25kg in a backpack would be the end of me! Most of my stuff goes in panniers or a trailer, only the most delicate stuff on my back.

25 Kg is the absolute limit of what I can cycle with on my back and then I really only use the bike to shorten a walk in on for example forestry tracks - where I can ditch the bike in the trees and walk the rest of the hill . Yes the weight is a killer. I have a much lighter camera setup for normal use and that's the more common load. In that case just 5 or so Kg, plus whatever food and drink I carry on top of that .

 

I've thought about a trailer but never pursued it beyond that... just thinking about a trailer now and my brakes

There's loads of Boardman Hyb 8.6 s around of facebook for <£200. I'm converting one at the minute and it has hydraulic brakes, nice big frame triangle, square taper BSA bottom bracket , fixing points for a rear rack and mudguards , 11.2kg - ideal donor bike

 

You could (snip)...

 

This'd keep your original bicycle frame, drive-train, etc, etc.

 

Thank you, Yes I agree all practical suggestions, I did sort of add up the cost of that lot and it left me thinking that :

 

Or purchase a second-hand replacement and rob your existing bike for the motor and parts (mudguards, rack, handle-bar widgets, etc)

 

Yes.. I think if I'm going to build rather than buy this is by far the best option.. I get to keep my motor that I know does what I need, I effectively get a 'new' bike and if the motor ever fails the current TZD motor is almost certainly a suitable replacement keeping everything else as it is now.

 

What I have learned over the years is that for my use I don't need anything like 60 miles range. So next time, a smaller capacity 48v downtube battery would certainly work out.

 

One issue I have is I'm totally out of touch with what is a decent MTB / Hybrid frame (whatever) these days and looking at the likes of FB marketplace reveals a bewildering array of bikes to look at

There's loads of Boardman Hyb 8.6 s around of facebook for <£200. I'm converting one at the minute and it has hydraulic brakes, nice big frame triangle, square taper BSA bottom bracket , fixing points for a rear rack and mudguards , 11.2kg - ideal donor bike

 

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That looks in really nice condition - it will make a nice machine.

 

Are you going to hub drive or mid drive it?

So rather than continue to clutter up somebody else’s post on rack battery matters I thought I’d better continue here.

 

The temporary arrangement that I’d used to attach the battery rack to the frame meant that it ended up to the rear of the axle and probably 3 inches above the tire, that meant the weight was very high and the bike felt quite unstable. Today I made some small aluminium brackets that allowed the rack to fit very close to the seat tube and only An inch and a half above the tire, even pushing the bike around the workshop it feels far better.

 

So I went outside, here on Anglesey it’s currently blowing a southwesterly at 70 mph and horizontal rain ..... I noticed the wheelie bin was now at the bottom of my field so I went back inside and put the kettle on!

 

Paul

Count yourself lucky! I get by on a rear hub motor and a carrier battery so yes, the rear weight is noticible. You soon get used to it though and the bonus is not much chance of going over the bars on a steep descent!! Plus loads of traction from the back tyre.

That looks in really nice condition - it will make a nice machine.

 

Are you going to hub drive or mid drive it?

 

It's for my friends wife, I'm going to keep it relatively light, so hub motor - a 280 rpm TBK100AD CST (2.1kg) and either a 36V bottle battery or a downtube battery. I know its a bit heavier but I think a downtube battery would give a bit more range - I seem to do much higher mileages on my rides than I would have predicted before I got an ebike.

 

https://www.pedelecs.co.uk/forum/threads/any-ideas-for-best-conversion-kit.48433/

Count yourself lucky! I get by on a rear hub motor and a carrier battery so yes, the rear weight is noticible. You soon get used to it though and the bonus is not much chance of going over the bars on a steep descent!! Plus loads of traction from the back tyre.

Yes for sure, I've lived with it for five years and it's been OK. I suppose I'm at the point where it needs to be better. I broke a couple of fingers last year and where in my youth it would have taken a few weeks to fully recover these took a year and still hurt like... Old age :-) I think I need to make my bike harder to fall off

There's loads of Boardman Hyb 8.6 s around of facebook for <£200. I'm converting one at the minute and it has hydraulic brakes, nice big frame triangle, square taper BSA bottom bracket , fixing points for a rear rack and mudguards , 11.2kg - ideal donor bike

 

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Here's my one in The Gadget Show. this is what actually happened, none of which was shown in the broadcast episode.

 

Here's my one in The Gadget Show. this is what actually happened, none of which was shown in the broadcast episode.

 

 

Not exactly a photo finish !

Not exactly a photo finish !

It was, according to what they broadcast! The girl was riding a Volt. Volt had a big presence during the filming. I think they asked (or paid) the producer to show their bike in a much better light. It was very disappointing that they hardly mentioned the Oxydrive kit during the show. Instead, Jason was bleating about the Boardman the whole time. I'm pretty sure that some shenanegans had been going on behind the scenes between the Gadget Show, Volt and Halfords, even though I bought the bike myself at my own expense specially for the show.

Edited March 12, 20251 yr by saneagle

To the Original Poster, how many miles has your conversion covered and why no panniers?

My Bafang conversion has done three winters and 6000 miles. No issues with the motor but I have noticed the battery is slightly less efficient.

Cheers,

Rich

To the Original Poster, how many miles has your conversion covered

Hi, I've no idea as the odometer mysteriously reset to zero after a few years, it's currently back to a few thousand. I don't do many miles really but I'd guess 6K or so is a fair estimate. During 2020/1 here in Wales we had lots of restriction on use and last year I had set some targets for long distance walking so the bike hardly moved. (I walk about 4000Km a year)

 

I think my bike is slowly changing from just a tool to get me to my photography locations to something I will hopefully use for general exercise as well.

 

I've recently resurrected the bike as my walking isn't doing enough cardio for me, I was out yesterday and did 15 miles on the Coastal path but whilst that's great endurance it didn't really do any cardio at all. Sadly I can't run anymore as my old knees are stuffed but I can still spin along.

 

I've just come back from 25 miles of easy riding round the lanes but by pushing faster than the speed cut off I was able to hold my heart rate at Zone 3/4 for the entire ride. If I hadn't had the motor assist my knees would crumble at the first hill ..

 

 

and why no panniers?

 

 

I hate them :-) I never got on with them when I did a bit of touring but for sure if I needed to carry a tent etc it would probably be the best way. It must be me but when I chuck my leg over the bike they just seem to get in the way.

 

I did have an old respirator case mounted as a pannier for years to carry my spare tube / bits of tools and my flask & butties but I can't attach my camera stuff to the bike..

 

If I drop the bike and walk to take a shot I'd have to unpack the pannier and put the gear into my backpack anyway so it sort of doesn't work for me.

 

 

 

My Bafang conversion has done three winters and 6000 miles. No issues with the motor but I have noticed the battery is slightly less efficient.

 

 

That's good, my motor has also been faultless and I'd have another without hesitation if the rest of the bike was what I think I need now.

 

Funny you should mention that about the battery. I did say earlier on in this thread that the battery was 'slightly' worse after 5 years of use ( bear in mind that's a couple of years of almost no use which is really bad news)

 

I have just done a couple of complete 'full to flat' cycles and today I reckon the battery is actually a lot worse than I initially thought. Its on charge again now and I'll watch it more carefully for the next couple of charges .

 

Regards Paul

There's loads of Boardman Hyb 8.6 s around of facebook for <£200. I'm converting one at the minute and it has hydraulic brakes, nice big frame triangle, square taper BSA bottom bracket , fixing points for a rear rack and mudguards , 11.2kg - ideal donor bike

 

I haven't got any photos but one of my eBikes is a Boardman Hybrid 8.6 that I got through the Cycle to Work Scheme then subsequently converted by Woosh with a front hub motor. It's a great bike with excellent brakes.

I haven't got any photos but one of my eBikes is a Boardman Hybrid 8.6 that I got through the Cycle to Work Scheme then subsequently converted by Woosh with a front hub motor. It's a great bike with excellent brakes.

 

They are on offer for £480 new from Halfords at the minute

 

https://www.halfords.com/bikes/hybrid-bikes/boardman-hyb-8.6-mens-hybrid-bike-2021---silver---s-m-l-frames-366198.html

I would buy a connex chain if using a mid drive, you don't need any tools to take off and put back on. You still need a chain tool to get the correct length, makes cleaning the chain slightly easier, I oil my chain at the same time as well.

I would buy a connex chain if using a mid drive, you don't need any tools to take off and put back on. You still need a chain tool to get the correct length, makes cleaning the chain slightly easier, I oil my chain at the same time as well.

If only they weren't three times the price of my usual! I like the idea of the stainless steel and nickel plated version, but I'd have to ride a year's worth of miles to see if it was saving me anything!

my walking isn't doing enough cardio for me, I was out yesterday and did 15 miles on the Coastal path but whilst that's great endurance it didn't really do any cardio at all. Sadly I can't run anymore as my old knees are stuffed but I can still spin along.

 

Heard of this:

 

Wiki - Nordic Walking

 

...using your locked arms to help propel using sticks - you can get a longer stride - saves yer legs - and get cardio effect.

 

These ones collapse into Z's and are available in two lengths (I've a pair of each - one for 6' tall me and one for 5'6" tall partner):

 

Amabezos - Collapsible Trekking Poles

There's loads of Boardman Hyb 8.6 s around of facebook for <£200. I'm converting one at the minute and it has hydraulic brakes, nice big frame triangle, square taper BSA bottom bracket , fixing points for a rear rack and mudguards , 11.2kg - ideal donor bike

 

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Ok, was pretty straightforward, 280rpm 36v tbk-100cst (claimed 30Nm !) + Hailong 17.5 ah 36v Panasonic battery

 

Total weight including battery (according to my luggage scales) 16kg

 

Wheel built by arrow wheels, they did a good job

 

2 things that stopped it being completely trivial,

 

1) motor didn't have bolts for disc rotors and standard disc rotor bolts are too long so I had to order some

2) I got the motor with a new 9 speed cassette, but I couldn't index the gears correctly, so I swapped to the old one from the rear wheel I removed, all worked perfectly then.