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Electric Assist Conversion Kits

On road, off road, Mamils, Club rides or just share your routes and tips
redsturgeon
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Re: Electric Assist Conversion Kits

#320238

Postby redsturgeon » June 21st, 2020, 2:10 pm

I don't think any conversion kit with give you style and elan.

I think you have to pay mega bucks for that.

John

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Re: Electric Assist Conversion Kits

#320259

Postby Mike4 » June 21st, 2020, 3:04 pm

Snorvey wrote:I want style....power......and elan.


I don't think any bloke riding a woman's bike fitted with electric-assist, is ever gonna fit that description.

:lol:

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Re: Electric Assist Conversion Kits

#320262

Postby kiloran » June 21st, 2020, 3:18 pm

Snorvey wrote:So the search goes on. Any suggestions are welcome.

Get a wife who doesn't need to be electrically-assisted ( :oops: maybe I should rephrase that!)

--kiloran

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Re: Electric Assist Conversion Kits

#320284

Postby PrincessB » June 21st, 2020, 4:10 pm

Did you wish the conversion to be UK road legal?

The rules seem to be in a state of flux but as a rough guideline they seem to say:
Max boost speed 15MPH - There max be a 10% margin for error, so 16.5MPH then.
Max motor power 250watt
Maximum start from standstill boost to 6MPH (New legislation)

Were one planning on only using the assist offroad, more powerful kit is available from UK stockists at the usual hyper inflated prices. Simiar high power kit is sold from the US for more reasonable prices (Can't comment on quality, longevity etc.)

The offroad kits go up to 1Kw and top out at close to 40MPH though I'm sure a lot of that depends on where the motor is and whether it drives the rear wheel or provides boost from the pedal end.

YouTube has a number of videos that might be of interest. The link is to the Fully Charged show which covers the subject on numerous occasions.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvx3hRDnAxA

B.

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Re: Electric Assist Conversion Kits

#320304

Postby tea42 » June 21st, 2020, 5:45 pm

Bafang make the most popular kits. A mate has done 7500 miles on his commuting. I have an Ortler Bosch powered ebike, its brilliant and enables me to tackle the many very steep hills around here with ease. Without it I would be walking lots of the time. About £600 for a Bafang or £1500 for my high quality German ebike.

Alternative is Whoosh bikes at Southend https://wooshbikes.co.uk/home.html?faro who make very good ebikes at about £1100.

Dont buy a front wheel motor ( skidding and torque steer) or rear wheel motor ( punctures are very awkward) , go for a bottom bracket job.

Pedelec forum is full of advice, but can be confusing.

The recent Which report recommended Bosch but you cant fit one to that bike.

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Re: Electric Assist Conversion Kits

#320393

Postby tea42 » June 22nd, 2020, 10:29 am


tea42
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Re: Electric Assist Conversion Kits

#320411

Postby tea42 » June 22nd, 2020, 11:21 am

Snorvey wrote:Now that looks like fun - and at a pretty reasonable price.

I wonder how it compares to wired systems - I'd have thought there was some loss of power transmitting 'leccy through the air.


Watch the video, theres a cable between the battery and the motor. The whole thing seems fairly unsophisticated to me. Bosch, Shimano etc have torque and speed sensors. There appears to be no control over the level of assist.

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Re: Electric Assist Conversion Kits

#320416

Postby dspp » June 22nd, 2020, 11:37 am

tea42 wrote:
Snorvey wrote:Now that looks like fun - and at a pretty reasonable price.

I wonder how it compares to wired systems - I'd have thought there was some loss of power transmitting 'leccy through the air.


Watch the video, theres a cable between the battery and the motor. The whole thing seems fairly unsophisticated to me. Bosch, Shimano etc have torque and speed sensors. There appears to be no control over the level of assist.


I've read a review of this in ?? Electrek ?? and the torque assist can be set by the handlebar control, provided that you buy the relevant extra control. It looks a very sensible overall package.

regards, dspp

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Re: Electric Assist Conversion Kits

#320433

Postby tea42 » June 22nd, 2020, 1:12 pm

I dont know anything about Decathlons Electric Bikes but, they make really good conventional bikes like the Triban and Rockrider. You also have the might of Decathlon there for any warranty issues provided a Decathlon store is nearby.

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Re: Electric Assist Conversion Kits

#320450

Postby tikunetih » June 22nd, 2020, 2:43 pm

Snorvey wrote:I fancy exploring some of the woodland trails and the unused railway lines around here - there's a great unused railway line between me and the local market town which would be impossible on the Triban, but which is actually a better route than the tarmac cycle path.


I've recently been "underbiking" on trails and singletrack - got a bit hardcore in places - on my "4 seasons" road bike, which I'd temporarily fitted with wider/grippier tyres. Good tyre clearance on my bike allowing me to squeeze in 35mm Panaracer GravelKing SKs. Pretty slow descending, but faster up some of the climbs than the MTBs, which was nice ;)

Image


I'm going to see if I can squeeze these tyres onto an old hybrid and use that for the off-roading instead, save trashing my nice bike, then next year maybe get a cheapo hardtail MTB better suited to the rougher stuff. Still, underbiking - winging it on a bike ostensibly unsuited for the job/terrain - is a laugh, like being a kid again.

For the 'leccy stuff, this site's useful for keeping abreast. NB it's where I saw that mad camper boat thingummy:

https://ebiketips.road.cc/

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Re: Electric Assist Conversion Kits

#320513

Postby tikunetih » June 22nd, 2020, 8:12 pm

Snorvey, I read you can stick a magnet on the crank arm to de-restrict it (the sensor thinks this is the magnet on the wheel, which it uses to measure speed, and with the crank turning slower than the wheel it tricks in into thinking you're travelling beneath the cut-off speed so never dials back the power...).

NB take risks, have fun, post up pictures of you in traction à la Only When I Laugh :lol:

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Re: Electric Assist Conversion Kits

#320678

Postby bungeejumper » June 23rd, 2020, 10:19 am

You gave me a bit of a funny turn, there. I was spinning through this thread and saw what I took to be a pair of spreadeagled wellies careering down a rocky track. You're sure you weren't in Last of the Summer Wine?
tikunetih wrote:Image


BJ

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Re: Electric Assist Conversion Kits

#320743

Postby tea42 » June 23rd, 2020, 1:04 pm

After my lifetime pal, a fellow engineering apprentice, fitted a conversion kit and then junked it I decided to buy a purpose made electric bike. The bike I bought is widely used as a hire bike in Germany and Austria and therefore has a good reputation for reliability and performance. It is a trekking/ touring style bike and comes absolutely complete with mudguards, rack, lights and
stand. It would be fine offroad on smoother bridleways and tracks. It has the most powerful Bosch motor and a 500Wh battery that is removeable for charging and security. I have had it for about a year now and its been ultra reliable and very comfortable. I do about 60 miles a week on it all year round. I bought it because the countryside here is peppered with dozens of 1 in 4 hills that I cant now manage. I still have a conventional tourer that I use for multi day touring trips in Scotland and Northern France. I paid £1500 for the Ortler last year in Bikesters summer sale.

https://www.bikester.co.uk/ortler-bozen ... 01047.html

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Re: Electric Assist Conversion Kits

#320813

Postby dspp » June 23rd, 2020, 4:35 pm

tea42 wrote:After my lifetime pal, a fellow engineering apprentice, fitted a conversion kit

https://www.bikester.co.uk/ortler-bozen ... 01047.html


t42,
Can I ask why conversion kit you bought, and why did you junk it please ?
regards,
dspp

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Re: Electric Assist Conversion Kits

#320861

Postby tea42 » June 23rd, 2020, 7:04 pm

It wasnt me, it was a pal who fitted the front wheel motor to his Raleigh. He found there were dangerous issues with torque steer, slippage and skidding ascending slippery or gravel hills. So, it wasnt a technical or quality problem with the kit, just the front wheel drive concept on that particular bike. I know people with FWD kits fitted and some realise their problems, others just accept the problems because its an inexpensive route to an ebike. I know several folk with Bafang bottom bracket mounted motors who really rate them.

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Re: Electric Assist Conversion Kits

#320932

Postby servodude » June 24th, 2020, 2:08 am

Tried a friend's bafang equipped hybrid bike recently
- mid-drive motor (750W) and the bike came with a link to get a 250W decal from ebay
- it was bought assembled by a local dealer (who looks like he needs a new bottom bracket tool)
- needless to say it's been "liberated" form the legal speed constraint

It's fun I'll grant you that
- but you could feel the motor and battery get noticeably warm though
- and I think that the rest of the bike isn't up to the constant 50km that it will likely be subjected to

Certainly it felt easier to steer than a hub conversion I'd tried previously (due I'm guessing to the added weight being in the same line as mine)

In a different bracket I have tried another friend's Giant Trance E+ 3 Pro and the next time he lets me near it he'll have his job cut out trying to get it back

- sd

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Re: Electric Assist Conversion Kits

#320969

Postby dspp » June 24th, 2020, 10:00 am

servodude wrote:Certainly it felt easier to steer than a hub conversion I'd tried previously (due I'm guessing to the added weight being in the same line as mine)

- sd


= It is likely primarily the torque steer issue, not the weight itself.

tea42 wrote:It wasnt me, it was a pal who fitted the front wheel motor to his Raleigh. He found there were dangerous issues with torque steer, slippage and skidding ascending slippery or gravel hills. So, it wasnt a technical or quality problem with the kit, just the front wheel drive concept on that particular bike. I know people with FWD kits fitted and some realise their problems, others just accept the problems because its an inexpensive route to an ebike. I know several folk with Bafang bottom bracket mounted motors who really rate them.


= Thank you t42, food for thought. Do you happen to know what motor rating (W) it was.

regards, dspp

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Re: Electric Assist Conversion Kits

#321012

Postby tea42 » June 24th, 2020, 11:52 am

The kit my friend had was Cyclotricity, it was a 250w motor. He says they are a very good company, helpful and easy to communicate with.

https://www.cyclotricity.com/uk/

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Re: Electric Assist Conversion Kits

#321037

Postby dspp » June 24th, 2020, 12:43 pm

tea42 wrote:The kit my friend had was Cyclotricity, it was a 250w motor. He says they are a very good company, helpful and easy to communicate with.

https://www.cyclotricity.com/uk/


thanks, dspp


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