Help! Looking for an alternative to Swytch and would appreciate some advice in Conversion Kits General Discussion.

Woosh

Trade Member
May 19, 2012
20,365
16,870
Southend on Sea
wooshbikes.co.uk
@Woosh I'll be in touch with you later today to see what we can put together to suit my needs.
it's fairly straightforward to install, no drilling hole! Andy can get the kit out to you this afternoon and you could be riding electric this weekend!
 

Bonzo Banana

Esteemed Pedelecer
Sep 29, 2019
805
464
Especially when you need to get up them ASAP! Legal rated 250W hub drives anwyay. Sod it, I'm never buying one.

@Bonzo Banana keeps going on about how wonderful hub drives are, complains about awful mid drives.... all while powering about using a 500W hub driven bike. Of course he's not going to have much problem getting up hills with an illegal 500W rated motor. I'd have been completely stuffed the other night, if I'd converted using any 250W rated legal hub. A younger, stronger and fitter cyclist using a legal hub, might have managed to escape being "grabbed" by a thug giving chase uphill. It's a good thing I converted my Dahon Helios P8 folding bike, using a BBS01B.

Legal hub drives clearly aren't suitable for everyone. I don't think I'm ever buying one:

https://www.pedelecs.co.uk/forum/threads/bike-chased-late-friday-night-by-loons.45686/
Why do you keep writing such nonsense? Most kit mid-drive motors and many hub motors exceed the 250W rating, that is only 7A at 36V. Almost everything is illegal in the ebike kit world they just restrict it to 15.5mph and give a fake 250W rating label. How many people have a ebike restricted to 7A current with perhaps short time boosts to 11A? Bosch ebikes can be at 22A at 36V climbing hills for a prolonged period until heat issues. There are plenty of mid-drive motors that aren't great hill climbing bikes and there are many high powered hub motors that can achieve around 60Nm which puts them in the same territory as many non e-mountain bike mid-drive motors. Again I do have a Tosheng mid drive motor I just don't see the point in it for general riding with the extra complexity and accelerated drivetrain wear for longer trips it makes the bike less reliable which is not what you want when a long way from home.

The Rohloff and front hub motor will be a fantastic combination it will massively reduce wear on the Rohloff because now when hill climbing the front hub motor will take a lot of wear of it. This will massively extend its working lifespan. It's a brilliant combination and I would say the ideal combination. Rohloff's do fail at times and probably almost guaranteed to fail with a mid-drive motor where high torque output is combined with the riders own power to perhaps give 4-5x the normal power through the Rohloff. It was not designed for that.
 
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Woosh

Trade Member
May 19, 2012
20,365
16,870
Southend on Sea
wooshbikes.co.uk
The Rohloff and front hub motor will be a fantastic combination
I agree. It's not possible to fit a Bafang BBS01 or a TSDZ2 to the Thorn Raven because it has excentric bottom bracket and the lock nut for the BB is on the underside of the BB shell.
 

Nealh

Esteemed Pedelecer
Aug 7, 2014
20,917
8,533
61
West Sx RH
A front hub on stepp hills may produce some wheel slip though depends on how much cuurent is put through it.
My rear hub Bafang CST had no issue getting me up Ditchling beacon 6 or 7 years ago from the very bottom, 9% average, a couple of 16% in places.
 

guerney

Esteemed Pedelecer
Sep 7, 2021
11,390
3,234
A front hub on stepp hills may produce some wheel slip though depends on how much cuurent is put through it.
How much current is a Bafang CST capable of reliably withstanding, without bursting into flames and/or melting?


My rear hub Bafang CST had no issue getting me up Ditchling beacon 6 or 7 years ago from the very bottom, 9% average, a couple of 16% in places.
Using just throttle? My BBS01B did that with just throttle right out of the box (before I discovered throttles were illegal), admittedly on a bike with 20" wheels. Is your CST marked 250W by the manufacturer?
 

guerney

Esteemed Pedelecer
Sep 7, 2021
11,390
3,234
there are many high powered hub motors that can achieve around 60Nm
60Nm is crap, would have got me duffed up and/or stabbed and my bike "grabbed". Those running step noises got awfully close. Useless.

Buy yourself a legally rated 250W motor, marked "250W" by the manufacturer. It'll be rubbish at hills without high current, which might strip nylon gears.
 
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joelectric

Pedelecer
Feb 22, 2019
144
93
Motherwell
60Nm is crap, would have got me duffed up and/or stabbed and my bike "grabbed". Useless.

Buy yourself a legally rated 250W motor, marked "250W" by the manufacturer. It'll be rubbish at hills without high current, which might strip nylon gears.
60nm is fine for a hub motor, ive got a 48v rear hub hpm motor with a 23a controller and it gets me up 100% of all paved road paths with zero issues and the torque is more than ample.
I also have a 52v bbshd for off road fun
In some ways i prefer riding the hub bike, its taken me a bit to get used to the gear depending mid drive and not as much difference as you think.
 

guerney

Esteemed Pedelecer
Sep 7, 2021
11,390
3,234
60nm is fine for a hub motor, ive got a 48v rear hub hpm motor with a 23a controller and it gets me up 100% of all paved road paths with zero issues and the torque is more than ample.
Using just throttle? The reason why I keep asking this, is to remove the leg power component. Which I lack oodles of. To be clear, I currently have two legs. Even when aged, people who have cycled all their lives will generally have less difficulty than those that haven't, when it comes to tackling hills riding hub motored bikes. I stopped cycling in the late 80's, started again in 2020.
 

joelectric

Pedelecer
Feb 22, 2019
144
93
Motherwell
Using just throttle? The reason why I keep asking this, is to remove the leg power component. Which I lack oodles of. To be clear, I currently have two legs. Even when aged, people who have cycled all their lives will generally have less difficulty than those that haven't, when it comes to tackling hills riding hub motored bikes. I stopped cycling in the late 80's, started again in 2020.
If your not looking to peddle at all then stick to the mid drive.
you can experiment using the grin motor simulator, saves you buying the wrong bike.
Pay attention to point/time when the motor overheats on the calculator , adjust the hill grade to suit.
 

guerney

Esteemed Pedelecer
Sep 7, 2021
11,390
3,234
If your not looking to peddle at all then stick to the mid drive.
I don't have a throttle, removed it when I discovered they're illegal. My BBS01B firmware is set up to provide 100% "Keep current" on all levels, and I only ever use the highest PAS level , which is set to 100% of 15A - it's pretty much a throttleless moped activated by ghost pedalling, and I still barely got away from a merry funster's grasp. A throttle wouldn't have increased my hill climbing speed. I'll be increasing controller amps to 19, because one thug got far too close. The GoPro's mics aren't rear facing, their pickup pattern isn't ideal for that situation, but my ears are... despite that, some faint thumping can be heard around the 17 second mark, if listening using high quality headphones (Sennheiser HD600).


you can experiment using the grin motor simulator, says you buying the wrong bike.
Pay attention to point/time when the motor overheats on the calculator , adjust the hill grade to suit.
Thanks, but I've given up on the idea of hub drive conversion for my Dahon Espresso. I've only got a 20A battery (22A BMS).
 
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guerney

Esteemed Pedelecer
Sep 7, 2021
11,390
3,234
Wait... those 7 SurRon hell riders chasing you were actually... running?
One of them was being instructed to chase me on foot, by the funsters in the car, got close. There were no Sauron/Sur-ron bikes that night.
 
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Nealh

Esteemed Pedelecer
Aug 7, 2014
20,917
8,533
61
West Sx RH
You can put as many amps/current thru a 250w hub as youlike if you know what you are doing and how to do it. Even Bafang swxk models can work with 30 -40a with out breaking, one just needs to add cooling .
 
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SafetyThird

Pedelecer
Jul 18, 2023
26
18
After a couple of email exchanges with Andy at Woosh bikes, I've just ordered a front hub kit with 20AH downtube battery. Looks like I'll be wooshing around very soon :)
 
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Az.

Esteemed Pedelecer
Apr 27, 2022
2,044
903
Plymouth
After a couple of email exchanges with Andy at Woosh bikes, I've just ordered a front hub kit with 20AH downtube battery. Looks like I'll be wooshing around very soon :)
That was fast...
Looking forward to see some pictures.
 

SafetyThird

Pedelecer
Jul 18, 2023
26
18
Absolutely cannot fault the customer service at Woosh. email replies within 30 minutes, asked questions and for photos to ensure I'm getting the most suitable parts for my bike and advised on a couple of questions I asked about e-bikes in general.

After everything I've read about the customer service at Swytch, this sort of response bodes much better for a reliable bike install and support if it's needed.

Thanks again to everyone who suggested Woosh.
 
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Az.

Esteemed Pedelecer
Apr 27, 2022
2,044
903
Plymouth
Thanks again to everyone who suggested Woosh.
You are welcome.
Much better than waiting a year for Swytch, isn't it?

Personally I think 20Ah is an overkill for your needs. There was a time I was also thinking the bigger the better. Not anymore. Big batteries are very heavy and ugly.
 

guerney

Esteemed Pedelecer
Sep 7, 2021
11,390
3,234
Personally I think 20Ah is an overkill for your needs. There was a time I was also thinking the bigger the better. Not anymore. Big batteries are very heavy and ugly.
Not for hills they're not - bigger is better, they also facilitate continuous ascension of hills despite voltage sag. Plus in a few years when capacity drops, they will still provide useful range. A couple of extra kgs is no sweat when you have an ebike. 19.2Ah was the largest my seller had available for the UK, would have bought bigger.
 
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Woosh

Trade Member
May 19, 2012
20,365
16,870
Southend on Sea
wooshbikes.co.uk
Personally I think 20Ah is an overkill for your needs. There was a time I was also thinking the bigger the better. Not anymore. Big batteries are very heavy and ugly.
The whole kit adds 6.5kgs to the bike.
The main advantage of the 20AH battery is as guerney said, good for hills especially if you need the throttle and long life. Size-wise, the DP case is about the same as a typical HL battery.