My hill topper electric bike kit came in the mail on Friday the 13th. I brought it home from work and attempted to put it on my bike, a 2009 Diamondback Insight 1 flat bar road bike/fitness bike that I use to tool around Boulder as my general utility bike.
Unboxing
The box had a hole in it on top which I would later find that it was caused by the zip-tie ripping thru the cardboard that was fished thru to help hold a portion of the wheel in place. No big deal. I was worried that something had punctured the box and damaged something.
Once open everything was held in place inside the box very well by thick zip ties. They were difficult to cut with a pair of scissors.
The rim was sanded/ground down near the hole that the valve goes thru. Worse yet, the tube valve opening is HUGE and worse off, the tube valve is a Schrader valve. I don't think I've ever seen a 700c wheel that has a Schrader valve. They're always Presta. Even on my cheap Diamondback. Hopefully I can replace it with a presta valve tube (my CO2 pump is Presta-only I think).
The battery charger is a generic, but large, charger. There are no US Governmental UL or other markings on it.
The front wheel motor contains a CE sticker on it. Incidentally there is a sticker that is removed. I wonder why. The casing of the motor itself is stylish and has some lazer etchings and things.
There was nothing damaged except for the top of one of the axle nuts that had a dent in it. No biggie - there's really no reason for the top to be there except to keep out the elements.
Installation
The wires are of a good length for the most part. Their thick black appearance makes them look like brake and shifter cables to further hide the presence of them which I like.
The axle was too thick to fit into my front aluminum forks. I took a Dremel and sanded down the paint on the inside. This did nothing. I took another round/drum type sanding tube which did nothing but heat up the aluminum as I worked on it and made me scared that I may be heat-treating something that shouldn't be. I finally took out a sanding disc which seemed to work well. I took my time sanding a tiny amount at a time until the washer-tab-like device fit almost all the way down the notch that the axle goes thru. I very carefully checked for cracks in my fork where I did the work. I only had to use the tab/washer things on the inside and I stacked the remaining 2 washers per side on the outside of the fork blades and tightened to a reasonable torque (not too tight).
I don't agree with all of the instructions I read on the internet with respect to putting electric motors on a bike where it says to put the nuts on "very tight." I have many more bikes than any man should own and have worked on cars, etc. Besides that, as a surgeon, I've put many screws inside bones using the same principles as working with wood and metal. There's a difference between "good and tight" vs. x ft-lbs vs. "as tight as you can." I think if you make bolts too tight you'll put undue stress on the threads and squeezing the crap out of the metal probably beyond it's intended amount. This kit comes with these washer/tab things that won't let the axle spin in the fork. The tabs put pressure on the fork tabs but only if the bolts are put on too loose (which would allow the axle to spin). Ideally, if you put the axle bolts on "tight enough" then nothing move or spin. There's no reason to tighten the bolts beyond "tight enough" and if you do, you'll probably create unintended stress which could lead to cracks.
The supplied rim is Alex (a name brand) but I can't find any information on the XLC S2516 rim except that REI sells a ~$45 wheel that uses this 36 hole rim. The tire is Kenda (a name brand) Cosmos unidirectional tire that sells for about $30 (but appears to have been discontinued). I have no clue whey they include a tire and tube. All bikes come with tubes and tires. If you're buying this kit you probably already have a tube and tire on your current front rim which you could easily transfer to this rim. But I digress.
The rim itself is a smaller diameter than my current 700c rim so I had to relocate the front brake pads about 1/2 centimeter downwards so that they were centered and not touching the tire. The supplied rim is also wider than my current 700c rim so I had to let out some brake cable to give proper clearance and to prevent dragging of the brake pads.
The price differential of $150 between the Lithium battery Pro Pack and Hill Topper isn't worth it - you're better off taking the Pro Pack to the bike store and having them build-up a quality wheel for you instead for the same price. Incidentally why is there a $100 price difference when you look at the SLA battery pack but there's a $150 difference with the Lithium battery pack? The only difference between these 2 kits is the battery but for some reason getting a wheel vs. motor-only (no rim or spokes) is worth $50 more if you're getting the Lithium battery. It makes no sense to me. It makes even less sense when you look at the individual parts (i.e. buying the wheel separate from a battery, charge, wire kit) and price them. It's great that you get a "discount" when you buy a complete kit but gimmie a break here.
I temporarily installed the wiring so that it was unobtrusive and installed the Li battery behind my seat. My frame is a compact/sloping top tube so the battery wouldn't fit in the triangle despite removing both water bottle cages. This was partially due to the central location of where the power plug exits the battery pack. This area isn't waterproofed.
With the motor on the front and the Li battery on the back, my bike was more-or-less balanced weight-wise. This bike goes up and down 4 flights of stairs and it was easy to transport both ways because of the front/rear balance. If this were a rear motor setup I probably wouldn't say that. Unfortunately since this is a front motor setup it's going to be a pain in the rear to remove and reinstall the front wheel when putting it on top of my car in the fork rack. But then again, there's no need to lift more weight above my head. I think my bikes still lighter than a steel cruizer bike, though.
I checked the charge on the Li battery and it showed 4 green LED's so I didn't bother topping-off the battery yet.
Maiden Voyage
I took it out for a spin and it ran fine. I went up a hill that I normally lose my breath on pedaling around 5 mph and with the Hill Topper on, it was like someone was pushing me up the hill. It's been too cold to ride so I haven't gone beyond a mile or 2. I'll post another update in time when I've put the bike/motor thru its paces.
