Oxydrive on a road bike

[Bmdji]

Hi, been browsing around the forum trying to pick up some information but I think I need to ask a few questions myself! Never had an electric bike before so everything is new to me.
I have a 14 mile-ish commute each way to work along dead flat roads, I can mange this on my road bike but I'm quite lazy and a bit unfit so looking for some assistance.
I don't really want to spend much money so wanted to know if it would be possible to convert my boardman Road comp?
I like the unobtrusiveness of the oxydrive although it is a bit expensive at 700. Plus I have a feeling the forks of my bike are only 9mm?
Does anyone have any comments or suggestions? Would this work? Is there anything cheaper that would do the job?
If it makes a difference I am 6ft2 and weight 13 stone and would pedal the whole time.
Thanks

 

[D8ve]

On a flat road with a good road bike I would expect you to be doing over 15 anyhow, so there would be no assist at that point.
An illegal build with a small low power hub drive would give you a boost reducing effort for very similar top speed.
d8veh is very knowledgable about this stuff.

But he would say if you wear Lycra you should have a crank drive for a bike like experience. ( I love the quality crank dive feel myself).
Even 100 watts extra would strip 20 years off you.
My BH had three settings , 20 years younger, 20 years old and you were never Lance Armstrong!

 

[oldtom]

Does anyone have any comments or suggestions?

Because you haven't indicated where you are geographically, (or I've missed it), I hesitate to suggest this but the Cytronex outfit in Winchester has a selection of fairly decent road bikes and hybrids to which they fit their kit.

That system works very well for a lot of commuters and fits the bill for your requirements. Unfortunately, the long-promised, off-the-shelf kit hasn't yet materialised but if you want to try one or other of their bikes, a trip to Winchester is a nice day out if you're not too far away.

These are bikes for real cyclists; not pedalling-optional mopeds for banned drivers and fat, lazy people.

Tom

 

[Deleted member 4366]

There's cheaper kits, but what you're paying for is the exceptionally free running very light Dapu motor in the Oxydrive with it's high discharge rate, properly waterproofed bottle battery. The Oxydrive is also quite fast if you adjust the speed limit in the LCD settings. 24mph IIRC.

9mm forks are OK. You just file them a bit, but what are they made of?

 

[RobF]

Any kit under £1,000 will change - most roadies would say ruin - the experience of riding your lightweight road bike.

My suggestion would be to sell it and buy a built ebike.

Something from woosh for around £800 would do the job, and have the benefit of being better equipped for commuting, with a rack, mudguards and basic lights.

 

[Bmdji]

Hi all, thanks for your replies, really helpful, going to try and respond but on my phone so not sure how well this will work!

Because you haven't indicated where you are geographically, (or I've missed it), I hesitate to suggest this but the Cytronex outfit in Winchester has a selection of fairly decent road bikes and hybrids to which they fit their kit.

Sorry, I should have said I'm in Cardiff, not sure there's anywhere here, but think I've seen some shops in Bristol?

On a flat road with a good road bike I would expect you to be doing over 15 anyhow, so there would be no assist at that point.

I did think this but was wondering if it would just make peddling a bit easier? With me a bit less sweaty!

9mm forks are OK. You just file them a bit, but what are they made of?

They're made of carbon fibre I think, can these be filed?

Any kit under £1,000 will change - most roadies would say ruin - the experience of riding your lightweight road bike.

My suggestion would be to sell it and buy a built ebike.

Something from woosh for around £800 would do the job, and have the benefit of being better equipped for commuting, with a rack, mudguards and basic lights.

This may be the best option, possibly the sirocco 2?

 

[trex]

you may not know this but the sirocco 2 is Woosh's most successful commuter bike. It is a fantastic bike, often overlooked because Woosh have released many models since. It has a nice weight distribution, nice riding position, great weight carrying ability, great range and excellent price.
http://wooshbikes.co.uk/?sirocco2

 

[Deleted member 4366]

They're made of carbon fibre I think, can these be filed?

It's not advisable to fit a motor to carbon forks. It might work, but without knowing the internal construction, it's not possible to say.

It would be better to get on old steel road-bike and convert that. You can get them for about £30 or less. That should leave plenty for upgrading the brakes and gears.

 

[D8ve]

You really need to test ride some bikes to get a feel for them.
Lots of choice in Bristol to test. Come over and spend all day trying bikes.
Unfortunately you need a very good bike to have a cycle feel and speed. Or whoosh to fit the budget. (The forums best budget buy)

 

[mountainsport]

you may not know this but the sirocco 2 is Woosh's most successful commuter bike. It is a fantastic bike, often overlooked because Woosh have released many models since. It has a nice weight distribution, nice riding position, great weight carrying ability, great range and excellent price.
http://wooshbikes.co.uk/?sirocco2

And for that price excellent, anything lower than that RUN TO THE MAD HOUSE!

MS.

 

[amigafan2003]

It's not advisable to fit a motor to carbon forks. It might work, but without knowing the internal construction, it's not possible to say.

It would be better to get on old steel road-bike and convert that. You can get them for about £30 or less. That should leave plenty for upgrading the brakes and gears.

I've run a Tongxin on carbon forks with two torque arms (dropouts on carbon forks are still alloy so can be filed down):-

Power was 600 watts peak. I wouldn't run any more than that though - even the Cute Q100 motors I would consider too torquey for CF forks - I changed mine over to steel forks when running Q100 and MAC front motors:-

OP - have you considered a rear Q100CST motor? I've just converted my hybrid and I love it - doesn't ruin the bike at all:-

Build thread

Can be bought from BMS battery as a kit if you don't want to build your own wheel:-

http://www.greenbikekit.com/100cst-cassette-freewheel-e-bike-kit-36v-250w.html

 

[Bmdji]

you may not know this but the sirocco 2 is Woosh's most successful commuter bike. It is a fantastic bike, often overlooked because Woosh have released many models since. It has a nice weight distribution, nice riding position, great weight carrying ability, great range and excellent price.
http://wooshbikes.co.uk/?sirocco2

Hmm, maybe this is a good option then. I understand there would be legal implications but I've seen people saying the woosh cd's top speed can be increase slightly quite easily. Anyone know if it's the same system for this bike? Don't want to be zooming around but maybe a mile or two faster....

 

[Gubbins]

Hi, been browsing around the forum trying to pick up some information but I think I need to ask a few questions myself! Never had an electric bike before so everything is new to me.
I have a 14 mile-ish commute each way to work along dead flat roads, I can mange this on my road bike but I'm quite lazy and a bit unfit so looking for some assistance.
I don't really want to spend much money so wanted to know if it would be possible to convert my boardman Road comp?
I like the unobtrusiveness of the oxydrive although it is a bit expensive at 700. Plus I have a feeling the forks of my bike are only 9mm?
Does anyone have any comments or suggestions? Would this work? Is there anything cheaper that would do the job?
If it makes a difference I am 6ft2 and weight 13 stone and would pedal the whole time.
Thanks

I too have a Boardman Road comp, but also a crank drive e-bike! I mostly ride the ebike but I do enjoy 25 miles on the Boardman except for the hills. There are plenty of knowledgeable people on here that seem to know what they are talking about, but I honestly think the hub drive /bottle battery is the wrong way for mine at least. . I am thinking more like this..
https://www.superpedestrian.com/
The Copenhagen wheel! I keep looking for a cheaper variation.