I'm a newbie to the e-bike universe and am contemplating the purchase of my first ride. Until the cold snap came upon us here in Albuquerque, I was biking to work (about 10 miles) on an old Nishiki Pueblo 18-speed about three days a week. Getting to work is a breeze but coming back home it is uphill almost all the way. I want to bike more but these old bones have difficulty with hills. I'm not interested in going faster than 20 mph but would like to have enough torque to climb lengthy hills with very little pedal assistance.
I like the idea of adding a hub motor kit to a Montague Swissbike LX. Lightness, and visual stealth are desirable. Quietness would also be good but is not a show stopper -- I think a geared hub motor would not be too loud. I would appreciate comments and suggestions on what I should get. My target price is $2500 or so.
Here is what I have looked at:
[1] The Optibike looks like the Cadillac of the industry but it is out of my price range. I also don't like the idea of NiMH in the frame and Li-xx on the back. I'd like to go with one battery chemistry (LiFePO) located on or in the frame.
[2] The Matra Sport BionX is only 250W and I don't expect it to be imported to the US anytime soon. I suspect that the Matra-Tidalforce may be a while coming into the US as well. The original motors seem very powerful (expecially the X) but also heavy. The battery-in-front-hub concept is novel, but most owners that speak of them on the web add a "B" battery on the back rack to get more duration and/or speed. I would prefer a system that is much lighter overall -- perhaps 8-10 lbs for battery pack, 8-10 lbs for hub motor, and 1-2 lbs for controller.
[3] I have considered the BionX PL-350. The kit seems very well thought out and there are at least two vendors in the US that sell this kit and the Montague complete. However, there are some apparent negatives. (1) I've seen several web blogs that suggest the BionX motor can go into temporary thermal shutdown on extended hill climbs. (2) This problem also seems to occur in regen mode on extended descents, resulting in an unexpected lack of slow-down, (3) The system is completely closed so there is no opportunity for tweaking, and (4) I'm an EE and just love to tinker (see (3) above). As you can probably tell by now I am also detail oriented. There are rumors of a 500W high-torque (not the 500-HS) motor under development. There is also mention of a larger capacity battery pack. But since these don't exist yet, and I just love to tinker (see (4) above), I'm probably not willing to wait.
[4] I have also considered the new Ezee hub kit. I like the fact that the electronics are somewhat waterproof. I saw some disturbing web stories about less waterproof crystalite-based systems going into full throttle uncontrollably in wet weather. The Ezee motor is apparently a bit noisier than a non-geared hub but probably acceptable. The negatives for me are (1) It's a front hub motor and I have concerns about front fork failure. The kit doesn't come with a torque arm and a salesman from one of the websites said it doesn't need one. Although it's not one of the more powerful motors out there, with a 5:1 gear reduction, I suspect that it can generate some significant torque. I'd rather be safe than sorry. How strong is the front fork on a Montague LX anyway? (2) I don't know how reliable their Li-MN batteries are. They are prismatics and differ from the smaller ones used in the Bionx. (3) I'd prefer a frame-mounted battery pack like the Bionx fo the pannier pack that comes with the Ezee kit. If I put a seat-post mounted rack on the back, and fastened the pannier pack, would it interfere with the folding aspect of the Montague?
[5] I am also considering assembling a complete solution by cherrypicking each major component. I think I would prefer a geared hubmotor to the 4x or 5x series Crystalite motors. I'm reading good things about the teamhybrid Puma and EVTECH BMC rear-hub motors. The EVTECH BMC hub motor comes with a nice torque arm, but does not have the wiring and other upgrades of the Puma. I'm not sure what torque arm comes with the puma. The configurations I have seen on the web appear to have home-made torque arms. I would prefer the Puma if it came with the following two features (1) a good torque arm, and (2) a 7-speed sprocket compatible with the Montague. I think the latter feature will be available in a future batch from teamhybrid. The new Crystalite-based controllers with upgraded FETS from teamhybrid.co.uk and ebikes.ca look like the way to go from an efficiency standpoint, but I suspect that they are not very waterproof. It''s typically pretty dry here in Albuquerque but one accidental full-throttle episode on a rainy day could spell disaster. I saw some discussion of using chemicals from the aerospace industry to seal out moisture but there ought to be a solution from the manufacturer as sold. With regard to batteries, I would prefer LiFePO chemistry. A123 or LifeBatt look like the best options. I think I can get a pretty complete solution with the LifeBatt packs about to be released through the TPpacks website. The A123 solutions appear to be either less complete or more home-brew at this point but I could be wrong. The problem that would remain to be solved is one of battery packaging. I haven't seen the Bionx frame-mounted battery pack in person but it looks like a very nice design. I wonder if one could get the box and mount without the batteries and BMS, and substitute the LifeBatts. Is anybody working on a frame-mount pack that would fit Bionx-style on the Montague LX?
-- Joey
Yes.
