DIY Mid-Drive Conversion Instructions
For $395 Mark will get you the motor you need, any necessary extensions, trim and connectors you may wish. He’ll even help you source the battery and battery mount you wish and provide warrenty support for a year on the motor and display. You should save roughly $400. Once your kit is received. we’ll go through the parts so the following instructions won’t seem so intimidating. These assume you have no bike stand and will do install with bike standing up normally (upside down is a lot harder, I have tried it)…
1.) Remove pedals remembering the left pedal is left hand thread. It is easier to remove them now than later.
2.)Remove cable from front deraileur and front shifter from handlebar.
3.) IF your chain does not have a quick link, AND your front deraileur cage has no screw to help remove chain, use a chain tool to remove chain from deraileur (Mark will reassemble chain for you at no charge). You can uncouple a quick link with a pair of needle nose pliers. This chain tool is as good as any…
https://a.co/d/hClJg1q
4.) Use crank arm removal tool to remove crank arms (this cheap one is as good as the best)… https://a.co/d/5LkHZ4x
5.) MAY require an impact wrench. Use the bottom bracket removal tool to remove drive side (Right) cup first. IT IS LEFT HAND THREAD! Then remove the non-drive side. It is right hand thread and usually is only a little more than finger tight.
NOTE: Mark will do the steps up to here for you at $25-45 depending on how badly they are corroded together.
6.) Install replacement kickstand. This will allow you to remove the regular kickstand, necessary to install secondary motor mount later. Because it is an e-bike, you will NEED a kickstand.
7.) Remove old kickstand
8.) Slide motor in to bottom bracket shell. You may need to remove any plastic cable guides under the bottom bracket shell. If it still sticks, you’ll need to file welding flash out of the shell. No bottom bracket is too small. It will fit. In the unlikely event you don’t want to mess with it, Mark will mill it out for $15.
9.) Attach the bottom bracket mount very loosely. You may have to use the longer bolts and extra washers if your bottom bracket is closer to 68mm than 74mm’s. No big deal. We’ll tighten this later.
10.) Attaching the secondary mount is the last tricky part. From there on out it is a breeze. I prefer to very lightly thread the mounting bolt to the motor, then run the other bolt through the frame washer and into the secondary mount. You may need to swap things around, but in the rare case it just won’t work, you can use a piece of metal strapping, covered in shrink tube and a shorter mounting bolt. It works amazingly well.
11.) Tighten nut on speed sensor, attach to lead off of motor (only the correct lead will fit…no worries). Zip tie sensor to chain or seat stay as needed (usually Non-drive side chain stay). The magnet goes on the spokes, but there needs to be a 10-15mm gap between the magnet and the arrow on the speed sensor. In order to get enough gap, sometimes you need to use an inside spoke or move the magnet up or down the spoke to get the correct distance from the arrow. Now you can wrap or zip tie any excess wire.
Note: You are 3/4’s done!
12.) Attach the display to the handle bars. On most fairly new bikes you will need no spacer.
13.) Attach the keypad as close to the mount for your left brake as possible. Wrap any excess to the bar or zipvtie to a brake cable to look nice and clean.
14.) Run main cable to motor, but do not attach yet. See how you are going to zip tie it in order to take up excess slack. Sometimes you can wrap it between the stem and display mount. Sometimes you can run it out to wherever you need it along a brake cable and then down to the motor. I like to use small zip ties attaching it as much as possible along the rear brake cable housing. Being creative about hiding the excess cable is the toughest job of all. It is time consuming, but you can always remove and reinstall if you don’t like your first attempt.
15.) Attach your battery bag or battery mount, depending on the style you choose. Run the power cable from the motor up to the battery wire. Remove any excess wire from the motor side. Attach your adapters to match your battery. I also like to make a jumper cable from the battery to the motor wire. It makes removal easiest. I use either XT60 or XT90 connectors. I also use low temp solder adapters to connect them. If you make a mistake, adding some wire is not a big deal. I like to use heat shrink tube or 3/4″ wire loom housing to cover the wires from the end of the motor lead to the battery mount. If you have made all good connections, you will get a small, but scary, spark when you hook it up.
Congratulations. You are ready to program your display and take a test ride (display manual to follow after motor is received).