New Andy kirby 15 min conversion kit looks good

quite respectable depending on price

 

 

 

Looks like Swytch clone.

"You can put the kit on any bike you want"

 

So including bikes with alloy drop outs on the suspension forks ?

Anybody challenging Swytch's absurd business model where you have to forward order now and maybe get your kit in 6 months gets my vote. £400-£450 seems keen, especially if it's going to be an in-stock item.

 

Anybody else notice another flaw from AK's body-cam? As AK has it angled (so the front light points where you'd think it should be toward the road), you can't really see the top-mounted buttons or display easily as they're angled away from the rider.

As always, there was a shop full of bikes to choose for the conversion, but instead of taking a nearby one, they go and get a specially chosen one from round the back that had specially strong drop-outs, probably pre-filed so that the motor would fit. There was no mention of the dangers of fitting a high torque motor to forks with weak drop-outs, nor anything about how to reinforce them. They're wide open for a liability claim.

No torque arms and you can't see the anti rotation washer tab.

The anti rotation washer tab top should be below the top of the dropout, this ensures full contact between the side faces of the tab and dropout

He might have been lucky enough that the axle fitted without modifying the sides of the dropout but it's hard to judge the depth without seeing the washer tab.

I also need magine that the bike shop made it clear to him that once he fitted the ebike motor his warranty was invalid

Bike lights should be facing downwards, car headlines face tilted downwards so you don't blind oncoming drivers.

He might have been lucky enough that the axle fitted without modifying the sides of the dropout but it's hard to judge the depth without seeing the washer tab.

[ATTACH=full]52629[/ATTACH]

The cheapest bikes have 10mm axles with nuts on. They obviously have 10mm wide drop-outs to fit the axle, so the 10mm motor axle at least goes in.

 

More expensive bikes have 9mm QR axles and drop-outs to suit, so they nearly always need filing.

 

Look at the thickness of those drop-outs. if I wanted to convert a medium priced bike with a front motor, that would be a good candidate, though I'd always fit a torque arm on the brake side tied to the brake caliper mount.

 

Everything considered, though, the kit looks pretty good. I'd prefer the Swytch way of putting the controller in the fixed mounting rather than in the removable battery.

 

I'm doing an ebike conversion project with a 15 year old to improve his job-seeking chances. We're looking at something similar to that kit, but not with the battery sticking out in front of the handlebars like that. He's writing it all up in a big folder with all the details of his learning experience about how it all works, the construction techniques, design choices, safety of operation and construction, self-designed parts, constraints and regulations. The guy is dead keen, and never done anything like that and never made anything before. I set him homework each week on aspects to study, and he does it all very thoroughly. I'm also tutoring him in Physics, which is where it all started from. He was very lucky coming to my house to get one to one tuition, a free electric bike conversion and prospects of a very bright future in technology. How many 15 YOs can tell you about how to make a lithium battery, what sort of chemistry is best , how to solder and weld, what a BMS is and how it works, how to build a wheel, how an ebike control sytem works, the role of microprocessors and sensors in a control system, and things like that? His first homework was to research the regulations, second was to study the diferent types of ebike kits and figure out what the main components are.

Edited July 10, 20232 yr by saneagle

I didn't look at the video properly, my mistake, I was assuming it was a quick release axle..

I spersonally still would not fit an ebike motor to a suspension fork even with torque arms fitted

That red oblong front light should be white surely? I'd turn one of my two 1800LM headlights red, if it was legal to do so. If the batteries are easy to replace with generic, it's waterproof and cheaper than Swytch, I can see demand being good for this kit.

I'm doing an ebike conversion project with a 15 year old to improve his job-seeking chances.

The boy is lucky to find a worthy mentor. Old school hands-on training, now mostly sadly absent in favour of watered-down University degrees.

That red oblong front light should be white surely?

It has been changed to white in one of the videos.

The cheapest bikes have 10mm axles with nuts on. They obviously have 10mm wide drop-outs to fit the axle, so the 10mm motor axle at least goes in.

 

More expensive bikes have 9mm QR axles and drop-outs to suit, so they nearly always need filing.

 

Look at the thickness of those drop-outs. if I wanted to convert a medium priced bike with a front motor, that would be a good candidate, though I'd always fit a torque arm on the brake side tied to the brake caliper mount.

 

Everything considered, though, the kit looks pretty good. I'd prefer the Swytch way of putting the controller in the fixed mounting rather than in the removable battery.

 

I'm doing an ebike conversion project with a 15 year old to improve his job-seeking chances. We're looking at something similar to that kit, but not with the battery sticking out in front of the handlebars like that. He's writing it all up in a big folder with all the details of his learning experience about how it all works, the construction techniques, design choices, safety of operation and construction, self-designed parts, constraints and regulations. The guy is dead keen, and never done anything like that and never made anything before. I set him homework each week on aspects to study, and he does it all very thoroughly. I'm also tutoring him in Physics, which is where it all started from. He was very lucky coming to my house to get one to one tuition, a free electric bike conversion and prospects of a very bright future in technology. How many 15 YOs can tell you about how to make a lithium battery, what sort of chemistry is best , how to solder and weld, what a BMS is and how it works, how to build a wheel, how an ebike control sytem works, the role of microprocessors and sensors in a control system, and things like that? His first homework was to research the regulations, second was to study the diferent types of ebike kits and figure out what the main components are.

 

Mate, I wish I was that 15 year old.

That sort of hands on, broad ranging practical apprenticeship is sorely lacking. Instead it's all classroom based theory and bits of paper probably taught by a guy who hasn't actually been 'on the tools' for years.

how much it will be cost? This Kit

I think it will be more expensive than most yosepower kits despite having a much lower capacity battery. The benefit here is easier fitting but this may not be the case for all bikes.

 

Decathlon bikes typically have low weight limits and Rockriders have had some recalls for frames breaking. I feel a stronger bike would have been a better donor choice.

 

Definitely would have gone with rigid steel forks for this setup.

 

This would have been a better donor bike;

 

https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/p/vitus-mach-1-seven-tourney

 

Ebike kits without batteries can start around £200 and a 36V 7Ah battery can easily be found sub £100 with genuine 3500mAh cells.

 

Obviously Andy Kirby plans to put on a generous markup for himself. The factory door price is probably $150-300 for the kit.

 

I personally wouldn't buy it. I've seen quite nice complete ebikes go for around £700.

Does anyone have experience with the kit? I'm wondering if it is reliable. If this is the official vendor then it has some very worrying ratings on Trustpilot https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/www.kirbebike.com

Does anyone have experience with the kit? I'm wondering if it is reliable. If this is the official vendor then it has some very worrying ratings on Trustpilot https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/www.kirbebike.com

 

Isn't it cheaper at Woosh?

Isn't it cheaper at Woosh?

Struggling with the look of the exposed controller on the Woosh kit or the bag hanging on the handlebars post.

The controller is placed inside the same battery bag on the woosh kit.

Yet another go no distance battery, I suppose it is ok if you have 3 spare batteries

Yet another go no distance battery, I suppose it is ok if you have 3 spare batteries

The woosh kit for Bromptons has two battery options: 36v 10ah and 36v15ah. That's enough for a whole day.

The controller is placed inside the same battery bag on the woosh kit.

but when folded the bag looks out of place and appears to destabilise the bike. I'd prefer a permanent battery box

You can have a 36v13ah small frog battery mounted on the front luggage block.

 

All three solutions let you fold the bike and carry the bike normally albeit ther extra weight of the battery makes carrying more difficult.

The centre of gravity is a bit on the side of the fork but because the weight carried by the frame, it does not feel 'off centre'.

 

Small frog battery (36V13AH) mounted on the front luggage block:

 

 

when folded, centre of gravity is also a bit on the right side but because the weight is carried by the frame, it does not feel 'off centre':

 

 

With 36V 10AH bag battery: controller and battery are in the same bag:

 

Edited November 27, 20232 yr by Woosh

What is the size of the controller? I wonder if it would fit inside something like this?

yes but why do you want to move the controller out of the bag? The cables are made just long enough to follow the existing brake and gear cables and eliminate excess. Moving the controller out of the bag will require longer cables for the motor, LCD and PAS. More risk tangling them when parking, folding and unfolding.