I thought I’d post this review in the PIE discussion section, but please feel free to move to the review area.
Warning, long post, please feel free to scroll down for some sexy (over 18 only) photos of my pride n joy.
Magic Pie versus Complete Novice (A Long Winded U.K Review)Ok, I’ve finally got my Golden Motor Magic Pie Kit up and running so I thought I would post up a thread on my overall experience from purchasing to receipt to build. I will also give my first impressions of functions, features and performance.
First, a bit about myself. I am a Teacher of Creative Arts educating children and young adults. I predominantly teach 16 to 18 year olds at advanced level Art and Design preparing them for University and Higher Education.
This is my first conversion kit, in fact it’s my first ever experience with an electric bike. I have little if any skill or knowledge of electronics and have a school boy understanding of electricity. In fact I’m not sure what I’ve got myself into.
Reasons for wanting and needing an E-bike. 1. I’m trying to get more active.
2. I live within E-bike commuting distance to my work place.
3. The price of Petrol. - I have another less environmentally friendly hobby which comes in the form of a heavily modified 353bhp/385ftlbs of torque light weight Subaru Impreza WRX STI Spec C, imported from Japan, which I use on track when ever I get the chance. By the way this car does 18mpg on road and about 9mpg on track and runs on super unleaded 99ron fuel. So as you can see I’m trying to off set this guilty pleasure and save a bit of money on daily commutes.
4. Finally, I usually dive head first into things in order to learn new skills and knowledge. I walked into this whole thing with eyes wide shut! I’m a bit of a ‘buy now research later’ kind of guy.
The bike being converted is a specialized Stump jumper, an extravagant gift to myself whilst out in Colorado a few years ago, the bike has hardly seen any use in the last couple of years so I could find no better way to ‘bring it back to life’ than by Frankensteining it with a bit of electricity. Yeah!
The bike before the conversion. 
Purchasing All in all it took 16 days for the kit to arrive on my doorstep in the UK from the date I made the payment on GM’s website. I inadvertently made the purchase at the beginning of a Chinese national holiday. The total time the Kit was in transit between China and my doorstep was only 6 days.
Tom at GM Tom kept me in the picture over the above mentioned period supplying me first with an EMS tracking number and then (on request) with a TNT tracking number when this company took charge of my parcel. Tom was also on the side of the customer when valuing the kit for customs charges ;-)
Receiving the parcel The kit was well packed and everything ordered was present. However, when removing the Magic Pie wheel there was a 3 inch tear in the wheel rim. How this could have been overlooked during manufacture or when the rim was spoked was quite unnerving. It was at this point that I began wondering whether I should have paid a large premium and purchased from a UK distributor.
I contacted Tom at GM who was quick to reply offering to send a new wheel rim.
Thankfully due to help on this forum I was able to contact a UK company who use GM parts for electric wheel chair assemblies. They some what surprisingly supplied me with a replacement rim free of charge. ?
Building the kit. The kit was easy to assemble if using patience and the right tools. The mechanical parts are a straight forward swap over and the electrical parts are well coloured and labelled. However, as I was having to get the wheel rim re-spoked and being a complete novice with electronics I handed over my bike and the kit to a local E-Bike retailer, electrical engineer and enthusiast ‘Jeff’ at
www.fullchargeahead.com/ . It was here that my bike was fully set-up with detailed attention given to cable location and even more importantly the secure fitment of the rear Magic Pie axle into very shallow rear dropouts that were designed for quick release spindles. This was resolved by having two bespoke washers made that sat in and filled the opening of the dropout disallowing axle movement. I hope to add a torque arm too but the one I’ve bought needs filing out to fit the big GM threaded axle.
Functions and featuresWith a total of three handle bar buttons supplied with the kit there are plenty of wiring options, although I would like to fit a hidden switch to enable me to limit the speed and output of the motor if ever caught in a sticky situation.
1. Buttons. The only button I’m currently using is for cruise control. I would like to have an ignition button and hope to use the red button on the throttle body.
2. Regenerative Braking. Set at 40% it’s gentle, it does its job without being intrusive or abrupt but I am planning on fitting hydraulic disc brakes as I like my brakes sharp and sensitive, whether I do away with regen all together or maybe be use a button to activate it I’m not sure.
3. Cruise Control. Much more useful than I thought it was going to be. I will use this continuously whilst riding.
PerformanceFull Set-up…….
26” magic Pie Rear wheel kit
48v 12ah Golden Motor battery
Currently running controller on 48v and 40% regenerative braking.
GPS with Tom Tom Sat Nav (no pedalling) = 22-24mph on flat road with slight tail wind
17mph with slight head wind
27mph going down hill
15mph going up hill
My weight = 85 -90 kg’s
Bike weight 10kg’s
Kit weight 13 kg’s approx
The above speeds were recorded with a standard GM 48v 12ah Lithium Manganese Battery with the controller set to 48 volts.
1. Take-off. Very smooth on take-off from a standing start with throttle only although the motor is slow to wind up. There is no crazy initial acceleration. The plus side, the front end of my bike which is very light does not try and leave the ground. The minus side, I would like a swift takeoff for busy junctions and for out launching the Lycra bike riders
. The take off may change a bit if I change the controller voltage to 24, but that is next on the list to test.
2. Hill climbing. Very impressive when already at speed, but the motor struggles to maintain momentum if a ‘run up to the hill’ is not possible.
3. Motor Noise. I was dreading how loud the motor would be, but once you are up and running it’s fine. On take off it’s slightly louder but overall it’s not at all loud, in fact the word loud should not be in this statement, it’s quiet, but not silent, just reminiscent of a distant milk float. It has turned a few heads when out and about but I cannot hear it myself when up to speed.
4. Motor size. It is hard to hide the size of it, a GM HBS motor would have been more discreet and part of my initial plan was for discreetness. So if you do add up the motors sound with the size then maybe there are other similarly powered motors out there which are quieter and smaller.
Overall VerdictIt’s Fantastic!
It’s not as fast as advertised but it’s fast enough for a push bike and it’s great to be able to still pedal without having to make too much effort. I’ve also been pleasantly surprised by how easy it is to cycle the bike with no motor assistance. There is drag and the take off is an effort but once you’ve got momentum it’s fine to ride as a normal bike.
The only big design issue I have with DIY e-bikes is that weight distribution and centre of gravity are not good. These issues really need solving on a manufacturing design scale. For instance, having a battery pack within the frame nice and neat would solve both of the above problems. I want a bike that is neat and tidy and the PIE with an internal controller is certainly forward thinking in this design area but there is still more to solve.
Regrets…1. I wish now that I purchased the external controller, or even gone for a different higher amp controller. As this would have given me more future options and would make it much easier to modify a kit for more power or to replace the controller unit.
2. Should have I bought the kit from a UK distributor and paid over £150.00 GBP extra for a UK warranty? I will answer that question if something goes wrong with the kit in the next 12 months ;-)
3. Should I have gone for a 1000w HBS kit? Hmmm?
Would I recommend this for a starter kit? Most definitely, it makes cycling 100% fun without any of the draw backs and it makes commuting pleasurable.
Final costsDIY kit including Battery and airmail delivery = £620 GBP/ $960 USD (Sept-28-2010)
TNT Customs charges = £30.00 GBP
Total set-up including mechanical and electrical locating, new gear lever shifters, gear adjustment, bespoke fabricated washers, repoking of Golden Motor wheel, testing of kit and delivery = £150.00GBP
There were a couple of other small costs such as frame bag and cassette.
Anyway, here’s the bit you’ve been scrolling down to find……………….
THE PHOTOS!
My bespoke battery cover
Pie Hidder
Thanks for looking
Andrew
