Convert or buy new

[CRAZYNIGHT]

I have been using my wifes lifecycle folding bike for over a year now, loving the commute to work and taking the dog for a walk/run on it.

I think its time to buy my own or is it?

I have a Trek 7.2 Hybrid which has sat in the shed for the last 12 months unused, before going in there it had been fully services so still works as well now as it did then. I also have a mountain bike which I do use for mountains

My question is should I look at spending c£500 converting the trek or add a further £500 to the pot and buy a new ebike? the build quality is great on the trek.

Comments welcome and advice regarding a conversion process will be useful.

Points to note:
Commute is a 5mile across town (up hill)
Trek has NO suspension
Trek will only sell for c£100 used etc no market.
Would be a front wheel conversion as the main issue I have with the lifecycle is speed I know I can cycle quicker with the right gearing so want to keep the rear as is for added speed.

 

[JuicyBike]

This thread may be useful to you.
http://www.pedelecs.co.uk/forum/electric-bicycles/10105-juicy-bike-conversion-kit-trek-7300-fx.html
I'm all for making a saving where possible and if you're handy with bikes then there are some great conversion kits available.
Ours are available to see at Juicy Bike website.

 

[CRAZYNIGHT]

This thread may be useful to you.
http://www.pedelecs.co.uk/forum/electric-bicycles/10105-juicy-bike-conversion-kit-trek-7300-fx.html
I'm all for making a saving where possible and if you're handy with bikes then there are some great conversion kits available.
Ours are available to see at Juicy Bike website.

Should have said its a 700c bike I don't seem to see any kits for 700c on your site.

 

[JuicyBike]

CN
For 700C read 28", give or take a couple of mm.
Hope that widens your choice amongst several suppliers of kits.

 

[CRAZYNIGHT]

Thanks for that, now producing a matrix of the different kits on the market.
should be ordering by the weekend

 

[Cyclezee]

Hi Crazynight,

We are UK suppliers of eZee bikes and conversion kits.

They are powerful, reliable and robust, but may be over your budget.

Please take a couple of minutes to view them here electric bikes and conversion kits - Home

Regards,

 

[johnc461165]

I bought a new e bike. Alien Aurora, I feel very fortunate to have bought a bike that really suits me, however if I had had a bike that I used and liked, then I would have certainly gone down the conversion road. So my opinion is to look at the kits available, see what best suits your needs, try before you buy if you can and you wont go far wrong. J

 

[stesteste]

do you like the aurora i love mine, might do a project bike next for fun but aurora for my work purpose, enjoy

Sent from my GT-N7100 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Deleted member 4366]

I have been using my wifes lifecycle folding bike for over a year now, loving the commute to work and taking the dog for a walk/run on it.

I think its time to buy my own or is it?

I have a Trek 7.2 Hybrid which has sat in the shed for the last 12 months unused, before going in there it had been fully services so still works as well now as it did then. I also have a mountain bike which I do use for mountains

My question is should I look at spending c£500 converting the trek or add a further £500 to the pot and buy a new ebike? the build quality is great on the trek.

Comments welcome and advice regarding a conversion process will be useful.

Points to note:
Commute is a 5mile across town (up hill)
Trek has NO suspension
Trek will only sell for c£100 used etc no market.
Would be a front wheel conversion as the main issue I have with the lifecycle is speed I know I can cycle quicker with the right gearing so want to keep the rear as is for added speed.

The decision whether to convert or buy ready-made should be simple.
Reasons for converting:

• You want more speed, range or power that is available on the cheaper ready-mades
• You want a higher spec bike than is available on the cheaper ready-mades.
• You have a bike that specially suits you and you want to electrify it.
• You want to learn about ebikes
• You enjoy doing your own projects

Reasons to buy ready-made:

• You don't have the mechanical/electrical skills to do a conversion
• You want to get riding ASAP

There's plenty of ready-made bikes available for well below £1000.Just click on the banners to the right and you'll find loads starting from £599. They all do the job perfectly unless there's something special about you like weight, height etc.

 

[RobF]

.
Would be a front wheel conversion as the main issue I have with the lifecycle is speed I know I can cycle quicker with the right gearing so want to keep the rear as is for added speed.

You could convert the Trek with a rear motor and keep the same gears.

Either front or rear works well enough, unless you are going for lots of power when rear is better because of the strain on the dropouts - the front ones are weaker.

Buying a decent bike already electrified is expensive, not least because most are crank drives.

A £2,000 Kalkhoff is roughly a £700 hybrid bike with a motor.

 

[johnc461165]

do you like the aurora i love mine, might do a project bike next for fun but aurora for my work purpose, enjoy

Sent from my GT-N7100 using Tapatalk 2

Very happy with it, had a few rear wheel spoke problems but I have sorted that now, project mmm really fancy a recumbent trike with the Aurora motor wheel setup

 

[CRAZYNIGHT]

The decision whether to convert or buy ready-made should be simple.
Reasons for converting:

• You want more speed, range or power that is available on the cheaper ready-mades
• You want a higher spec bike than is available on the cheaper ready-mades.
• You have a bike that specially suits you and you want to electrify it.
• You want to learn about ebikes
• You enjoy doing your own projects

Reasons to buy ready-made:

• You don't have the mechanical/electrical skills to do a conversion
• You want to get riding ASAP

Thanks d8veh your input seems to have pointed me down the route of conversion, although with other comments will start to look at rear powered unit are they harder to fit?

• You want more speed, range or power that is available on the cheaper ready-mades
  Yes speed
• You want a higher spec bike than is available on the cheaper ready-mades.
  Think my 4 year old trek is high spec than any entry ebike although is missing suspension but has the light, penners etc which all fit my needs.
• You have a bike that specially suits you and you want to electrify it.
  As above.
• You want to learn about ebikes
  Yes
• You enjoy doing your own projects
  Yes its either an ebike or a cheap car / kit car project to work on. Currently the ebike is winning

 

[Kudoscycles]

In the past if you wanted a performance bike but with power added you had to convert,all of the complete ebikes tended to be dutch traditional style for that was the bulk of the market. However the UK ebike suppliers are now getting our act together and supplying a greater variety of bikes,also the German Bosch drive bikes are getting cheaper and becoming more racy. So now the decision is less obvious.
People talk that a nice sports bike when power is added will remain a nice sports bike,that is not always so. The additional weight in the wrong place can produce a badly balanced bike. At least with a complete bike you have opportunity to ride the bike with all the electrics and know immediately whether you like it or otherwise.
Note that an ebike weighing about 20kgs,can have 9-11 kgs of electrics,so the base bike may only weigh about 10kgs,that is not heavy unless you get into minimalist racing frame bikes.
KudosDave

 

[Deleted member 4366]

Thanks d8veh your input seems to have pointed me down the route of conversion, although with other comments will start to look at rear powered unit are they harder to fit?

OK, that's one difficult decision made, but there's a few more yet. Is it difficult to fit a rear motor? No, not if you know how. yes, if you don't. Luckily, there's lot's of help here.=, so the answer's no, it's not difficult.

The problem now is deciding what stuff you want. Whatever criteria you can think of for your bike, you'll find that you can't have them all. You have to balance weight, power, speed, cost, complexity, handling, etc.

To advise you, we need a bit more info:
How fast do you want to go?
How far?
How much do you weigh?
How fit are you?
Do you have hills to climb?
Are you looking for a light-weight solution or a workhorse?
Are you good with electrical stuff?
Is a quiet motor important, i.e Do you want to pretend to the lycra-clad types that you're fitter than they are, or do you not mind them hearing the whirrr from the motor?

If you're sticking with what you said in the first post, it would be very straight forward to make a fast, lightweight, short range solution with a front or rear wheel drive. There's even a middle-drive solution.

 

[103Alex1]

The decision whether to convert or buy ready-made should be simple.
Reasons for converting:

• You want more speed, range or power that is available on the cheaper ready-mades
• You want a higher spec bike than is available on the cheaper ready-mades.
• You have a bike that specially suits you and you want to electrify it.
• You want to learn about ebikes
• You enjoy doing your own projects

Reasons to buy ready-made:

• You don't have the mechanical/electrical skills to do a conversion
• You want to get riding ASAP

.... and when you can pick at least 4 reasons to convert from the 1st list and both reasons for buying ready made from the list below you have to manage out the conflict, put the effort in, hope you're lucky enough to supported whilst you learn the relevant skills to achieve your goal and keep in mind the reasons you chose to convert whilst you learn new skills and build when you really wanted to be out riding on your new bike yesterday .

You can ride almost any day but the chance to learn new skills depends on a lot of factors and the people who are around to support you at the time you undertake your project.

 

[Blew it]

...Luckily, there's lot's of help here

.............

 

[CRAZYNIGHT]

To advise you, we need a bit more info:
How fast do you want to go?
I can cycle over 15mph on the route to work at times but find my wifes life cycle limiting due to the gears etc so obviously 15.5mph aided but ideally unlimited with my assistance

How far?
Return journey to work is 10 miles.

How much do you weigh?
96kg but lost 1kg this week

How fit are you?
Am ok do a little mtb also.

Do you have hills to climb?
Yes 3 long slow climbs total climb probably 55m

Are you looking for a light-weight solution or a workhorse?
would need to be able to carry bags etc

Are you good with electrical stuff?
Father was a spark and I work with IT

Is a quiet motor important, i.e Do you want to pretend to the lycra-clad types that you're fitter than they are, or do you not mind them hearing the whirrr from the motor?
am ok with the whirr not bothered really guess as with everything quiet will come at a price.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

Different motors will spin to different speeds. If your motor is not matched to the speed you normally ride at, it can be less efficient. The problem on your wife's bike is the gearing - nothing to do with the electrics. It can be easily sorted with a different free-wheel at the back or chainwheel on the front - cost about £25.

Your Trek has normal gearing, so shouldn't have that problem. You're still being vague about the speed you want the motor to help you to. The legal limit is 16.5mph. Is that what you want, or do you want the motor to keep helping you to 20mph or what?.

As you're about the same weight as me, and you have hills, you'll need a motor with a bit of torque. Most motors can be tweaked a bit, but the limiting factor is the battery. There's a very close relationship between torque an current, so you need a battery that can give a lot of current, which means a big heavy one or lipos. Lipos need more complicated and careful charging and monitoring procedures, but they can give very high power from tiny batteries. If you've dabbled in RC aeroplanes, cars or helicopters, you might know about this already, otherwise you'll have to do some research. They have a reputation for being dangerous, but I haven't heard any reports of problems on this forum and many of us use them. On the USA forum (Endless Sphere) most people use them, and I've heard of one fire, but I've heard of a few fires from other types of ebike batteries that are supposed to be safer.

There's this crank-drive kit that is very easy to fit and a good climber, but nobody's done enough miles on one to know how it'll last. It can also go quite fast because you can change to a higher gear so that it always gives maximum power. I have one and it's OK, but a bit noisy compared with a hub-motor. In standard form, the gearing might be a bit low with its 42T chain-wheel. Some people bodge another larger one onto the side of the supplied one.
36V350W/48V400W geared mid drive brushless kit
http://www.pedelecs.co.uk/forum/electric-bicycles/13269-new-gng-crank-drive.html

 

[Sacko]

Shameless plug

http://www.pedelecs.co.uk/forum/classifieds/13763-giant-xtc-se-36v-500w-bafang-code-12-44-v.html

 

[CRAZYNIGHT]

Shameless plug

http://www.pedelecs.co.uk/forum/classifieds/13763-giant-xtc-se-36v-500w-bafang-code-12-44-v.html

I take it its now gone

Well test cycled two bikes this weekend, very surprised seemed slower than the lifecycle, seemed as if they had followed the rule book 100% at 15.5 bang the motor cut out and did not offer any further assistance making the top speed very limited.

Am now thinking a conversion will be best, has anyone fitted a juicybike.co.uk conversion?