Sunday, April 3, 2011

Electric Assistance Bike

I have seen some advertorial of electric bicycle,
but none of them is make me interested.
They are heavy and weird, look more like kids toy than a bicycle.

But recently I found something different,
one online shop in Bandung is offering a conversion kit
that could be installed easily on conventional 26" mountain bike.

For me that was a good news,
since what I want is a bicycle with electric assistance,
rather than electric toy with pedal.

I placed an order for their cheapest model, 250W/24V, front wheel kit.
My order arrived in about a week time,
in a well packed 25kg carton box, 77x68x20cm.

Inside the box I found front wheel set
with electric motor hub and wide tire,
battery box-controller-rear rack,
brake handles and accelerator control, and charger.

Those are heavy, front tire weights 7kg, battery box alone 9kg,
rear racks–controller and cable about 2kg easy.

Few things to be considered:
1. This kit is NOT compatible with disk brake,
2. Old bicycle with lugs for rear rack will suit better for installation.
3. I have to buy another set of shifter, the reason is I want to use
the supplied brake handle since it is equipped with
power cut-off switch. So I bought a set of cheap friction shifter.

Installing the kit is not too difficult,
I managed to install in less then 4 hours,
including swabbing tire with 26x1.75, and installing new shifter.

After installation, final weight of my old MTB is whooping 30kg
compare to 13kg before.

While this kit is easy to install,
instruction and video provided with the kit are not providing enough
information.

I also found few loose spoke and experiencing loose cable connection,
so I have to open the battery box.
Good thing is the seller is helpful,
he replies to my mail and help me trouble shooting the installation.

Guess who is delighted with this kit installation,
yes my 11years old daughter, she can climb uphill with much less effort,
and she becomes the fastest rider among her friends.

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