I have purchased two EBO Phantom kits. The first one at the beginning of March to try on my Public D8i and to see if the battery would fit on my wife's Linus M8. After installing the kit on my bike and using it for a week or so I decided to purchase a second kit, as the battery fit was just fine on the Linus. Both kits are the front hub motor version, as both the bikes are equiped with Shimano 8 speed IGHs in the rear. The install is very clean, only two cables running from the front of the bike to the controller/battery mounted on the down tube. All the wires from the handlebar area (left and right e-brakes, throttle, and the KT-LCD3 display) plug into a pigtail with only one cable at the other end that runs down the down tube, back to the controller. The motor cable is the second cable running back to the controller. The PAS sensor mounted at the bottom bracket plugs into the third cable that exits the controller. Very clean. Jason and his crew at EBO have done a great job of getting the length of the cables just about right so that you don't end up feet of extra cable to deal with. I had about a foot or so excess cable from the motor that needed to be looped and zip tied to the seat tube down by the bottom bracket. On the Public, because it has full length chain guard with mount at the bottom bracket, in the same location that the PAS sensor mount is located, I needed to do some modifications to the chain guard bracket so that both it and the PAS bracket could be mounted together behind the fixed cup of the bottom bracket. I felt this was a better solution than mounting the PAS on the left side of the bottom bracket, which I guess is possible but would have been a more difficult modification that what I wound up doing. I should also mention that the Linus was equipped with a 46t front chainring, which make contact with the battery mount. I switched it out for a 42t, like what is on the Public, and the clearance was fine. I also switched the rear cog to a 22t from 20t to keep the gearing the same as before. My only other suggestion/complaint is that the three button selector that controls the KT-LCD3 display is hardwired to the display and that wire could be a bit longer. Had a bit of a challenge getting the three button selector positioned next to the left grip, particularly on the Linus. Almost ran out of cable, but was ultimately able to get it done.
I love the KT-LCD3 display. There is a lot of adjustability to the settings. Court covered some if it in his video, but not all. The instructions aren't always the clearest, but with some playing around it becomes clearer (although I would not mess with setting P1 - P3, leave those were they are. Same with C2) Yes, there is a cruise setting (Parameter C7, if set to 1 then cruise function is On), and the throttle can be set to come on without pedaling or it can be set that it will function only when pedaling. With either set up, you are able to coast while in the cruise setting. And yes Court, there is even a setting to allow the throttle to function in assist level zero (P4 Parameter set to 0 and C4 Parameter set to 3), although I have not personally tried this setting. Parameters P4 and C4 work together to set up the throttle/PAS functionality. One of the programmable settings is the max speed. The unit default setting is 25 kph but the max setting is 72kph. I've set ours for 45kph (28 mph). One side note, the display only registers speed and time when the motor is operating. So when you coast without using the throttle or on cruise, the speed drops to zero and the trip time (used for average speed and time of trip) stops registering until the motor is running again. I will say that the e-brakes are great. I really like that feature and is one of the reasons I went with the EBO kit over another companies, who don't offer them for their kits). I won't mention who that company is, but they just put out an installation video for their new 500w kits and I have to say it does nothing to make me what to buy one of their kits. Not even a mention of which side of the bike the motor cable should on (to ensure the motor powers the wheel in the right direction).
I first became aware of this kit via the review on ElectricBikeReview.com and the accompanying video. My decision to go with the EBO Phantom kit was based a lot on the aesthetics of the installed kit (didn't want a ton of different wires running every which way to deal with), balancing power and range with weight and cost. Each kit added 13 lbs to the bikes. The power and range work well for our needs. We are no hotrodders, but we do pedal while riding and don't use the bikes like mopeds. We can move along at 18-20 mph in level 2 or 3 on level ground with no problem. We live in an area with rolling hills, so find ourselves using levels 4 or 5 for short climbs . But mostly we ride in level 2 or 3. Would I like more power? Sometimes, but it's not worth the extra expense and weight. Our typical ride is 10 miles and we return with 1 bar out on the little battery icon on the display. My longest ride was 21 miles with a lot of rolling hills and some headwind for part of the the ride. When I was done I had two bars (out of four) out on the display and 2 of the 4 green lights out on the battery.
Jason at EBO has been a pleasure to deal with. I've spoken to him several times on the phone with questions. He's been very responsive and has provided details on things like the specific cells used the the battery (Samsung 26F). This was my first venture into e-Bikes and I wanted to start with a commercial kit rather than purchasing a complete bike, so that I would have a better understanding of the system. Because of the high level if integration with this kit, other than playing with the settings on the display, it does not lend itself to customization. For instance, the controller is integrated into the bottom of the battery mount. Makes for a very clean install but you are not able to connect a watt meter (like a Watt's Up or Cycle Analyst) between the battery and controller to analyze the battery performance. So there are trade-offs.
This is an unsolicited review of the EBO Phantom kit. I have no personal connection to EBO or any of their employees and I paid the full retail price for each kit I purchased.
David Person
. We appreciate the level of detail that you're sharing on the 2 kits; please keep us updated as you crank out the miles about how they perform over time. It's hard to know everything about a system from one test ride or one review.
