harryS
Well-Known Member
This is surely the end of my ebike conversion silliness. No more old bikes u garage, and no room to store them. My wife has an LG Maui 500X e-bike. Wonderful bike for $1300, but it's a long wheelbase, and she has a hard time maneuvering it. Her previous bike was/is a Diamondback Maravista stepthru, much better suited to her. A very nice consumer bike. Probably has 300 miles on it.
No before/after shots needed. The bike looks about the same.
The motor is a Bafang SWXH, 250W/36 volts, shipped with a 36Volt 250W 10A controller. I got it shipped for about $140 from elifebike.com. I bought spokes and laced it into a 700cc rim. Yes, it took some effort, but my nephew was doing that in a bike shop when he was in high school. I can do that. It also save $100 in extra shipping costs.
Six pounds for this motor. It did feel heavy.
Since it was for my wife, I put on torque arms, even though I doubt they are needed with 250W. Made them out of a 3/16" steel bracket. The drop out also had to be filed down 2mm on both sides to fit the 12 mm axle. The arms bolt into the holes for the rear rack.
The only other bit of fab work was the PAS bracket. The round brackets have never worked for me. I also put it on the wrong side, so I had to make sure I had the sensor and magnets working right. (If my hose clamp had been 1/4" longer, I could have fit it under the kick stand, and used a shorter bracket w/o the green wire tie.)
For now, we're using the 36volt battery from my first e-bike. It fits in the rear bag. Performance is fine by my wife, but I find it somewhat weak. The controller has three PAS levels. PAS0 will get us up to 12-14mph. PAS 2 will do 14-18 mph, and PAS3 is 18-20 mph. Typical 810 LED PAS box. By the way, for my first 13 mile test ride at an average speed of 14 mph, the wattmeter said less than 10 WH per mile. It must be lying.
I don't have a problem with the PAS speeds, but the throttle does very little. It won't get you across the street on an expiring green light. You will get run over, but if you dodge the cars, everntually the throttle will hit 18 mph. This is a small geared motor after all.
I have an extra elife-bike 48V 14A controller, as well as an extra 36V 20 A controller. I didn't try either, but I did connect the 48V battery from the EG e-bike, and plugged in a 48V 810 PAS box. Now the bike sings. It does 18 mph in PAS 1, and the throttle now has some muscle. Will the Bafang hold up with 500 watts? With my wife on the saddle, it will.
I don't like the PAS at 48V though. It wants to go 14 mph immediately. So future plan to get a new controller with torque simulation. It comes with an LCD display and costs $63 from BMS battery. Trouble is, shipping is $43 from China. If I had bought the original motor with this controller, I could have saved on the shipping. For now, that's on hold. My wife likes this bike at 36 volts. If I get that controller, I will want the small 48V 7AH mini battery from Lunacycle. That's $300 though.
Anyway, total incremental cost is the $140 for motor, $33 for good Saphim Strong spokes, and $15 for the rear rack. $8 for the nice clamp on hand bar grips. $6 for the bike computer at Aldi. It still needs a bell and lights. So under $200 w/o battery, which is typical of hub conversions.
44 pounds, I think. Almost like a true Euro style pedelec if I take off the throttle (dead weight anyway).
No before/after shots needed. The bike looks about the same.
The motor is a Bafang SWXH, 250W/36 volts, shipped with a 36Volt 250W 10A controller. I got it shipped for about $140 from elifebike.com. I bought spokes and laced it into a 700cc rim. Yes, it took some effort, but my nephew was doing that in a bike shop when he was in high school. I can do that. It also save $100 in extra shipping costs.
Six pounds for this motor. It did feel heavy.
Since it was for my wife, I put on torque arms, even though I doubt they are needed with 250W. Made them out of a 3/16" steel bracket. The drop out also had to be filed down 2mm on both sides to fit the 12 mm axle. The arms bolt into the holes for the rear rack.
The only other bit of fab work was the PAS bracket. The round brackets have never worked for me. I also put it on the wrong side, so I had to make sure I had the sensor and magnets working right. (If my hose clamp had been 1/4" longer, I could have fit it under the kick stand, and used a shorter bracket w/o the green wire tie.)
For now, we're using the 36volt battery from my first e-bike. It fits in the rear bag. Performance is fine by my wife, but I find it somewhat weak. The controller has three PAS levels. PAS0 will get us up to 12-14mph. PAS 2 will do 14-18 mph, and PAS3 is 18-20 mph. Typical 810 LED PAS box. By the way, for my first 13 mile test ride at an average speed of 14 mph, the wattmeter said less than 10 WH per mile. It must be lying.
I don't have a problem with the PAS speeds, but the throttle does very little. It won't get you across the street on an expiring green light. You will get run over, but if you dodge the cars, everntually the throttle will hit 18 mph. This is a small geared motor after all.
I have an extra elife-bike 48V 14A controller, as well as an extra 36V 20 A controller. I didn't try either, but I did connect the 48V battery from the EG e-bike, and plugged in a 48V 810 PAS box. Now the bike sings. It does 18 mph in PAS 1, and the throttle now has some muscle. Will the Bafang hold up with 500 watts? With my wife on the saddle, it will.
I don't like the PAS at 48V though. It wants to go 14 mph immediately. So future plan to get a new controller with torque simulation. It comes with an LCD display and costs $63 from BMS battery. Trouble is, shipping is $43 from China. If I had bought the original motor with this controller, I could have saved on the shipping. For now, that's on hold. My wife likes this bike at 36 volts. If I get that controller, I will want the small 48V 7AH mini battery from Lunacycle. That's $300 though.
Anyway, total incremental cost is the $140 for motor, $33 for good Saphim Strong spokes, and $15 for the rear rack. $8 for the nice clamp on hand bar grips. $6 for the bike computer at Aldi. It still needs a bell and lights. So under $200 w/o battery, which is typical of hub conversions.
44 pounds, I think. Almost like a true Euro style pedelec if I take off the throttle (dead weight anyway).
Last edited:
