An E-Kit & A Giant CRS Alliance?

[Graeme]

Hi all, really appreciate this forum.
I'm looking at various possibility of, 'going Electric' and this is one of them.

I have a Giant CRS Alliance, XL size, it's in great condition and I think the frame is 70% carbon.

CRS ALLIANCE (2009) - Bikes | Giant Bicycles | UK / Ireland

Would there be any issues with this bike that would prevent me from fitting a kit like the Dahub or other?

Please Don't get all technical on me,
Please Don't tell me what kit is the 'best' in the world!
But please feel free to recommend a kit, all price brackets considered.

I'd really appreciate your input on the question, 'can it be done with this bike, and, is it a good idea or not?'

thanks

Graeme

 

[Graeme]

Sorry that should be Daahub.
Just carrying on the tradition of misspelling all things related to WHisper bikes ;-)

 

[Scottyf]

Simple answer will be yes.
You can fit a kit to this bike. However making sure it has all the right mounting points for a rack etc make's life easier.

You can fit kits to any bike. However having a bike that is commuter / rack / mudguards ready makes life alot easier to buying a kit and doing a Bolt on job.

 

[flecc]

One thing I'm a little nervous about is if the bike has carbon forks. Any failure in carbon is sudden without warning, and having a front hub motor adds forward pulling stresses a fork was never intended to have.

It will probably be ok, but I cannot be certain the front will not set off on it's own one day.

 

[Scottyf]

It is a very nice bike. It seems a bit of a shame to add electric to though.
As Flecc has explained if you do want to go down the kit route probably best to go for a rear motor.

 

[Graeme]

One thing I'm a little nervous about is if the bike has carbon forks. Any failure in carbon is sudden without warning, and having a front hub motor adds forward pulling stresses a fork was never intended to have.

It will probably be ok, but I cannot be certain the front will not set off on it's own one day.

Thanks flecc (!'m shaking in my boots just thinking about that)
Thanks scottyf

I see! well that's settles that...

A rear mounted motor sounds too complicated for me to tackle.
Sounds like I'd need to get it fitted by someone.
Could anyone recommend a rear motor kit, are they more expensive than a front motor?

I think I may prefer the ready 'made variety'...

 

[flecc]

As Scottty says, a rear hub motor would get round a fear of fork failure, but I don't think you'd be very happy with that solution. The trouble is that rear hub motors cannot use the cassette sprocket clusters and have to use multi-sprocket freewheels instead, so your Tiagra gearset would never be the same. Multi-sprocket freewheels are nothing like the quality of your cassette cluster, the range of choice is very limited and you would reduce the number of gears from 27 to somewhere between 18 and 24, depending on the motor width.

I too think a bike of that quality could easily be spoiled in a number of ways with an added electric kit.

N.B. Crossed with Graeme's last post.

 

[Scottyf]

Oh yes forgot about the gearset cluster!
You can retro fit a hyper / super glide hub to it though. But again your really heading down the route of alot of faffing and expense.

You'd really be better off getting a cheaper made bike as generally becasue of the way electric power assist's you, your not putting as much stress on parts and don't need nearly as many gears or highly strung parts.

Get an older Rigid steel bike would be perfect ;-)


Proabably best to ask you what you intend to use the bike for electric wise rather than keeping to suggestions that may not apply...

 

[NRG]

Aldby (cyclezee) can apparently offer 9 speed eZee rear motor install so quality aside it may be an option, he can also perform the install.



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[Graeme]

Thanks everyone, you've helped be decide that this is not what I want to do.
The Wisper Alpino is the front runner at the moment.
Anyone want to buy a very nice Giant CRA?

 

[Scottyf]

What size frame is it? I guess being an XL it will be a 21inch Frame?

I'd like to get a super light bike or even a fixie at the moment to play around with while in the city...

 

[Cyclezee]

Thanks flecc (!'m shaking in my boots just thinking about that)
Thanks scottyf

I see! well that's settles that...

A rear mounted motor sounds too complicated for me to tackle.
Sounds like I'd need to get it fitted by someone.
Could anyone recommend a rear motor kit, are they more expensive than a front motor?

I think I may prefer the ready 'made variety'...

Hi Graeme,

An eZee 700c rear wheel kit would be a viable solution and an installtion service is available should you require it.

If you supply me with an email address via PM or links below, I can send you the installation guide so that you can see what is involved.

 

[Graeme]

Scottyf its a 22 inch frame.
Cyclezee, I've decided to go for an E-Bike rather than a kit, but thanks for the offer.

 

[kitchenman]

Thanks everyone, you've helped be decide that this is not what I want to do.
The Wisper Alpino is the front runner at the moment.
Anyone want to buy a very nice Giant CRA?

Nice bike.. You may want to consider a front hub like mine which is 180w. Gives a gentle assist and is probably less likley to stress out your carbon forks. Be interested to hear what Flecc thinks ...

 

[Cyclezee]

Good luck Graeme,

Nice bike you have there.
The best advice, if no one is given it already, is to try as many bikes as possible before making a decision. Even if you have to do a bit of travelling to take test rides, reviews are great, but there is no substitute for a personal trial