Hi,
I am trying to understand the options and merits of conversion kits and ride away ebikes. I'm in the UK and want to stay street legal and I have a Brompton Nano conversion and many years ago I had half a day on a KTM 29er fitted with a Bosch mid drive motor. The KTM was great fun but it needed power as the motor came with loads of drag. I did not buy one at the time because I read of problems with sealing and water ingress causing problems. Also after sales support was said to be lacking. The Nano has been a surprise and good fun to ride with two wheel drive proving useful on muddy tracks, it also seems quite capable at climbing hills but then I do live in North Lincolnshire where hills are quite rare.
I am torn between buying a complete bike with a mid-drive motor or converting an older 26inch mtb by adding a geared hub motor to the rear wheel. To me the ready built mid drive option is either expensive or very expensive and while they may be better climbers I have to ask if the manufacturers have solved any reliability options ? To be fair there are hints of problems mentioned in posts on this site but I have not found many recent descriptions . Although I can imagine there has to be greater wear of chains and cogs
Converting a normal bike to a hub drive seems to have some advantages two of which are its cheaper to start with and if everything stops working it is simple to restore normal push bike functions. I wonder if the small wheeled Brompton is a special case as I have read that smaller wheels make better climbers. Is this true and more importantly is it significant?
I look forward to your comments,
best wishes
Simon
I am trying to understand the options and merits of conversion kits and ride away ebikes. I'm in the UK and want to stay street legal and I have a Brompton Nano conversion and many years ago I had half a day on a KTM 29er fitted with a Bosch mid drive motor. The KTM was great fun but it needed power as the motor came with loads of drag. I did not buy one at the time because I read of problems with sealing and water ingress causing problems. Also after sales support was said to be lacking. The Nano has been a surprise and good fun to ride with two wheel drive proving useful on muddy tracks, it also seems quite capable at climbing hills but then I do live in North Lincolnshire where hills are quite rare.
I am torn between buying a complete bike with a mid-drive motor or converting an older 26inch mtb by adding a geared hub motor to the rear wheel. To me the ready built mid drive option is either expensive or very expensive and while they may be better climbers I have to ask if the manufacturers have solved any reliability options ? To be fair there are hints of problems mentioned in posts on this site but I have not found many recent descriptions . Although I can imagine there has to be greater wear of chains and cogs
Converting a normal bike to a hub drive seems to have some advantages two of which are its cheaper to start with and if everything stops working it is simple to restore normal push bike functions. I wonder if the small wheeled Brompton is a special case as I have read that smaller wheels make better climbers. Is this true and more importantly is it significant?
I look forward to your comments,
best wishes
Simon