Conversion Kit Guidance

[Kevin Smith]

Hi
I've been looking at the various options on getting an Electric bike, and having tested a few and having really enjoyed using them, I am wondering about converting a couple of existing bikes we already have which are a Trek Mountain bike for my wife, and either a Scott Mountain bike or a 700c wheeled Jamis 3 commuter bike that's about a year old. Both MTB's have front suspension, and when new were about £500 (in 2005) and £800 (in 2002) respectively (to give an idea of quality). I'd be able to fit the kit OK following instructions, and from what I know at this stage, would want a legal kit, ideally a 36V battery and a 40 mph range, so my main thoughts at this stage are that on the £800 - 1000 bikes the components (battery aside) must be relatively cheap, (even if the manufacturers purchase huge quantities) and the Freego's and Ebco's are reliable at those prices, so:

• what conversion kits would I go for - I've seen are ebay kits at up to £400 with battery - are they any good - and kits between £800 - 1200, (where I think I'd prefer to spend the extra and get a complete bike like an A2B at £1600)
• Are there any suppliers or contacts for conversions that can be recommended where I'd get a good reliable kit for around £400 and good guidance
  
• Is it a real benefit with the consistently higher speeds of an electric bike, to have a suspension fork

Many Thanks

 

[Nealh]

Hello Kevin, Depends on what you wnat to do with them recreational or commuting or both. If you both are fit and like to pedal a great deal then try out a mid drive/crank drive kit, however if you want to leisurely amble along then a front or rear hub motor kit. The fleabay kits are a little unknown as it is not easy to know the origin/maker of the kits except they are mainly Chinese, the market leader tends to be Bafang although mxus and xofo now make good clones and are well established with european kit sellers.
Good kits £499- 799 look at cycleezee or woosh web sites over here or
ciclotek in spain look quite nice they use a nice looking mxus kit,a lot of folk tend to go direct to China but you gamble that they send the correct items. I have a woosh bbs kit and the 15a battery will do more tha 40 miles on a charge not 40mph, no 250w kit will do that.
Suspension forks yes for off road and on road esp if you want duration as they will take away road vibes at the front end. At the end of the day you have to decide whether it is better to do up a decent used bike with good components or buy middling Chinese bikes with a degree of cheaper components, saying that I assume your bikes older bike have good quality components also having hydraulic disc brakes on an e-bike are awesome and once you have tried them you will settle for nothing less.

 

[trex]

@kevin Smith:

rear wheel CST hub kits with 15AH battery from woosh £499.
http://wooshbikes.co.uk/?hubkits
The XF07C motor is not powerful though. If you have hills, get the BPM version (same price) and buy a replacement freewheel for your gears.