Conversion kit for my trek 4500 2013

[Ryanm87]

Hi everyone, firstly i would like to introduce myself as this is my first post. My name is ryan im 34 from aberdeen Scotland,

I am really new to ebikes so i apologise for my lack of knowledge!

I am looking to convert my bike to eirther a rear hub motor or a front hub motor. I have came across three options online

Yose power 350w with battery( like the option of not haveing a viable controller)

Voliamart 1000w

Csc

Anyone have any of these kits and advice me what would be a better option? I have a budget of £400 and would not like to go over that budget,

I really dont want to replace my break leavers as i see the ones that come with the kits are horrible!! Sorry to anyone that is using them

That was another reason the yose power kit was appealing because you can add sensors to the bikes standard break levers.

Anyone help would be very appreciated,

Cheers

 

[Nealh]

Yose are ok the hub appears to be quite bullet proof, their KT controllers for some reason appear to suffer with odd failures. The KTV12L PAS is also a weak link so opt for a conventional two part PAS.

The Voilamart 1kw tbh just don't go there, battery hungry and heavy hubs that are tbh under powered with the std controller and a cheap battery.

Csc a link don't know that one.

 

[Ryanm87]

Thanks for your help! Ok ill forger the voilamart motor, doesn't sound like the yose power is a good option? Is there another band that i should look at? Not a bafang as i cant afford it

Here is the csc one,

https://m.dhgate.com/product/csc-e-bike-kits-electric-bike-bicycle-conversion/465071098.html

 

[Nealh]

Yose have now I believe switched over to using Luishi controllers another good branded maker form China, Woosh bikes use them mostly.
Generally KT are problem free I use them all the time on my bikes.

 

[Nealh]

Thanks for your help! Ok ill forger the voilamart motor, doesn't sound like the yose power is a good option? Is there another band that i should look at? Not a bafang as i cant afford it

Here is the csc one,

https://m.dhgate.com/product/csc-e-bike-kits-electric-bike-bicycle-conversion/465071098.html

The Csc is a D/D hub like the Voilamart but with better KT system at 1500w you going to need a battery and a half for power and about £600 with top quality 20/25A rated cells needed.
The large dia D/D hubs are heavy 5kg plus and demand good current to get the best out of them, they are ungeared internally so horrible to try and ride with no power.
Needing good current etas up battery power so no normal cheap 48v battery will be much good after 15 odd miles, so you need a more bespoke made one with as I mentioned quality cells and a jump up from 13s/48v to 14s/52v or even 56/60v.

Other hubs 250w -500w are mostly geared hubs, they have an internal geared clutch and gear ratios that does allow for easier unpowered riding on flat terrain. These hubs are generally lighter 1.6kg - 4.4kg and you can still see 500 -700 watts for occasional use for hills when needed.

 

[Ryanm87]

Perfect thanks very much you have been so helpful !!! Ok ill stay clear of that kind of motors and would like to go down the route on a geared hub with clutch,

Would the yose power fall into that category being a geared hub with clutch?

Do you have any recommendations?

Would a 350watt hub be rather weak?

 

[Nealh]

The problem with low budgets is you constrain yourself to a cheaper battery option.

What type of riding do you wan to do ?

Have a look at Topbikekit.com the Aikema hubs are very good and cheaper then Bafang, all the peripherals needed can be got from them as well.

With all China imports though you have to factor in a bit of duty, my last buy was £218 for a Bafang G370, KT4 LCD and a Hollow tech PAS sensor, £10.40 duty on top and DHL handling feeof £11.

 

[Ryanm87]

My bike has front suspension with is lockable, i have hydrolic breaks. Would my bike be suitable for a conversion?

 

[Nealh]

The Yose is geared as are all hubs generally that don't look like a dinner plate.
350w is more then the legal rating but are over engineered, they can take up to about 22/25a current but not continuously other wise you melt the nylon gears through excess heat. The extra current is for hill climbing if you need more power, for longevity only use the three or four lower PAS levels and save five for when you really need it. Each PAS level has a different current loading so you can conserve battery capacity better.

 

[Ryanm87]

Ok ill give that site a look, i didnt factor the duty in to my calculations i would be doing abit of forest trails not much uphills mainly just abit of riding round my city,

The yose power kit was under £350 with a 36v battery also the controller was built into the battery.

 

[Nealh]

Front hubs aren't generally advisable for Ali fork drop outs even with torque arms they can crack and ruin the fork.

 

[Ryanm87]

Rear hub motors be suitable?

 

[Nealh]

Ok ill give that site a look, i didnt factor the duty in to my calculations i would be doing abit of forest trails not much uphills mainly just abit of riding round my city,

The yose power kit was under £350 with a 36v battery also the controller was built into the battery.

The Yose comes form a German warehouse (a staging post) so no duty/vat to pay they bend the rules by doing so, as why they tend to be cheaper.
Generally CS with Yose is good, though problems may take a week or three to sort out as you have to deal direct with them in China and supply pics via email of issues.

There is a massive Yose thread I started very tail end of 2017, getting on for 1500 posts now so plenty to read through and many have since have used them.

Yosepower hub kits.

I ordered a Yosepower CST hub kit form Elifeshop on ebay and it arrived on 22nd Dec, 6 days after placing the order. Warehouse location in Germany and total cost £184. In the box: The CST hub came laced in a 700c rim though there are 3 or 4 rim sizes to choose from, rim is silver and black with...

www.pedelecs.co.uk

 

[Nealh]

Rear hubs are usually more suitable but need a bit more work to fit them.
Show us some pics of your bikes front and rear drop outs.
Most opt for a mid drive for trails or off road but only if it is hard core or techiniclal.

I prefer hubs just because of their reliability and ease of easier simple repairs and maintenance.

 

[sjpt]

Also look at Woosh kits. https://wooshbikes.co.uk/ Very helpful advice, pre and post sales; but probably more expensive than Yose.

You can add sensors to standard levers for any kit.

Quite a few Yose kits are nominal 350w which is technically illegal for road use without license/tax/insurance, and for bridleway use. Max legal is 250w. Only for private land away from public rights of way. That said, you are very unlikely to get any problems as long as you are sensible.

Most motors go well above the rated wattage which is for continuous use; a typical 250w may use 400w or even up to 700w for some for a couple of minutes or so. A typical 350w motor may actually be the same motor as a 250w with a different rating stamp on it.

 

[tomtag]

I recently converted a trek 6700 2009 with a rear wheel hub kit. I ended up going with psw power/mxus xf08c kit. I bought a battery from yosepower. I didn't get the yosepower kit as I wanted to keep it fully road legal. Unfortunately the spokes weren't tensioned correctly so had to fix that myself. Biggest issues were fitting the pas to hollowtech crank as the inner chainring was so close to the bottom bracket shell. I ended up removing the inner chainring and putting the magnet ring in its place. Other alternative would have been to cut and carve the pas bracket. I would expect a little cutting and carving here. Once you get a kit fitted they're great, been riding mine round the peaks as my daily exercise and really enjoying it. Had put slicks on for commuting but no commuting required anymore so might put mtb tyres back on.

 

[Ryanm87]

Thanks for the information here is my bike

 

[Ryanm87]

Hopefuly the pictures clear enough to see the space i have and calipers to fit this kit

 

[Nealh]

The drop outs don't look like they are very suitable for a rear hub, often the hub axle needs to sit about 3mm deeper in to the drop out. So the drop out needs reamed out a bit more and the larger axle nut needs to be done up without fouling other areas of he drop out

 

[Ryanm87]

Thats terrible news! If that is the case what would you recommend as a alternative to a rear hub? Wouldnt want to start butchering the bike