Has anyone built/converted an eBike using a Bafang kit or similar?

My Dad has been eyeing up an eBike for a while. I’ve dissuaded him from buying a second hand but new Gtech mountain bike. I wondered if something that’s better value could be built using a conversion kit? The main thing about the GTech mountain bike was the range doesn’t seem very good. The battery is relatively small.

I wonder if a good starting point could be a Pinnacle Ramin or Iroko frame?

We looked at this – consensus was that Bafang kits are a very poor second to a purpose built e-bike.

If issue is battery size/range anxiety then just buy a second battery?

I built this (well got Woosh Bike’s to fit their kit).

78 miles all in flat out mode. Kit fitted to Charge Mixer 11. In some ways it is the perfect commuter but I hardly use it as I need the exercise and it is no quicker than pedal power alone apart from at traffic lights which is a bit embarrassing!

I had been looking into this for a relative. Full bafang kits seem to be around the £800ish mark.

I have been thinking the same thing. A ready made ebike flat bar hybrid road bike thing is around £2-£2.5k. You can get a really nice flat bar road bike for £500 or less 2nd hand (quite a few seem hardly used) so add on £800 and you’ve got an ebike for half the price.
I really can’t see how they would be inferior to a ready made one apart from packaging/looks etc and in reality if any parts fail you can fix it yourself and upgrade later if you want to.

For commuting I can’t see what is wrong with front hub motor and 36v battery and leave the hub gears intact at the rear. The Charge has been hanging in the roof of the garage so was effectively free and the ekit was £550

Did this a while ago, I’ll post some pics in a bit.

Specialized Sirrus road bike SH, then a 750w bafang kit with battery for £650, sorted. Keep an eye out on Ebay, they do fluctuate in price a fair bit (or wait for an offer weekend). Easy to fit the kit itself, hard to hide all the cables nicely!

Works well, no issues in (considerable) rain we’ve had, 65 miles of hilly commuting on a charge. Only thing I would recommend getting with the kit is the brake sensors,  can be a bit dodgy at junctions if not fitted.

BB mount motors are better in general than a hub motor. Rear hubs are better than front ones.

A quality BB mount add on motor will cost a lot. Bafengs only have cadence sensors so the peddling is much less intuitive than one with a torque sensor and really need either a fair chunk of mechanical sympathy to ride and / or brake adn gear change cutouts

I have a no longer made torque sensing bb mount motor. Much nicer to ride IMO than a cadence sensing motor and no faff about with brake and gear change cutouts

there is a new kit on the market – Tongshen. Its much smaller and lighter than a bafeng and has proper torque sensing so again no brake or gear change cutouts needed. NO UK distributor but you can get one from the US or the Czech republic or direct from china. Bought from the Czech republic its a similar price to a bafeng. Read a few reports on it and seems good and I intend to get one at some point.

Tongsheng TSDZ2 Mid Drive Motor E-bike Conversion Kit

the pendix kit looks good but german built at german prices

Pendix Electric Assist Kits

IMO unless you have a bike you want to convert or want to use electric drive on something unusual you are better off with a fully built BB kitted bike using the bosch or shimano motors. Want a conversion that is good to ride you need torque sensing. Bafengs however are reliable and widely used but need to be ridden in a different way to torque sensing units

We looked at this – consensus was that Bafang kits are a very poor second to a purpose built e-bike.

Hmmm dunno about that. Work had a loaner ridgeback hardtail recently, it was 2700 to buy, I reckon without the e stuff, it was a 500 quid bike, tops.

My 400 quid calibre flat bar commuter and a decent kit would be less than half that price and way better.

Only a sample of 1, yes.

Look at Halfords Carrera e bike range, for £900-£1000 you get a Textro hydraulic disc braked e bike with a 417wh battery and a suntour hub motor

https://www.halfords.com/cycling/bikes/electric-bikes/carrera-subway-mens-electric-hybrid-bike-16-18-20-frames

https://www.halfords.com/cycling/bikes/electric-bikes/carrera-subway-mens-electric-hybrid-bike-16-18-20-frames

https://www.halfords.com/cycling/bikes/electric-bikes/carrera-crossfire-e-mens-electric-hybrid-bike-17-19-21-frames

Ideal if your just using it to get around on and not doing any major off road type riding, easy to take back to the shop if you have any issues

Cytronex do an impressive looking kit

The issue with hub motors is when going uphill at low speed the motor is only turning slowly – meaning high amperages so it gets hot and low efficiency so it eats batteries.

I bought a new Trek Conduit, Shimano steps electric stuff, decent in built lighting, decent rigid guards, deore oily and stoppy bits.
Was £1250 with 0% over 2 years. Can’t remember name of the shop at the moment but wasnt worth doing a DIY job.

I bought a 2nd hand ebike that had been crashed and with the forks bent back for £100. Took the front hub motor (after thoroughly checking the wheel), cadence sensor, BB, and battery and fitted it to my Surly Crosscheck. 1000km so far and I’m very happy.

https://ibb.co/P10KCw2

https://ibb.co/JzKm2DN

(Can’t get the images to show so you’ll have to click the link I’m afraid)

I’ll admit I applied the ugly stick quite liberally.

My 400 quid calibre flat bar commuter and a decent kit would be less than half that price and way better.

Only a sample of 1, yes.

I was talking about ride experience etc rater than price.

[sweeping generalisation alert]

While most experienced cyclists can work around the foibles of the cadence sensing offerings and any issues associated with fitting them to a non-e bike for anyone who lacks confidence or mechanical aptitude/sympathy a home build can present additional issues.

It’s like cars – some people will be fine with a kit car, others want (and would be better served by) something more homogeneous.

[/sweeping generalisation alert]

also, if you’re spendign £800-£1k on a kit and ending up buying even a second hand bike for £500 to bolt it to you’re getting into reasonable purpose built money and if someone has access to the new enhanced cycle to work scheme fundign a complete bike is a good buy (or even if you get it on interest free).

My wife ended up with a Reese and Muller which wasn’t cheap but the build quality and integration of the e-bike bit means she can ride it every day, doesn’t need to worry about anything mechanical being a bit makeshift etc.

This thread gets my interest too, as I want to build a kit onto my camino for commuting. @tjagain – Interesting what you say about torque sensing and the weaknesses of rear hubs for hill climbing. I’m interested in the TSDZ2, does anyone know if it allows for relatively high cadence (80rpm-ish) spinning up hills?

This looks pretty solid:

http://www.pswpower.com/ven.php?cargo.2018-4c-gj4p

My OH has one of those Carrera/Suntour bikes.

It’s really quite nice to ride, the cranks have a torque sensor (it’s a simple sprung thing that lets the crank deflect forwards around the chaining) so it does just feel like you pedaling, except you’ve magically gained Sagan’s legs an/or lost half your bodyweight. Never struggled on hills either and it never struggles with range even with a reluctant peddler on board.

Wouldn’t take it off road though (not that you asked) as the hub weighs a ton, there’s no way that thing is going to jump.

jonny – I have no direct experience of the tongshen and the indirect reports I have are not detailed

I believe it has a max cadence tho around 80 or 90 rpm.

Google it and you get some reviews

I’ve been emailing the guy at Woosh about e bike kits. I’d like to fit one to my Big Dummy. He said TSDZ2 has a plastic intermediate gear with built in sprag clutch which can be damaged under high load

That put me off a bit. I liked the idea of torque sensing but it’s going to go on a heavy bike that carries heavy stuff, needs to be robust

@tjagain, thanks for that. I have been looking into this a bit and I wondered about the rear hub vs crank drive for a lightish weight build. There’s a lot of detail on dedicated forums, but fewer comments about ride quality/ similarity to a regular bike, instead they are focussed on output/distance.

I was also recommended the latter but haven’t found much feedback as to pedal feel/ max cadence.

https://bmsbattery.com/ebike/769-16768-q128c-135mm-500w-rear-driving-ebike-hub-motor-wheel-ebike-kit.html

benp1

You can buy an metal gear for the tongshen

Johhny – from the bikes I have ridden i would always go for a bb drive.

I fitted a bafang to a big dummy, easy to fit and works well. For a mountain bike I can imagine a torque sensor would help, for a commuter though I don’t see much of an advantage.

TSDZ2 looks a much bigger gap from axle to motor so should fit carbon frames (Bafang wont fit) Now just need a 120mm shell version please to e-my-carbon-fatty.

Has anyone tried one of these? CYC

I remembered – my Trek was from Rutland cycles and was half price in the sale.

I bought into the indiegogo campaign these guys https://www.swytchbike.com/ did and am hoping it’ll convert my wife’s old hybrid into something that she’ll actually use 🙂

Cost me £300 (think it might be a bit more now) . What I like about it is that I should be able to move it between bikes fairly easily and it only adds 3kg to the bike. 1.5kg for the battery and 1.5kg for the hub

Trail rat has a bafeng and loves it BTW – as he has not chipped in on this thread

Good info, thanks. Initially I thought this kits were half the price they are as I didn’t realise they come without a battery. They don’t seem quite as good value now….

I’ve been looking at off the shelf ebikes. There appears to be a threshold of £1200 before you get a half decent bike with a Bosch/Shimano/Yamaha motor and these would be previous years’ models. My approach has been to look for bikes by brands I already know, plus Haibike. However, my dad mentions bikes from brands I’ve never heard of, e.g. Oxygen. No idea how to advise on these… ?

I think the basics are good battery, good motor and good frame. Everything else can be upgraded if needed.

As above I have a bafang on a long tail cargo bike.

For a commuter I see little value in torque sensing.

Those I have ridden feel wierd power feed compared to the bafang. Works well off-road . Feels wierd on road.