Due to the unique design of this bike I want a conversion which is as discrete as possible.

 

To this end I was thinking of a 8FUN BBS01 kit ( probably the 350W version ) and a rear rack mounted battery of at least 10Ah.

 

Whilst the motor kit seems readily available they seem to be sold with either bottle or the newer USB batteries which I don't want.

 

Does anyone know where I can source a suitable battery and rack ( I would want the battery to be lockable to the rack ) ?

 

This will be my first conversion so any other thoughts would be gratefully received.

Have a look at the Woosh website or BMSB, although Woosh don't show racks contact them and they may sell you one with a battery.

Sorry, what is BMSB ?

BMSBattery.com

Thanks

Panda can supply me with a rear rack and battery but I will have to wait until they come from China at the end of September

 

I also emailed Eclipse but have'nt had a response from them.

 

Anyone had experience of either company re sales and service ?

woosh have rear rack batteries - same models they use on their Big Bear (15AH) and their Petite (10AH) - if you want one, ask Andy @ Woosh. They are slightly more expensive than Eclipse.

Thanks Trex, all available from Woosh and in stock.

Ordered today for delivery tomorrow.

 

Woosh are terminating the battery mount with an appropriate cable and connector for the BBS01

Just received my kit and am a bit worried about the 15Ah battery Woosh have supplied. Apart from two scratches on the plastic end where the charge indicator lights are, the bar code reads 1407070006. At face value this indicates to me the battery was manufactured in July'14 and is thus already 1 year old ! How much capacity would it have lost in the last year assuming it has been on Woosh's charging rack ( I'm rather hoping it hasn't been used on a demonstrator ! ).

 

The motor kit is fine with a bar code beginning 1505.

 

Should I contact Woosh re the battery ?

yes, you should, for your peace of mind.

the capacity decreases with the charging cycles, the manufacturing date does not affect that. Generally, manufacturing techniques improve over time. This year's cells should be better made than last year.

Talked to Andy today. All the current Woosh stock batteries are of this date or earlier. Apparently batteries are only in stock for approximately 3 months before being sold so mine should not be a problem.

 

I am enjoying fitting the kit and hope to finish tomorrow with no problems so far. Interestingly Woosh changed the battery connector on the BBS01 to bullet connectors which they consider superior.

 

I hope to post a picture of the finished bike shortly.

Panda can supply me with a rear rack and battery but I will have to wait until they come from China at the end of September

 

I also emailed Eclipse but have'nt had a response from them.

 

Anyone had experience of either company re sales and service ?

 

Hi - good news the rear rack batteries made it (just) onto our latest shipment and will be delivered in early August. I lost track of your email from a few weeks ago but remembered you when reading this thread.

 

Pop us another email in a few weeks time, we should be able to get one of those rear rack batteries to you in the last 2 weeks of August if you are still interested

Finished fitting the kit and well pleased with the result.

 

I'm amazed how quiet the BBS01 motor is compared to my Kalkoff and OH's Woosh Petite.

the BBS01 is not bad is it? I have one of the very early BBS01, still running sweet and quiet.

I've decided to change the stock 46T chain wheel for a Bafang 44T.

When I rode the bike pre-electric I changed the chainwheel to a 42T in order to get up the local hills better. ( The Parabike weighed in at 18 Kg before conversion ! and only has a 5 speed Sturmey Archer hub ). I reckon this will be a good compromise now I have the BBS01 to call on and hopefully, will allow it to run at the sweet spot speed of approx. 80 RPM more often.

Just went on a longish ride to test the battery ( 15Ah ) capacity completing 68 miles with 4477 ft climbing. Really pleased as only used 50%.

 

There is obviously more than enough capacity for any ride that I'm likely to undertake with a margin for using more motor if needed.

 

Also impressed with the pedelec tuning of the BBS01. I've set 4 levels but really only use 3 or 4 depending on the incline with no brutal cutoff. The independent throttle provides a boost beyond level 4 for really steep hills.

 

Have fitted a 44T Bafang chainwheel and the gear ratios are about as good as I can get it now.

If you had used 50% of your battery, that wold give you a range of 136 miles, and the consumption would be approximately 4 wh/mile, which is an aveage power output of about 30w at 10 mph, which is not a lot of assistance. Most people would want at least 250w to climb hills, so they wouldn't get anywhere near your range.

 

By way of comparison, I was out on my bike yesterday and did 38.77 miles at an average speed of 14.0 mph, climbed 1527 ft and used about 2wh from my battery, which is about 0.05 wh per mile, so it looks like my bike is a lot more efficient than yours. With a 36v 2aH battery, I'd be able to do about 1,440 miles before the battery was empty.

Nice one

 

If only I was able to attain your level of efficiency !!

Anybody can do it. You just have to practice a bit first. Range is a very personal thing. Different people will get completely different results on the same bike. Anecdotally, most people seem to consume somewhere in the range between 10 and 15 wh/mile on a legal 250w electric bike, so it's easy to calculate expected range, which would be between 2.4 and 3.6 mles per amp-hour of 36v battery. A 15Ah battery would therefore do between 36 and 54 miles. It makes very little difference what type or size of motor you have, though some systems encourage you to pedal harder. Obviously, the harder you pedal, the further you go.

 

Coming back to your bike, you need to be careful about assumptions. If you're basing your 50% battery usage on the battery meter on the display, it could be a long way out. Most meters aren't linear, by the time you get down to two segments/lights out of four, the battery is nearly empty.

Actually the battery had just come off the full mark. I based the 50 % usage on the recharge time of 4.5hrs ( according to Woosh it takes about 10 hours to recharge one of their 15 Ah batteries from flat with the supplied charger ).

That's not correct. Even a 2A charger would charge it from flat in 7.5 hrs. How many amps is written on your charger?

 

A battery should be charged at 0.2C, which is 3A for a 15Ah one. That would take 5 hours from empty, so if yours took 4.5 hrs, it was nearly empty.

woosh charger is rated 42V 1.9A by SANS electronics - allowing for first time balancing, the recommendation of leaving it on for 10 hours on first charge does not seem exagerated.

Well, they say the proof of the pudding is in the eating. I'm going to extend the ride I did earlier in the week to 80 miles. If I get home without the battery running out that's good enough for me regardless of how long it takes to recharge.

I have now completed 384 miles since the conversion, some of it in absolutely atrocious conditions.

 

The BBSO1 has not missed a beat, I'm so impressed.

 

I took it on the Malvern Mad Hatter Sportive on Sunday and did not get one cry of "cheat" from anyone, in fact no one seems to notice the conversion at all it was so quiet.

 

I bought a programming cable from Empowered Cycles in the USA and have programmed the motor for a sensible balance of power VS battery consumption. Most of all to I wanted a motor response which complimented the way I ride my bikes which after some experimentation I have achieved.

 

My final settings : -

 

I made no changes to the BASIC settings.

In the PEDAL ASSIST TAB I lowered the START CURRENT from 20% to 10% as I have a 5 speed Sturmey Archer IGH and I wanted to treat it gently.

I reduced the TIME OF STOP(x10ms) from 25 to 20 to help gear changes.

I increased the KEEP CURRENT from 20% to 60% which has transformed the performance of the kit but still gives a very good range.

In the THROTTLE TAB I have changed the MODE from SPEED to CURRENT and lowered the START CURRENT (%) from 10 to 5 to help preserve the drive train.

 

The battery and rack have performed without problem and complement the rest of the conversion.

 

In addition to purchasing a 44T Bafang chainwheel (stock is 46T) I have fitted a pair of chain tensioners from Hollandbikeshop.com to help deal with the extra power.

 

Price of the BBS01 kit including C961 display ( I wanted motor control under my left thumb) was £330 inc P/P.

The 15Ah battery and rack cost £345 inc P/P. Both were supplied by Woosh by next day delivery.

 

In summary the conversion has transformed a very heavy steel bike into a pleasurable ride in the hilly area in which I live. With the experience I have had It is unlikely I will buy another purpose built E-bike and may well put my Kalkoff up for sale as it is spending most of its time in the garage.