I've been riding a Sparta r10i for the last two weeks dong 18miles a day including living at the top of crystal palace hill and its been amazing. The list of features is outstanding, it's super robust, extremely comfortable and a wonderful piece of engineering. But... it's not what i'm used too. The Sparta has an upright riding position, (I usually ride a drop-bar road bike), I can't do more than 20mph on the flat without power (my old normal bike is lightweight with 24mph as my top speed). Also I have maintained and rebuilt my own bikes for the last 20 years and with the Sparta it's not really designed to be tinkered with, and is more of dealer maintenance thing. But.... i have fallen in love with electric bikes.. so now i want to build one that is like my road bike but, fast at the lights, can go up steep hills and if i'm feeling lazy, can power me home.
I have a couple of old road bikes in the garage (a r400 80's alu. cannondale, and a 90's hybrid alu. Claud Butler). Both are fairly trashed and need full chainset replacements, but would work as lightweight bases.
I require:
- lightweight so i'm not super slow unassisted
- 20 miles range being lazy, 50 miles working the bike.
- 20mph with power (but 15.5mph on public roads of course)
- Gears (I found i get 30% more battery if i use gears at lights) - would like a alfine, would love a belt drive.
- Quick off at the lights (using pedal assist, rather than a throttle, as i need hands free to work the gears)
- Stealth, don't steal me from a urban street (but i still have insurance) - 1) battery & display has to be removable (or have no display as i don't see the need for it apart to check battery and select power level). 2) Battery needs to be a bottle or on the rear rack type, dolphin batteries are too obvious. 3) the controller needs to be integrated/hidden. 4) is quiet-ish.
- Not all weight is at the rear (I like batteries on the rear rack, but when combined with a rear hub, rear wheel skids are far too easy when suddenly braking.
Confusion:
- Is a front hub bad? Friends have said that a front hub is the worst of the three ront/rear hub or mid-drive choices, due to lack of traction, particularly on hills?
- Are there any hub drives that make it ok to change a flat tire by the side of the road, have people found that rims with hub drives buckle or require more tru'ing?
- Are hub drives more efficient?
- Are there any other recommended mid-drivs apart from the 8fun. These look interesting? Pendix or Bikee Bike or Binova Flow
Any advice please?
I have a couple of old road bikes in the garage (a r400 80's alu. cannondale, and a 90's hybrid alu. Claud Butler). Both are fairly trashed and need full chainset replacements, but would work as lightweight bases.
I require:
- lightweight so i'm not super slow unassisted
- 20 miles range being lazy, 50 miles working the bike.
- 20mph with power (but 15.5mph on public roads of course)
- Gears (I found i get 30% more battery if i use gears at lights) - would like a alfine, would love a belt drive.
- Quick off at the lights (using pedal assist, rather than a throttle, as i need hands free to work the gears)
- Stealth, don't steal me from a urban street (but i still have insurance) - 1) battery & display has to be removable (or have no display as i don't see the need for it apart to check battery and select power level). 2) Battery needs to be a bottle or on the rear rack type, dolphin batteries are too obvious. 3) the controller needs to be integrated/hidden. 4) is quiet-ish.
- Not all weight is at the rear (I like batteries on the rear rack, but when combined with a rear hub, rear wheel skids are far too easy when suddenly braking.
Confusion:
- Is a front hub bad? Friends have said that a front hub is the worst of the three ront/rear hub or mid-drive choices, due to lack of traction, particularly on hills?
- Are there any hub drives that make it ok to change a flat tire by the side of the road, have people found that rims with hub drives buckle or require more tru'ing?
- Are hub drives more efficient?
- Are there any other recommended mid-drivs apart from the 8fun. These look interesting? Pendix or Bikee Bike or Binova Flow
Any advice please?
Last edited: