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I have two Sunlova products: their ready-made 250w 36v mountain bike and one of their 250w kits fitted to a Claud Butler CBR Extreme. My friend bought one of the folding mountain bikes from Microgoods (Ebay) in Wolverhampton, so this is as far as my experience of E-bikes goes. I got a reasonable discount on both Sunlova products for paying cash, The bike is generally well made and robust, having the Bafang 8FUN motor, and after about 300miles I have had no problems. It has more power than the other two bikes and a lot more range. The battery indicator lights stay green towards the end of its range and then within a few miles of amber will go to red. I have never run out yet and I have done 40 miles in one journey (although with a fair amount of un-powered riding). We tend to only use the power for going up the many steep hills in our area. I should say that I am 58, 100kg and unfit. Cruising speed on the flat using the throttle is about 17mph. I'm not sure of how the controller works, but the pedal-assist seems to only give help up to 12 mph, but if I open up the throttle, more power comes. Overall, I am very pleased with the bike and can't believe that bikes costing a lot more can be that much better, but time will tell. My only niggle is that the on/off switch is by a key behind the seat, which is a little tricky to access when riding.
I fitted the Sunlova kit to my Claud Butler CBR with some difficulty. First the 140mm disc brake was too small so that the calliper was rubbing on the edge of the hub, so I got a 160mm disc and a 20mm calliper spacer, which fixed it. Then, there wasn't room for the pedelec sensor. I guess most people would experience this problem. (Maybe ready-made electric bikes have custom made bottom bracket spindles.) If you look at the "sensor" posts you can find more details on this problem. I solved mine with an asymmetric spindle found at a bike shop. The next problem was that I had no fixing points for the seriously heavy battery rack, so I dumped it and fashioned a custom rack from an old one and saved about 3kg. Finally, I had problems with fitting the throttle, which interfered with the gear change levers on the handlebars, and I couldn't fit the supplied switched brake levers because mine are integral with the gear-change levers. I guess this kit would probably work better with a less well equipped bike. First impressions of riding it were that the motor was faulty because it made terrible grinding noises under power, but this disappeared after about 30 miles. next impression was that this kit lacks power compared with my other bike, which has the same motor, so I guess the battery is the culprit. It doesn't have as much range, and the green light goes to amber on the first hill. The amber lasts quite a long time, but the power seems to gradually decrease. My friend had similar experience with his Microgoods bike, but after junking his overweight rack and battery box and after several battery cycles the power and range have improved, so I'm still hopeful for my kit, but just in case, I have ordered a battery the same as my Sunlova bike's one. After that doesn't improve things, I'll look at replacing the controller. Overall I would say it's not a good idea to buy this kit unless you are sure that you want to keep an existing bike - perhaps for its full suspension. I paid £385 for the kit, £10 for the disc, £4 for the spacer and £5 for the spindle. For about £100 more you can get the ready-made bike, which seems to give more power and range, and is a very solid, able and comfortable bike, with no cursing and swearing when you find things don't fit with the kit. I thought I needed the extra gears on my CBR, but once electrified, the normal seven gears on the Sunlova bike and my friends bike have proven to be adequate for our hilly roads.
I fitted the Sunlova kit to my Claud Butler CBR with some difficulty. First the 140mm disc brake was too small so that the calliper was rubbing on the edge of the hub, so I got a 160mm disc and a 20mm calliper spacer, which fixed it. Then, there wasn't room for the pedelec sensor. I guess most people would experience this problem. (Maybe ready-made electric bikes have custom made bottom bracket spindles.) If you look at the "sensor" posts you can find more details on this problem. I solved mine with an asymmetric spindle found at a bike shop. The next problem was that I had no fixing points for the seriously heavy battery rack, so I dumped it and fashioned a custom rack from an old one and saved about 3kg. Finally, I had problems with fitting the throttle, which interfered with the gear change levers on the handlebars, and I couldn't fit the supplied switched brake levers because mine are integral with the gear-change levers. I guess this kit would probably work better with a less well equipped bike. First impressions of riding it were that the motor was faulty because it made terrible grinding noises under power, but this disappeared after about 30 miles. next impression was that this kit lacks power compared with my other bike, which has the same motor, so I guess the battery is the culprit. It doesn't have as much range, and the green light goes to amber on the first hill. The amber lasts quite a long time, but the power seems to gradually decrease. My friend had similar experience with his Microgoods bike, but after junking his overweight rack and battery box and after several battery cycles the power and range have improved, so I'm still hopeful for my kit, but just in case, I have ordered a battery the same as my Sunlova bike's one. After that doesn't improve things, I'll look at replacing the controller. Overall I would say it's not a good idea to buy this kit unless you are sure that you want to keep an existing bike - perhaps for its full suspension. I paid £385 for the kit, £10 for the disc, £4 for the spacer and £5 for the spindle. For about £100 more you can get the ready-made bike, which seems to give more power and range, and is a very solid, able and comfortable bike, with no cursing and swearing when you find things don't fit with the kit. I thought I needed the extra gears on my CBR, but once electrified, the normal seven gears on the Sunlova bike and my friends bike have proven to be adequate for our hilly roads.
