mailmanx
10 mW
Is there any point in buying the motor by itself and mounting it in your current wheel? Is it complicated?
Buying motor only instead of whole wheel?
- Thread starter mailmanx
- Start date
dogman dan
1 PW
The main point is that you can use existing matching rim, or, use a really good rim and spokes. Hubmotors generally come laced to cheap rims with even cheaper spokes.
Its a pretty easy to learn 2x lace. But if you never trued a rim in your life it might be tough to get it trued. A good lbs can true the wheel once you have it laced. A bad lbs will wreck your wires, or simply tell you get lost.
Shipping might be less for the motor unlaced, but then you still have to source spokes in an odd short length. Worth it for better spokes for heavy usage, but not really so worth it for lighter duty.
Its a pretty easy to learn 2x lace. But if you never trued a rim in your life it might be tough to get it trued. A good lbs can true the wheel once you have it laced. A bad lbs will wreck your wires, or simply tell you get lost.
Shipping might be less for the motor unlaced, but then you still have to source spokes in an odd short length. Worth it for better spokes for heavy usage, but not really so worth it for lighter duty.
mailmanx
10 mW
dogman said:
Do you know if the rim and spokes in this kit are decent?
http://www.bmsbattery.com/ebike-kits/563-q11-48v1kw-front-driving-hub-motor-e-bike-conversion-kit.html
friendly1uk
1 MW
I got them rims. Took one look and got some better ones.
Most kits need truing anyway, and it costs more than a fairly good rim. These rims may well fracture round the spoke holes ina year or so, So there is just no value to them. The tyre mounting surfaces are just 19mm apart too, which was way to skinny for any serious rubber to sit in.
edit: Have a look at sun mammoth on chain reaction
Edit: The site seems tobe down, try this link when it is back up http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/s?q=mammoth
They are 24mm wide while mtbs are generally around 22mm. It all sounds close enough, but in the flesh it is very apparent
Most kits need truing anyway, and it costs more than a fairly good rim. These rims may well fracture round the spoke holes ina year or so, So there is just no value to them. The tyre mounting surfaces are just 19mm apart too, which was way to skinny for any serious rubber to sit in.
edit: Have a look at sun mammoth on chain reaction
Edit: The site seems tobe down, try this link when it is back up http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/s?q=mammoth
They are 24mm wide while mtbs are generally around 22mm. It all sounds close enough, but in the flesh it is very apparent
yes there is
unless re-built by a bike shop locally the pre-built chinese wheels are a nightmare and eventually fall apart
building a wheel is easy- it just takes time- once you got the wheel built take it to a bike shop for truing/tensioning since that part can get tricky- if your're going to be doing alot of serious riding re-building is def worth it- the chinese ones may get you by but wont last
unless re-built by a bike shop locally the pre-built chinese wheels are a nightmare and eventually fall apart
building a wheel is easy- it just takes time- once you got the wheel built take it to a bike shop for truing/tensioning since that part can get tricky- if your're going to be doing alot of serious riding re-building is def worth it- the chinese ones may get you by but wont last
Marc S.
100 W
mailmanx said:
I'm pretty sure that wheel is real crap.
I've got a Bafang BPM II in 26" rim from BMSBattery (+ a couple of rims) last year and it was the worst lacing job I've seen in my life. For a month I had to tighten the spokes after every f....ing ride!
Finally got fed up and laced the motor in a similar rim (rim is nothing special but ok) by myself for the first time.
Guess what, I had to retighten the spokes after about 100km and a second time about 600km later. Rode about 3000km with that rim till I dented it on a curbstone.
Lacing a hub motor into a rim is no rocket science and actually pretty easy if you follow the description from Sheldon Brown. If you don't get the rim perfectly true go to your LBS for truing.
Russell
1 MW
If you've never laced up a wheel then yeah it's going to be a bit of a learning experience. I re-laced my first E-bike kit out of necessity, not because it was an awful build, it was, but because the motor came laced to a 28" rim (635mm) instead of a 700C rim (622mm) which I needed. Up until then I had trued a lot of wheels, usually on the bike using the brakes as a guide, but I had never built a wheel from scratch. What I did was find good close-up pictures of various wheels then copied the pattern. I had a small geared motor so I chose a 2X pattern however a 1X lacing job is easier and is the norm with larger hub motors.
The good thing about lacing a wheel yourself is you can use quality parts however it may end up costing a little or substantially more upfront depending if you plan to buy direct from China or a Dealer in your country and of course even more if you need to purchase tools. If I remember correctly my first rim (Sun CR18) and spokes (DT DH-13 butted) cost around $80 plus my time. That was about 4.5 years ago and that rim and spokes are still working perfectly, albeit with a different motor.
My advice however since this is your first build would be to buy a pre-made wheel. The USA vendors like E-BikeKit and AmpedBikes state that they both true their wheels, with EBK even saying they build their wheels in the USA. I recently purchased an EBK motor/wheel and while it was tight and fairly true I still tweaked it on my truing stand. I also purchased a new Chinese wheel/motor from an E-S member about a year ago but just recently put it into service. The quality of the rim and spokes looks good however the spokes were all VERY loose and the wheel was waaaaaaaaaaay out of true. It took some time on the truing stand to get it round and centered but the end result was quite good. I haven’t put a lot of miles on it but it should be fine.
Either way you go you will at some point have to true the wheel. As I stated previously a wheel can be trued on the bike using the rim brakes but if you have discs or want to make life a little easier you will want a truing stand, just get a good one. My first cheap Minoura truing stand was so maddening I tossed it the trash and returned to using the brake method. When I started using discs on some bikes I had no choice but to use a stand so I purchased one made by Park Tool.
-R
The good thing about lacing a wheel yourself is you can use quality parts however it may end up costing a little or substantially more upfront depending if you plan to buy direct from China or a Dealer in your country and of course even more if you need to purchase tools. If I remember correctly my first rim (Sun CR18) and spokes (DT DH-13 butted) cost around $80 plus my time. That was about 4.5 years ago and that rim and spokes are still working perfectly, albeit with a different motor.
My advice however since this is your first build would be to buy a pre-made wheel. The USA vendors like E-BikeKit and AmpedBikes state that they both true their wheels, with EBK even saying they build their wheels in the USA. I recently purchased an EBK motor/wheel and while it was tight and fairly true I still tweaked it on my truing stand. I also purchased a new Chinese wheel/motor from an E-S member about a year ago but just recently put it into service. The quality of the rim and spokes looks good however the spokes were all VERY loose and the wheel was waaaaaaaaaaay out of true. It took some time on the truing stand to get it round and centered but the end result was quite good. I haven’t put a lot of miles on it but it should be fine.
Either way you go you will at some point have to true the wheel. As I stated previously a wheel can be trued on the bike using the rim brakes but if you have discs or want to make life a little easier you will want a truing stand, just get a good one. My first cheap Minoura truing stand was so maddening I tossed it the trash and returned to using the brake method. When I started using discs on some bikes I had no choice but to use a stand so I purchased one made by Park Tool.
-R
999zip999
100 TW
Buy a em3ev kit from china.
mailmanx
10 mW
I visited a local bike shop today and they said they could fit a hub motor in my current wheel, that's good news. He also said that the thickness of the spokes in my current wheel must match the spoke holes in the hub motor. I'm unsure about this part. Do I just measure one of my spokes' thickness? Does anyone know the size of the spoke holes in the Bafang CST 36V500W motor?davec said:
