Hey I’m new and I don’t understand why there are no new threads here and everyone just responds to the same old threads with 1204948539 comments. So I’m starting a new thread.
Talk to me about e-bike conversions of analog/acoustic bikes. What have you done that worked? What didn’t work? Who should get my $$$?
I’m in the market for a cargo bike to haul my 1st and soon to be 2nd child around DC and any decent cargo e-bike is $5k. I’ve found a nice looking Xtracycle Edgerunner for <$1k. Could convert it for another $2k. Thinking about the CYC Photon motor to get torque sensing and a good chain line.
I’ve been waffling over a mid drive conversion for months, ultimately deciding not to do it because it always looks janky with a a rats nest of wires zip tied all over. I’m sure they work fine, but I can’t get past how shitty the things look.
Pretty sure there’s more e-bike conversions here than off-the-shelf e-bikes. Some have done mid-drive, others have done hub motors, and it seems like there’s one person that has a Stokemonkey kit.
I did a conversion with a Grin All Axle front hub motor kit (head unit, motor controller, torque sensing BB as well) from ebikes.ca and have been happy enough with it.
At my school there’s a 20" giant kids bike with a front hub e-conversion. Haven’t seen who’s riding it, but there’s a bunch of nerdy kids here so it isn’t entirely out of place.
We work generally on the principal that if there’s a tangentially related thread, all the stuff just goes in there.
I built this at a time when factory options were limited. The install is somewhere between rats nest and clean. No torque sensing which is the only real downside.
EDIT!: It’s a Bafang BBS02 and a 52V 14AH battery.
Extra rivnuts for the battery mount. Rest of the bike is a total bitsa. 90s MTB frame plus a Kona disc fork (with misaligned caliper mount so I have to run a 203mm rotor with a spaced 160 adaptor), 8sp drivetrain, @Orc rack with a veggie basket
Fun fact, I roped that bike rack onto the pannier rack and rode it home with minimal issues. Was somewhat of a hazard to traffic though.
This is mine. Was 19 kgs with its 17ah battery on. 500 watts. Too much of a handful for my wife so i sold it to a workmate and brought a torque sensored Giant. Similar donk to Blakeys.
If I buy something new I’d been eying a Yuba, Xtracycle, or Benno.
However, the bike I’m eying now is a 2018 Xtracycle, which is basically the same as their modern e-bike versions. The CYC Photon seems like a solid torque based motor. Saving at least $1k is nothing to sneeze at, and I’d have a more powerful motor with throttle to boot.
I do like the thought of a turnkey and fully integrated solution purchased new from an LBS taking advantage of the new $1000 rebate the DC gov just passed. But that’s not in effect yet, with a TBD date. Also, they didn’t funding it THAT much so it’s going to be a crazy mad rush to claim all the rebates before they expire.
I test rode a Benno Boost and honestly it was great. It was mainly the weirdo tire size that turned me off (and being wholly unnecessary for a 4 mile round trip commute).
I think @drwelby and I have both done TSDZ2 conversions. The build quality isn’t super great but the torque sensing works pretty good and you can keep the wiring relatively simple if you don’t use a throttle button or brake cutoffs. I have the SW102 display for mine but unfortunately I don’t see anybody selling that for the TSDZ2 anymore…
I never ran brake switches with torque sensing and never felt any need for it - no torque means no power.
After the torque sensor fritzed out and I put it in cadence mode it can try to roll away from you if you don’t know to backpedal it to cut out the motor.
If I was going to do a cargo DIY, I’d probably try out the CYC just for the more robust drive system.
Also having done a mid-drive, I’d try a hub drive next, I’m not convinced for basic urban enhancement having everything in one monolithic unit is the most robust solution. Right now with the Tongsheng to fix the torque sensor I have to pull the whole unit and tear it down - with a hub motor and TS BB I could have just swapped in a new BB.
