Best complete kit for hybrid bike

Bablefish

Finding my (electric) wheels
Jul 13, 2017
18
0
61
Falkirk
After looking through the various threads where this question has been asked before, I am still no further forward.

I'm looking to convert a Dawes Tanami with a 250w front hub kit with a rack battery.

I want to buy a complete kit from 1 place, not bits and pieces for various places.

It appears there are 4 main options, Cyclotricity, Panda, Woosh and Dillenger.

Can anyone give me some pointers as to which kit is best and why.
 

John L

Esteemed Pedelecer
Nov 23, 2007
287
6
After looking through the various threads where this question has been asked before, I am still no further forward.

I'm looking to convert a Dawes Tanami with a 250w front hub kit with a rack battery.

I want to buy a complete kit from 1 place, not bits and pieces for various places.

It appears there are 4 main options, Cyclotricity, Panda, Woosh and Dillenger.

Can anyone give me some pointers as to which kit is best and why.
I'm in the same boat:) it's a bit quiet today on the forum (Maybe all out on the ebikes!). I'm sure the guys will give u good advice. J

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D

Deleted member 4366

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There is no definition of best. What's best to eat for your lunch today? Is it roast beef and vegetables or should it be chicken curry or maybe fish and chips? Of course none of them are suitable if you're a vegetarian. Some people prefer not to eat red meat, others can't stand the smell of fish and others have to watch their calories - perhaps just a mushroom omelette then.
 
D

Deleted member 4366

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OK, let's make it easier. for that Dawes bike, you need a cassette motor if you want a rear one. The front forks don't look particularly strong at the bottom and there's other problems fitting a front motor correctly. Check the forks with a magnet. if it sticks, you can fit a front motor, otherwise go to a rear or central one. Those constraints will limit your choice.

All other things being equal, get a system that has an LCD. Generally, Kunteng controllers give the nicest control for hub-motors. Cyclotricity and Panda, usually have those controllers. I'm not sure about Dillenger, but Woosh use Lishui.
 

Bablefish

Finding my (electric) wheels
Jul 13, 2017
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61
Falkirk
Best for me is a complete kit that will work on my bike, relatively easy to fit and not fail after a couple of months.

I went and visited the cyclotricity dealer in Edinburgh today and he was as much use as a chocolate teapot.

Not very helpful and too busy on his computer to be of much help.

One thing he did say was I would need to upgrade to disk brakes. Is this really necessary.

I also want the magnetic brake sensors as the bike has Shimano Deore combined brake/gear levers.
 
D

Deleted member 4366

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Disc brakes are not necessarily necessary, but, given the choice, I'd always have them on an electric bike.
 

Nealh

Esteemed Pedelecer
Aug 7, 2014
19,994
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West Sx RH
Woosh kits are pretty reliable and easy to fit. You will need either the Mxus or SWX02 cst versions for 250w, for hills you will need a low wound hub so ideally 201/230rpm . The King meter lcd displays are simple and no operating parameters to change, you can change the mph, reset the trip and change the time. KM LCD is small and compact I like them.
They have 5 assist levels, I found 1 useless, 2 had all the power and speed needed for every day use 3,4 & 5 for when you need more torque/amps for hills climbing. The sine wave controller should make the motors run quietly an improvement on my unsensored BPM which is a bit noisy.
 

Bablefish

Finding my (electric) wheels
Jul 13, 2017
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From a quick look on the Woosh site, it looks like they do not do a front 250w kit in 700c size.

What are cyclotricity and panda kits like, is the quality ok?
 

John L

Esteemed Pedelecer
Nov 23, 2007
287
6
Try and avoid a front kit if you can.
Are they really that bad d8veh? My old conversion had a front motor and I was really happy with it (while it worked!).

I know traction isn't the same as a rear motor but where I live there aren't too many really steep hills. It felt balanced - I had a rack battery.

I'm tempted to get another one as I wouldn't have to make any major changes to the bike. Forks are 100mm with 10mm dropouts so it should fit well - I hope!


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D

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They're not that bad, but you have to mindful of whether your forks and drop-outs are strong enough. the other thing is the shape of the drop-outs, especially those with dimples or lugs to retain the wheel if it comes loose. If you know what you're doing. it's no problem. you don't have any of those problems with a rear motor, so, given the choice, it's difficult to argue against a rear one.
 

John L

Esteemed Pedelecer
Nov 23, 2007
287
6
Fair point. I'm having difficulty sourcing a rear cassette motor with 700c rim. I'm waiting to hear from Andrew about an oxydrive.

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John L

Esteemed Pedelecer
Nov 23, 2007
287
6
Sorry bablefish I didn't intend to hijack this thread but I thought I think its a similar issue.

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D

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Fair point. I'm having difficulty sourcing a rear cassette motor with 700c rim. I'm waiting to hear from Andrew about an oxydrive.

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I don't know if Oxydrive are continuing. I know Andrew ran down his stock and he put aside some kits for spares. I think he's concentrating on his CNC business now. They're good kits if you can get one though.
 

John L

Esteemed Pedelecer
Nov 23, 2007
287
6
I don't know if Oxydrive are continuing. I know Andrew ran down his stock and he put aside some kits for spares. I think he's concentrating on his CNC business now. They're good kits if you can get one though.
Ah that would explain it. Pity I didn't follow up last October when I first emailed him. Website says he has the cst model in stock but maybe he's not maintaining the site anymore.


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Woosh

Trade Member
May 19, 2012
19,407
16,387
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wooshbikes.co.uk
Hi John,

My stock list says that we should have front BPM in 700C but I could not find them yesterday.
The trouble is they are boxed in the same cartons as the 650B wheels.
Will have another look today.
 
D

Deleted member 4366

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Hang on. A front BPM at 20A in 700c forks can be dodgy. John, can we be a bit clearer about what you actually have. Maybe a photo of your bike, the forks and a close up of the drop-outs without the wheel in would be useful. This thread was about fitting a kit to a Dawes Tanami. I don't think I'd want to fit a heavy BPM motor in the front of one of those. The problem is that you've made a lot of artificial constraints, which are now driving you to fit something less than ideal for reasons unknown. Surely, it would be better to reassess those constraints so that you can fit something that you'd be happy with.

Anything can be done regarding fitting kits. I've fitted a BPM to front forks about 6 times. eventually 3 broke the dropouts for whatever reason. Only one of those resulted in a face-plant. For a motor like a BPM, I'd only fit it in steel forks now. You can get steel forks on Ebay from about £30. They can give you the opportunity to fit a disc brake too if you don't already have one.
 

John L

Esteemed Pedelecer
Nov 23, 2007
287
6
Thanks d8veh for those words of caution. I'll post a picture on my thread about a lapierre 229 raid my (2014 model). I should have kept my discussion to that thread.

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Woosh

Trade Member
May 19, 2012
19,407
16,387
Southend on Sea
wooshbikes.co.uk
John,

I have rear BPM in 700C but only front SWX in 700C in stock.
Costwise, it's the same price as the XF08C kit.
The SWX is legal 250W but not as torquey as the BPM.