Freedom E-Bikes User manual
Freedom E-Bikes Owners Manual
Electric Bicycles that will transform the way you travel
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© 2011 Freedom E-Bikes Owners Manual v. 1.1
Electric Bicycles that will transform the way you travel
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Specic exclusions from normal use are:
• Carrying excess load – more than 130kg in total mass (bi-
cycle, rider & luggage)
• Incorrect installation of the system
• Use of any third party electrical component (motor, control-
ler, battery, throttle etc)
• Failure to comply with instructions in this manual
• Failure to attend to regular maintenance & routine checks
or to take action in response to indications of impending
failure (eg loose components, accident or impact)
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Battery failure means that the battery no longer has sucient
charge to propel the bike or has suered more than a 30% loss
of capacity within the rst 3 months of normal use or more
than 60% loss within the rst 6 months of normal use.
e rider must pedal whenever the motor is in use.
e battery pack must be disconnected from the controller
once you are nished riding.
Once the battery does not have enough charge to power the
motor under load, the battery pack must be immediately
disconnected from the controller and then recharged at the
earliest opportunity.
e battery pack should be disconnected from the charger
once the green “full charge” light comes on.
e controller and battery must be enclosed within a bag at-
tached to the bike and should not be directly attached to the
bike.
e kit, including battery has not suered physical impact or
other physical or electrical damage (incl short circuit).
When total weight of rider + bike and luggage (incl trailer)
exceeds 120kg two battery packs are used in parallel
Total weight of rider + bike and luggage (incl trailer) does not
exceed 150kg.
Guidelines For Normal Use
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Contents
Introduction....................................................................4
About Freedom E-Bikes ................................................4
Introduction to the Kit ..................................................5
Simple Instructions on Installation & Use..................6
Installing on Narrow Fork Bikes ..................................7
Notes on Use of Your Kit...............................................9
Battery Use Guidelines ................................................12
Warranty........................................................................13
Guidelines For Normal Use ........................................14
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ank you for choosing a Freedom E-Bikes kit to convert
your bike to an E-Bike (electric motor assisted bike). When
tted and used correctly in accordance with this manual, the
Freedom E-Bikes system will transform the way you travel.
Please read this manual carefully to get the best performance
and life out of your Freedom E-Bike.
Freedom E-Bikes has developed the world’s lightest e-bike kit
supporting virtually any bicycle, including folding bikes like
Brompton and Dahon. e patented kit turns your bike into a
freedom machine that makes even the steepest hills feel like a
gentle incline. Our solution uses custom developed nanotech-
nology battery packs that are more powerful than any other
ebike battery on the market, yet is smaller, lighter and faster to
charge.
Freedom E-Bikes gets you to your destination quicker, cheaper,
tter and greener than any other transport option. We sell our
kits worldwide from the high tech centre of the world – Israel.
About Freedom E-Bikes
Introduction
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Kit Warranty
All kits carry a 12 month guarantee: if any part of our kit fails
within the rst 12 months in normal use - we will replace it
free of charge except for shipping costs.
As our kit is modular its easy to replace parts.
In all cases the faulty part(s) must be returned to us or our
dealer.
In addition if you’re not happy with your kit we’ll allow you
to return it within 2 months of purchase and get your money
back (excluding shipping and installation costs).
Please note that installation of any bicycle electric assist kit
may adversely impact on the manufacturer’s warranty for the
bicycle itself.
Battery Warranty
If a battery pack fails in normal use in the rst 12 months we
will replace it free of charge, except for shipping costs.
If a battery pack fails in normal use in the second 12 months
we will replace it for 40% of the current retail standalone price
plus shipping costs.
In both cases the original battery must be returned to us or
our dealer.
Please note that as with all electronic devices including mobile
phones and laptops, batteries are a consumable item and will
suer loss of eciency over their lifetime.
Warranty
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e cells used in the Freedom E-Bikes battery pack are sup-
plied fully charged and balanced and should not require
regular cell balancing if the following guidelines (“battery use
guidelines”) are followed:
• total load (bike, rider & luggage) does not exceed 105kg
with one battery pack or 120kg with two battery packs
wired in parallel.
• e rider pedals with at least moderate eort whenever the
motor is engaged.
• e motor is only engaged once the bike is moving.
• Battery packs are recharged immediately aer use.
• e rider ceases to use the battery (and either replaces or
recharges it) once it is discharged to the point where the
motor starts to cut out under load.
If battery packs are used outside of the above guidelines you
should perform cell balancing using the two white balancing
connectors on the battery pack
Occasional cell balancing will extend cell life and improve
performance.
Balancing Battery Packs
e batteries can be balanced where necessary with a char-
ger balancer combination specically designed to charge &
balance 12 LiFe A123 cells (eg. MegaPower Innity 960SR or
Hyperion EOS0610I Duo II-Dual Port).
Battery Use Guidelines
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e Freedom E-Bikes conversion kit consists of 5 components:
battery, motor, throttle, controller, and charger. e kit is in-
tended for installation by the customer or bike shop.
e kit is plug and play and the parts interconnect like this:
(iPhone not included )
Introduction to the Kit
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For bikes with standard 100mm forks installation is very
simple:
1. Just t the motorised wheel to the bike (cable exiting from
the le as you sit on the bike). Ensure that the axle (with
straight edges) ts snugly into fork and that the axle can’t
turn or move in the fork drop-out. Make sure you t the
torque washer with the lug tting into the hole on the fork.
2. Install the throttle on the right handlebar by using a hex
screw to loosen and then tightening when tted.
3. e battery and controller go in a front or center mounted
bag.
4. Connect the red plugs (sparking is normal) and the big
black plugs together and notice that the red, yellow and
green lights on the throttle light up. You’re good to go.
5. When you’ve nished riding or when the battery is low
(green light does not stay lit) plug the charger into the
mains and connect the battery using the red plugs. e
battery has no memory and does not need to be fully dis-
charged. It is advisable to disconnect the battery once its
fully charged
Simple Instructions on Installation & Use
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NB: e controller cuts o the motor once the battery volt-
age drops to 30V However, the controller continues to draw a
small amount of current regardless of whether its connected to
the motor or not and if le connected for a prolonged pe-
riod of time (several hours or more), it may drain the battery
completely, eectively rendering it useless. For this reason we
recommend disconnecting the battery from the controller
whenever its not in use.
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gear at a good speed up the hill.
Whenever you stop and get o the bike, disconnect the black
plugs so an accidental or curious turn of the throttle will not
turn the front wheel. is will protect you and others.
Whenever you leave the bike disconnect the red plugs to pre-
vent the battery discharging. We recommend you take the bag
with the battery and controller with you. is means they are
more secure and can be charged in a safe, convenient environ-
ment, perhaps while you work, have lunch or even coee.
Care & Feeding of Battery Packs
Freedom E-Bikes battery packs use the latest in lithium ion
cells with nano-technology to provide superior performance
and safety to traditional lithium cells.
e battery pack has 2 types of connectors:
• Red (female) main power connector – connects to control-
ler & charger
• Two white balancing connectors for occasional balancing of
cells.
e battery packs should only be charged with the battery
charger provided or a specialised charger described below.
Each battery pack is 91Whrs (“watt hours”) which means
its below the 100Whr limit for transport of lithium batteries
under IATA and ADR transport regulations. is means you
can take your Freedom E-Bike kit on an airplane or transport
it by courier.
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For bikes with a narrow fork (75mm-80mm), such as Bromp-
ton, Dahon, do the following:
First check to see whether the bike’s front fork needs to be
modied (eg Brompton, Dahon).
It may be necessary to stretch the fork moderately to accom-
modate the wider hub of the motor, as well as to widen the
actual dropouts to accommodate the thicker axle (eg. Bromp-
tons).
1. Widening the dropouts is best done with a power tool
such as a Dremel or even with a hand le (although much
slower). First establish how much needs to be ground away
by measuring the axle against the dropouts and then slowly
grind/le away the dropouts evenly on each side until the
required width is achieved and the torque washer is able to
t in snugly.
2. Using a a 100-110mm screw and a couple of nuts and wash-
ers, slowly turn the screws against the fork thus forcing
them apart.
3. Once the screw is removed, the fork will spring back. You
will need to chock the fork with a piece of wood or some-
thing before removing the screw.
4. Fit the wheel into the fork with the cable on the le hand
side of the wheel as you sit on the bike. Make sure you t
the torque washer with the lug tting into the hole on the
Installing on Narrow Fork Bikes
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fork.
5. (Brompton Only) With the wheel tted, the tricky part is
getting the hook in place due to the thicker axle. Short of
bending the hook around the axle, it might be easier to
grind/le out the inner part of the hook until it ts snugly
around the axle. e cable should pass back through the
hook thus keeping it secure and out of the way.
6. With the wheel in place, simply slide the throttle onto the
handle bar and fasten with the hex screw under the indica-
tor lights. You may need to cut o the existing handle bar
cover if its glued on.
7. Place the battery/controller unit together in the rear pocket
of your carrier bag. Connect the plugs and you’re o.
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e Freedom E-Bikes kit is designed to be used to assist pedal-
ing and not as the only source of motive power.
Riding Style – Tips on getting best range.
e best way to use the Freedom E-Bikes kit is to use it to ac-
celerate to cruising speed (20-25kmph) faster and with less ef-
fort and to maintain speed and use less eort, when riding up
hills. If you ride slower than cruising speed and use the motor
all the time you will get less range from your battery.
When starting o, pedal normally and twist the throttle at the
same time. You’ll notice signicant assistance at lower speeds
which should allow you to accelerate quickly to cruising speed.
Once you’re at cruising speed release the throttle and you’ll
notice that the motor is no longer providing power. You may
notice a slight drop in resistance. en ride normally until the
next restart or hill.
Its best to ride in the higher gears on your bike so that you are
putting in a reasonable amount of eort yourself and not hav-
ing the motor do all the work.
As you approach a hill ride normally until you begin to slow
below cruising speed and then instead of dropping down the
gears just twist the throttle and you can keep riding in high
Notes on Use of Your Kit
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