There was an ARCC conversion for exactly that bike, though a bit expensive.

https://www.arccbikes.com/knowledge-hub/news/electric-bike-review-arcc-electric-moulton

 

I've never found a bike that couldn't be converted, but I often ask why someone would want to go through the trouble and expense when there are easier options.

 

That video was interesting. Waves of nostalgia here thinking about my old TSR 27. She is right, it is built to be a fast bike, especially, I would say the one I had with 27 speed campagnolo gears. I said before, I rode it 40 miles in 2 hours and 2 minutes and I was about 49 or 50 and was never a crack speed rider. It just flew along, so it would probably be quite efficient with an electrical assist system. Mind - it was not a cheap bike, which was in the end why I sold it, because it was barely being used. The guy I sold it to, I met on a folder forum and I kid you not, he flew from San Francisco to Heathrow to get it when I said I would not be happy posting it. He was a Dot Com millionaire. I never understood quite why he made that trip. I am sure he could have bought a new one and had it delivered. He did say he had thousands of miles of Air Miles so the trip cost him nothing, but still... A bit weird really.

 

"When you bolt the caliper on and hit the brakes the bracket bends which binds the pads against the rotor."

https://www.amazon.com/RUJOI-Conversion-Adapter-Alu-Alloy-Threaded/dp/B09MQLZ9V2

 

 

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/195862388433

Edited June 13, 20241 yr by lenny

I’m sure it’s just me being a wimp, but I would be very wary of some hookey front wheel after market disc adapter. I’m not handsome but a faceplant isn’t going make me any more so…

 

Simplest conversion ever. Swap the front wheel, fit the snap on PAS, connect up to the KT controller (also in battery bag). Seems very good, more powerful than I thought, less than 4 kg added including battery.

 

Easy to pedal with no assist.

 

Redid my little test circuit

 

 

 

 

Unbelievably (and I know noone here will believe it) the battery dropped from 42V to 40.5v (measured with multimeter) for a 36v 10Ah battery (I did double check Woosh hadn't sent me a bigger battery by mistake) which would give a range of > 50 miles !

Unbelievably (and I know noone here will believe it) the battery dropped from 42V to 40.5v (measured with multimeter) for a 36v 10Ah battery (I did double check Woosh hadn't sent me a bigger battery by mistake) which would give a range of > 50 miles !

 

I believe you. Ickler wheels are mightier!

Awesome.

Random musings on my part

 

1) The kit came with a KT 36V/48V 6 mosfet controller with max current 15 A, which seemed quite a lot for the little AKM-74 . Topbikekit also sell a AKM-74 48V version (I presume with different winding) - 48V 15A seems a lot of power for a microhub.

2) I wonder if the 20 inch wheel mitigates the small torque from the motor - so you end up with something that is a lot better climbing hills than I would expect

3) The front hub seems to work quite well and having the battery over the front wheel seems to help the balance - The riding position is very upright, so I think more of the weight would be over the back wheel. Its quite well balanced to move around and carry. I did add an extra strap to the battery bag, to strap it onto the front vertical bar - it is very secure now.

4 ) I wonder if the lightness of the motor mitigates some of the usual front hub disadvantages - I know [mention=9614]Nealh[/mention] has a bike with the Bafang micro hub in a front wheel

5) I converted this bike for a specific purpose - having a bike to take in the campervan with us on holiday, so it would do limited mileage. However my wife has quite taken to it (especially how easy it is to get out and put back). I might have to persuade her for us to change to a disc braked folding donor bike and move the kit across (which wouldn't be a big job)

6) I can see how you could use a kit like this for a lightweight bike, as per Woosh Faro. There's plenty of 10kg road bikes of ebay/marketplace/gumtree. You can add a similar kit with a 36V 10Ah (or even a 36V 15Ah or 48V 10Ah) bag battery and still end up with a very light e-bike

That perfect steel framed folder might just be this Pashley Moulton TSR 27 that I used to have and sold about twenty years ago. I rode it powered by me 40 miles in two hours and two minutes. It isn't exactly a folder, but you could withdraw a pin and it came into two pieces so it was easy to fit in the boot of a car. It was a surprisingly fast bike.

 

[ATTACH=full]58137[/ATTACH]

 

Far too rich for my blood! This one has SRAM Dualdrive, therefore might have 135mm rear dropouts? If so, easy no-spread insertion of powerful rear hub motor perhaps? For dudes who enjoy that sort of thing.

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/296488960465

 

Edited June 26, 20241 yr by guerney

Far too rich for my blood! This one has SRAM Dualdrive, therefore might have 135mm rear dropouts? If so, easy no-spread insertion of powerful rear hub motor perhaps? For dudes who enjoy that sort of thing.

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/296488960465

 

It was a very nice ride that bike. To be honest, it had so many gears and was so easy to ride, I don't think I'd need any electricity to ride it anywhere - even now many years later. I sold it because it seemed just too valuable to be lying in the garage, and I never dared leave it alone outside, anywhere I rode it.

PostScript

 

My mother in law came up for the weekend and had a go on the folder - she was blown away.

 

She loved how light it is(including 36v 10Ah bag battery + pannier it is 16.3kg) to get out and put away and how easy it was to pedal with no assistance and how comfortable the pedalling position was

 

Even up hills she was only using level 2 PAS ( out of 5) - she is at at guess 50-55 kg though !

 

She used to cycle a lot but hasn't done recently and she asked if I would do one for her. I have persuaded her to start off with a donor bike with disc brakes . might swap the freewheel to a DNP one if needed

 

Thinking

 

https://www.compass24.com/compass-folding-bike-20-inch-blue-415370/blue

 

https://buydirectltd.co.uk/products/trinx-folding-bike-20-inch-wheels-7-speed-shimano-gears-disc-brakes-carry-bag-dolphin-2

 

Or https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/7844967482208701/

 

(Seems to get good reviews - https://road.cc/content/review/carrera-intercity-disc-9-speed-folding-bike-292787 )

 

Interesting in that review it mentions that it can be a bit light over the front wheel, using a front hub motor and battery on the handlebar stem would help.

 

Just checking if all those are steel forks (would it matter for such a low toque motor?)

Random musings on my part

 

1) The kit came with a KT 36V/48V 6 mosfet controller with max current 15 A, which seemed quite a lot for the little AKM-74 . Topbikekit also sell a AKM-74 48V version (I presume with different winding) - 48V 15A seems a lot of power for a microhub.

2) I wonder if the 20 inch wheel mitigates the small torque from the motor - so you end up with something that is a lot better climbing hills than I would expect

3) The front hub seems to work quite well and having the battery over the front wheel seems to help the balance - The riding position is very upright, so I think more of the weight would be over the back wheel. Its quite well balanced to move around and carry. I did add an extra strap to the battery bag, to strap it onto the front vertical bar - it is very secure now.

4 ) I wonder if the lightness of the motor mitigates some of the usual front hub disadvantages - I know [mention=9614]Nealh[/mention] has a bike with the Bafang micro hub in a front wheel

5) I converted this bike for a specific purpose - having a bike to take in the campervan with us on holiday, so it would do limited mileage. However my wife has quite taken to it (especially how easy it is to get out and put back). I might have to persuade her for us to change to a disc braked folding donor bike and move the kit across (which wouldn't be a big job)

6) I can see how you could use a kit like this for a lightweight bike, as per Woosh Faro. There's plenty of 10kg road bikes of ebay/marketplace/gumtree. You can add a similar kit with a 36V 10Ah (or even a 36V 15Ah or 48V 10Ah) bag battery and still end up with a very light e-bike

 

Glad it worked so well. Hope it proves durable. You seem to have achieved a highish average speed. Does it cut off at 15.5 mph? Your average speed is above that. Also, very good efficiency with so little of the battery used. Amazing really.

Glad it worked so well. Hope it proves durable. You seem to have achieved a highish average speed. Does it cut off at 15.5 mph? Your average speed is above that. Also, very good efficiency with so little of the battery used. Amazing really.

That's with the cutoff set to 17mph (15.5 +10% leeway that is legal). With the [mention=3847]saneagle[/mention] DNP Freewheel (11 teeth for the highest gear) I can go at a faster speed down the hills without any assistance.

I think it should be OK reliability wise (cross fingers )- it's just an Aikema hub motor, PAS sensor, KT controller and LCD and battery

Edited July 1, 20241 yr by Peter.Bridge

Even up hills she was only using level 2 PAS ( out of 5) - she is at at guess 50-55 kg though !

Does the controller use speed control? If it does, it makes no difference whether your in level 1 or 5. The power is the same as long as you go slow because you get max power in every level until you reach the speed limit.

Does the controller use speed control? If it does, it makes no difference whether your in level 1 or 5. The power is the same as long as you go slow because you get max power in every level until you reach the speed limit.

No - its a KT 36/48V 6 mosfet 15A sine wave controller from topbikekit with the power based pas levels -the hills weren't that steep mind

That's with the cutoff set to 17mph (15.5 +10% leeway that is legal). With the [mention=3847]saneagle[/mention] DNP Freewheel (11 teeth for the highest gear) I can go at a faster speed down the hills without any assistance.

I think it should be OK reliability wise - it's just an Aikema hub motor, PAS sensor, KT controller and LCD and battery

Thanks Peter.

 

I especially like the way the PAS ring seems from my reading of your account, to simply clip onto the crank... Is that right?

 

I have an urge to maybe convert my Brompton to electric power and I think the available kits from Woosh look as if you need to pull the crank arm off.... I have had a problem with this when I tentatively tried to pull a crank arm on a cheapish mountain bike I was going to convert. The cheapo crank puller I bought stripped its threads and damaged the threads in the arm I was trying to pull off. It seemed VERY tight to me. I have read that Brompton cranks are tight too, and since it is a very nice bike, I don't want any nonsense like that.

 

Yours looks REALLY easy, which appeals to me. I wonder if the motor kit you bought would fit my Brompton, and whether the magnet ring will remain durably attached. *** EDIT - obviously the wheel size is different.

 

After reading stuff here, I would be wanting a KT controller, I think.

 

This is all a bit vague, because where the Brompton is used in town, I don't really need electrification.

No - its a KT 36/48V 6 mosfet 15A sine wave controller from topbikekit with the power based pas levels -the hills weren't that steep mind

OK, thanks. It must be the 50 - 55kg then. We heavyweights need double the power.

I have an urge to maybe convert my Brompton to electric power and I think the available kits from Woosh look as if you need to pull the crank arm off.... I have had a problem with this when I tentatively tried to pull a crank arm on a cheapish mountain bike I was going to convert

The default PAS option with the Woosh kit is to mount the PAS onto the bottom bracket.

You can also ask for the seat tube mounted PAS with clip on disc. There is no extra charge for this. The latter option is less robust than the default option because the PAS sensor can be displaced accidentally while the traditional method is time tested.

Edited July 1, 20241 yr by Woosh

Thanks Peter.

 

I especially like the way the PAS ring seems from my reading of your account, to simply clip onto the crank... Is that right?

 

I have an urge to maybe convert my Brompton to electric power and I think the available kits from Woosh look as if you need to pull the crank arm off.... I have had a problem with this when I tentatively tried to pull a crank arm on a cheapish mountain bike I was going to convert. The cheapo crank puller I bought stripped its threads and damaged the threads in the arm I was trying to pull off. It seemed VERY tight to me. I have read that Brompton cranks are tight too, and since it is a very nice bike, I don't want any nonsense like that.

 

Yours looks REALLY easy, which appeals to me. I wonder if the motor kit you bought would fit my Brompton, and whether the magnet ring will remain durably attached. *** EDIT - obviously the wheel size is different.

 

After reading stuff here, I would be wanting a KT controller, I think.

 

This is all a bit vague, because where the Brompton is used in town, I don't really need electrification.

Yep - the PAS disc came in two parts that just clip on and then fit a clip round it. Then you attach the sensor to frame (which was a little fiddly to get it close enough to sense the magnets

 

Yep they do Bromptons

 

https://fr.aliexpress.com/store/4709069?spm=a2g0o.store_pc_feedback.pcShopHead_14499903.0

Thanks for the responses of Woosh and Peter.Bridge.

 

Food for thought.

 

I have an urge to maybe convert my Brompton to electric power and I think the available kits from Woosh look as if you need to pull the crank arm off.... I have had a problem with this when I tentatively tried to pull a crank arm on a cheapish mountain bike I was going to convert. The cheapo crank puller I bought stripped its threads and damaged the threads in the arm I was trying to pull off. It seemed VERY tight to me. I have read that Brompton cranks are tight too, and since it is a very nice bike, I don't want any nonsense like that.

 

 

Buy one of these:

 

 

Watch this video:

 

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="

title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Buy one of these:

 

 

Watch this video:

 

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="

title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

Thanks Waspy... If I had not bought a cheap tool, the problem I had would probably never have happened. I had a similar problem with a nasty universal wiper arm puller when my old car's wiper mechanism fell apart. The bloody Knob which tightened the arm broke loose under my hand tightening and I had to make my own adaptations to get the thing off. I should make a new resolution not to o for cheap Amazon tools.

 

EDIT:

 

Excellent video on crank removal and likely issues.

Unbelievably (and I know noone here will believe it) the battery dropped from 42V to 40.5v

 

 

Went for another ride at lunchtime :

 

 

 

 

Voltage after the ride was 39.4v ( so maybe used 1/4 of the battery?)

 

I think I've worked out what is going on, that fiendish KT controller is tricking me into putting more effort in ! I've not had a KT controller before, but I'm used to Pas level 2 giving me 40% or level 3 giving me 60 % of the available power, so I'm used to "level 2" and "level 3" hills".

 

Looking at my heart rate today, that's quite a bit higher than usual in that route, so I suspect that controller Pas levels might not be set up like that (I'm not complaining, the less assist I need, the better !)

 

[mention=9614]Nealh[/mention] do you know the KT Pas levels % power ?

Edited July 2, 20241 yr by Peter.Bridge

Went for another ride at lunchtime :

[ATTACH type=full" alt="58521]58521[/ATTACH]

 

 

[ATTACH type=full" alt="58522]58522[/ATTACH]

 

 

Voltage after the ride was 39.4v ( so maybe used 1/4 of the battery?)

 

I think I've worked out what is going on, that fiendish KT controller is tricking me into putting more effort in ! I've not had a KT controller before, but I'm used to Pas level 2 giving me 40% or level 3 giving me 60 % of the available power, so I'm used to "level 2" and "level 3" hills".

 

Looking at my heart rate today, that's quite a bit higher than usual in that route, so I suspect that controller Pas levels might not be set up like that (I'm not complaining, the less assist I need, the better !)

 

[mention=9614]Nealh[/mention] do you know the KT Pas levels % power ?

With a KT controller, you can pedal as hard or not hard as you want. It just gives constant power. It's up to you to select how much assistance you want and how hard you want to pedal. If you pedal harder, you go faster. It has no influence on how much battery you use other than it shortens the time of your journey.

 

That's the simple explanation, but here is another point about that constant power, which is actually not constant. At a certain speed the back emf is enough to reduce the current, and the faster you go, the more the reduction, so pedalling hard to go fast can indeed reduce power consumption. Most of the reduction is in the top 25% of the motor's rpm range, so if your motor can do 30 mph unrestricted, it would be between 15 mph and 20 mph, but if your bike is restricted to 25 mph, you don't see much of it.

KT PAS level %'s are very different to other PAS levels found on other bikes.

PAS 1 13%.

PAS 2 20%.

PAS 3 33%.

PAS 4 50%.

PAS 5 100%.

 

Yes with KT one will be putting more effort in esp on the first two PAS levels.