I've actually found I prefer the electric motor on the front wheel, off road. Why? Because you can pedal too, giving 2 wheel drive. I don't have a cadence sensor, instead measuring the chain tension as an indication of torque so the amount of torque delivered to the front wheel is proportional to how much I'm putting in to the back. This gives a nice balance and makes it possible to ride in really slippery conditions, including snow & ice. As you might guess, mine is somewhat home-made. VESC speed controller with an ESP32 modulating the VESC current proportionally to the chain tension read by a load cell. My motor is a direct drive (as opposed to your geared drive with freewheel) which means I can have variable regenerative braking, which I've connected to a throttle. This gives me a 3rd brake which will always work in the wet - and provides something similar to ABS. It works great on muddy downhill stretches.
I'm not even surprised. That sounds like exactly the sort thing you would build. :) Sounds like a bike I'd like to try. Maybe I should attempt some ebike content.
@@_gigoy It does! It has 2 Analog inputs which you can configure as Throttle & Torque Sensor. I expect you can set it up as a Cadence Sensor too - but I've not looked. Everything about it is configurable! For a Bike, I'd suggest a FlipSky 75100 as they're the most waterproof option. They cost £85 which may sound a lot compared to a £1.50 Chinese eBike controller, they are good value for performance against cost.
I've heard people mention Class1 and Class3 ebikes.. were you joking when you said 2wd is illegal? For city use, would you go with the Swytch Go or Yose... or maybe even the Smartfit? What about those $400 Walmart city e-bikes.. versus the bike conversion kits ?
My 2wd bike in another video would be considered illegal here in the UK as the total output power would be more than 250W average. For ease of fitting the Swytch kit wins. But its battery is awful. The Yose kit is half the price of the switch kit but not so easy to install.
there's nothing stopping you having 2 wheel drive with front and rear hubs the law says as long as as the motor/s are 250w average (measured over a set course, these measurements are fudged by the prebuilt ebike companies as bosch etc the motors peak at 750w when going uphill for example )and cut out assistance at 25kph/15.5mph then it's perfectly legal. but honestly mid drives are more efficient in terms of wh/m (watt hours per mile) then a hub can ever be due to the fact the the mid drive utilises the gears on the bike. David now you have a decent battery (yose battery obv) slap a bafang 250w mid drive on it, it will outperform any hub at 250w even dual drive hub bikes
That was a nice test! 👍But here‘s a project: regenerative braking. How much voltage do the motors produce in push mode and if connected to the charging input line, would this result in usable regenerative braking and charging the battery a bit?
Switch bikes under powered over priced huge fad
Yes, very yes.
I’m so glad you tried two wheel drive 😂
Great video! I enjoyed it. I'm Senquan, CEO of 100G Smart Tech, and I was wondering if you'd be interested in reviewing our Geeko e-bike kit?
I think we can conclude you need a chest mount for your camera!
Yes. Well what I needed was to charge my GoPro and stick it in my chest mount. But time didn't allow.
Definitely seems like the swytch kit is underpowered for what it thinks it is, definitely needs more battery capacity...
I've actually found I prefer the electric motor on the front wheel, off road. Why? Because you can pedal too, giving 2 wheel drive. I don't have a cadence sensor, instead measuring the chain tension as an indication of torque so the amount of torque delivered to the front wheel is proportional to how much I'm putting in to the back. This gives a nice balance and makes it possible to ride in really slippery conditions, including snow & ice.
As you might guess, mine is somewhat home-made. VESC speed controller with an ESP32 modulating the VESC current proportionally to the chain tension read by a load cell.
My motor is a direct drive (as opposed to your geared drive with freewheel) which means I can have variable regenerative braking, which I've connected to a throttle. This gives me a 3rd brake which will always work in the wet - and provides something similar to ABS. It works great on muddy downhill stretches.
I'm not even surprised. That sounds like exactly the sort thing you would build. :)
Sounds like a bike I'd like to try. Maybe I should attempt some ebike content.
@@DavidMcLuckie It's a thought! Maybe that's what you should do with that busted powerbank!
Does VESC support throttle + PAS?
@@_gigoy It does! It has 2 Analog inputs which you can configure as Throttle & Torque Sensor. I expect you can set it up as a Cadence Sensor too - but I've not looked.
Everything about it is configurable!
For a Bike, I'd suggest a FlipSky 75100 as they're the most waterproof option. They cost £85 which may sound a lot compared to a £1.50 Chinese eBike controller, they are good value for performance against cost.
I've heard people mention Class1 and Class3 ebikes.. were you joking when you said 2wd is illegal?
For city use, would you go with the Swytch Go or Yose... or maybe even the Smartfit?
What about those $400 Walmart city e-bikes.. versus the bike conversion kits ?
My 2wd bike in another video would be considered illegal here in the UK as the total output power would be more than 250W average.
For ease of fitting the Swytch kit wins. But its battery is awful.
The Yose kit is half the price of the switch kit but not so easy to install.
I want to see more 2 wheel drive
Two kits on the one bike? Wild man!😅
there's nothing stopping you having 2 wheel drive with front and rear hubs the law says as long as as the motor/s are 250w average (measured over a set course, these measurements are fudged by the prebuilt ebike companies as bosch etc the motors peak at 750w when going uphill for example )and cut out assistance at 25kph/15.5mph then it's perfectly legal. but honestly mid drives are more efficient in terms of wh/m (watt hours per mile) then a hub can ever be due to the fact the the mid drive utilises the gears on the bike. David now you have a decent battery (yose battery obv) slap a bafang 250w mid drive on it, it will outperform any hub at 250w even dual drive hub bikes
That small battery can't possibly perform , unless they are using a new technology.
Can you use your Yose battery to power Swytch motor? Thanks!
I was actually thinking about that. If you could make the Swytch kit less crappy by actually using a good battery pack.
Morning and thanks good review and good video
👍🏼
Could you plug the front motor into the Yose Power controller at the same time as the rear so as to have a 500W 2WD bike using only one kit?
Not that I think. The connections are all full on mine.
That was a nice test! 👍But here‘s a project: regenerative braking.
How much voltage do the motors produce in push mode and if connected to the charging input line, would this result in usable regenerative braking and charging the battery a bit?
Regenerative braking does exist in some of these kits. But I haven't tried one yet to see what it is like.
Oh really? That‘d be an interesting one.
I‘d be highly interested! @@DavidMcLuckie
👍🤘