Bolton kit for Rad
- Thread starter BKing
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AHicks
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- USA
- City
- Snow Bird - Summer S.E. Michigan, Winter Gulf Coast North Central Fl.
1500w direct drive, even when fed 35a, is still relatively gutless accelerating from a stop - AND - on bigger hills. Save you time here, and go with a gear driven conversion if looking for "sporty" performance.
AHicks
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- City
- Snow Bird - Summer S.E. Michigan, Winter Gulf Coast North Central Fl.
Man, be careful on that Eunorau site. Tons of options open the door for some confusion! Regarding the MAC kit for instance, there's no display included. Something I would want for sure.
What is irrelevant about a 40nm Rad DD motor and an upgrade that is advertised as only 35nm. Torque is torque, doesn’t matter where it comes from. The upgrade is less than the original?You're talking about stock RadCity motor, which is irrelevant.
That Bolton kit that you posted comes with motor, controller and display.
You will be replacing the motor.
It says, "includes the Motor controller, KT-LCD8H color display, and new rear wheel assembly."
Area 13
boltonebikes.com
What I was looking for is someone to say the Bolton ad has a typo or explain why 35nm is actually more torque than 40nm. LOL.
AHicks
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- USA
- City
- Snow Bird - Summer S.E. Michigan, Winter Gulf Coast North Central Fl.
Yes faster for sure, especially if you have a lot of ground to cover. But it's going to be a pig when it comes to battery mileage....
My 1500w DD (Leaf Motor) experience would run about 25 miles - safely - on the stock RAD battery with a 35a KT controller.
After switching to MAC 12t geared hub, with NO OTHER CHANGES, would go 35 miles, just as safely.
As far as RAD's 40nm rating on their 750w DD, we already know they can be pretty "creative" when it comes to their add copy. Bolton pretty much proved that with the picture of the 2 Bafang drives showing the difference.
My 1500w DD (Leaf Motor) experience would run about 25 miles - safely - on the stock RAD battery with a 35a KT controller.
After switching to MAC 12t geared hub, with NO OTHER CHANGES, would go 35 miles, just as safely.
As far as RAD's 40nm rating on their 750w DD, we already know they can be pretty "creative" when it comes to their add copy. Bolton pretty much proved that with the picture of the 2 Bafang drives showing the difference.
I heard back from Bolton and it was not a typo. It’s an actual 35nm of torque. It seems that other companies are listing some kind of peak spike as the sales numbers. In any event what I have learned is that all these motors are not as powerful as some would want because those would simply be too large for a bike.
AHicks
Well-Known Member
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- USA
- City
- Snow Bird - Summer S.E. Michigan, Winter Gulf Coast North Central Fl.
Like I've been saying, in one word, gutless.....
In all fairness though, 35nm power is quite a bit if you are used to something with 25nm. It's not until you experience what a 500w plus gear driven hub is capable of that you realize how gutless these direct drive hubs are....
And still, there are those that have and absolutely love their RAD City's....
In all fairness though, 35nm power is quite a bit if you are used to something with 25nm. It's not until you experience what a 500w plus gear driven hub is capable of that you realize how gutless these direct drive hubs are....
And still, there are those that have and absolutely love their RAD City's....
AHicks
Well-Known Member
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- USA
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- Snow Bird - Summer S.E. Michigan, Winter Gulf Coast North Central Fl.
Timpo, I don't think that step through frame would work out well for a mid drive. Not without some big time mods to allow room. Even the battery looks like it's in the way. The conventional step-over City frame might work out fine though......
I think BKing is talking about having RAD replace the wimpy direct drive hub with a geared hub. I've been pushing that idea for a while now. Further, as the City is the only model in their line up that hasn't been updated to a geared hub (and it's one of the ONLY hold outs as compared to similar bikes), I believe that move is in the cards.
I think BKing is talking about having RAD replace the wimpy direct drive hub with a geared hub. I've been pushing that idea for a while now. Further, as the City is the only model in their line up that hasn't been updated to a geared hub (and it's one of the ONLY hold outs as compared to similar bikes), I believe that move is in the cards.
I would like to put a new sine wave controller and a geared motor suitable for some hills that the City won’t do. I’m 245lbs. I get bleary eyed looking at all the motors please find me a good kit. 135 mm spacing. If the plugs don’t match, what is everyone doing? Just cut off everything and solder appropriate wires and heat shrink?
AHicks
Well-Known Member
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- USA
- City
- Snow Bird - Summer S.E. Michigan, Winter Gulf Coast North Central Fl.
You are speaking of a RAD City? You came to this opinon using what information? Or this something you read on the internet?
AHicks
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Snow Bird - Summer S.E. Michigan, Winter Gulf Coast North Central Fl.
This motor is highly recommended if you want more climbing power, I believe @AHicks has it.
Interestingly, it doesn't show the display (unless they forgot to include it in the photo?) so you might have to purchase it separately.
In addition, this one looks like it has cassette, not freewheel.
Also, you might have to solder XT60 or something for battery connection.
48V1000W MAC geared rear 8T cassette hub motor Kit 45km/h
EUNORAU BTN version hub motor kit have 36V250W version ,36V500W version,48V500W version,48V750W FAT version,48V1000W version. 36V250W version is for street use, 500W version 750W FAT bike kit,1000W version is for off road use. It will make your life with fun after make the bike to electric, all...eunorau-ebike.com
There's a couple of issues with that deal. First, it's an 8t, built with more of an emphasis on speed, where the otherwise identical MAC 12t is built for more torque and less emphasis on speed - though it's still pretty peppy by any imagination. T if you are wondering, is the number of turns of wire on each pole of the armature. Grin talks about the differences in their literature.
Second, re: the display, there's no display, or a lead on the controller to plug in a display. NOT as good a deal as what it first appears to be to my way of thinking
Because the MAC's appear to be like hen's teeth at the moment, if I were "kit" hunting for a 135mm drive, my focus would be on a 750w Bafang. Hard to find, so know what they're worth ahead of time and be prepared to jump on it when/if you find one. Yes, order all laced up on a new wheel. Cassette or free wheel makes no difference here. I think my MAC 12t is using a free wheel, and it's holding up just fine.
Regarding connectors, what a pain in the butt. I'm curretly working on a 20a KT w/color display conversion on a brand new Espin w/500w Bafang as we speak. The motor connections, and the display connections are about all I've been able to use. Everything is is 2 pin vs. 3 pin, or the wrong dam gender where you are left trying to plug 2 female juliet connectors together. So yes, be prepared to do some head scratching and soldering.... -Al
PedalUma
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- Petaluma, CA
Cassettes with freehubs are used on higher end non-electric bikes. They have some advantages. Lower end big box regular bikes have freewheels. Freewheels are much heavier but are easy to screw on. Free hubs have more engagement points (you do not need to turn the pedals as many degrees to power the bike) and sound higher quality with more clicks per revolution, and they coast further. Every hub motor eBike kit I have encountered so far has had a freewheel. Freewheels have attached threads at the bottom of the stack. Freehub cassettes attach with a separate lock ring on the top of the stack of gears. You cannot mix and match these systems. Also freehub cassettes will go down to 10-T for the highest gear. Freewheels can only go down the 13-Teeth.
AHicks
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- USA
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- Snow Bird - Summer S.E. Michigan, Winter Gulf Coast North Central Fl.
Bking, for the price of a freewheel (40.?) I wouldn't mess around trying to remove one to reuse. The tools to do that might cost you that much. Just get a new one (with 11 teeth like the later City). That way you'll be starting off fresh....
Bafang has both freewheel and cassette type motors available. The motors are both 135mm so they're interchangeable as long as you get the gear set for the motor you have/are getting.
Bafang has both freewheel and cassette type motors available. The motors are both 135mm so they're interchangeable as long as you get the gear set for the motor you have/are getting.
I'm not going to take this apart piece by piece. I'm just going to say you need to do some checking on some of these "facts" you are sharing. Seriously. Somebody not knowing any better can spend some serious time and money only to discover what they've read was totally inaccurate. For that reason, BAD information is often worse than none.... -Al
I haven’t even found an ad for a 135mm Bafang geared motor. All seem to be for fat tire bikes. Mine has a free wheel. I have a stock rear wheel that I could lace in a bare motor but I can’t find that either. Then I could buy the controller but I would be hoping that it had a tail light output and doesn’t need different brake levers. Starting to look like the city is harder to upgrade unless you use Bolton’s kit with the DD motor.
AHicks
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- USA
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- Snow Bird - Summer S.E. Michigan, Winter Gulf Coast North Central Fl.
So here's another thought. Grin sells another geared hub drive. With their reputation, I think it fair to assume it's not junk, but I haven't used one. An eZee geared hub maybe? You'd have to talk with them as they don't show the motor by itself. Only with a "kit". Their kits have a great reputation, but the downside is they use this CA-3 display that's huge, and badly outdated when compared to color offerings by KT and Bafang.
So you would want to pair this motor with KT's 35a controller and KT LCD display of your choice. Buying one from Bolton makes no sense as it's 3 times as much as what you can buy them for on the open market -unless- you bought the Bolton controller with the idea you would have to remove the motor connector to install one that matches the eZee motor. Motor is rated at 750w, but I've seen them talking about it up to 1200w or so.....
ebikes.ca
So you would want to pair this motor with KT's 35a controller and KT LCD display of your choice. Buying one from Bolton makes no sense as it's 3 times as much as what you can buy them for on the open market -unless- you bought the Bolton controller with the idea you would have to remove the motor connector to install one that matches the eZee motor. Motor is rated at 750w, but I've seen them talking about it up to 1200w or so.....
eZee Kits - Grin Kits - Product Info
eZee produced one of the first modern high torque geared hub motors in the ebike space that was fully compatible with disk brakes and dropout spacings, and have continued to update their powerful motor design. They are especially well suited for applications that require good hill climbing...
ebikes.ca
Last edited:
Alvin1957
Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Midlothian, TX
Hello All,
I am looking at converting my AWOL Elite to an e-bike to keep in my office. Thinking of a hub motor. Not really sure of geared or direct drive. Suspect geared. Looking for advice/starting point on kits. Really want to have torque sensor. I search internet and find the supplier descriptions a bit vague. I am decently skilled with lathes, mills, and machinery. Electrical skills are adequate. Electronic aptitude is on the level of a chunk of petrified wood. I almost always have to get help with programming anything above a wireless speedometer. Thoughts and suggestions are welcome. Brands, models, warnings, etc.
I am looking at converting my AWOL Elite to an e-bike to keep in my office. Thinking of a hub motor. Not really sure of geared or direct drive. Suspect geared. Looking for advice/starting point on kits. Really want to have torque sensor. I search internet and find the supplier descriptions a bit vague. I am decently skilled with lathes, mills, and machinery. Electrical skills are adequate. Electronic aptitude is on the level of a chunk of petrified wood. I almost always have to get help with programming anything above a wireless speedometer. Thoughts and suggestions are welcome. Brands, models, warnings, etc.
AHicks
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Snow Bird - Summer S.E. Michigan, Winter Gulf Coast North Central Fl.
1. I'm a geared hub advocate.
2. DIY's with torque sensing still a bit rare I think. The controller needs to handle the signal from a torque sensor way differently than a cadence sensor for instance. Most of today's controllers don't have that capability - yet! Or maybe something new has happened and I missed it.... So my point is, you might want to research the torque sensing to make sure the controller you are considering is capable!
2. DIY's with torque sensing still a bit rare I think. The controller needs to handle the signal from a torque sensor way differently than a cadence sensor for instance. Most of today's controllers don't have that capability - yet! Or maybe something new has happened and I missed it.... So my point is, you might want to research the torque sensing to make sure the controller you are considering is capable!
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