Help! Tech Townie Electra 7 speed step through

[Eljimb0]

Hello, I bought a Tech Townie 'electra' 7 speed ...step through. It was once stolen and stripped. I have piece by piece put it back together. I am into it about 400 bucks (and a lot of time) The battery is still missing, and the price of the "factory replacement" is a deal breaker. I intended to build my own battery but it seems the esc responsibilities are shared by the factory battery pack and the esc look alike that mounts to the bike. I'm inclined to find an aftermarket (bafang or whatever speed control.. and go back to making the battery pack myself. Is pedal assist torque sensor going to work or am I digging a deeper rathole to get lost in. What I really need is a dead factory battery .. good luck finding one here in Hawaii Thanks in advance

 

[Deleted member 4845]

Controller, not an esc.

Support for torque sensors is NOT AT ALL universal, and can be specific to brand of sensor.

A Controller and throttle that supports your motor Should be fairly easy to find.

 

[solliex]

Hello, I bought a Tech Townie 'electra' 7 speed ...step through. It was once stolen and stripped. I have piece by piece put it back together. I am into it about 400 bucks (and a lot of time) The battery is still missing, and the price of the "factory replacement" is a deal breaker. I intended to build my own battery but it seems the esc responsibilities are shared by the factory battery pack and the esc look alike that mounts to the bike. I'm inclined to find an aftermarket (bafang or whatever speed control.. and go back to making the battery pack myself. Is pedal assist torque sensor going to work or am I digging a deeper rathole to get lost in. What I really need is a dead factory battery .. good luck finding one here in Hawaii Thanks in advance

It seems Bosch has a computer in each of the battery, the controller and the display and they all work together No aftermarket e-battery repair center would touch Bosch batteries for this reason. I wound up buying a Bosch battery off of REI because you get a 10% member discount. I own two electric Townie go’s, They are eight speed Shimano internal hub. It’s very expensive to replace the mechanism if you have such hub.

 

[Deleted member 4845]

Didn't know you had Bosch equipment. Yeah, you are screwed.

You can replace the battery, controller, and display, that should get around their crap, on their mid-drive models the controller is inside the motor and more difficult to replace.

Avoid such proprietary systems at all costs. Cause COST is what they give you. This is why Bionx failed, or one of the reasons. Great product, bad strategy.

 

[Jeffb]

Your right. But I still bought a bosch system. It's just that how bosch operates is amazing. The integration of their torque sensors, battery control, display system, rear internal rolhoff hub and motor is by far better than any other motor. Too me. I also have bafang stuff I also like because I can do what I want with it. I'm a super techie. I repair bosch and Garmin flight systems on aircraft. I can appreciate how much effort is put into the design of boschs ebike systems. Kills me that I can't get into the code.

 

[Eljimb0]

I eventually replaced all of the missing pieces with factory parts. It was ridiculously expensive. One wire 2ft long cost 110 bucks. I made a good friend at my local bike store. Without their help this whole project would have been passed on to some other victim. The bike is terrific and having it has made our life (me and my sweetie) more fun. Since it was finished I rescued a 'Specialized Roll Elite' and did a proper conversion

 

[HumanPerson]

I eventually replaced all of the missing pieces with factory parts. It was ridiculously expensive. One wire 2ft long cost 110 bucks. I made a good friend at my local bike store. Without their help this whole project would have been passed on to some other victim. The bike is terrific and having it has made our life (me and my sweetie) more fun. Since it was finished I rescued a 'Specialized Roll Elite' and did a proper conversionView attachment 12863

Sweet!

 

[solliexx]

I also own 2 electric Townie Go, one a step thru. They both have internal 8 speed Hub. They have a total of 8,000 miles together. Had to replace one 8 spd Hub, and it cost me $300 or so replacing with New tire of course. They have been much fun. I own 4 other bosch system bikes and had 2 batteries replaced under warranty. Yes REI great place to buy an xtra batter with their 20% discount offered at times as well as there 10% member reward.

 

[Smaug]

Good story. What is your locking scheme now, compared to what it was before?
We frequently argue here as to how much lock is enough vs. practical to carry vs. price for bikes & locks.

 

[Eljimb0]

The battery in the 'townie" sleeps inside the house at night. The bike is chained to the ground behind the garage. The 'specialized conversion' has a similar at home setup. Out in the world the grocery store bike rack gets used with a cable and a good homeowners insurance policy... What else can you do? I worry about the lawn mower batteries on the conversion though ...they just slide out with a click. I haven't figured out an elegant solution to keeping them on the bike when I am away. I'll figure it out. .