tairy

I converted an old Trek bike to an ebike with the Tongsheng kit last year. I just took it out after it sat for the winter. The first ride was fine. Today, the chain fell off the front ring. When I put it back on I noticed the pedals now had a lot more resistance. With no electric assist I could do a half rotation and it just sort of would stop not allowing a smooth pedal motion. On my way home the bike just decided not to allow any more forward pedaling. I had to walk the bike home, fortunately it was only a few more blocks.

As an aside, last year I remember on one of my last rides, one of the pedals slowly came loose while riding. I'm not sure if that would be related.

Does anyone have an idea what could be going on with my bike?

2old

I've heard that the "T" systems had problems with axle breakage. Perhaps the chain falling off was the cause or the result of that.

Moe Zhoost

I wouldn't think that a problem with the motor would result in a chain drop. Those are usually caused by something in the drive train. Here are some suggestions. As you get more info let us know and perhaps we can be of more help.

1) Do a careful visual check of your rear wheel and drive system. Specifically look for anything binding or bent in the rear derailleur. Check your rear brake as well, though a chain drop would not be likely if that was a problem. However if you turned your bike upside down to correct the dropped chain, you could have done something to the rear brake cabling system.

2) Give your rear wheel a spin when lifted off the ground. If your Trek is old enough to have horizontal dropouts the wheel may have shifted so the tire is binding on a stay. The other thing that could possibly cause this is a broken spoke.

3) If the wheel spins nicely, remove the chain and spin the crank. If it spins hard, check to see if the crank arms are binding anywhere. A bit of binding should not result in your lock-up but I've heard of it being a problem with some TSZD2 units.

4) If the crank is hard to turn and you don't see any binding. It may be something internal to the motor unit

Moe Zhoost

Did you ever sort this out?

tairy

Thanks for all the tips! I'm actually trying to open up the motor. I got stuck with four screws. I got two out but the other two stripped. A maintenance tech at a bike shop tried to use a JIS impact driver but it was unsuccessful. Now I'm waiting on a dremel tool so I can saw into the screw so I can use a flathead to get the screws out. Apparently these screws are pretty bad. I found many others online who've experienced similar problems.

Smaug1

Unless tinkering is your hobby, I can't fathom why someone would want to convert to an eBike instead of just saving up a couple more bucks and buying one.

2old

Not to argue, but there are lots of reasons, including but not limited to, already having a bike that fits well, sense of accomplishment, fun (I enjoy building almost as much as riding), knowledge of system in order to diagnose problems if they occur (surprisingly - to me - in the 10 or so bikes I've built, this hasn't occurred), cost (in some instances) and features.

tds101 

Because it's what people like to do. It's a hobby for some, and others just love their older bike, so they want to give it an extended life. It's not always less expensive, but it can be fun.