This review is for the Conv-e conversion kit, which I recently fitted to my Mongoose Tyax ATB bike frame which I upgraded with a Shimano Alivio drive-train at the same time. When I was hunting online for an easy to fit kit I came across the Conv-e but couldn’t find much in the way of reviews. So the following is my experience so far. My main buying criteria were: a battery that fitted in the frame triangle, no pedal sensor, no brake safety cut-out switches and finally price of course. Pedal sensors can be a pain, especially if you sometimes need to stand up on your pedals but still want to have forward motion power available if needed and brake switches are just another electrical thing to go wrong. I really do hope that these EU rules don't get enforced over here.
I've been mountain biking since my late 30's when we had steel frames, old style cantilever brakes and suspension had yet to be invented. However, decades of injuries had pushed me to start looking after my knees so I bought a Currie Electrodrive kit about 5 years ago. It's still going strong but technology has moved on a lot and so the Conv-e has now replaced it. My first impressions were that everything looked to be of a good build quality.
Fitting the kit is very simple and if all goes well it can be done within the advertised 20 or so minutes. The supplied front wheel rim containing the motor is double-walled with 3 cross pattern stainless spokes, so it is a good quality, strong wheel. But the axle diameter was just over 1mm too big to fit down into the dropouts on my Manitou suspension forks. I could have filed the dropouts but I'm no engineer so a bit of careful angle grinding did the job in under a minute. With the bike upside down the wheel then dropped into the forks and locked up tightly in the dropouts.
The alloy battery fixing plate is nicely engineered and bolts down onto the water bottle fitting points on the sloping frame tube. My tube is an oval, roughly 50 mm wide at this point so it fitted well. It's an elegant solution but with alloy bike frame walls getting ever thinner I have no idea how strong this method will prove to be. My Currie’s SLA battery needed 3 Jubilee clips to secure it, although admittedly it was at least twice the weight of the Conv-e’s Lithium one. The battery unlocks very easily from the mount with the supplied Allen key.
Lastly the thumb throttle. The hardest part here is getting the rubber hand grip off your bar ends, I pushed and pulled for about 10 minutes to get it off. If it comes to replacing them then next time it's going to be a Stanley knife job. The throttle assembly is quite small and neat; you just need to experiment to get the right angle and position on the bar alongside your shifters. I chose a thumb throttle as opposed to a twist grip because that's what I'm used to on my farm quad bike - you hang on and steer with all your fingers and palms and just use just your thumb for power. I'm not convinced about the usefulness of the battery meters that most of these kits have as they just aren't in the same accuracy league as the fuel gauge in a car. Maybe a simple kill-switch would be more useful.
That's it. All that remains is to connect everything up via the good quality weatherproof plugs and tidy up the wiring. With the battery in the frame you are left with some excess wiring, as it will if needed reach to the rear of the saddle, so this needs to be tucked away and secured with the supplied cable ties. Depending on your frame tube size you might need to get some longer ones. The final effect is that my bike looks a lot neater and also is a lot lighter than before. If you are happy changing an inner tube or similar task then you’ll definitely find it all so very easy. If not there are plenty of Bike Shops who will fit it for you.
So it’s down to performance. As I mentioned, I’ve had the Currie motor for a few years and have also tried various electric-powered bikes owned by friends. Anyone who has been to the Isle of Wight, where I live, and done the Round the Island or the off-road ‘7 Hills Killer’ will know that it’s covered with hills. I’ve done a couple of my usual runs from home, down to sea level and back again to try the Conv-e out.
The acceleration is not as fast or powerful as the Currie but the power control and start is a lot smoother and also virtually silent. The thumb throttle is well sprung and shuts off the power immediately when you release it. The motor helped me up some long ¾ mile climbs just as efficiently as the Currie and I never felt that it was struggling, even on the steep bits. Unlike some pedal assist bikes that I have tried, there is no delay and the power is there instantly on demand. This is particularly useful from a standing start at ‘Give Way’ junctions. You push off with one pedal stroke, push the throttle and then you are still accelerating across the road giving you time to get your other foot back in the toe clip before you need to start pedalling again. You just can’t do this so easily with a pedal sensor or power assist. However, this does not mean that you can just ‘floor it’. There appears to be some sort of cut-out if you pile on full power too quickly, presumably to protect the electronics. It resets itself in a couple of seconds and once you know then it’s fine.
People always ask about range, but to be honest there are so many variables in terms of the amount of hill climbing, any headwind and how much pedalling you do that it is difficult to give a meaningful answer with any battery powered bike.
Apart from gravel-type surfaces I haven’t tried it off tarmac yet. Like most kits this is front wheel drive, whereas my old Currie was rear wheel drive so your weight helped it keep very good traction. I’ve kept my all terrain tyres on both wheels. At just under £700 it’s not the cheapest option out there, but the Lithium batteries are a big chunk of that. So far I’m very happy with the kit and I’ll try and update this review when I’ve used it more.
I've been mountain biking since my late 30's when we had steel frames, old style cantilever brakes and suspension had yet to be invented. However, decades of injuries had pushed me to start looking after my knees so I bought a Currie Electrodrive kit about 5 years ago. It's still going strong but technology has moved on a lot and so the Conv-e has now replaced it. My first impressions were that everything looked to be of a good build quality.
Fitting the kit is very simple and if all goes well it can be done within the advertised 20 or so minutes. The supplied front wheel rim containing the motor is double-walled with 3 cross pattern stainless spokes, so it is a good quality, strong wheel. But the axle diameter was just over 1mm too big to fit down into the dropouts on my Manitou suspension forks. I could have filed the dropouts but I'm no engineer so a bit of careful angle grinding did the job in under a minute. With the bike upside down the wheel then dropped into the forks and locked up tightly in the dropouts.
The alloy battery fixing plate is nicely engineered and bolts down onto the water bottle fitting points on the sloping frame tube. My tube is an oval, roughly 50 mm wide at this point so it fitted well. It's an elegant solution but with alloy bike frame walls getting ever thinner I have no idea how strong this method will prove to be. My Currie’s SLA battery needed 3 Jubilee clips to secure it, although admittedly it was at least twice the weight of the Conv-e’s Lithium one. The battery unlocks very easily from the mount with the supplied Allen key.
Lastly the thumb throttle. The hardest part here is getting the rubber hand grip off your bar ends, I pushed and pulled for about 10 minutes to get it off. If it comes to replacing them then next time it's going to be a Stanley knife job. The throttle assembly is quite small and neat; you just need to experiment to get the right angle and position on the bar alongside your shifters. I chose a thumb throttle as opposed to a twist grip because that's what I'm used to on my farm quad bike - you hang on and steer with all your fingers and palms and just use just your thumb for power. I'm not convinced about the usefulness of the battery meters that most of these kits have as they just aren't in the same accuracy league as the fuel gauge in a car. Maybe a simple kill-switch would be more useful.
That's it. All that remains is to connect everything up via the good quality weatherproof plugs and tidy up the wiring. With the battery in the frame you are left with some excess wiring, as it will if needed reach to the rear of the saddle, so this needs to be tucked away and secured with the supplied cable ties. Depending on your frame tube size you might need to get some longer ones. The final effect is that my bike looks a lot neater and also is a lot lighter than before. If you are happy changing an inner tube or similar task then you’ll definitely find it all so very easy. If not there are plenty of Bike Shops who will fit it for you.
So it’s down to performance. As I mentioned, I’ve had the Currie motor for a few years and have also tried various electric-powered bikes owned by friends. Anyone who has been to the Isle of Wight, where I live, and done the Round the Island or the off-road ‘7 Hills Killer’ will know that it’s covered with hills. I’ve done a couple of my usual runs from home, down to sea level and back again to try the Conv-e out.
The acceleration is not as fast or powerful as the Currie but the power control and start is a lot smoother and also virtually silent. The thumb throttle is well sprung and shuts off the power immediately when you release it. The motor helped me up some long ¾ mile climbs just as efficiently as the Currie and I never felt that it was struggling, even on the steep bits. Unlike some pedal assist bikes that I have tried, there is no delay and the power is there instantly on demand. This is particularly useful from a standing start at ‘Give Way’ junctions. You push off with one pedal stroke, push the throttle and then you are still accelerating across the road giving you time to get your other foot back in the toe clip before you need to start pedalling again. You just can’t do this so easily with a pedal sensor or power assist. However, this does not mean that you can just ‘floor it’. There appears to be some sort of cut-out if you pile on full power too quickly, presumably to protect the electronics. It resets itself in a couple of seconds and once you know then it’s fine.
People always ask about range, but to be honest there are so many variables in terms of the amount of hill climbing, any headwind and how much pedalling you do that it is difficult to give a meaningful answer with any battery powered bike.
Apart from gravel-type surfaces I haven’t tried it off tarmac yet. Like most kits this is front wheel drive, whereas my old Currie was rear wheel drive so your weight helped it keep very good traction. I’ve kept my all terrain tyres on both wheels. At just under £700 it’s not the cheapest option out there, but the Lithium batteries are a big chunk of that. So far I’m very happy with the kit and I’ll try and update this review when I’ve used it more.
