Need Some Serious Help...Electric Bike Newbie.

[samtheman]

I'll keep it short and sweet. I live around 4 miles from my work, i've recently been in a car crash and i struggle to pedal bike there these days. I had an old person tell me that there are road legal bikes that you need no licence, tax or mot for! After looking into it i've realised i really want one.

Iv decided im not looking for a ready-built 200/250w bike, im looking to convert my current bike with a kit. I want one with a switch which goes from using 250w to the 500w/750w/1000w+ the motor can do.

This is similar to my current bike:

First question is....is it possible to add a kit onto this sort of bike? (3 gears one side and i think 8 on the other).

The kits i have been looking at have been on ebay, not sure on the quality, import duties etc but i have heard bad things about some sellers.

This is my preference list to what im looking for:

- 500w+ motor
- Switch to go down to 250w
- Battery that lasts 15+ miles
- £700 or under
- I live in a hilly area so has to be torquey
- Need the battery to last well for around 9 months (bike will be used around 3 times a week usually 8 miles at a time) and im only around 10 stone in weight.

Would be nice if anyone could shine some light on it, i've looked around the forum and found out a lot about these bikes, really looking forward to getting one!

Thanks in advance, Sam

 

[NRG]

I'll keep it short and sweet. I live around 4 miles from my work, i've recently been in a car crash and i struggle to pedal bike there these days. I had an old person tell me that there are road legal bikes that you need no licence, tax or mot for! After looking into it i've realised i really want one.

Iv decided im not looking for a ready-built 200/250w bike, im looking to convert my current bike with a kit. I want one with a switch which goes from using 250w to the 500w/750w/1000w+ the motor can do.

Anything over 250w is illegal. Kits can be found with switchable assist but not in the manner your looking for they tend to be switchable for assist up to set speeds.

This is similar to my current bike:

First question is....is it possible to add a kit onto this sort of bike? (3 gears one side and i think 8 on the other).

Yes should be possible but you'll have to think about how to mount the battery. A rear rack is a natural choice but with rear suspension it creates problems...

The kits i have been looking at have been on ebay, not sure on the quality, import duties etc but i have heard bad things about some sellers.

This is my preference list to what im looking for:

- 500w+ motor
- Switch to go down to 250w
- Battery that lasts 15+ miles
- £700 or under
- I live in a hilly area so has to be torquey
- Need the battery to last well for around 9 months (bike will be used around 3 times a week usually 8 miles at a time) and im only around 10 stone in weight.

The cheap Chinese kits on Ebay tend to be of the direct drive motor type and are very heavy, good for speed but not so good for hill climbing in relation to the geared Bafang type motors. Anything over 250w is illegal but this should not put you off, for hill climbing you need peak power, the 250w is the continuous power rating. With a suitable controller peak power will exceed the stated continuous power by quite a margin and give greater assist. IE a 36v motor and 20amp controller will give you peak power of approx 720w or more. This is power on demand, the motor will only draw this when the situation demands it, like climbing a hill.....

Would be nice if anyone could shine some light on it, i've looked around the forum and found out a lot about these bikes, really looking forward to getting one!

Thanks in advance, Sam

There was a thread from a few months back about a geared kit from Ebay similar to the Alien kit that seems to be of good quality, maybe worth a play with the search function....

 

[NRG]

Sunlova kits:

Brand New Ebike Electric Bike Conversion Kit 250W 36V on eBay (end time 27-Jun-10 19:44:22 BST)

 

[BBB]

I own a bike shop and have fitted a few kits to customers bikes.
Basically unless you are quite handy with spanner I would try to buy an electric bike off the shelf.
One problem we had was the size of the battery we could fit, so they had a poor range, and the customer kept coming back complaining.
Secondly some kits will not fit on some bikes without a lot of modification, and you will not know that till the kit arrives, and you have wasted some money already.
Also your bike looks like a low priced full suspension bike, the worst sort of bike to try to fit one too. It is not up to the job, with the cheapest of components on it.
I really do not want to put a downer on your project, and I am not trying to sell you a bike , because I am sure I am not in your area.
I just wanted to warn you about what you could be getting into.
Many people on here have fitted kits, so it is not out of he question, but just think twice, before you part with your cash.

 

[Psycosis]

Sam,

I use the same bike for riding down to the station. I find it pretty heavy.
When i fitted my electric kit i did toy with the idea of fitting it to that bike, but the brakes are terrible and the bike is heavy to start.
Instead i picked up an aluminium frame hard tail and attached it onto that. The end result was (without batteries, but with motor) a similar weight bike to that suspension bike.

I ride with a slightly more powerful motor, and after a few rides i keep the speed at about 20mph, rather than going very fast and attracting attention.
This gives the climbing power and the speed, but it rarely needs to be used.