So, I did an E-Bike Conversion. – Page 2 – Bike Forum

namastebuzz · 2021-11-06T13:30:49Z

I'd never been a fan of E-MTBs. I could see the attraction and the benefits but it wasn't for me. I like to pedal. I like to suffer. I like to work to enjoy the descents. Anyway, I rebuilt the wheels on a Specialized Turbo Levo for someone. I took it for a ride round my local trails and I did like having a motor! I wasn't too impressed with the rest of the bike - not for £7k anyway. Too heavy, too expensive, too ugly and not great to ride. I did start looking at the idea of converting one of my own bikes but didn't want to "spoil" any if them so I picked up a nice On One Codeine 29er with some tasty upgrades for £500. Then I got a good deal on AliExpress for a Tongsheng TSDZ2 750w kit for £185. It came from Germany in a week. The Tongsheng is torque sensing so you have to pedal and it multiplies your effort. Unlike the Bafang systems where you can "ghost" pedal as they are cadence sensing. People describe the TSDZ2 as making you feel like you've got "bionic legs". Having got the bike and all the kit I then did my usual - nothing. I decided to get to know the On One first. It had all the stuff I'd poo-pood for years. 29" wheels, tubeless tyres, modern geometry, uppy-downy seatpost, single chainring and so on. Turns out, I loved it! I loved it so much I rode it for a year before I decided to "ruin" it by doing the conversion. The motor went straight in fine - once I'd ground off one of the chain device lugs. It has a 42T chainring so decided to go for an 11-52T cassette to keep a similar low gear ratio to the original. For batteries I didn't want a massive frame mounted job as it looks crap and is hard to mount on the On One frame. I decided to use LiPos as I already had a ton of them for RC cars. They're smaller and more powerful than Li-Ion batteries but are tricky to handle, use and charge. I wouldn't recommend them for everyone but if you've got the know-how it's doable. I went with two 6S 6000MAh batteries in series to give 12S 50.2V and 6Ah. You should really use 13S TBH but all my RC cars run on 6S so I had tons of 3S and 6S LiPos. The beauty of the LiPos is that they fit easily in a saddle pack. I had to extend the motor wire and fit an XT90 connector but a bit of soldering and it was all good. An hour and a half was enough to do it all fairly deliberately. Running the cables and fitting the speed sensor was the most annoying but worth trying and re-trying to get it right. I wasn't able to fit my new cassette as the DT Swiss hub had a SRAM freehub (who knew?) so I'm waiting on the Shimano one arriving. The gear range is therefore a bit limited currently. So, off for the first test at Tarland MTB trails. It's a straight drag up the hill then down either the blue, orange or red and repeat. I normally do about 15 circuits or so. It was great! Did 20+ circuits without breaking sweat. The bike felt a little heavier but handled fine. Ground clearance is a bit less but that's contributed to by lack of rider skills too. I'd fitted the optional thumb throttle so sometimes I just climbed without pedalling, other times I climbed in what is, effectively, a big ring and whizzed up the hill. Range? No idea yet. The battery meter still said about 34 full but LiPos tend to hold their voltage well then "fall off a cliff" and they're permanently damaged if their voltage drops too low. RC cars have a low voltage cutoff (LVC) to prevent this but I fitted LiPo alarms which bleep if the battery reaches a preset limit. The batteries were still showing 3.9v per cell so plenty of life left. I do have another set I can carry in a backpack and changeover if needed so we'll see how it goes. I'd say I've spent about £750 to get to this point. Or £850 if you account for the two 6S LiPos. I like the bike because it's fun, not too heavy and looks "normal". I'll still ride my regular bikes for fitness and out with others but I'm glad I built this too. [IMG][/IMG] [IMG][/IMG] [IMG][/IMG] [IMG][/IMG]

Stainypants

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I’m old fat knacker and I can put out 500w for a few minutes on a climb if I was on an ebike on turbo that wound be 750w. I’m not sure that average rambler is going to differentiate between that and thus guy with his throttle. Once e-bike were permitted the cat was out the bag. I rather this that some of the folk I see ragging around town at 30mpg plus on hub motor conversions.

Posted : 14/11/2021 4:40 pm

namastebuzz

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Topic starter

Thanks rollingdoughnut. Any input is welcome.

I posted this up to let people know what can be done and hoped it would be interesting.

I'm probably not that different to yourself in outlook. I also hike, bag Munros, kayak down the coast and walk the dog as well as mountain bike. I've got 4 mountain bikes and only one is electrified and, as most of my riding is for fitness, it won't be out that much.

Where it will come in handy is at trail centres where you want to do the descents more often or on certain routes with long, tough climbs that you just want to get up coz there's a great descent to be had.

The throttle doesn't make the bike go as fast as if you're on pedal assist. It's not a motorbike and, with relatively low gearing, it doesn't really go any faster than if you were pedalling at the max. The real advantage is the effort it saves you when climbing.

Bottom line is you're either polite and respectful to other people or you're not. On about 90% of my rides I probably never see another soul but, if I do, I'm always the former.

Posted : 14/11/2021 5:06 pm

rollindoughnut

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Thanks. That was a nice response.
I've been struggling with the state of the world today, I guess like a lot of people at the moment.

Posted : 14/11/2021 8:35 pm

thepodge

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Would that be the wildly judgemental people assuming that just because someone has an electric assistance bike that they'd be a bad person?

Posted : 14/11/2021 8:38 pm

namastebuzz

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I’ve been struggling with the state of the world today, I guess like a lot of people at the moment

Hey, we all struggle at times. If I made your day better - that's cool.

Posted : 14/11/2021 9:17 pm

rollindoughnut

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Yes thepodge, exactly those sort of people 😆

Don't even think of getting me started on my opinion of BMW/Audi drivers. (Apart from my neighbour John, he's nice, and Claire, she's nice too, and my pal Andy, such a quiet and thoughtful bloke) but the rest of them, the ones I don't know, they're all c....

Posted : 14/11/2021 10:33 pm

hooli

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I found it interesting, I'm no convinced I'd replicate it but it is nice to see it done so thanks for sharing.

Posted : 15/11/2021 11:16 am

richardthird

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Interesting thoughts on available power. I've got my name down for an upcoming conversion (Lightest, on indiegogo, I do hope it is not totally pie in the sky) and will go for the lowest power option (250/500/750/1000). I just want a bit of help on the steep uphills on a standard bike and at the lowest weight penalty. To me, more power just means a larger heavier battery.

Posted : 15/11/2021 3:06 pm

namastebuzz

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I’m no convinced I’d replicate it

Fair enough. LiPos aren't for everyone. I'm looking at 48v Li-Ion batteries on AliExpress too.

That seat pack I'm using could be half the size and still take the LiPos. I could get a bigger 48v 10ah Li-Ion that's 20cm long that would still fit in a seat pack and give me superior range for not much over £100.

Posted : 15/11/2021 7:45 pm

footflaps

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I’m old fat knacker and I can put out 500w for a few minutes on a climb if I was on an ebike on turbo that wound be 750w. I’m not sure that average rambler is going to differentiate between that and thus guy with his throttle. Once e-bike were permitted the cat was out the bag. I rather this that some of the folk I see ragging around town at 30mpg plus on hub motor conversions.

+1

I was riding with a friend on a similar 750W ebike conversion and I could match him on short climbs on a normal bike - did run out of lungs after a few 100m though. Although I think the extra weight of the ebike means 750W is more like 500W on a non ebike.

Posted : 16/11/2021 6:22 pm

gingerflash

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I can't get past the fact that you got the base bike for £500.

Was the seller still wearing his balaclava?

Posted : 16/11/2021 8:36 pm

namastebuzz

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I can’t get past the fact that you got the base bike for £500.

Was the seller still wearing his balaclava?

Ha ha! It came up on FB marketplace early one morning. I messaged the seller about 10 minutes after. He'd already had one buyer enquiring but got his number and did a deal immediately on the phone and paid him a deposit before picking it up a couple of days later. But of luck to spot it that quickly then able to get enough good vibes from talking to him to get it done.

It had been used for Enduros so not exactly perfect nick but the suspension had been serviced and some decent upgrades so happy enough. Mate of mine has exactly the same bike (which he'd bought new) and wasn't too pleased when I showed up on a ride with my bargain buy. 😆

Posted : 17/11/2021 12:42 am

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