Orange P7 e-commuter

[The History Man]

You also have a new conversation darling.

 

[Captain Stupido]

This has got me thinking. Could also bolt something up by setting a star nut in the bottom of the steerer tube. Or use one of those expanding plugs that do the same job.

Headset Plug Bike Headset Expanding Plug Stem Top Cap Extender Bicycle Fork | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Headset Plug Bike Headset Expanding Plug Stem Top Cap Extender Bicycle Fork at the best online prices at eBay! Free delivery for many products!

www.ebay.co.uk

Compression Plug Bike Aluminum Alloy Headset Top Expander 1-1/8 Steerer | eBay

1 Piece Headset Compression Plug. Material: Aluminium Alloy. High strength, a good choice for carbon or aluminum steer tube. Made of aluminum alloy, lightweight, durable. Color: Red Black.

www.ebay.co.uk

Good, lots of options.

 

[Captain Stupido]

Looks like a great bike mate. I remember following this thread a while ago, been thinking of doing something like this with a bafang mid drive. Only thing putting me off is cable management, which I despise. Yours looks pretty neat though.

The tongsheng kit makes for a pretty neat installation. Neater still (albeit with slightly reduced functionality) would be to swap the display/controller for one of these:

Tongsheng TSDZ2 VLCD6 Display Manual | eBike Choices

The VLCD6 is the smallest display available for the Tongsheng TSDZ2 mid-drive motor. The user manual is available here.

ebikechoices.com

Also on the to-do list is to have a play with the open source firmware. Apparently there's a mod in it that improves the power delivery at higher cadences.

Experiences with Open Source Firmware on the Tongsheng TSDZ2

Okay, so after riding 200 miles on a standard setup (48v 500w with VLCD5 screen) I have decided to experiment with the Open Source Firmware. The standard performance is more than adequate and with a 14.5Ah battery I have been managing 60 miles on a full charge. On the other hand the drive is not...

www.pedelecs.co.uk

 

[Captain Stupido]

New bits arrived:



So I set about improving the battery connections and mounting:



Added a blob of hot melt glue to limit water ingress to the battery pack


Also put some heat shrink wrap around the motor connectors to hopefully keep things dry:

 

[Captain Stupido]

Removed this little control as it seems to be causing problems (possibly due to it having got wet). Fitted a bell instead - more useful as the controls are duplicated on the main panel.



Fitted a temporary rear mudguard. Hopefully it'll help - I've got a plan for full- length mudguards once I fit the disc brakes shown in the previous post.



And I reckon it's now commute ready (ish). I think pretty stealthy. Plan to wrap much of it in self amalgamating tape to hide and protect the wires but I want to properly road test and convert to discs first.

 

[The History Man]

Battery is neat. What’s the range?

 

[Captain Stupido]

Battery is neat. What’s the range?

Am ashamed to report that I haven't quite worked that out yet. It's supposed to be a 10Ah 36v model - was cheap from China on eBay but seems OK.

 

[albash82]

I'm really glad someone on here has done what I'm considering! My commute is a hilly 13 miles, I rarely pedal it, mainly due these days, to getting back home for my lads bath and bedtime... Ebike commute might make this possible. I'd love to ditch the car where I can.
Be interesting to see how it'd be up a really steep, savage road climb out of the village I work in... Gets up to nearly 20% for a while . It's always fun when you've not even warmed up yet!

I'd imagine a battery pack like the one you have would easily do the round trip of 26 miles or so...

 

[rwm1962]

My home built ebike saved me 15-20 minutes on the ride home. About 7 miles with a long hill. https://www.retrobike.co.uk/threads/orange-c16-r-e-bike-1996.427655/

 

[albash82]

Yeah I did the road commute on a modern MTB ebike from my old gaff. It was about 20 mins in the car, took 35mins in full boost mode.
Cyclepath/quieter lane commute is a couple of miles longer.