gman1971
10 kW
- Joined
- Oct 17, 2015
- Messages
- 976
Hi there guys,
Been a long time lurker here.... and after thinking about building an ebike for almost five years I finally decided that I couldn't wait anymore. Last weekend I ordered a new GNG gen2, 48v 500W mid drive kit and I just finished installing it one hour ago. While I am somewhat "mechanically inclined" this kit was a far more advanced and involved installation than I would've ever anticipated. No instruction anywhere, and while I found helpful tips here... nothing translated to my kit because I have yet to see another kit just like the one I got. Well, that made it even harder; suffice to say there was a lot more trial and error that I would've hoped... but it is all now behind and I am ready to start riding to work all 5 days now, as opposed to only 4 days (yep, I do ride to work 4 out of 5 days a week on my carbon road bike)
A guy called Jon was super nice and got everything sent ASAP after payment.
The kit components came all nicely packaged and everything in the controller was labeled; the crimp-on connectors was a very nice touch, much better than soldering....On another note, the Gen2 motor with 9T pinion that I've seen on this board is not the motor that I got on mine. Mine has a lot of cooling fins and doesn't use a 9 tooth, more like 12 or 11... I didn't count. Another thing I didn't expect is that It is super quiet; I was worried because after watching countless videos on YT I was expecting a noisy RC car that can be heard for miles... nope. The controller was really small, as in, it is not the mega-brick that I see regularly on pictures... this thing was about the size of my fist. Hasn't gotten very warm at all yet... not even the motor after a 2 mile ride at top speed was very warm... granted at 50F outside probably wont be very hot, but still its good to know. Any thoughts on this?
The bike in which this kit went is a 2013 Diamondback Response 26" hardtail (red and silver). I'll probably post some pics of the finished install later, but although it works now, it is not finished yet. I am currently holding it together using blue painters tape everywhere; basically holding the cables in the positions that I think they'll go when I am completely done with it.
As for batteries I am running the kit with 2 Thunderpower 6S 5000mAh 45C Lipos for a total of 12S. I don't know what range I'll get out of them but as long as it gets me the 8 miles to work now that it is starting to get cold and rainy here in WI I'll be fine.
I also went with a 20-amp UBEC connected directly to the main battery pack; that way I can run my custom made Cree MT-G2 led bike lights at full power for a nice 4000 lumens out the front, a solid wall of light head; and in the back I run a Cree XML2 led over a red diffuser, about 800 lumens on my tail light.
As for display panel I went with a 16 dollar Amazon especial power meter; it reads battery volts, power, etc... enough so I don't run my lipos down to the ground. The shock came the first time I really got into the throttle.... and while the kit is advertised as 500 watts, I am seeing in excess of 1000 watts under acceleration and 600-700 cruising with the two lipos on it... No wonder why the thing just pulls like a raped ape on all gears and all the way up to almost 30mph on flat with no headwind. I was expecting a 20 mph at best, but 28mph? Whoah, I'll take it.
Overall I am really happy with it; but it took about two full days of hard work and a dremel with a cutting wheel + some serious amount of swear jar to get it done. My Diamond bike must be one of a kind or something because the bike shop guys couldn't figure out how to get the bottom bracket out of it... So in the end I had to resort to the good old dremel cutting wheel and that took care of it, that was after 3 1/2 hours of carefully cutting the dang thing until it broke off. "There is no stopping a determined man with a Dremel and its cutting wheel..."
With that said tho, I must admit that I hated the kit for a while, and hatred grew bigger until I finally got it to work; the thing just kept throwing chains like an old tank throws tracks... I was ready to take the sledgehammer to it in a moment of enlightenment I figured it out and spaced the motor inwards so the chain would stay.
G.
Been a long time lurker here.... and after thinking about building an ebike for almost five years I finally decided that I couldn't wait anymore. Last weekend I ordered a new GNG gen2, 48v 500W mid drive kit and I just finished installing it one hour ago. While I am somewhat "mechanically inclined" this kit was a far more advanced and involved installation than I would've ever anticipated. No instruction anywhere, and while I found helpful tips here... nothing translated to my kit because I have yet to see another kit just like the one I got. Well, that made it even harder; suffice to say there was a lot more trial and error that I would've hoped... but it is all now behind and I am ready to start riding to work all 5 days now, as opposed to only 4 days (yep, I do ride to work 4 out of 5 days a week on my carbon road bike)
A guy called Jon was super nice and got everything sent ASAP after payment.
The kit components came all nicely packaged and everything in the controller was labeled; the crimp-on connectors was a very nice touch, much better than soldering....On another note, the Gen2 motor with 9T pinion that I've seen on this board is not the motor that I got on mine. Mine has a lot of cooling fins and doesn't use a 9 tooth, more like 12 or 11... I didn't count. Another thing I didn't expect is that It is super quiet; I was worried because after watching countless videos on YT I was expecting a noisy RC car that can be heard for miles... nope. The controller was really small, as in, it is not the mega-brick that I see regularly on pictures... this thing was about the size of my fist. Hasn't gotten very warm at all yet... not even the motor after a 2 mile ride at top speed was very warm... granted at 50F outside probably wont be very hot, but still its good to know. Any thoughts on this?
The bike in which this kit went is a 2013 Diamondback Response 26" hardtail (red and silver). I'll probably post some pics of the finished install later, but although it works now, it is not finished yet. I am currently holding it together using blue painters tape everywhere; basically holding the cables in the positions that I think they'll go when I am completely done with it.
As for batteries I am running the kit with 2 Thunderpower 6S 5000mAh 45C Lipos for a total of 12S. I don't know what range I'll get out of them but as long as it gets me the 8 miles to work now that it is starting to get cold and rainy here in WI I'll be fine.
I also went with a 20-amp UBEC connected directly to the main battery pack; that way I can run my custom made Cree MT-G2 led bike lights at full power for a nice 4000 lumens out the front, a solid wall of light head; and in the back I run a Cree XML2 led over a red diffuser, about 800 lumens on my tail light.
As for display panel I went with a 16 dollar Amazon especial power meter; it reads battery volts, power, etc... enough so I don't run my lipos down to the ground. The shock came the first time I really got into the throttle.... and while the kit is advertised as 500 watts, I am seeing in excess of 1000 watts under acceleration and 600-700 cruising with the two lipos on it... No wonder why the thing just pulls like a raped ape on all gears and all the way up to almost 30mph on flat with no headwind. I was expecting a 20 mph at best, but 28mph? Whoah, I'll take it.
Overall I am really happy with it; but it took about two full days of hard work and a dremel with a cutting wheel + some serious amount of swear jar to get it done. My Diamond bike must be one of a kind or something because the bike shop guys couldn't figure out how to get the bottom bracket out of it... So in the end I had to resort to the good old dremel cutting wheel and that took care of it, that was after 3 1/2 hours of carefully cutting the dang thing until it broke off. "There is no stopping a determined man with a Dremel and its cutting wheel..."
With that said tho, I must admit that I hated the kit for a while, and hatred grew bigger until I finally got it to work; the thing just kept throwing chains like an old tank throws tracks... I was ready to take the sledgehammer to it in a moment of enlightenment I figured it out and spaced the motor inwards so the chain would stay.
G.
