Replacing a rear wheel and other parts after an accident...

retched

retched

New Member
Region
USA
Hi there. My first time here. I'll just jump straight into the major details and hope I can explain it well.

I bought an Espin Nero bike about two-three years ago. And over the course of the last couple of years, it held up pretty well. Even went ahead and got a double battery adapter from Big Game Bikes in the UK. Recently, I was involved in an accident (I'm doing OK) and sadly the bike was partially totaled. The front fork was snapped, the rear wheel was totaled, the braking system was completely shot. I tried to contact Espin to see if they would happen to have a rear wheel replacement and unfortunately, they told me they were out of stock on the wheels and unable to send a replacement. (They had fenders though so no problem with that.) So now I'm stuck with the frame of the bike (which held up), the two batteries (no damage to either of them, the frame of the bike actually landed on my leg which took a beating), a front wheel and the badly damaged back wheel.

I'm now trying to find replacement parts to the items which didn't survive and this is where I'm having problems. I can't see to find a shop or AliExpress/Amazon seller who happens to sell a wheel with the same connector as the original tire has (it's a 9-pin Julet connection, but the pin layout is kind of weird to explain) and the wheels that I do find are rated at 1000W and not 750W (they are 48V).

In short, I'm trying to ask:
The specs of the Nero are that it's a 750W, 26 inch x 4.0 fat tire with hydraulic brakes (I'm already considering switching to Tektro brakes instead). The controller is an older LSW17974E (with a rated voltage of 48V and max current of 24A, the website on the controller doesn't even exist anymore...). The only benefit of this controller is that it has a five pin out for the rear light. (Which also seems to be missing from the other controllers I found :( ).

Any assistance or guidance would be greatly appreciated.
 
First thought, if you are replacing the entire rear wheel (w/motor) AND the controller, check out KT controllers. We have 3 Espins and all have been converted to KT (KT-22A fit in the frame below the battery) but they all use 500w motors. Just make sure the motor end matches the controller when selecting the new motor and controller. I would caution that there are 2 different connectors offered on the 1000w Bafang motors. The hell with that wierdo motor connector that comes from Espin!!!

"Can a 1000W wheel be used on a controller marketed for 750W?"
Sure. The downside would be that the controller will not be able to supply full power to the motor. A 750w controller will only supply 750w (maybe a little more), but the motor can use UP TO 1000w, so you'd be runing it on the conservative side of it's full rating. Wouldn't hurt a thing....
 
I'm
AHicks said:
First thought, if you are replacing the entire rear wheel (w/motor) AND the controller, check out KT controllers. We have 3 Espins and all have been converted to KT (KT-22A fit in the frame below the battery) but they all use 500w motors. Just make sure the motor end matches the controller when selecting the new motor and controller. I would caution that there are 2 different connectors offered on the 1000w Bafang motors. The hell with that wierdo motor connector that comes from Espin!!!

"Can a 1000W wheel be used on a controller marketed for 750W?"
Sure. The downside would be that the controller will not be able to supply full power to the motor. A 750w controller will only supply 750w (maybe a little more), but the motor can use UP TO 1000w, so you'd be runing it on the conservative side of it's full rating. Wouldn't hurt a thing....
Click to expand...

Yeah that 9 pin controller is hard to shop for. Luckily the wheel I found matches connectors. But thanks for the help with the controller question.
 
If the hub and the motor are intact can you just rebuild the rear wheel? Or find someone who builds wheels and can do that for you?
 
retched said:
Yeah that 9 pin controller is hard to shop for.
Click to expand...

I had the same problem when I installed my KT controller and display.
My julet motor connector wouldn't connect to the controller. It was bigger.

20230121_113256.jpg


I ended up cutting the motor cable at my old controller and soldered the wires directly into my KT controller.
It was a lot of work.

I wanted to keep the connector so I could remove my rear wheel from the bike.

I recently got a link to a large julet motor cable extention, but you would only need it if your motor cable won't reach a new controller, and you would still have to solder.

It'd be nice if they made a simple adapter but I don't think that they do?


Screenshot_20230805-151357_AliExpress.jpg


 
retched said:
Yeah that 9 pin controller is hard to shop for.
Click to expand...

If you were to shop for a rear wheel that has the same motor connector as the KT controller, it would be a much easier install.

You might have to buy a 750 Watt motor to get the proper motor connector, so you'll lose some power and speed.

My install turned into a huge PITA only because of the motor cable connector.


KT does have a larger motor cable connector for their 30 amp and above controllers, but they are a different julet plug and apparently a 30 amp controller won't fit your e-bike.

Screenshot_20230805-160922_AliExpress.jpg



Keep in mind axle spacing and axle diameter when shopping for a new wheel.
 
Last edited:
Mr. Coffee said:
If the hub and the motor are intact can you just rebuild the rear wheel? Or find someone who builds wheels and can do that for you?
Click to expand...

Yeah I tried to call up a few bike shops and they all either said they don't have the tools for it or just outright don't want to work with it because it's an ebike.
 
You don't have to teach yourself, there are a lot of videos on how to lace a wheel. I've done it several times and never had a broken spoke or any other problems from the wheels I've assembled despite buying inexpensive rims and generic spokes. If the OP motor/hub is OK it is certainly doable. Buy a proper size rim off of Amazon or Ebay along with spokes based on rim, hub dimensions and preferred lacing pattern.
 
retched said:
Yeah I tried to call up a few bike shops and they all either said they don't have the tools for it or just outright don't want to work with it because it's an ebike.
Click to expand...

Your hub motor is larger than your rear sprockets/cluster, so you'll have clearance to install new spokes and won't need the special tools required to remove the cluster.


Screenshot_20230807-123758_DuckDuckGo.jpg


Your brake disk will have to come off, but that's a simple job.
 
That looks like a 1x cross pattern which would make lacing a new rim simple. I know nothing about fat tire rim dimensions but if the OP can buy a rim with the same dimensions then measure and buy the spokes of the same dimensions as current spokes it would make the job extremely easy. If OP not willing/able and no LBS will do it I would check CL for bike mechanic or Velofix if local to the OP.

a CL example in my area, no knowledge of them
portland.craigslist.org

Affordable Bicycle Repairs - business/commercial - by owner - sale

Need your bicycle serviced, but you don't want to pay bike shop prices? Does your regular bike shop already have a waiting list for repairs? Are you a commuter and can't be without your bike for...
portland.craigslist.org
 
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Your 1000 w motor may have problems with a 750 w controller. Mine did, 2 of them, on a 500 w controller. They would run okay for 5 seconds, then moan and suddenly slow down to 3 mph. The 500 w controller was fine with 350 W hub motors.
Due to restriction of my route by construction barriers to vehicles that can go 70 mph, I've had to abandon used 350 w bafang motors. It is legal to ride a bicycle in a construction zone, but trucks will pass me in a 108" wide lane even though there is no room for both of us. When that happened in 2019 I rode off the edge into a 12" deep pit. The 350 w bafang motors burn out on the back road with 17 more hills of up to 12% grade, when I carry 80 lb groceries or supplies. In late July I repaired a 1000 w motor that the controller burnt the end of the harness off in 2021 in a rain storm. In mid July I also bought a similar 1000 w motor, (but rear instead of front) that I thought was defective due to the slowdown & moaning described above. However the 1000 w motor I bought in 2020 that burnt the harness off in 2021, never had that problem, but did with the 500 w controller. It runs fine with a 1000 w controller, although I had to swap 2 phase wires and also 2 hall effect wires to get rotation correct. A new 1000 w controller has its own problems, I had to make a completely different mount, but does run the 1000 w motor up to 23 mph. Main thing I don't like about the new controller, it runs at about 1/10 power for 3 seconds when the throttle is maxed out, then accelerates over 1 second to full power. Not much help getting up a grade from a stop sign across a 60 mph highway. I had to push the bike across the highway Friday.
I bought a 500 w hub motor early June originally to replace the 350 w used bafang motors, but it came from ***** without a wheel. I repurposed an old MTB wheel since all the ****ese wheels I own are double layer that require a special long stem tube not sold in my tiny city of only 2000000 population. But the 500 w motor required 2.5 mm spokes, which are only available in *****. (I no longer use Amazon, the freight is 200% of USPS and the drivers are as bad as pizza delivery drivers). The first set of spokes I bought taking 17 days were 4 mm too long. The next set I bought were 12 mm shorter, nothing in between was available. Shorter spokes came in last Friday, the day I had the used repaired 1000 w motor installed & running, so I rode the 1000 w motor to destination instead of ****ing around with this 500 w motor I bought in early June when they began construction on the road I was riding.
I've laced 3 wheels but I learned through experience that spoke length calculators are purveyors of lies. I got within 4 mm this time by taking old spokes from the 2018 power wheel that were too long, fitting up a MTB rim with them, then measuring how much too long they were. Wrong answer but pretty close. Lacing, I just follow the pattern of an existing wheel. Most bicycle wheels cross the spokes twice, with 10 hole spacing of crossed spokes, but hub motors power wheels only cross once I have found. The hub motor wheels the crossed spokes are 4 holes apart. Make sure the out spokes are inserted on the motor from the inside, and the in spokes are inserted from the outside. My first power wheel, bought 2018, was built by an idiot that had the in-out all messed up and some of the spokes were badly bent to make up for it.
Note you can't swap phase wires and hall effect wires in a juli connector. Buy the adapter cable from juli to white block 6 hole hall effect connector and 3 phase wires with either .157" bullet connectors or ring terminal connectors. I buy only controllers that have these connectors. I bought a kit of white block connectors with solder terminals in 2, 3, 4, 6, and 9 patterns. Then I can make "door switch" connectors (power on), correct un-matched throttle connectors, or correct for the bafang motors that were wired backwards to suit Uber's purposes. Same reason as the 7 flat axle nuts and the tamper proof cover screws I imagine.
 
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retched said:
Hi there. My first time here. I'll just jump straight into the major details and hope I can explain it well.

I bought an Espin Nero bike about two-three years ago. And over the course of the last couple of years, it held up pretty well. Even went ahead and got a double battery adapter from Big Game Bikes in the UK. Recently, I was involved in an accident (I'm doing OK) and sadly the bike was partially totaled. The front fork was snapped, the rear wheel was totaled, the braking system was completely shot. I tried to contact Espin to see if they would happen to have a rear wheel replacement and unfortunately, they told me they were out of stock on the wheels and unable to send a replacement. (They had fenders though so no problem with that.) So now I'm stuck with the frame of the bike (which held up), the two batteries (no damage to either of them, the frame of the bike actually landed on my leg which took a beating), a front wheel and the badly damaged back wheel.

I'm now trying to find replacement parts to the items which didn't survive and this is where I'm having problems. I can't see to find a shop or AliExpress/Amazon seller who happens to sell a wheel with the same connector as the original tire has (it's a 9-pin Julet connection, but the pin layout is kind of weird to explain) and the wheels that I do find are rated at 1000W and not 750W (they are 48V).

In short, I'm trying to ask:
The specs of the Nero are that it's a 750W, 26 inch x 4.0 fat tire with hydraulic brakes (I'm already considering switching to Tektro brakes instead). The controller is an older LSW17974E (with a rated voltage of 48V and max current of 24A, the website on the controller doesn't even exist anymore...). The only benefit of this controller is that it has a five pin out for the rear light. (Which also seems to be missing from the other controllers I found :( ).

Any assistance or guidance would be greatly appreciated.
Click to expand...
Isn't "partially totaled" an oxymoron?
 
sorry,i found this late traded for a "cursed" espin nero,turns out the frame was the only part I liked, the motor was weak and it spun the stator out one fine day, so to the junk pile with that thing,just went ahead and replaced the wiring,controller,got a dd 1200 watt rear wheel, put on some cool street tread 26x3 tires( forgot to mention almost cut my right index finger off changing freewheel) the stock wires were puny so upgraded, repainted the frame a light bright blue( looks much better) sold it back to my friend,he is tickled with it,sez it will do 32 mph now,so ends the 'curse" for me, so its doable do not be afraid to exchange the stock parts for aftermarket, the 500 watt truckrun motor in my astirmotor bike seemed to have more power than the 750 watt espin, so much for ratings.whole thing in a nut shell-do not be afraid to mix and match and get rid of puny wires, time will tell if my friend still likes me a month from now,the aftermarket light got broken after my friend bottomed the front fork,it hit the neat little front basket I had installed-thought it was alright to put light on fork arch,apparently not
 
Kayakguy said:
I would call hot water heater a redundancy.
Click to expand...
depends on your definition of hot,we used to scald dead hogs at 150 degrees fahrenhiet and that felt pretty hot,you can add a lot more heat till it boils and you can pressurize water and make it hotter,so I guess you can heat"hot" water.
 
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