Hilly

I tried lowering my handlebars a bit to see if that improves aerodynamics a bit. I'll try it tomorrow morning and see if it makes much difference. Maybe just changing the tyres and putting a bigger chainring on would do the trick.

I spoke to the bike shop man this morning, he said it would be extremely expensive to convert it to something like the one in the picture. Basically because most of the components would have to be replaced because road bike and mtb components are incompatible. He also said the geometry of the bike might be a bit dodgy at the end of it : ( I'll check those tyres out. I'm put off aerobars by the fact that you can't reach the brakes. people drive like idiots around London, wouldn't like to compromise my stopping distance going down a hill.

I've had the current chain and sprockets on the Haibike for just over a year. I think with a 250w motor and by learning to change gears more carefully than you would with an 'analogue' bike you can greatly reduce the wear on the drive chain. How does the hub motor keep your hands warm in winter? I'm not saying that in an ideal world a hub motor wouldn't be better, just trying to make the most of what I've got. Buying a bike and hub kit at the moment and making sure you've got all the right stuff seems like a right old ballache at the moment. It seems like the mid drive kits like the Bafang are taking the lead at the moment. Hopefully in a few years when the Haibike bites the dust the kits will have progressed a bit.

I just found a thread on another forum where the guy had converted a Haibike to a road bike by swapping the forks, putting a drop bar on it and putting road wheels / tyres and a bigger chain ring on it. This is the thread I made it to work in 1hr 30m this morning with an average speed of 18.5mph so maybe doing this will give me the increase in efficiency an speed I'm after. It seems like the kit market is really taking off at the moment so maybe if I ride the Haibike until it dies then by that time the kit options will be better. Anyone got any thought on this?

Thanks for that. Surely the weight / aerodynamics of the bike and how much I'm pedalling will also have an effect? 8 hours charging time is not a problem. Also as I mentioned earlier I'm not going to be doing the journey twice a day, day in day out. At this stage I'm thinking that a more modest speed on a bike designed for road riding and and a modular kit (which won't have built in obsolescence) will be an upgrade from Haibike. I'll probably install the kit with a smaller battery to make sure it all works the get a feel for the range and the speeds that are achievable then make a decision whether I want to put it through the DVLA test and how big a battery I will need for the commute. Only when all that's done will I sell the Haibike.

Thanks for that. I contacted Planet X and they said the bike comes with quick release front and rear. The guy selling the bike on ebay has changed the forks so i guess that's why it's got a through axle on the front.

So what type of axle would be best? say if i was going for the Q128c rear hub motor?

Most of the ride is long straight roads with the occasional town. I work in willesden so only the last bit of the journey is urban and even then they're main roads.

I contacted Tony at Whoosh, he said the hub motors wouldn't stand up to doing 28mph for prolonged periods of time and that a bafang mid drive motor would be better.

btw, does anyone have experience with the bafang hub motors or know if they might be suitable?

I should have said that i can charge the battery at work so it's only 29miles each way.

I've noticed with the haibike, on the downhill bits if i get down into a more aerodynamic position then i can achieve more speed without pedalling than if i sit upright and pedal.

I'll maybe put a bid on the Planet X bike and see if I get it. I can always swap the bars for flat bars if I can't get used to them. I think the drop bars will be better for speed and efficiency.

The thing is, I have the car and I sometimes stay at my girlfriend's in London so I'm not doing it day in day out. The traffic in the SE is getting so bad now it would be good to use the bike more often especially if I need to travel in during rush 'hour' (which now lasts for about six hours every day). Also with the car I have to stay at work until at least 7pm even if I don't have much to do.

Do you think this would be suitable? Planet X London

I had a quick google and I'm not sure you can buy those motors in the UK. Mybe they're marketed under a different name?

I find the riding position of being bent forward with my head bent up uncomfortable and would prefer to ride in a more upright position in traffic. I guess I could buy the bike and try to get used to it. if I couldn't get used to it I guess there's no reason why I couldn't put a flat bar on it.

Thanks, I'll look into that. The thing that puts me off is that you can't reach the brakes when your hands are on the top of the bar. I'm sure there's some kind of custom brake levers you can buy that do that.

Yes, I'm thinking if I get a hub motor then that would make more sense. I'm not massively keen on drop handlebars and the last bit of the ride is in the outskirts of London. I feel a lot more in control on an MTB in terms of manoeuvrability, stability and being aware of what's going on around me. It might just be what I'm used to though.. Aeorobars would be another option to improve the aerodynamics although I'm not keen on going at that speed without being in easy reach of the brakes.

Thanks for the recommendation. I'm thinking that I would get a frame battery for shorter journeys then one of those large triangular batteries for my commute with the option of using both for a long journey (I have in the past ridden to my parents 80 miles away on the Haibike).

Having the Haibike derestricted seems fine. It's hard to get it above 16.5mph where there's any traffic / pedestrians and it seems safe riding at 24mph on long straight bits of road. I can't usually catch up with people on racing bikes so the only thing that makes it more dangerous is the weight. Riding a pedelec that will do 30mph and weighs significantly more seems like taking the piss so I would try to get it through the DVLA thing and have it classified as a moped. I plan to keep riding the Haibike until the new ebike is built, working nicely and all the DVLA hoops have been jumped through. Given that the world is facing an ecological crisis, the roads in the south east of england are becoming permanently gridlocked and air quality in London is pretty terrible you would think the government would be doing something to encourage ebike use.

Thanks for the excellent feedback everyone! The main reasons I want an ebike rather than a petrol or electric moped / are as follows: 1. When I was commuting in the car everyday I was beginning to become a fat thin man. I'm essentially using the wasted hours in the car to exercise. 2. I live in a flat, I have an entrance hall which is big enough to store a couple of push bikes. If I stuck a moped in there I wouldn't be able to get up the stairs. Everyone I've spoken to who's owned a moped or motorbike has said that if you leave it one your driveway at some point it will get stolen. Also it probably wouldn't be good for it to be left out in the rain all year round. 3. At work I can take a push bike inside. While I have a parking space outside, I work on a busy industrial estate and if I had a motorbike it would probably just be a matter of time until some idiot reversed over it in a lorry. It seems like perhaps going 30mph the whole way was a bit ambitious, I'd settle for a bit more speed but then that raises the question of whether it's worth going through the rigmarole with the DVLA for a few extra MPH. It seems like i would be better with a direct drive hub motor rather than a Bafang mid drive. It does seem like the hub motors are lagging behind the mid drives at the moment in terms of the quality of the kits (even if the motors themselves are as well made). Also buying the kits through ebay seems tough as many sellers don't seem to go into much detail about the difference between the motors or the requirements of the bike. If anyone can suggest a good kit then that would be greatly appreciated. I could just stick with the Haibike. While it's a well made bit of kit one thing that worries me is the built in obsolescence. the display recently broke and a replacement cost £70 and I had to order it from Italy. Probably when this one breaks it won't be possible to buy another one and the bike will be a right off. At least with the kits their modular nature means the parts are easier to replace. Even if an integral part of it breaks and can't be replaced then the bike frame and the battery would still be good.

Hi everyone, I'm thinking of getting an ebike conversion kit for commuting and would like some advice about which one would be the right one for me. first I'll explain my current situation and what I'm hoping to achieve by building my own ebike. I have quite a long commute, 30 miles each way with a couple of steep hills but mostly flat. I currently have a 2016 Haibike Sduro (with the speed limiter removed) and a car and alternate between the two. I would like to cycle more often but find that it takes too long (1 hour 20 to 2 hours depending on conditions and how lazy / tired I am feeling). I have a 36v 14.5AH battery on it. My plan is to get a more powerful bike by adding a motor to an existing MTB and get it classified as a two wheeled vehicle so I can legally do 28mph on it (i'm based in the UK). I would like to be doing 28mph for most of the journey and get my journey time down to just over an hour each way. I'm generally drawn to the Bafang motors, either the BBSHD or BBS02(b). The BBS02 seems attractive because it's slightly lighter but would the BBSHD potentially get me there quicker? Does anyone know which one would be more efficient on that kind of journey? Would i need an enormous battery to do 30 miles in one hour? what would be the optimum sized chain ring for this kind of journey? I'm also a bit unclear about how the pedals integrate with the motor on the Bafang. I'm happy to put in a decent amount of effort with the pedals if it means a quicker journey and a smaller battery. If i was doing top speed would I struggle to pedal fast enough to keep up with the motor? If so would a larger chain ring help to solve that problem? On my Haibike I find that at around 25mph the pedals can't keep up with the motor and I can't contribute much. I'd also consider a hub motor if people thought that was more suitable for this kind of journey. I've attached a diagram showing the elevation of the route taken from google maps. Any advice would be greatly appreciated as I'm finding the whole thing a bit bewildering. Thanks!

Hi every one, I'm currently commuting 30miles each way some days on a Haibike Sduro. It's fun but takes too long to do every day. I was looking at getting a Pedelec with a 28mph top speed but it looks like they cost around £5k which is out of my price range. A cheaper option would be to buy one of the high power conversion kits, buy a decent MTB (and put road tyres on it) and build it myself. my question is, assuming I get it MOT's and tax and insure it will this b legal to ride on the road as on a moped license or is there some kind of manufacturers certificate needed? Thanks!