Karon commented that we rarely ride the Cannondale anymore and I had to agree. While it’s fine on the flat, we now struggle on anything over a gentle gradient and it’s been putting us off taking it out. I had a ‘spare’ Bafang BBS01 250W motor in the shed and an old 36V battery that still has a bit of life in it, so I decided to see if I could fit it on to the ‘Dale.
Useful videos
Some good points on this one and it talks about alternative chainrings.
Points to note fitting a BBS01/2 – Note that the supplied brake levers with sensors are only suitable for hybrids and MTBs with cable brakes, not road bikes with drop bars. Sensors to fit non-standard or hydraulic levers can be bought separately. Personally, I am ok with not using brake sensors and fitting them neatly to road levers would be a challenge. The motor will still operate without brake sensors/levers fitted. It’s quite easy to ride without the sensors… if you want to stop the motor, just stop pedalling.
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It was actually pretty straightforward on our Cannondale but this is the fourth fitting of a BBS01 I have done. I first needed to remove the original stoker’s chainset and front derailleur – as shown in the videos. Once this was done the Bafang motor and integrated bottom bracket slides in from the drive-side. The cable guide under the BB made it tight but I used a rubber mallet to drift the motor into place and the rear gear cable was still free to move.
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The original Cannondale BB was an ISIS drive and the Bafang is a square taper (diamond) as can be seen above and in the picture of the cranks below. The drive side uses the right hand crank that comes with the motor. On a solo the left hand crank would also be used, but on a tandem with left side timing chain, the stoker’s left crank may need replacing with a square taper crank and spider for the timing chain unless the original BB is also a square taper. I ordered a left hand tandem crank from Spa Cycles, square taper, black, 5 arm, similar to the unchanged pilot’s timing chain crank/spider, but the replacement spider was 110 bcd and the old spider was 104 bcd, so I also had to buy a 42T 5 hole 110 bcd chainring to fit the new crank/spider.
![](https://www.bendingtherules.co.uk/home/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/s-l1200.jpg)
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While I had the motor and a spare throttle, I didn’t have the wiring harness or display so those were ordered from Amazon. I like the DPC18 display – I have one on my MTB – as it carries more information and has a USB outlet. The Bafang BBS01 and 02 motors are very common, so there are lots of spares available on Amazon and eBay.
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11-36. That enables us to keep the top end the same while extending the bottom end of the gear range. Having the motor means there’s less need for very low gearing.
Chain alignment isn’t really an issue when swapping out a triple chain-ring for a single Bafang one.
![](https://www.bendingtherules.co.uk/home/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/P1050140-1024x768.jpg)
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I decided not to try adding brake sensors. I had them on an MTB but removed them after a while and found I hadn’t needed them. Generally, when you brake, you stop pedalling, and if you stop pedalling, the motor stops powering, so the sensors to cut power are almost redundant anyway and the extra cables etc. are just clutter.
The cheap plastic accessory clamp I used to hold the control buttons and throttle, bought from Amazon. The ‘T’ section pulls out, leaving the clamp and tube, which I cut down to the length needed for the controls.
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Our first ride was short and all felt ok, but I wasn’t completely happy with the controls and throttle next to the stem. A second, longer ride confirmed that it was a little shaky trying to use the throttle to pull away at a junction, so on returning, I moved them next to the hoods.
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Here’s a video showing how to fit the rivnuts into place. The guy’s voice is a little annoying but the method is good.
While the zip-ties to hold the battery mount in place worked ok, I didn’t like the look of the ties wrapped around the frame, so I removed the mount and put three rivnuts into the frame.
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