Not had any experience of HMRC from that point of view, but sold a few things on ebay and agree by the time you pay your fees etc its hardly worth bothering, they do sell via their own website, and I bypassed both and ordered mine by phone. Didnt find this forum until after I got my kit. Didnt come across you site, just had a quick look at you site, some pretty awesome looking bike on there.

I've just bought one of these kits minus the battery secondhand. Once I've got a battery from the for £245, I won't have saved all that much, but it's better than nothing.

 

I'm going to fit it to a 27-speed Orbit that I built up last year. It's been gathering dust, because it's so similar in performance to one of my other bikes, so this will become my commuter if all works out well. It'll supplant a Woosh Sirocco CDL that I've had since June '15.

update ..had a problem with noisy motor and power loss..bought a cheap tester from ebay..halls ok.. controller phase showed a problem as one pair of lights lit very weakly. I phoned ebc and explained the situation offering to return the controller for checking but he said not to bother and posted me out a new one that day.. Result bike working perfectly. Must say I find him pleasant and good to deal with and can only recommend him highly. Regarding spezelecs battery issue I suspect they are generic cells and maybe don't hold as much charge as name brands but at the price of the kit that is to be expected... still very happy.

update ..had a problem with noisy motor and power loss..bought a cheap tester from ebay..halls ok.. controller phase showed a problem as one pair of lights lit very weakly. I phoned ebc and explained the situation offering to return the controller for checking but he said not to bother and posted me out a new one that day.. Result bike working perfectly. Must say I find him pleasant and good to deal with and can only recommend him highly. Regarding spezelecs battery issue I suspect they are generic cells and maybe don't hold as much charge as name brands but at the price of the kit that is to be expected... still very happy.

That's really good to hear about the after-sales service. Worth it's weight in gold when it comes to a warranty claim.

 

I see they've jumped on the Bafang mid-drive bandwagon too, although they really do need to sort their product description out

 

500W Bafang Mid Drive Electric E Bike Conversion Kit + 36V/13amp Battery BS02

That's really good to hear about the after-sales service. Worth it's weight in gold when it comes to a warranty claim.

 

I see they've jumped on the Bafang mid-drive bandwagon too, although they really do need to sort their product description out

 

500W Bafang Mid Drive Electric E Bike Conversion Kit + 36V/13amp Battery BS02

I was there today, they are not impressed with Bafang at all, Mac told me that reliability and build quality leaves a lot to be desired, I understand they will be discontinuing stocking these units. My boyfriend bought a Hub Motor set up for his bike after he was shown some of the Bafang units that had failed - some after only 5 minutes use.

I was there today, they are not impressed with Bafang at all, Mac told me that reliability and build quality leaves a lot to be desired, I understand they will be discontinuing stocking these units. My boyfriend bought a Hub Motor set up for his bike after he was shown some of the Bafang units that had failed - some after only 5 minutes use.

That's a shame. In Bafang's defense, they are listening to their customers and improving the units, but alas poor QC at their factory still prevails.

 

In the scope of things, the BBS01/02 units are quite complex little beasts, so I don't think they'll ever make them totally bomb proof.

The BBSHD is designed a little differently inside and may prove to be better than the first two creations.

 

Only time will tell though.

I've just bought one of these kits minus the battery secondhand. Once I've got a battery from the for £245, I won't have saved all that much, but it's better than nothing.

 

I'm going to fit it to a 27-speed Orbit that I built up last year. It's been gathering dust, because it's so similar in performance to one of my other bikes, so this will become my commuter if all works out well. It'll supplant a Woosh Sirocco CDL that I've had since June '15.

Update: I have just finished fitting the kit to a different bike. Instead of the Orbit, it got fitted to my Ridgeback hybrid with a SRAM Automatix rear hub. It's now pretty similar in ethos to the Momentum Upstart in that respect.

 

I didn't buy a battery, but used the one I had from my Woosh Sirocco with a rack fitting. That complicated the wiring somewhat, and it's a work in progress as the pedal sensor doesn't work yet. The wiring is rather Heath Robinson for now, so wet days are out of the question until I get things finished.

 

EBC have answered questions I've had very quickly. I didn't inherit the video guide and the YouTube video covers a different kit. The instruction booklet is not very good either, but for £75, I won't shout too loudly.

Just had a read through this and it all seems pretty good to me, think this is the company I'll be using, cheers

I contacted electricbikeconversions as I liked the fact that they are very close to where I live. They didn't respond via a mail sent from their web site so I rang them. The guy I spoke to was very open and friendly over the phone.

 

I had decided t(after much research) hat a Mid Drive motor was what I wanted, I have read quite a lot about problems with the wheels and loose spokes on hub motors so decided I wanted to avoid that. They still list a 250W kit (10 in stock) on their web site at £550 'with a 13A' (sic) battery.

 

I was told they actually only had two 'old' kits in stock which did not have any throttle function and it could not be added. Further they were discontinuing the mid drive units as they had been 'less successful than the hub drives'. Clearly support down the line was likely to be a problem so I decided to shop elsewhere.

 

I accept the 'start-up' nature of the e-bike industry, especially the conversion kit market, but you would hope they could at least keep the web site up to date.

 

I still may use them if I decide to convert my wife's bike, as a front motor/rack mount battery will suit her bike, but that can wait until next year.

I found their kits OK - save for the very excessive length of the wiring. However, I got a card with my order saying they positively welcomed feedback, so I spent no inconsiderable length of time praising them and giving constructive criticism where needed, IMO. Not one word of acknowledgement came from them and I had similar issues when using their website contact form.

I cant vouch for your experience but Ive had nothing but good experiences with EBC. In the year or so that Ive brought my kit Ive also brought one for the wife, my two kids have also brought (but got me to fit) and a couple of beer drinking friends from the pub. I only tend to use mine when going on short rides with the wife and down to my local for a couple of ales.

Their stuff is standard Chinese stuff, so you don't need to worry too much about future spares. You can get anything that's in the kit from many suppliers.

 

We recently fitted one of their big 1000w DD motor kits to a bike. With the power turned down, it was just like any other electric bike - very smooth, quiet and docile. At only £550 with the 48v battery, I thought it was pretty good.

 

Spokes breaking on hub-motors is an over-stated problem. With a crank drive, you'd probably smash your derailleur sooner than you'd break a 50 pence spoke with hub motor.

I accept the 'start-up' nature of the e-bike industry, especially the conversion kit market, but you would hope they could at least keep the web site up to date.

I'm not trying to make excuses for lack of communication, plus poor updating on websites, but I see it like this.

 

You're correct in mentioning the 'start-up' nature of the e-bike conversion vendors to end users. This can mean skeleton staffing due to tight profit margins. Also, running a main website, plus an eBay shop, usually means stock is shifted from one to the other to try to balance the two.

 

I see what you mean when you say they still show 10 in stock on their main website. If you look at the stock levels of mid drive kits on the eBay shop though, it suggests that they have discontinued the kits like they said.

 

EBC Mid Drive E-kits

Part of the problem is that many of these web sits are set-up by third parties, either as a service or as a favour, and the business then doesn't get all the tools and know-how to keep them up to date.

 

As you say, profit margins are tight, workforce thin on the ground and just because you know something about e-bikes, that doesn't make you a web site expert!

no surprise there is absolutely no mention anywhere at all that it can't legally be used in the UK, on all but private land where the is no public access.

 

Check with any motorbike shop and you'll see this is very dangerous ground for any business to operate on. If any of his bikes are involved in an accident the consequences for the customer / rider and the business owner could be very serious.

 

Are there any rules that say you MUST say these are only for off-road use? Anyway the regulations are nonsense, must 'illegal' kits only allow you to do what a very fit rider could do for a short space of time with less effort. Which is safer - going 25 mph on a push bike while fully alert, or doing 25 mph on a push bike with your head down, sweat pouring into your eyes? We are talking about 1000 watts or something here. A learner 125 motorbike is 14hp or 10,500 watts and you can ride that on a provisional license. No comparison.

Are there any rules that say you MUST say these are only for off-road use? Anyway the regulations are nonsense, must 'illegal' kits only allow you to do what a very fit rider could do for a short space of time with less effort. Which is safer - going 25 mph on a push bike while fully alert, or doing 25 mph on a push bike with your head down, sweat pouring into your eyes? We are talking about 1000 watts or something here. A learner 125 motorbike is 14hp or 10,500 watts and you can ride that on a provisional license. No comparison.

Believe you me David, we've had discussions on this subject many many times on this forum. The law is the law though. Some members abide by the EAPC rules to the letter, and some take the risk of riding machines that don't conform to the regs.

Was looking to buy a kit from them after a recommendation on my thread, however, in the past week they haven't responded to the couple of emails I've sent.

 

Will have to shop elsewhere as a lack of communication when trying to buy doesn't bode well if needing assistance if anything goes wrong.

 

That's the trouble with such tight margins

Have you tried phoning them? Or ordering from their website?

Was looking to buy a kit from them after a recommendation on my thread, however, in the past week they haven't responded to the couple of emails I've sent.

 

Will have to shop elsewhere as a lack of communication when trying to buy doesn't bode well if needing assistance if anything goes wrong.

 

That's the trouble with such tight margins

Did you try through ebay contact or from their website?

 

eBay Contact Page

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Website Contact Page

Thank you for the replies.

 

I tried through their website and followed up through their direct email address.

 

Haven't been able to call as I'm currently working long shifts. This is often the case which is why I like email contact, I can send an email at unsociable times when a call is not suitable.

Update.

 

Heard from Jamie who was most helpful, In my earlier post I was little impatient in my rush to get by bike up and running. Jamie has got back to my emails and he has been very accommodating.

 

Based on my updated experience I'd be happy to purchase from EBC.

I bought one of their 250W rear hub kits, it was fairly easy to install and pulled well.

 

It did have some teething problems, the thumb throttle would stick, the spokes regularly worked loose, the speed display would randomly get confused.

 

The main problem I had though was the crap bike I put it in, in the end I decided I should spend a bit more and buy something with a hub motor.

 

If anybody is interested I'm selling the old kit with battery for £200, just drop me a message.

The sticking throttle is an installation problem, not a problem with the throttle. It doesn't stick off the bike does it?

I didn't try it off the bike, I don't think it was installation but I must admit I had already made my mind up by then so didn't spend much time on it.