what kit for the heavy rider?

[WoodlandHills]

While I agree that a DD hub is the best choice for this poster, I have to rebut a few of the criticisms of mid-drives offered here.
Rapid wear of chains and gears is a function of the chosen bicycle and NOT the mid-drive. Put a mid-drive onto a bike with an internally geared hub and the chain will last forever and so will the gears, put the same mid-drive onto a bike with a derailleur and 10-speed chain and you have a problem. It has nothing to do with the drive and everything to do with the bike.
How is it harder to install a BBSxx drive than a hub motor? Take off the BB, install the drive+brake levers and lengthen the chain if necessary vs removing the rear wheel, figuring out how to attach the torque arms and (possibly) a new freewheel cluster+shifter and bolting it all together. Seems like a wash to me; if anything the mid-drive is a bit more plug and play, if you are installing a Bafang......

 

[amberwolf]

Tell me how to delete posts and I'll narrow it down

No need to delete; I can simply put them all in the original thread if you're ok with that.

If you delete your own posts, then all the replies are to "nothing", and won't make any sense to others (and are a waste of the help people tried to give).

 

[crowblades]

Hub I think will be the first installed. Im sure eventually I'll try both. Although initial build price limited. I want to build one for my girl as well. So there's my excuse to have 2. Thanks for all the opinions and experience. To amberwolf, yes please merge my threads.

Does anyone have any experience buying the kits from Luna? I'm set up to buy the v5 kit and Im looking thru the order, uct doesn't include a power controller. Just throdle type, LCD display and motor. They called it a complete kit when I added a battery. What more would I need to have a reliable ebike?

When I looked thru the leaf motor kits they included break levers, the lcd display, power controller, throttle.. seemed like everything except the battery.. and the 1500w leaf was cheaper then the Luna 5v(I think 1000w). Does anyone have an opinion of one over the other? Intended 52v 13ah battery.

 

[ecycler]

Yes, make sure to get torque arms/plates to avoid a literal and figurative pain in the ass. If you want to go the whole nine then also get nordlock washers to hold the nuts tight.

 

[crowblades]

Any recommendations for torque arms?

 

[Chalo]

Rapid wear of chains and gears is a function of the chosen bicycle and NOT the mid-drive. Put a mid-drive onto a bike with an internally geared hub and the chain will last forever and so will the gears,

I have some customers who also think internal gear bikes need no maintenance and last indefinitely. They're the ones with wasted chains and sprockets, and hubs that don't work right because they were run a long time with the shifters out of adjustment.

I have busted a few gearhubs myself with only human power on tap. I might have double the normal amount of power and torque, but it's only double. A motor can dish out more yet. I can't think of any gearhubs that are really suited for motor power other than NuVinci and Rohloff. Some of the rest will tolerate it and others won't.

The best way to exploit the benefits of a gearhub in an e-bike is to use one as a jackshaft and run it at a higher RPM than intended. That lowers torque proportionally and diminishes the opportunity for problems.

Bikes are engineered products. They're designed for the power that one person can produce. They have a lot of fault tolerance, buy they're not grossly overengineered no matter what kind of transmission they use (NuVinci N171 being a rare exception). So the best policy by far for using bicycle components is to limit motor power and torque to values that fall within the human power range. If you want to exceed those values by a lot, don't use regular bike parts.

 

[crowblades]

What needs to be done to a 48v system to run efficiently off a 52v battery.? 26" tire, 230lb rider+ gear. ~50lb bike including leaf 1500 kit..

 

[Chalo]

What needs to be done to a 48v system to run efficiently off a 52v battery.?

Nothing. If it runs efficiently on 48V, it will run efficiently on 52V. You'll have a touch more torque and power and a slightly higher top speed. 60V is the capacitor rating that divides "48V" controllers from higher voltage versions.

 

[dogman dan]

A "48v" system generally has an absolute max voltage of 63v. But much confusion happens when discussing voltage because some talk full charged voltage and some talk nominal voltage.

Most e bikes are gravitating to a 54.6v max voltage for "48v" nominal, 13 cells. Add one more 4.2v cell, and you get 58.8v max, which can be called 52v.

So no problem with 52v. 60v can be a problem though, since it likely charges to 72v when full.

 

[ecycler]

Any recommendations for torque arms?

Depends on your frame. Show us pictures of your frame and closeups of the dropouts.

 

[Drunkskunk]

A "48v" system generally has an absolute max voltage of 63v. But much confusion happens when discussing voltage because some talk full charged voltage and some talk nominal voltage.

Most e bikes are gravitating to a 54.6v max voltage for "48v" nominal, 13 cells. Add one more 4.2v cell, and you get 58.8v max, which can be called 52v.

So no problem with 52v. 60v can be a problem though, since it likely charges to 72v when full.

Just to make it more confusing, the new standard for the chemistries that used to be called 3.7v cells is to now refer to them as 3.6v cells. (Samsung 25r and LG INR HG2 are the first two I know of to switch) That means the former 14 cell 3.7 "52v" packs are going to be 50.4v packs.
This doesn't matter in any real way, as the cells are exactly the same as before with the same peak and end voltages and discharge curves. But it is going to add some confusion. 52v was the new 48v. Now 50v is the new 52v.

 

[bentstrider83]

I've got a Bafang 750 Mid-Drive on my Schwinn World Sport.
Not too many serious hills around here and the only thing I have to deal with is wind, which is where this motor really comes in handy.
Despite driving a single speed gear, I don't really experience any issues with serious over-heating.

The next thing I did was take the Bafang off of my single-speed and put it on my Catrike.
The cables seemed to short to get to any of the wheels, so I was stuck with manual control for the most part.
I'm not sure exactly what it was. But I'm thinking that since there's more rolling resistance to push through with two front wheels, the motor being used on the geared, Catrike Expedition had the motor feeling a hotter than usual after a seven mile ride. And this was with the pedal assist at Level 5.

I'm still wanting to electrify the Catrike, but feel a mid-drive isn't really the best bet for it.
Instead, I've been eyeing one of the Magic Pies on the Luna Cycle site. Mainly for the fact that I could still keep and use my front chainrings when pulling heavier loads around town.

 

[crowblades]

Got my v5 in. And holy hell issues. First and foremost. I ordered a 52v 13ah battery. Tho I was sent a 48v 13ah battery with the 48v marked over with a sharpie. The corner of the 4 is still visible. Tried to attach the pic tho it kept saying that the file was invalid.
I ordered a separate battery charger that was better then the one included in the kit. And I was shorted the kit charger. The freewheel doesn't free spin. I hand twisted on the cog set and at the end of the treads the cogs never spun again. I grabbed a torque wrench to see how tight the axle was, took over 20lbs to turn the axle. I measured the width of the new package to mount. And the wheel with the disc and cogs dont fit in the frame anymore. I feel I should send the whole kit back. Kit, charger, lie of a battery, and the damn torque arm.. has anyone encountered any of these problems?

 

[tiny_n_terrible]

This place has encountered every kind of fraud you can imagine and some you would not believe someone would fall for.


Who did you buy from?

Having said that post pictures this forum can help.
New bearings are usually tight. I all-ways replace the crap O matic freewheels on anything i ride , also lube or replace the chain, and look over the derailuer. Grease everything possible front steering races, crank,front wheel bearings.

Did they give you Credit for the stock charger.
Do you have a good voltmeter. Measure charger voltage and battery voltage.
Do not know what to say about the battery except try to charge it to determine what voltage you have? Call customer service ?
A good quality steel rear wheel dropout mount can be gently spread with a car jack.
Do not spread aluminum.

I bought 500 dollars worth of hubmotors from Yescoma. Ebay or paypal messed up part of my address.
I had to jump through hoops and prove I was who I am. They were only protecting me from stupidity. I got my stuff just a little late.
Find out what you believe went wrong!


Wait until you find out you need a special 14 mm tool to remove the busted junk freewheel to replace it with a good one.

 

[teslanv]

Here's some insight you may find useful, if you are trying to choose between DD hub, Geared hub or Mid Drive...

http://www.kinayems.com/Help/ChoosingDDvsMDvsGH