Hi folks,
I thought this was going to be easy: fit a Swytch kit and ride off into the sunset/rise. But then I came here and now I'm not so sure at all!
I'm soon to start a new job, just 3 miles down the road, but with a few short/sharp climbs (8-10%). I really want to ride there... but I'm a sweaty git, despite being pretty bike fit (approx 2500 miles per year). Also, I'm in Wales, so for this to be useful most of the year round, I need not to be sweating in waterproofs as well! Hence looking at adding electricity to my bike.
I started planning planning turning my nice modern road bike into a commuter, but soon realised it's make much more sense to use my old Thorn Brevet audax/lightweight touring bike which is currently doing duty on Zwift, but already has all the things I was thinking of adding to my nice bike - guards, rack, bottle dynamo (I guess that'll go with a massive battery strapped to the bike!), double sided pedals, Marathons, etc.
It's late '90s, 531c all through including the forks. It has a 3x on the front with square taper and a bog standard size/thread BB. I think it's 135mm on the rear; currently an 8 speed cassette adapted up from 7. QR axles both ends.
So as far as I can see, I could fairly easily fit something in any of the 3 main positions - front wheel, rear wheel, mid. I'm somewhat bamboozled as to the differences though in terms of things like geared or DD hubs (which I didn't know about until an hour or three ago), pedal or torque sensing, and probably much more.
I did read that one type of mid-drive cuts power if you're over 90rpm - and I tend to pedal at 90-100 when I'm not struggling up something... that's the sort of thing I'd like to know in advance!
I'm about 93kg, if that makes a difference. (And 6'4", as you'll see from the mahoosive frame)
I'm confident and capable spannering bikes/cars/etc, and working on electrics, too, although I don't want too much of a mix'n'match project here.
Cost is a slight issue, but can be offset as with 3 miles each way, the smallest batteries will probably be plenty
Reading through a load of threads, you guys seem to be a friendly helpful bunch, so could you all point me in the right direction, please?
(Probably at Woosh from what I've seen, but even there, the choice is bewildering!)
I thought this was going to be easy: fit a Swytch kit and ride off into the sunset/rise. But then I came here and now I'm not so sure at all!
I'm soon to start a new job, just 3 miles down the road, but with a few short/sharp climbs (8-10%). I really want to ride there... but I'm a sweaty git, despite being pretty bike fit (approx 2500 miles per year). Also, I'm in Wales, so for this to be useful most of the year round, I need not to be sweating in waterproofs as well! Hence looking at adding electricity to my bike.
I started planning planning turning my nice modern road bike into a commuter, but soon realised it's make much more sense to use my old Thorn Brevet audax/lightweight touring bike which is currently doing duty on Zwift, but already has all the things I was thinking of adding to my nice bike - guards, rack, bottle dynamo (I guess that'll go with a massive battery strapped to the bike!), double sided pedals, Marathons, etc.
It's late '90s, 531c all through including the forks. It has a 3x on the front with square taper and a bog standard size/thread BB. I think it's 135mm on the rear; currently an 8 speed cassette adapted up from 7. QR axles both ends.
So as far as I can see, I could fairly easily fit something in any of the 3 main positions - front wheel, rear wheel, mid. I'm somewhat bamboozled as to the differences though in terms of things like geared or DD hubs (which I didn't know about until an hour or three ago), pedal or torque sensing, and probably much more.
I did read that one type of mid-drive cuts power if you're over 90rpm - and I tend to pedal at 90-100 when I'm not struggling up something... that's the sort of thing I'd like to know in advance!
I'm about 93kg, if that makes a difference. (And 6'4", as you'll see from the mahoosive frame)
I'm confident and capable spannering bikes/cars/etc, and working on electrics, too, although I don't want too much of a mix'n'match project here.
Cost is a slight issue, but can be offset as with 3 miles each way, the smallest batteries will probably be plenty
Reading through a load of threads, you guys seem to be a friendly helpful bunch, so could you all point me in the right direction, please?
(Probably at Woosh from what I've seen, but even there, the choice is bewildering!)
