Converting my Dawes Sonoran to an E-bike. Part 1

With the box of bits ready to go, and the bike indoors to make work easier through the winter I started the conversion.

The first thing was to take the opportunity to replace the tyres with a set of new Continental Town Ride Reflexes with reflective sidewalls (to go nicely with my Provis Reflect 360+ Jacket !) and at the same time fit new rim tape and tubes.

With its new tyre fitted, the replacement front motor wheel drops neatly into the dropouts. The axle is flattened to ensure it cannot rotate (so that the hub motor "drives" the wheel) and there is a "tabbed" washer to support this. It is important that this "tab" goes into the dropout last as the wheel does not sit neatly in the dropout if it is inserted first.

The torque from the rotation of the hub motor means that the axle can spin out of the drop outs - or even "spread" the dropouts over time especially with aluminium forks. On way to prevent this is with the fitting of a torque arm but the supplied version did not suit my forks so I will need to order a different version to suit my aging RST Forks.

I have also decided to replace the standard "bottle" battery for an upgraded version. As well as a slightly higher capacity,  this battery has the advantage of a "clip in" fitment where the standard version has a screw in connector. Panda e-Bikes have continued to be highly responsive to email queries and the new battery should be with me in the week to allow me to continue the conversion next weekend.

In the meantime, here's the hub motor wheel loosely installed in the front forks awaiting the arrival of the new torque arm.