun (I didn't know you could get ball bearings that small !) Do you know any members who might have a switch I could buy or borrow to test ? Can the switch be bypassed ? Should I explore the motor unit ? Thanks again M

I dried the switch out and brushed down the corrosion and reassembled the switch. I can't feel the motor kicking in when pedaling. In eco mode would you expect to still feel a boost ? are there any simple tests to find out if it is a switch or a board fault ? Thanks again Mitty

Hello, I have come by an older lafree twist (2002) which has stopped working. the battery takes a charge and shows a full set of lights on its side. The switch seemed Ok, as when you switched on it lit up for 2 seconds and then went out as it says it should in the manual. I have taken the switch apart as instructed on fleccs lafree technical page. Inside there was a small amount of moisture and signs of corrosion to the board. Can the corrosion be stopped/fixed or should I move straight towards sourcing a replacement switch ? I have a photo of the switch corrosion if that would help with the diagnosis! Any help much appreciated, Mitty

Hello, I have come by an older lafree twist (2002) which has stopped working. the battery takes a charge and shows a full set of lights on its side. The switch seemed Ok, as when you switched on it lit up for 2 seconds and then went out as it says it should in the manual. I have taken the switch apart as instructed on fleccs lafree technical page. Inside there was a small amount of moisture and signs of corrosion to the board. Can the corrosion be stopped/fixed or should I move straight towards sourcing a replacement switch ? I have a photo of the switch corrosion if that would help with the diagnosis! Any help much appreciated, Mitty

Hi, I was wondering what people thought about this project. how much it might cost ? performance guestimates etc. ? cheers mitty copenhagen wheel project

Thanks for info/insight again flecc, out of interest what price would you put on a brand new ezee sprint frame fitted with the liv's motor and 3 speed hub with brake. also with new charger but no battery ? thanks mitty

Hello, I recently won on ebay a new ezee liv (with a sprint frame ?).It comes without battery but with a charger. My father has an older torq with 2 batteries which are both on their way out. do you think its worth recelling the old batteries or should I buy new ? what are the rough costs and implications of recelling 1/2 batteries ? many thanks M

Thanks for the replies, I may go for the trailer bike plus child seat option. I still feel that this is a important problem to solve as I am sure people would make less local car trips if there was a safe painless way of moving kids around town. I like the idea of the yuba with 2 bobike junior folding seats combined with an electric assist for the hills. ideally through the gears but maybe a hub motor geared for the hills. is the puma motor that team hybrid used to offer still available ? or which other hub motors might work under such a load ? if I can succeed in replacing the car for alot of journeys then the bike would pay for itself pretty quickly. also I read on another forum that the guy who put the xtracyle on the giant lafree (i posted the picture of ) now thinks that th nu vinci hub is the best hub gear solution under heavy loads ( i know that they are not gears in the normal sense ) he thinks it is more robust than the nexus and sram internal hubs which is interesting. lastly has anyone used the mountain drive system where you tap a button on the crank to change the gearing ? thanks again mitty

links here are a few pix of what i am thinking about http://www.bikefix.co.uk/index.php?unique=16bac1592b38be82afad23a4a8414378&get_ol_id=7&get_gl_id=37&get_sgl_id=214#a37 http://homepage.mac.com/awcg/.Pictures/XtraLite/XL1.jpg http://www.endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=3514

Hello all, great stuff on the forum as always. I nearly went electric before but hung on as I thought the bikes were going to improve, my problem is getting heavier every year ! I was wondering what you thought about these bikes, Kona UTE, yuba mondo, and the xtracycle add on. Basically my wife or myself haul 2 kids (6 and 4 years old) in a trailer in beautiful but hilly cornwall with an old school mountain bike. I would like to add an electrical motor for going up the hills. so I was wondering if it would be possible to add the xtracycle attachment to the kalkhoff bikes ? the other option could be to add a hub motor to the Kona ute or the yuba mondo, or just stick with the trailer and swap the bike pulling it for an electric assist. The kids are getting a bit big for the trailer. We do get them to cycle but we still have a few years to go before they could keep up for most of our bike journeys. Any thoughts appreciated mitty