The best electric kit in the world....Probably

[Psycosis]

I came across these guys way back when i started looking at options for an electric bike but stopped when the cost escalated to over 2 grand to get it to the UK.

I was wondering if anyone has experience of these kits, they look the nuts and seem to deliver the power. They are US based and very helpful.

This was the bike which had their kit fitted and i drooled for ages over it, then i figured i could buy a paratrooper bike and attach it to that getting something similar.
I like the way the motor and more importantly the battery is hidden

TidalForce M-750 X2.0 - Limited Edition

Thanks

 

[flecc]

It's a personal taste thing of course, but I'm afraid I don't see the battery as hidden so much as very obvious in a very awkward position. I've seen these perform in the flesh and they are are hugely powerful and more like mopeds than bicycles, accelerating fast to almost 30 mph with pedalling completely superfluous. Of course they are completely illegal in the UK unless type approved and registered.

Matra in France bought the rights for these and you may be able to get one within Europe, though the price will still be high. Matra have also produced their own MS1 version now which you can see on the link below:

Matra Sport e-bike
.

 

[averhamdave]

Certainly very smart looking but at the end of the day its just a direct drive (gearless) 1000w hub motor and a NiMH battery at its heart.

 

[daniel.weck]

A question of taste, for sure. I think that neither the motor nor the battery is "hidden". I wouldn't go as far as to say that the whole thing looks hideous, as in fact I quite like the Montague Paratrooper folding design. Plus, the high specification for the components makes for an appealing proposition (albeit at a high cost).

However (and objectively), keeping a low center of gravity is good but adding weight as part of the rotating wheels adds power inertia ... likely not a good thing overall. Mind you, this is not really a bicycle anymore is it ? The rider would probably use throttle control most of the time with such a powerful machine (the kind of riding experience the Endless-Sphere folks love ).

As for Matra, I read quite a bit about their BionX-based e-bikes on the French forums ( Cyclurba, le vélo utile ). Nicely-balanced e-bikes.

PS: the best electric kit in the world (or rather, in "my" world) would be a Brompton with a motor-assisted crank and torque sensing (like a Panasonic unit). But that's highly unrealistic due to the lack of space within the frame, so as a second wish I would love to add the force-sensing component on my Bafang-powered e-Brompton

Cheers, Dan

 

[eddieo]

So the battery is in the hub? constantly spinning....... Can that be a good thing? Give me an Optibike

 

[daniel.weck]

PS: the best electric kit in the world (or rather, in "my" world) would be a Brompton with a motor-assisted crank and torque sensing (like a Panasonic unit). But that's highly unrealistic due to the lack of space within the frame, so as a second wish I would love to add the force-sensing component on my Bafang-powered e-Brompton

It looks like iZip e-bikes use an off-the-shelf crankset/chainring addon to measure cadence and torque...the question is: would this work with my generic controller (maybe by feeding the sensor signals to both the PAS and throttle controller inputs):

http://www.pedelecs.co.uk/forum/electric-bicycles/1172-home-made-pedelec-pedal-torque-sensor.html#post62512

 

[Psycosis]

Wow that Matra is one expensive bit of kit.
There is one other bike that has the batteries hidden in the frame but that was way out of my league, the ferrari of electric mountain bikes almost.

I guess its down to taste, i personally want a bike that looks nice but i need to be able to carry it up stairs in the office. If i leave it outside it will get stolen in less than a week, plus i haven't seen anywhere to park a pedal bike safely.

On the note of registering bikes, it seems a bit odd that you have to get it MOT'd, register it, tax, insure. As is it being classed as a motorbike bikelanes can't be used, bus lanes can't be used once the trial is over in London. But the worst thing, is you need a full sized number plate on it, that would look stupid. I would accept an illegal sized motorbike plate as being only just acceptable due to the size of the bike and i am not sure where they expect you to hang it.

Is this the route you have to go down? ultimately a scooter or motorbike would be a better option if this is the case.