Converting my dad’s 45 year old bike with a Bafang BBS01 mid-drive kit

So brand new in about 1979, it looked like this.


After many years of care by Dad and being abused (by my brother and me) as it was stored in front of the garden toys, Dad gave me his bike when he bought himself an e-bike.

By then the paintwork was quite sad with surface rust and with 27” (630mm ISO) wheels, it was quite hard to find a wide range of tires.

I spent far too much on getting the frame stripped, adding and removing braze-on’s, adding a rack to the frame and then resprayed.

I got some smaller wheels (27.5”) made up to allow larger tyres. Yes 27” is smaller than 27.5” but bike wheel sizing is stupid, Sheldon has a good article on wheel sizes.

This bike is supposed to be my car, so I’ve installed a road legal Bafang BBS01 e-bike kit.

Unfortunately, with those changes, most of the components aren’t compatible. The Weinmann centrepulls have been replaced with tektro 559 long reach dual pivot brakes to allow greater tyre clearance.

The Huret 2x5 gearing has been replaced with a 1x8 Shimano Claris system because the motor only has space for one chainring.

The headset was changed due to wear and the motor has a built in bottom bracket.

This means that the original components are the frame, cranks and mudguards. (Dad grabbed the saddle for his new bike.

Nice work. I've got a 40-year old first-generation mountain bike that I'm eyeing up for this sort of conversion...it's still my dailyish trusty steed and electrifying it would future-proof my transport options.

I went with the 48V to keep current and therefore heat low.

I previously had a hub drive and wore through the rim by braking. The cost of getting the rim replaced is not far off the cost of new wheel with motor.

I think mid-drive is the more sustainable long term option, it certainly handles better.

You don’t happen to want some e-bike parts and know someone flying from UK to NZ?

I’ve got 3 spare e-bike brake levers, 2 throttles, 2 control units as well as a load of left hand cranks, a huret rear derailleur, huret front derailleur, huret downtube band mount gear shift, weinmann centrepull brakes and the wheels if anyone wants them?