The perfect conversion kit(s)

[jbond]

There's a FAQ that came up again today. "I've got a bicycle, which kit should I buy?". This is closely tied in with another FAQ, "I've got a bicycle, should I buy a kit or buy a complete bike?".

Despite the large number of Chinese kits available on eBay, one or two from fairly mainstream manufacturers, people like Alien, and now the Whisper DaaHub, it's a surprisingly hard question to answer. Watching the development of the Whisper there's quite a few issues to deal with.

Just as with the made up bikes, there's a kind of irritation with the existing kits that they are close but not right. Now I'm very much a newbie at this game. When I was researching myself earlier this year I kept hitting brick walls trying to obtain what I thought I wanted. In the end I gave up and bought the Aurora and have learnt a huge amount since then (with much help from people here). And I'm even more convinced that nobody in the UK sells what I want to buy. Alien and Whisper are getting very close but I want to mix and match a bit more.

So I'm wondering if the combined wisdom of Pedelecs.co.uk can come up with a set of recommendations and sources to come up with a more "perfect" kit or set of kits. The target audience being somebody who is new to electric assist but perfectly capable of doing bicycle maintenance and perhaps wielding a soldering iron and crimper. And the hope is that this prompts ETS or Alien or somebody to package this and commoditise it so that it can be offered with local support and warranty.

This is the kind of thing I'm thinking.
1) Motor
- Front or Rear
- Low power - Bafang SWXK/H
- Mid Power - Bafang BPM
- High Power - ????

2) Controller
E-Crazyman
- Low Power 10A 6FET
- Medium 20A 12Fet
- High Power ????

3) Battery
- Rack Mount 36V 10Ahr LiPo
- Li Ping Bag mount 36V 15Ahr LiFePo

4) Ancilliaries
- Brake switches
- Throttle-thumb-switch-pedelec controls
- L-M-H mode switches
- Battery health indicators/fuel gauge
- Cruise control switches
- Torque arms
- Cycle-Analyst with variable power limit

5) Advice on non-electric side. Eg 2 speed, large diameter chain rings. Brake upgrades. Steel fork if front powered. 26" vs 700C wheels. tyre options.

Yes, comma, but. Perhaps this really isn't possible. And the real advice is, put a toe in the water and buy a cheap complete bicycle. Read all the forums. By the time you build your 3rd E-Bike, you'll be closing in on what's perfect for you.

 

[eddieo]

Wisper have been known to bring in 500watt 905's and 350 watt dapush motors for 905's as well, So I am sure all you have to do is ask.....and there are German suppliers of what you need as well, Frank for instance.

I am heavy and not very fit but I find a 250 watt bike more then adequate and very enjoyable.......

 

[Cyclezee]

There's a FAQ that came up again today. "I've got a bicycle, which kit should I buy?". This is closely tied in with another FAQ, "I've got a bicycle, should I buy a kit or buy a complete bike?".

Hi Jbond,

Did you consider Ezee? Not only do they make excellent electric bikes, but they also supply kits in a variety of specifications like I have on my trike.

There is a choice of motors and battery combinations which can be tailored to your needs. They are available in the UK through Onbike, although they are no all shown on their website eZee Electric Bike kit

J hn

 

[flecc]

I second John's recommendation, the eZee option is a fine kit with quite a lot of flexibility, different wheel sizes, front or rear motor, permutations of batteries in Li-polymer and LiFePO4 mounted in various ways including twin batteries for long ranges. No other kit comes close to this choice range, and as a bonus it's powerful too.
.

 

[jbond]

I don't doubt that EZee make a fine kit. But doesn't that website, and EZee's own web site make my point? There's nothing to say what options are available, what brand or spec the motor-controller-battery are. And presumably the price shown is a guide price. And quite expensive. Presumably a phone call can answer all this, but then why have a shopping cart on the web site?

Aldby: I'm not trying to answer this for me, I'm trying to answer it for all the people who end up on Pedelecs and ask the same question.

Yes, there are some good kits out there but even finding the good ones is hard. The real point of the post is in the title "The Perfect Conversion Kit(s)". I figure that by mixing and matching items and suppliers we can come up with some better packages along with advice on good sources for them.

 

[flecc]

doesn't that website, and EZee's own web site make my point? There's nothing to say what options are available, what brand or spec the motor-controller-battery are. And presumably the price shown is a guide price. And quite expensive. Presumably a phone call can answer all this, but then why have a shopping cart on the web site?

The websites could certainly make it clearer how large a range of options is available, but frankly I don't think shopping carts are suitable for buying kits. Almost no kit buyers will go ahead without asking various questions and the range of these questions is such that it's not possible for a website to answer them. Anyone who's tried to rely on FAQs to satisfy customers knows how ineffective they are.

The Heinzmann agents have had the same problem due to the range of options they have had on front/rear mounting, motor powers, internal gearing, torque options, brake options, battery types and mounts etc.

In general the buying public have negligible knowledge of the subject as the posted queries in this site show only too well, so attempts to use a shopping basket for kit buying where many options exist would invariably lead to numerous ongoing problems and misunderstandings.
.

 

[Chief eZee Power]

eZee Conversion KIT

eZee has been in the conversion kit for 6 years now, and we certainly have gathered a lot of experiences and understand the huge scope and range required that differs from almost every customer.

Every thing from motor power, speed, front and rear, wheel sizes, sprockets for 9 speeds, disc brake compatible, various types of rims, motor hub with 144H and anodised black or silver or polished, types of alloys for the hub, tyres, connectors , junction box, length of cables, operation modes, universal torque plates, battery options for various voltages, discharge capability to 60 amps ( for monster bikes maybe ) and capacity from 10Ah to 15.5Ah and adding parallel connections , and mounting brackets for controllers, mounting and carrier for batteries or bags, and etc, etc.,

I will try to sort these out and put a comprehensive catalogue on our website within the next couple of weeks.

New entries to this KIT business is a very very far cry from what we already have and what is coming soon.

Chief eZee Operator

 

[jbond]

What can I say but, "Awesome!". Does that mean eZee can sell individual components? Because that's something I've been unable to find in the UK or even in the EU with the possible exception of ebike-solutions.de

 

[eddieo]

Surely the BionX is the near perfect kit with the best battery management

YouTube - What is BionX?


YouTube - The BionX Locking System - electric bike


YouTube - BionX P-350 Installation (1 of 2)

 

[schoe]

Gruber Assist sounds perfect but the price is extortionate !

ElectricMountainBikes.com: Gruber Assist

 

[eddieo]

"sounds perfect" more like an old tractor to me....

 

[flecc]

The eZee kit is powerful and has unrivalled flexibility of choices.

The BionX is a good kit, but being direct drive is somewhat lacking in hill climb ability in the 250 watt legal versions, has many fewer options and is very expensive.

The Gruber doesn't even rank in the same league as the eZee for power and flexibility, and it's control system is awful, power cutting out the moment pedalling pauses and having to be switched on again every time.
.

 

[eddieo]

I thought the rumour was that the 250 watt BionX HT was in fact a re programmed 350? or at least the performance was not much worse?

any kit which requires the battery up high on a rack or in a bag just don't cut it with me I am afraid. and why some have had to design there own battery case to achieve a BionX like solution....

 

[NRG]

Dosen't matter where you mount the battery if the motor is lacking in power, I don't see the fascination with Bionx, yes, it's well packaged but far too expensive and lacking hill climbing grunt.

 

[flecc]

I thought the rumour was that the 250 watt BionX HT was in fact a re programmed 350? or at least the performance was not much worse?

It's certainly more powerful and may have questionable legality, but as a direct drive motor it can't compete with the far more widely used internally geared types for hill climbing. It's also very greedy to achieve what it does, needing the largest and horrifyingly expensive 10 Ah battery. Otherwise, in flat or moderate territory it's a good solution for it's relatively silent running and quite sophisticated control system.
.

 

[Cyclezee]

I would like to echo everthing Flecc has said. I have previously owned a Bionx PL350 kit and currently own Ezee bikes and an Ezee kit powered trike.

​

The Bionx kit is easy to install and relatively powerful, but the range is limited by the extremely expensive 10Ah battery

The Ezee kit on the otherhand is half the price, powerful, reliable and has good UK based backup from Onbike.

The Ezee website will soon be updated and should include the many options available, hopefully Onbike will do the same, but in the mean time you can see some but not all of the options and parts available on these websites eZeebike electric bike kit Parts for eZee bike The Grin Cyclery

I have owned and tried a lot of different e-bikes and have to say Ezee is my number one choice.

J hn