Hello all.
I've been a moderately keen two wheeled bicycle rider during the periods of my life when work allowed. That means 5 to 15 years old, then most of the last 20 years. As a child I rode a road bike with drop handlebars. More recently, I've owned and used a number of MTB's but nothing super exotic. My upper spending limit on a bike has to date, been £1000. I own a couple of bikes. Actually four....
Some 4 or so years ago, a riding mate let me have a go of his Levo. It was so easy to ride, it was more like riding an electric motor bike. I used to ride a motorbike, and since I came off every one I ever owned, I wasn't that keen on an electric bike, not an unrestricted one anyway. Fast forward 4 or 5 years, and the lack of exercise covid has provided, has me lacking the limited stamina I once had. 5 months ago another riding pal took me out on a ridiculously difficult trail ride, that was basically 15 or so miles of hill climbing. For the first time in my life, I pushed my bike up a hill. Possibly, it is time to consider an e- conversion kit for at least one of my bikes?
The other consideration to making a purchase, is an retired friend who bought a Kettwiesel trike, in the hope (at my suggestion), that an e-motor conversion was a realistic opportunity. How hard is it to change a front wheel to a hub motor? How naive was I?
The initial interest in joining the Pedelec community, was/is to get advice. Firstly to get some reliable advice and suggestions, and guidance when things inevitably 'go south'. At this point in time, "we" (my retired friend and I) are looking for a route to a reliable retailer, who will supply a kit I might well fit, within a budget of around £1,000. Many of you experienced members will I hope be thinking sorting out the Kettwiesel trike to an e-trike should be straight-forward enough, but my experience suggests otherwise.
On her behalf, I have made an approach to 5 resellers/retailers so far.
The first, a reputable seller on Ebay, said their manufacturers had told them the hub motor they sold wasn't suitable for trikes.
Another solution that involved a German made hub motor, completely bust the budget by over double, so that wasn't a route to follow.
A well known, and as far as I can tell, very professional company in the East of England quoted a little under £2k for a mid drive system, but the configuration was going to make the trike difficult to use, mindful of the physical condition of the owner. (ie. Not young.)
A well known You Tube e-bike enthusiast was approached via their retail site, and not only was the enthusiast unavailable to help, the person that did offer to help from the approach, was emailing back from China. Too far for warranty issues, and the reason for approaching this retailer in the first place, had been their proximity.
The last retailer I approached, is also fairly well-known in the e-bike world and again, not a million miles away, so a physical visit to their outlet was also possible (as with the previous contact as we had thought). The initial response from this retailer was promising, but that response very quickly died away. With two prospective sales on the cards, you'd think our enquiries wouldn't be ignored.
At the moment, "we" have two choices: either spend what seems to me to be a ridiculous amount of money on a conversion by those who have actually shown some interest in pursuing a sale, or opt for chancing our luck on an Ebay reseller who ships from a warehouse in the UK. Their 20" hub motor and battery coming in at around £500. That's enough under budget to afford a second battery. What we don't know, is will the prospective kit we would buy, do the job?
If you are still reading, thank you for your perseverance.
I've been a moderately keen two wheeled bicycle rider during the periods of my life when work allowed. That means 5 to 15 years old, then most of the last 20 years. As a child I rode a road bike with drop handlebars. More recently, I've owned and used a number of MTB's but nothing super exotic. My upper spending limit on a bike has to date, been £1000. I own a couple of bikes. Actually four....
Some 4 or so years ago, a riding mate let me have a go of his Levo. It was so easy to ride, it was more like riding an electric motor bike. I used to ride a motorbike, and since I came off every one I ever owned, I wasn't that keen on an electric bike, not an unrestricted one anyway. Fast forward 4 or 5 years, and the lack of exercise covid has provided, has me lacking the limited stamina I once had. 5 months ago another riding pal took me out on a ridiculously difficult trail ride, that was basically 15 or so miles of hill climbing. For the first time in my life, I pushed my bike up a hill. Possibly, it is time to consider an e- conversion kit for at least one of my bikes?
The other consideration to making a purchase, is an retired friend who bought a Kettwiesel trike, in the hope (at my suggestion), that an e-motor conversion was a realistic opportunity. How hard is it to change a front wheel to a hub motor? How naive was I?
The initial interest in joining the Pedelec community, was/is to get advice. Firstly to get some reliable advice and suggestions, and guidance when things inevitably 'go south'. At this point in time, "we" (my retired friend and I) are looking for a route to a reliable retailer, who will supply a kit I might well fit, within a budget of around £1,000. Many of you experienced members will I hope be thinking sorting out the Kettwiesel trike to an e-trike should be straight-forward enough, but my experience suggests otherwise.
On her behalf, I have made an approach to 5 resellers/retailers so far.
The first, a reputable seller on Ebay, said their manufacturers had told them the hub motor they sold wasn't suitable for trikes.
Another solution that involved a German made hub motor, completely bust the budget by over double, so that wasn't a route to follow.
A well known, and as far as I can tell, very professional company in the East of England quoted a little under £2k for a mid drive system, but the configuration was going to make the trike difficult to use, mindful of the physical condition of the owner. (ie. Not young.)
A well known You Tube e-bike enthusiast was approached via their retail site, and not only was the enthusiast unavailable to help, the person that did offer to help from the approach, was emailing back from China. Too far for warranty issues, and the reason for approaching this retailer in the first place, had been their proximity.
The last retailer I approached, is also fairly well-known in the e-bike world and again, not a million miles away, so a physical visit to their outlet was also possible (as with the previous contact as we had thought). The initial response from this retailer was promising, but that response very quickly died away. With two prospective sales on the cards, you'd think our enquiries wouldn't be ignored.
At the moment, "we" have two choices: either spend what seems to me to be a ridiculous amount of money on a conversion by those who have actually shown some interest in pursuing a sale, or opt for chancing our luck on an Ebay reseller who ships from a warehouse in the UK. Their 20" hub motor and battery coming in at around £500. That's enough under budget to afford a second battery. What we don't know, is will the prospective kit we would buy, do the job?
If you are still reading, thank you for your perseverance.
