Electric Bicycles

[Paul J]

Enjoyed a mountain bike ride this morning around the local cliffs of West Cornwall along with a friend riding a Boardman Electric bike, I have always regarded the power assisted bikes as cheating but I have to admit that locally the hills are indeed getting steeper.

E bikes can be rather expensive so I have been looking at the mid drive conversion kits that are available for a fraction of the cost, before getting involved any deeper I was thinking that perhaps someone within the club has experience of this modification and can offer advice.

Paul

[RogerH]

Hi Paul,

be careful what you buy.

My lad replied to an advert for an electric bike. It was sort of promoted by the Daily telegraph and daily Mail (not).

Expectations were rather mixed because is was too cheep - so it is either a bargain of total ****.

It took a month to turn up from various places east of the channel. The big day arrived and a very small package was opened to reveal a pair of very cheap sunglasses.

Thankfully it wasn't a lot of money and he paid by PayPal so the money may be safe  (apprx £29) 

But as my lad said 'how can you not buy an electric bike for £29 even if it is ****'

 

Roger

[Paul J]

Hi Roger

Unfortunately most of what we buy today is from the East of the Channel and its always a worry after clicking the pay button that what you receive equals to what is expected.

I'm always looking for the cheaper alternative which sometimes is not the most cost effective.

I came to a rather steep hill this morning and can remember riding up the hill going to school and catching hold of the bar at the rear of the double decker bus and getting a tow, the conductors onboard did not seem to mind at the time, can't do that anymore even if I could catch the bus there are no poles at the rear the buses!!

Paul

[Waldi]

Hi Paul, we have 2 electric bikes, and they enable us to do much longer tours on a day. Ours have a front wheel drive, there are different types of motors, some are rather noisy. We have a direct drive type, which has a larger diameter, and I cannot hear it. It would be less suitable for hilly roads, as the power is more or less proportional with speed. Mid-engined bicycles do not have that disadvantage, and can be very powerful.

Waldi

[little jim]

I fitted an ARC electric front wheel some years ago. Conversion was cheap ($300) and it was just a matter of replacing the front wheel, and fitting the handlebar speed control. Battery bag straps to front handlebar.

[Paul J]

Thanks guys, there also seems to be a limit to the motor power for UK road use 250 watt max, anything above that is classed as a moped and road tax is required. The motors I have been looking at are 750 watt, must be difficult to police this as some motors do not seem to have a visible power rating. Nothing is straight forward.

Paul

[Spit_2.5PI]

Hi Paul. A number of older members in our cycling club have electric bikes. It's easy to spot them - they're the ones who aren't out of breath at the tops of hills! They all say that it enables them to keep doing longer rides than their age would dictate. Some have off-the-shelf bikes - mostly on-road but you can get off-road. These seem to have been bought from reputable bike shops after looking at what's available and trying them out. Any good bike shop will let you test ride a bike. You may have to search for a shop that specialises in electric bikes, I don't know.

A few members bought conversions for existing bikes. I remember one friend who told me he bought a 500W conversion which fits to the front - a replacement wheel.

He said the following in an email to me back in 2017 ...

Quote

I got it from electricbikeconversions.co.uk 01438986007

I am happy with mine still and its great fun. Its not too hard a job to do, and they were very helpful on the phone when I needed help. They were also very speedy, eg when the battery was playing up they had a new one there the next day, Also when I swapped from a front wheel drive to back wheel (more anon)

I would say if you are just going to use it on the road then the easiest is the 250W FRONT WHEEL kit, its lighter, easier to take off for punctures, getting in the car etc. Its also geared (which mine is`nt) this means a) its lighter and b) there is much less drag when pedalling with the motor turned off.

Front wheel drive is fine for on road. Kevin has one. But off road I found the steering was awful!! And that's why I changed it.

I also have the 500W version which is probably needed where the hills are much steeper.

The reason I went for conversion rather than dedicated was the weight!! Of the latter I can hardly lift them. A front wheel (or back wheel 250 gearless only adds 2.5kg to the wheel and the battery (which comes off ) another 3kg, whereas most dedicated bikes re about 21kg! My rear wheel is much heavier but as the bike started at 27lb means its reasonable. I would go for the bottle battery as it keeps the centre of gravity lower.

One crucial bit of advice I forgot.   If you go for a front wheel conversion they are normally 10mm axles, this is probably fine for a touring/hybrid bike but if it has suspension forks these are more likely to be 9mm.   Being an ex(failed) engineer I took the file to mine---result first outing it ripped the fork ends off!!!

I hope that gives you some pointers. Weight of bike, drag when not powered, ease when it comes to punctures, weight of steering.

Oh, I seem to recall that they are SPEED limited, otherwise you would need a license. Perhaps they are also power limited too. I remember being told with some conversions you could remove the limiter! Or perhaps you put it in "off-road" mode?

Cheers, Richard

[Chris1966]

Hi Paul,

I have had a look in to this myself and found that in the UK:

Max assistance speed on road is 25 KPH and max motor watts should be 250 by law.

Some kits let you exceed the speed and come with bigger motors (some as much as 1500 watts), as different countries have different limits and on the understanding that it is at your own risk of prosecution.

Batteries are the most expensive part of kits, if the price is cheap normally no battery included. Also batteries can not always be imported due to fire risk, some businesses have exemptions but ebay items may not make it to you, and you have to pay import tax on everything.

All in one kits from UK based firms are probably best, parts still come from the east but someone you can talk to for help. I looked at Swytch they roll out kits every few months at introductory rates if you sign up - the lowest offer from them for a front wheel and battery is £350, they will quote £400 - but if you don't buy at the first opportunity they follow up with an offer £50 less (well they just did for me).

E- Mountain Bikes (EMTB) are at the other end of the scale and start at £1,000 upwards for basic models or bikes that look like normal bikes are just starting to go on sale again a bit too much money but VanMoof S3 is supposed to be good.

 

I got my myself a gravel bike with low gearing instead for now, you could probably set up an existing bike with lower gears for £50 as a cheaper alternative.

 

Chris

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Paul J]

Thanks Richard and Chris, I'm looking at converting my Carrera Mountain Bike as it seems to be a good size etc for my build.  Top of my list at the moment is the mid motor that powers the pedal crank the Bafung 8fun kit I have looked at seems to be a good well made product but they start at 350watt up to 1000w so all seem to be excessive for lawful UK use, I have also noticed one supplier selling 250w power rating stickers to fasten to your over powered motor, there are always loopholes. 

  The best price I have found including the battery is £709 delivered from Germany, almost a set of Stainless bumpers for my 5 Project!!

Paul