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Prepping for a eBike build

Old 10-17-19, 03:28 AM
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pierce
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Prepping for a eBike build

My brother talked me into doing a convert on his '99 Trek 6000 hard tail, I talked him into a mid drive.

I've stripped his bike and am waiting for the TSDZ2 48V kit I ordered, ETA is Monday.



thats a 48V 13AH (625 watt-hour) battery pack waiting for the torque sensing mid-drive...
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Old 10-17-19, 06:54 AM
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Installed on for my wife last month. Your brother will enjoy it.
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Old 10-20-19, 11:12 AM
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kit was delayed, I should be getting it tomorrow... so this thread isn't dead yet

Phew, wanna make a old dingy bike look nice and shiny, wipe it down with WD40 to remove all the greasy munge, then wash it off with simple green and water to remove the oil from the WD40 and get any mud off that remains... now sure, this bike is relatively new, its a 1999, and its been stored indoors.

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Old 10-21-19, 09:30 PM
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rest of kit arrived today.

unpacked...


I did a trial install of the main parts, still have to sort out the wiring and stuff.

the TSDZ2 middrive


the XH18 controller


I think I'm going to put it together, temporarily tiewrap the wires out of the way, and take it for some test rides, before I wrap and secure the harness.
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Old 10-22-19, 08:02 AM
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Neat installation, but hope it's not for off road use since the ground clearance seems compromised.
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Old 10-22-19, 10:56 AM
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Originally Posted by 2old
Neat installation, but hope it's not for off road use since the ground clearance seems compromised.
my bro is in his 60s, his days of gonzo riding on Mt Tam are long past. the only dirt it will be seeing will be flat gravel bike paths.
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Old 10-22-19, 01:21 PM
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so I put it together, reinstalled the chain and pedals, tiewrapped the wiring out of the way, and took it for a quick spin around my driveway. power is nice and smooth, at power level 2 its fairly subtle, at 3 its more obvious. I was just in 3rd or 4th gear doing circles around my driveway, so didn't get a chance to go any faster. will be taking it for a test ride later today, and see how it does climbing the hill I live on. sticking with the 11-30 rear cassette for now, and a 42T front, that gives a pretty wide gear range, spinning 90 RPM cadence in top gear should top out at about 28 MPH, be interesting to see if it and I can maintain that in the flats.
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Old 10-22-19, 10:40 PM
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So first two PAS levels don't help?
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Old 10-22-19, 11:30 PM
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Originally Posted by Doc_Wui
So first two PAS levels don't help?
On my 13 mile test ride today, I mostly used 2 and 3 in gears 42:13 and 42:15. I noted it seemed smoother later in the ride, too, motor internal gears breaking in? I also discovered I'm really out of shape.
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Old 10-23-19, 01:12 AM
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oh, I thought I posted a few more pics from today's 13 mile test ride...

bike with temporary wiring...


'steamers lane' here in Santa Cruz...
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Old 10-23-19, 03:13 PM
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trigger throttle added to right bar... not a fan but my bro wants it.



gonna trim both paddles down a little so I can slide the shifter more to the right, as it is now, the shift cable is pushing against the bend in the bar, and binding.
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Old 10-30-19, 01:19 PM
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Where did you source the kit ?
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Old 10-30-19, 01:48 PM
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Originally Posted by skloon
Where did you source the kit ?
https://www.eco-ebike.com/

I was gonna go with eBay or AliExpress, but all the sellers had single digit history and little to no options... Eco was competitive on price and offered good email support.
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Old 11-01-19, 03:10 PM
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so.... soldered the battery wires inside the battery mount plate (didn't like the bullet connectors it came with), and decided /not/ to cut the excess length of 6-conductor to the handlebar display/control, instead doubled it up under the downtube, and spiral wrapped it along with the splitter cable for the display + throttle...



not my neatest wiring job, but adequate.

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Old 11-02-19, 07:51 PM
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took the bike for one final test ride before handing back to my brother tomorrow... rode 21 miles. mostly at power level 3 and 4. pretty easy to maintain 20 MPH in top gear on level ground, and hit 25 if you want to spin harder (42:11 top gear w/ 26x1.95 means a cadence of about 90 to go 28 MPH). my next build will NOT have a throttle, it doesn't work that well with the TSDZ2, the pedal assist is plenty good enough.

at 20 miles, the battery was still at 4 of 5 bars. at the top of the 1 mile last hill, partly 80% grade, mostly in 5th and 6th gear at 10MPH, the battery indicator was blinking between 3 and 4 bars under load, and when I stopped it reverted to 4 bars. I think this 48V 13.5 AH battery would probably take this bike 60 miles or more.

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Old 11-06-19, 08:36 AM
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Originally Posted by pierce
https://www.eco-ebike.com/

I was gonna go with eBay or AliExpress, but all the sellers had single digit history and little to no options... Eco was competitive on price and offered good email support.
I had purchased my kit from Eco-Bike as well. David Hall was great, answering all of my pre-purchase questions in detail, and quickly managing a few problems that occurred with my order. I doubt that you will find a better vendor for the TSDZ2 kit.
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Old 11-06-19, 05:30 PM
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yeah, I'm way happy with them.

for my own build, which I want to be lightweight, on my 700C hybrid, I asked if they could build a 13S3P pack with high capacity cells in the smaller Shark case, sure, no problem, lets use 30Q's for 10AH total, $xxx (quite reasonable), 2-3 week lead time (hey, custom build, I can't complain). They also are willing to kit me a specific TSDZ2 stuff thats not on their website (I want the low Q right crank, a 52T w/ guard, but not much else, no brake levers, no throttle, for my build).




(next project ^o^)
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Old 11-08-19, 01:56 PM
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Nothing like travelling 13 miles and discovering your out of shape just look down at the battery, stroke it lovingly and tell it how much more you love it than your wife
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Old 11-08-19, 05:27 PM
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Originally Posted by Frankenbike27
Nothing like travelling 13 miles and discovering your out of shape just look down at the battery, stroke it lovingly and tell it how much more you love it than your wife
I told my bro, I was gonna make a decal for his battery with "LANCE JR"
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Old 09-20-20, 03:37 PM
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resurrecitng this year old thread.... my brother loves his setup. only problem its had in the year since build was the speed pickup magnet wasn't quite in the right place so it was marginal. I moved it to the correct place and it became much more robust and reliable.

So.... I finally pulled the trigger on a similar kit for my 700c Hybrid shown in post 17.... I ordered the TSDZ2 kit from eco-bikes with the 52-42 front.... my hybrid currently has a 48-38-28 triple, and a 13-26 8 speed rear (HG50-8 cassette "V", I think) I'm hoping I can leave it on 52T, adn the 13-26 (or maybe a wider range 8 speed) will be adequate with sufficient power assist to maintain a good clip..

not sure if I'll even put a shifter on the front, I might just have it as a manual, if the 52T turns out to be too tall, plop the chain down on the 42T for the rest of the ride. I'm not going to use a throttle at all, purely torque sensning, and I'm getting the version with the opensource firmware that lets you fine tune the torque/response curves. I plan on limiting the 750W motor to 500W. I ordered a slimmer profile Shark battery pack filled with 48V 14AH of Samsung 3500E goodness as I want this bike to stay on the light side so its still fun to ride.
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Old 09-20-20, 06:27 PM
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Not sure what a thumb throttle is like on that particular set up but I wouldn't be without one on my Bafang. Really comes in handy when sitting in the left turn lane of a busy intersections and wanting to accelerate with the rest of traffic when the light changes.

I installed a brake cut out but can't say I even notice that doing much. I do really like the shift sensor, that works beautifully. Maybe a shift sensor isn't as necessary with a torque sensing unit like it is with a Bafang.

That Trek is a near perfect ebike candidate.

Last edited by Pop N Wood; 09-21-20 at 04:10 PM.
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Old 09-20-20, 06:36 PM
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I figure I can add the shift sensor, but I didn't use one with the Trek install... that install DOES have the thumb throttle, when I rode the bike I found it fairly useless. The TSDZ2 torque sensing is a thing of beauty, its an almost seamless riding experience when properly dialed in.
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Old 09-21-20, 09:25 AM
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That is so cool, I'm jealous! :-)

I'm thinking the only time you will need to use the small chain ring is if the battery goes dead. ;-)
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Old 09-21-20, 10:55 AM
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Either it's the terrain I ride (very hilly) or obtuseness, but my BBS02 doesn't feel as though it's "kicking in" or "out". Almost all the time it's the choice to ride over a Yahama- equipped Haibike, both hardtails with similar equipment, and the Yahama supposedly having torque sensor, RPM sensor and bike speed factored into the level of assist. Maybe the BBS happened to be adjusted perfectly by the vendor since I haven't neither performed any maintenance nor adjusted anything in the five years+ that I've been using it off road.
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Old 09-23-20, 09:11 PM
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so my hybrid.... currently has some really nice older Vittoria Randoneeur Hyper or Pro or something that are very high thread count, 700x32, and quite light and supple for their size, yet have decent puncture resistance.... these tires are 6-8 years old, and getting tired (groan!) so, I'm thinking with 500 or 750 watts of zoom, I should get something new, and I should probably go to x35 or x38's... I eyeballed my frame with a caliber, I think I could go as high as x45's without issues. I'm having trouble finding hybrid sizes (700x35, x38) with high thread counts. I guess I could go to Schwalbe Marathon HS 440 or something, any comments on this?

I'd actually like to go disc brake, but while my frame has the bosses for a rear disc, my forks don't, and the forks match the frame nicely now.

also, I'm thinking of dumping the 8-sp derailleur in back and going to a Nexus 8 speed hub, with new wheels... 36H, V-brakes. i'd still prefer sticking with trigger shifting, and yes, I know, getting the chain sizing and tension right on a non-single-gear frame is annoying.
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