Mountain commuting kit
 

I'm looking for the best kit option for a 25 mile commute to work in the Blue Ridge mountains.
The route features 3 long sustained climbs on the way to work and 2 on the way home.
I will be able to re-charge at work.
I occaisonally ride to or from work but never both due to time and energy constraints.
I am looking for a kit that will cut down my time on the climbs by going 15-18 mph with pedal assistance to be mounted on a 1986 Stumpjumper. This bike has the old U-brakes on the bottom bracket which may preclude using the cyclone kit. Considering the BMC V2 or cyclone if compatible but unsure on batteries.

You can get really good torque with a non-hub motor. (There are some powerful hub motors but they're costly.) There are non-hub kits that can be mounted slightly differently than the cyclone kit. I'd suggest you check out the non-hub motor forum on endless-sphere.com/forums

I installed a Currie non-hub conversion kit (a rear wheel kit) on my 21-speed mountain bike last summer and love it. It's got great torque and is one of the least costly kits on the market at $279 with free shipping--I got mine from http://www.thesuperkids.com/cueldrelbico.html.
I have very knobby tires on my bike since I ride a lot of unimproved, gravel forest roads but I still get a top speed of 17 MPH. The Currie kit comes with 1 24V 10AH SLA battery. I will be building a second 24V 20AH LIFEPO4 battery using prismatic cells next month. LIFEPO4 uses a safe cathode (Iron Phosphate) and has many more charging cycles than SLAs. However they are still fairly expensive and you have to make certain that the Battery Management System or BMS, which is a computer board that protects the battery during charging and discharging, is compatible with the power demands of the particular controller that comes with your e-bike conversion kit.

Good luck. Here's a photo showing the rear mounted motor on my bike.

http://pic50.picturetrail.com/VOL442.../377846324.jpg

Thanks. This looks like the most cost-effective kit out there.
2 questions;
1)How much weight did it add to your bike ?

2)Will it work with a 6 speed freewheel ???

It should work with a 6 speed freewheel--you'd need to have the freewheel removal tool to spin off your freewheel from your existing back wheel and transfer it to the wheel that comes with the Currie kit or take your rear wheel to the LBS and have them spin it off for you. The motor and motor freewheel on the Currie wheel are on the left side.


As to added weight, the SLA battery weighs a ton. However, it comes with the kit and mine has worked fine. The use of the Rack Mounted Battery system in the Currie kit puts the center of gravity for the heavy battery pack low and makes it very manageable. (The standard SLA has performed well, I've still had juice in it after 25 mile rides, but then I do pedal at all times.) One of my winter projects is to build a second battery pack using LIFEPO4 prismatic cells. I'll also be building a case for it that will slide into the Currie rack. Ultimately, when my SLAs die, I may replace them with a ready-made NIMH pack. All-battery.com and Batteryspace.com have some affordable 24V 10AH ready-made NIMH packs that have dimensions compatible with the Currie battery case.

If you choose a hub motor, be sure to order torque arms (for rear or front wheel installation). Good luck. Take your time comparing and choosing the kit that has the features you want and you should be happy with the end results.

Thanks for sharing your experience. I'm 80% sold. I think that it is interesting that you are planning on upgrading the batteries but sticking with the electro drive. That's a pretty strong endorsement especially considering Currie's proposed lithium kit (which never came to fruition) features a front hub system.
Superkids offers higher torque 600 watt motor...any thoughts ?
Another thing I'm curious about is whether having electric assistance
eliminates the need for the traditionally low MTB gearing.

At least until the batteries go flat. Up to that point it is all about the big ring!

Currie does have some Lithium powered e-bicycles. They also have some hub motors on certain of their Ezip and Izip electric bicycles. All-in-all, I'm pretty impressed with the quality of Currie's standard conversion kit, especially the torque--I need torque more than speed. I guess you could spend an extra $100 and get the upgraded 600W motor and upgraded controller. You might want to check with the Superkids first to find out if the bolt pattern on that motor is the same as the bolt pattern on the conversion kit. There's also a 48V upgrade done to Ezips by some members on the Endless Sphere forums that involves adding a second motor and a 48V controller (the ecrazyman 48V controller seems to be the popular one used in this upgrade). This upgrade doesn't generate the heat issues that the 36V upgrade has caused. There was also a company in California that was planning on marketing a 48V upgrade to Ezips through a company called Mader Technologies, but I don't know if that ever got off the ground. (I suspect Currie wouldn't approve that kind of modification by someone selling their bikes. It's a bit different situation that owners modifying bikes they have bought.)


I wasn't riding my bike as much since relocating to the far northern US Rockies because pedaling the hills was playing havoc with my knees. With the Currie hub motor installed, I've put more than 800 miles on my bike since last summer. (I don't feel so bad the hills bothering me since reading information about some of the roads I ride in Rocky Mountain bicycle tours--the the roads in the area I'm in are mountainous enough to be ranked for "experienced" cyclists.)

What would you think about using the electro drive in the back and a lightweight hub motor in the front off an upgraded battery...or would both motors need to be hub motors ?

They wouldn't both have to be hub motors, but I'm not sure having 2 motors is worth the extra money. There's a recent discussion of a Golden Motors build that used 2 motors in the general e-bike forum at Endless-Sphere, you might want to check it out.

Well, two often-discussed systems which are touted for climbing are the ecospeed and BMC V-2-T. When outfitted with the appropriate parts and lithium batteries, these are both going be very expensive (around 2K).
So if the Electro drive at 279.00 can provide adequate torque, I'd love to see what a dual motor arrangement (with the currie kit and lightweight front hub motor) could do. I really can't say if it would be worth the extra money,but there sure is alot of room between 279 and 2K to build a climbing machine.
BTW,I noticed that Hightekbikes.com is now marketing "dual action drive" with two Aotema hub kits...

I'm going to put a link to a very long thread on ezip modifications (many who purchased inexpensive ezips started modifying their bikes to 36V, the problem with modifying the 24V motor is that you will have overheating issues that will eventually burn out the motor). A young man in Australia came up with the 48V mod using a second 24V motor and an ecrazyman 48V controller (he welded his own extension plate to the stock Currie motor plate). He didn't have heat issues and was able to increase his speed to about 25-27 MPH (he also lived in a hilly area and needed good torque). Given his success, others began using this mod too. The discussion of his 48V modification begins on page 11 of the thread. Here's a couple of photos from the thread as well. http://endless-sphere.com/forums/vie...Ezip&start=150

http://endless-sphere.com/forums/dow...e.php?id=20830

http://endless-sphere.com/forums/dow...e.php?id=20832

http://endless-sphere.com/forums/dow...e.php?id=20833

I would suggest that you join Endless Sphere and read up on hub motors and non-hub motors and post questions you might have on motors, controllers and batteries. Since the only bikes discussed on that board are electric bicycles, there's a lot of very good, detailed information.

NWMTR
Thanks for all your help. I took your advice and joined the endless sphere forum.
Curious to know if you have any over-heating issues with the stock system.

No, I haven't had any over heating issues. I think the 36V mod was the primary culprit that caused overheating. I haven't done any modifications to my system. If I were ever to modify mine, I would do the 48V mod, but at this point I'm happy and doubt that I'll modify it.

It seems ironic that the cheapest system seems to also have the fewest problems...why would you buy anything else ?
My current plan is to order the Electro drive and a 9 Continent 500w front hub.