eeesickle
100 µW
G'day all
Long time lurker, first time electric bike kit owner. Nice place here. I'll start by blaming AussieJester for 'sparking' my interest in electric bicycles.
I was unsure on whether to go for a hub drive (hopefully easier install), or chain drive (can use the bike's gears) for quite some time and in the end Cyclone Taiwan's current US$458 deal (http://www.cyclone-tw.com/order-A.htm) for a 500w 3 chainwheel complete kit won out. The kit arrived very quickly and, for the most part, was very well packed. The motor plug that goes to the throttle was broken, but useable.
The kit is to be fitted to my trusty, neglected, 21 speed, 10 year old, no-name Mountain Bike... Nothing too special about it, but with the combined brake and trigger shifters I can see an issue with the included bulky throttle.
Disclaimer - Before I go on please note, this is my first time playing with bikes, let alone e-bikes, and therefore I have absolutely no idea what I am doing. If you notice something is wrong (could be done better) from the photos, please let me know.
I started by using the included crank removal tool to take the cranks off. Remove the caps, undo a nut and then screw the dark piece of the crank removal tool into the crank and then tighten the chrome part up. As you tighten it more the crank will eventually come away from the shaft.
Next was the removal of the left side bottom bracket. I didn't have the correct tool, so I used a hammer and a screwdriver to knock the tab on the outer ring anti-clockwise to undo it. The rest pretty much undid by hand.
This next picture compares the new spindle with the old. I should've lined it up better, but you can see the extra length out to the left (top) side allowing clearance for the motor.
The next pic shows the old right side bottom bracket. Dopey me forgot this would be left hand thread, so you turn it right to undo it.
Here is the new right side bottom bracket going in. I put grease all in the threads and on the body. I'm not sure how necessary that is though. Should I have used some sort of Loctite (thread lock) instead?
With the right side screwed all the way in, this is how the left side sits. I am a bit concerned by this as there is a gap between the left bracket and the bearing of the right side which would potentially get full of gunk. Should I be worried?
After all the bad things I've heard about the Cyclone freewheel I decided to put a bit extra oil around the edge. Not sure if this will help or hinder it though. I had planned on getting an ENO freewheel, but I'll see how long this one lasts first. So I screwed the right side crank into the freewheel/chainwheel set and fitted it up, using the bolts to drive the cranks onto the tapered shaft. I am guessing the crank and freewheel will tighten up more after a bit of riding. Thoughts?
Motor mount time. I tapped the bottom bottom thread of the drink bottle mount to suit the motor mount's grub screw and also drilled a hole so the grub screw underneath could go into the steel frame.
Like most of my projects, this took a lot longer than I expected and after starting at lunch time it was now getting dark and I was getting frustrated and impatient. Sorry, but no pics of the actual motor install here. I took some links out of the chain and fitted it up. The motor seems to be sitting forward more than I expected, but the chain alignment doesn't seem too bad.
Screwed the 2 screws into the battery pack and clamped it to the seat post. It seems very solid.
Fitted the throttle up and, as expected, where I wanted the throttle impeded on the gear trigger action. I'll see if I can move it, or swap it out for a different style of throttle.
Next was all the wiring to be run along the frame. Still some tidy up work to be done.
Those last pics were taken after my initial test ride. I don't have a watt meter to show how much battery was used, another thing on my list of wants. I only went for a few minutes just to see what it was like and whether there were any issues going to raise their heads. Thankfully it all seemed to be a success. I plan to have a better ride tomorrow.
Still to go.
Tidy wiring, fit heat sinks to the motor, adjust the throttle position. Get a watt meter. Have fun...
Like I said at the start, please let me know if you see any mistakes I have made so I can make my bike as reliable as possible.
Cheers
Randal
PS All the pics I have from this build are available at http://s806.photobucket.com/albums/yy343/eeesickle/
Long time lurker, first time electric bike kit owner. Nice place here. I'll start by blaming AussieJester for 'sparking' my interest in electric bicycles.
I was unsure on whether to go for a hub drive (hopefully easier install), or chain drive (can use the bike's gears) for quite some time and in the end Cyclone Taiwan's current US$458 deal (http://www.cyclone-tw.com/order-A.htm) for a 500w 3 chainwheel complete kit won out. The kit arrived very quickly and, for the most part, was very well packed. The motor plug that goes to the throttle was broken, but useable.
The kit is to be fitted to my trusty, neglected, 21 speed, 10 year old, no-name Mountain Bike... Nothing too special about it, but with the combined brake and trigger shifters I can see an issue with the included bulky throttle.
Disclaimer - Before I go on please note, this is my first time playing with bikes, let alone e-bikes, and therefore I have absolutely no idea what I am doing. If you notice something is wrong (could be done better) from the photos, please let me know.
I started by using the included crank removal tool to take the cranks off. Remove the caps, undo a nut and then screw the dark piece of the crank removal tool into the crank and then tighten the chrome part up. As you tighten it more the crank will eventually come away from the shaft.
Next was the removal of the left side bottom bracket. I didn't have the correct tool, so I used a hammer and a screwdriver to knock the tab on the outer ring anti-clockwise to undo it. The rest pretty much undid by hand.
This next picture compares the new spindle with the old. I should've lined it up better, but you can see the extra length out to the left (top) side allowing clearance for the motor.
The next pic shows the old right side bottom bracket. Dopey me forgot this would be left hand thread, so you turn it right to undo it.
Here is the new right side bottom bracket going in. I put grease all in the threads and on the body. I'm not sure how necessary that is though. Should I have used some sort of Loctite (thread lock) instead?
With the right side screwed all the way in, this is how the left side sits. I am a bit concerned by this as there is a gap between the left bracket and the bearing of the right side which would potentially get full of gunk. Should I be worried?
After all the bad things I've heard about the Cyclone freewheel I decided to put a bit extra oil around the edge. Not sure if this will help or hinder it though. I had planned on getting an ENO freewheel, but I'll see how long this one lasts first. So I screwed the right side crank into the freewheel/chainwheel set and fitted it up, using the bolts to drive the cranks onto the tapered shaft. I am guessing the crank and freewheel will tighten up more after a bit of riding. Thoughts?
Motor mount time. I tapped the bottom bottom thread of the drink bottle mount to suit the motor mount's grub screw and also drilled a hole so the grub screw underneath could go into the steel frame.
Like most of my projects, this took a lot longer than I expected and after starting at lunch time it was now getting dark and I was getting frustrated and impatient. Sorry, but no pics of the actual motor install here. I took some links out of the chain and fitted it up. The motor seems to be sitting forward more than I expected, but the chain alignment doesn't seem too bad.
Screwed the 2 screws into the battery pack and clamped it to the seat post. It seems very solid.
Fitted the throttle up and, as expected, where I wanted the throttle impeded on the gear trigger action. I'll see if I can move it, or swap it out for a different style of throttle.
Next was all the wiring to be run along the frame. Still some tidy up work to be done.
Those last pics were taken after my initial test ride. I don't have a watt meter to show how much battery was used, another thing on my list of wants. I only went for a few minutes just to see what it was like and whether there were any issues going to raise their heads. Thankfully it all seemed to be a success. I plan to have a better ride tomorrow.
Still to go.
Tidy wiring, fit heat sinks to the motor, adjust the throttle position. Get a watt meter. Have fun...
Like I said at the start, please let me know if you see any mistakes I have made so I can make my bike as reliable as possible.
Cheers
Randal
PS All the pics I have from this build are available at http://s806.photobucket.com/albums/yy343/eeesickle/
). Seriously, if I can fit it, then anyone can! It probably won't be a direct bolt on, but it wasn't quite as difficult as I expected, even if it took longer than I thought it would. 
