Which kit?

RobD.

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Apr 5, 2016
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Hello all,
My name is Rob and I live in Shropshire which, if you're not familiar with the terrain, is extremely hilly!
My partner Margaret moved here four years ago and are reasonably fit although we are happy to get the mountain bikes out and head for the hills for a day out we don't use our road bikes for daily errands as much as we used to because the local hills are such hard work.
We have two decent quality hybrid road bikes in the garage and I reckon they'd be ideal for converting. After some research I identified the Xiongda 36v 250w twin speed motor as potentially suitable for what we require. I contacted Panda with a view to buying two kits from them and although Panda were very helpful by email they kept referring me back to their very confusing website in order to raise the order. After numerous false starts it became so frustrating and tedious I simply gave up. Can anybody recommend a supplier who a] can provide objective advice and b] can take an order over the phone or c] has a clear, easy-to-understand e commerce site?
Also, am I on the right track with the Xiongda or are there alternatives?
 

trex

Esteemed Pedelecer
May 15, 2011
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I have no problem navigating panda's website with Chrome browser. They only have 250W XD kit in 26" front wheel at the moment.
Alternatives to the XD kit: you can have 8Fun BBS01 crank drive with similar performance, easier to fit but more expensive.
 

Nealh

Esteemed Pedelecer
Aug 7, 2014
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The rear kit will std drop outs ok a front kit may cause will slip if you have lots of climbing both not suitable for disc brakes, for disc brakes rearyou would have to get the 350w kit which needs extra work to fit. Oxydrive have 250w kits which are very good. or consider a mid drive Bafang BBS01 250W.
 
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RobD.

Just Joined
Apr 5, 2016
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Thanks Trex and Neal for your help. I looked carefully at the Oxydrive and the Bafang, both of which looked good but in the end I decided the twin speed Xiongda was the closest fit to what I was looking for and ordered a 250w front wheel unit via eBay from Panda. I'll try the kit out next week and if it does the job I'll get another one. The all up weight of the conversion including the bike should be approx 18kg which I think is very reasonable. I'll be very interested to test its hill climbing performance ... one of my local hills was recently listed in the top ten hardest hillclimbs in the UK, if the kit can cope with two ascents of that on a single charge I'll be delighted.
 

Nealh

Esteemed Pedelecer
Aug 7, 2014
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RobD looks like you have done your homework and weighed up the differences, do let us know how the front kit performs.
 

Terry1100

Pedelecer
Dec 18, 2014
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Rob - My 250w front hub kit came from Panda for my Dawes Hybrid and I have been delighted with their service both before and after purchase.
 
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ptdg

Finding my (electric) wheels
Mar 30, 2016
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Hi RobD, I'm looking at a mid drive from electric-bike conversions as i'll hopefully be moving to Scotland in the not too distant future. The price looks competitive at £525 incl battery. From what I've read mid drives are better for hill climbing as the drive is via the gears. I've posted a thread asking for any feedback on this kit. Hopefully the seasoned ebikers such a Neal,Trex and others out there may have an opinion on this kit/supplier.
Rgds
Paul
 

RobD.

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Hi Paul, Mid drive kits certainly have some advantages and driving through the bike's transmission is one of them. For me the ability to quickly convert the bike back to standard spec was important, hence the hub choice.The two speed option on the Xiongda will hopefully give it the hillclimbing ability I'm looking for. With a bit of luck the kit will be here later today so I'll soon be able to provide some meaningful feedback!
Rob
 

ptdg

Finding my (electric) wheels
Mar 30, 2016
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Look forward to your feedback Rob, In the meantime I think I'll look into these 2 speed motors.
Paul
 

trex

Esteemed Pedelecer
May 15, 2011
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If hillclimbing is important, I would have gone for a crank drive or a 250W BPM (SWX02 to SWX08). CD gives you the full range of your derailleur, BPM motors are based on a much better proven technology. The XD gearbox switches to higher ratio when the motor reverses. It has indeed two gearboxes and two clutches inside the motor casing, quadruple the number of weak points.
 
D

Deleted member 4366

Guest
You choose crank drive or hub motor. Both have advantages and disadvantages, which makes them equal. It's a fallacy though, that crank drives are better for hill climbing, When you build your own ebike, you can choose a hub-motor that has sufficient torque to get you up any hill, effortlessly and comfortably.
 

anotherkiwi

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jan 26, 2015
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The ability to mount a crank drive in an aluminium frame without worrying about breaking the dropouts is another people don't mention often. The most visible one is being able to use the gearing of your choice in the rear wheel, hub or derailleur it doesn't matter which you prefer. Oh and getting the weight down really low and it being sprung instead of having that heavy unsprung mass in the middle of one of your wheels.
 
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RobD.

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Apr 5, 2016
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Given my bike is rigid the weight can hardly be considered unsprung and is a mid drive on the pedal crank significantly lower than the axle line? Hardly.
The 90kg bloke sat on top the saddle would trump any adverse effect on handling a 3kg hub would have! :)
With a front hub you can still choose whatever gearing you want on a rear hub...
 
D

Deleted member 4366

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On a lightweight hibrid type bike, you'll find a raer motor much better. Check out Oxydrive kits. They have some nice kits with cassette motors. Here's one I converted with an Oxydrive kit that was featured on The Gadget Show 27 April 2015. It's Episode 9 if you want to see it on catchup: