Newbie Help with choosing an Electric Conversion Kit

[hsiaolc]

Hi everyone,

I have been looking at a few thread here and finally decided to seek some help and advice.

I see some advice Jucy kit, Alien kit, Ezee kit, 8fun, and Oxgen Kit.

I am very confused as to which kit is best for me and value for money.

I did see one thread he put different bits together himself using different components etc.

The Oxgen Kit looks very cool but is it any good?

Please advice.

I am planning on converting my claud butler hybrid.

Thank you.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

Your choice depends on what you're trying to achieve. Here's my opinion on the kits:

The Oxygen kit is the most stylish
The Ezee kit is heavier but the strongest motor and optional 14aH battery
The 8Fun and Juicy kit are the lowest cost ones.
Alien also have a 360w kit with the BPM motor - not legal, but fast and strong.

A couple of things to consider. if you're lazy and/or heavy, you might want one of the more powerful motors.
The bigger the battery, the further you can go, or the more you can increase the power, but it will be heavier.

If you're lean and fit and just want a bit more help, any of them will do.

You can make a DIY kit from parts bought direct from China, but there's a bit more fiddling to get it to work and you can choose the best controller and battery. You don't really save any money doing it that way and you have no backup. If you want more power for easy hill-climbing or high speed, this is the best option, but illegal.

The best batteries come fro a Chinese guy called Li Ping

The cheapest and most versatile batteries are Lipos, but they're potentially dangerous, so you need to know what your doing with them.

Whatever kit you get, pay attention to the weight of the battery. Lifepo4 batteries come in various forms, they potentially last the longest, but can be very heavy. Avoid the heavy for their size ones because they can suffer from mechanical failure.

One final point: You can get a good ready-made bike for the cost of a kit. Kits are good if you have a special bike that you want to convert. Fitting a kit to it can mean giving up some of the features that makes it good. Many of the very good but fairly cheap ready made bikes are probably as good as your Claude Butler.

Lots of things to think about!

 

[jerrysimon]

Great advice from Dave.

Here is a long post I did about building it all up from parts yourself. Not for the faint hearted

It was on a small wheeled folding bike but the principles of wheel building etc are the same.

Regards

Jerry

 

[kitchenman]

I am planning on converting my claud butler hybrid.

Welcome to the forum hsiaolc. Where abouts are you in the uk? Perhaps there is a member close to you and an opportunity to see one in action and have a go perhaps. Do you have a photo of your claud butler? That is always nice. What about the usage? Will you be using the bike to commute to work? or perhaps it is for weekend leisure cycling? .. If you are commuting then tell us more about your route. How far, is it very hilly? Will you be able to charge the battery at work? ...
THere is alot to think about and it can be confusing but stick with it and I'm sure you'll get there in the end and you can be sure it will be a huge relief. Going electric was the best thing I ever did.

 

[Cyclezee]

Hi hsiaolc,

Firstly, a warm welcome to the forum on this chilly morning.

I would like to follow up on the good and impartial advice already given by Dave and Jerry.

As the supplier of eZee kits in the UK I am of course biased, but I believe I can fairly claim that the eZee kit is one of the most versatile, robust and reliable available.
We have a kits with 20", 26" and 700c motorised wheels, both front and rear.
Now in 2012 they are even better value for money, all standard eZee kits are £750 including delivery within the UK and come with 2 years warranty.

If I may offer my advice, take time to choose exactly what you want and compare kits carefully.

That's enough of the hard sell from me, if you would like to read what others have say please click on the following link http://www.cyclezee.com/about-us.html

Regards,

 

[Cyclezee]

One more thing hsiaolc or anyone else for that matter, if you send me a PM with your email address, I can send a copy of our kit installation guide so that you can see what is involved.

 

[PhilYerBoots]

Hi hsiaolc and welcome to the forum.
Be prepared for an overload of information and advice which as kitchenman says can be quite confusing and overwhelming at first.
Then once you've done your own research you'll be better armed to make an informed choice on the best option to suit your requirements.
I'd suggest the best starting point is to demo as many types of ebikes as you can, even if they may not be the style of bike you like or are wanting to convert, just to get a feel for what's available and what suits you best.
Good luck with your project !

 

[hsiaolc]

Thank you all for your very warm welcome.

Sorry for seeing that I am not reponding is because I have been busy and reisntalling computers and a lot of other things going on in my life.

I live in London Zone 5 and traveling to work in the central around Liverpool area. I have not yet tried to cycle there because 1. I feel I am not fit enough (hence I want to cycle to improve fitness) 2. Because a few of my cycle to work collegues have told me how dangerous it is to cycle. 3. I feel the 14.5mile cycle is a bit long for morning and evening commute.

But I would want to cycle to work with a bit of help and want to get home still able to enjoy the night instead of going to sleep immediate tired from exhaustion.

I actually have been looking at the electric bike for over a year but just have not really made up my mind wether I want to convert my bike with a conversion kit or just by a already made one.

Personally I am leaning towards conversion kit hoping that I can reduce the cost since I've already got a hybrid 700c wheel and I thought that this bike is bomb proof. I have spent two mountain bikes (one hardtail and one full sus) just to behave a little better than my hybrid.

Because I have never tried to cycle and give it a try I don't want to splash out a lot of money on a system so here comes my dilema.

I know a lot of people have recommended Ezee but like I said I don't really understand the terms so I don't really know what I am getting for my money.

To me it seems like all the kits are actually made in China? But I've heard that 8Fun are not as reliable as ezee?

Also the Alien kit is the same price range as the Ezee and looks a lot more stylish and looks very easy to put on. But is it as powerful and long range and long lasting?

So thank you to D8Veh, Jerrysimon, Kitchenman, Cyclezee, and Philyerboots for the help and advice.

So actually my quest continues.

 

[hsiaolc]

Well D8veh I have looked at a few ready made bikes such as Whisper bikes, Phwacycle bikes (Salisburry), and even kudos bikes.

I just feel my claude butler is on par with them in terms of accessories and actually better with 9 speed shifters all shimano and xtr brake levers and v brakes.

So I was thinking why waste my bike and not use it so I prefer to put it to good use and convert it to electric.

Is my logic sound or do you think I should actually just buy a ready made bike?

I have been doing a lot of reading (reserach) and just not be able to get very far.

Maybe because I have not seen any components up close and just seems like a lot of already sold kits are just being put together by chinese made parts. The only kit that does look really special is the Oxygen one but I have no idea how is that one stacking up against the "more recommended" kits.

 

[hsiaolc]

Hi hsiaolc,

Firstly, a warm welcome to the forum on this chilly morning.

I would like to follow up on the good and impartial advice already given by Dave and Jerry.

As the supplier of eZee kits in the UK I am of course biased, but I believe I can fairly claim that the eZee kit is one of the most versatile, robust and reliable available.
We have a kits with 20", 26" and 700c motorised wheels, both front and rear.
Now in 2012 they are even better value for money, all standard eZee kits are £750 including delivery within the UK and come with 2 years warranty.

If I may offer my advice, take time to choose exactly what you want and compare kits carefully.

That's enough of the hard sell from me, if you would like to read what others have say please click on the following link About Us - Cyclezee Ltd

Regards,

You know things like

37v 14Ah Lithium Polymer ( 2C ) = 518 Wh Weight 3.8 Kg.
48V 10 Ah Li Polymer Samsung 18650 cells ( 2C ) = 480 Wh
LiFePO4 38.4V 8.5Ah Phostech cathode 22650 cells ( 2 C ) = 326 Wh

I have no idea what they mean. LifePo4 is prefered I presume? But it seems only to have 8.5Ah so does that mean it doesn't have a lot of power? And one has higher Ah but lower V so which is is better? I thought it would be good to have both high V and Ah?

Also I have seen a lot of mention around around bunfun motors? (I think I nearly bought one a year ago)

So how is yours compared to that?

 

[hsiaolc]

Welcome to the forum hsiaolc. Where abouts are you in the uk? Perhaps there is a member close to you and an opportunity to see one in action and have a go perhaps. Do you have a photo of your claud butler? That is always nice. What about the usage? Will you be using the bike to commute to work? or perhaps it is for weekend leisure cycling? .. If you are commuting then tell us more about your route. How far, is it very hilly? Will you be able to charge the battery at work? ...
THere is alot to think about and it can be confusing but stick with it and I'm sure you'll get there in the end and you can be sure it will be a huge relief. Going electric was the best thing I ever did.

To answer your question in a more personal level.

I have no idea about the route. I have studied it and it is a route that I normal drives on. So it is a hmm car route more than a cycle route. It is only for commuting because weekends I go mountain biking instead.
As for picutres I will have to try to figure out how to load pictures here on the internet or forums first. I've done it a long time ago and I have forgotten.

And Yes I will be able to charge my battery at work (hehe).

I personally think the route will be very hilly. I know atlease two big hills from Edgware to Liverpool station.

I have looked at some cycle routes and not really a favourite a the moment.

But for the time being I am just afraid to take on the road as a cyclist since I am mostly a driver (cough) and I know what I don't like.

So hmm tricky.

I really just wish we get purposely build cycle lanes all around the city.

I am not really a hardcore guy. I am not like one of my collegues who cycle 26 mile day return trip a day from city to Croydon on his track bike with just one fixed gear. I just want to ride to work doing "some excercise" safely and get back safely.

Hopefully save money in the future of course but to be healthy.

 

[Cyclezee]

Hi again Hsiaolc,

If you would like to see how to fit an eZee conversion kit, please email me via the address below my signature or send me you email address via a PM and I will send you a copy of our installation guide. This explains the process in detail.

Regards,

 

[flecc]

You know things like

37v 14Ah Lithium Polymer ( 2C ) = 518 Wh Weight 3.8 Kg.
48V 10 Ah Li Polymer Samsung 18650 cells ( 2C ) = 480 Wh
LiFePO4 38.4V 8.5Ah Phostech cathode 22650 cells ( 2 C ) = 326 Wh

I have no idea what they mean. LifePo4 is prefered I presume? But it seems only to have 8.5Ah so does that mean it doesn't have a lot of power? And one has higher Ah but lower V so which is is better? I thought it would be good to have both high V and Ah?

Also I have seen a lot of mention around around bunfun motors? (I think I nearly bought one a year ago)

So how is yours compared to that?

Wh is Watt-hours, representing the power that can be derived from a battery in one hour, larger is better of course, so that is the best point of battery comparison for a given e-bike, rather than either the voltage or the Ah capacity in isolation. The Watt-hour is derived from the voltage multiplied by the Ampere-hour (Ah) figure.

The LiFePO4 chemistry has potentially the longer life, but they are a slightly bulkier form, so for a given battery case volume they have less capacity in Ah. Don't be too concerned about the construction, cells etc., they all perform well.

The Bafang (Chinese for 8fun, 8 being their lucky number) motors are the most common and popular, and eZee used to use them at one time, my own eZee bike has one. However, based on long experience with them, eZee decided it could improve on them and their own motor is a powerful alternative, now well tried and trusted.
.

 

[Cyclezee]

Thank you Tony for answering hsialoc's questions.
I often wonder if we should have glossary on the forum as there is a lot of jargon and tech speak that goes over people's heads from time to time, mine included.

Jargon Buster as a sticky thread anyone?

 

[flecc]

Not sure, my experience is that very few ever use FAQs or glossaries, and I'm sure most who run websites with FAQs experience the same. I've little idea why that is.

 

[JuicyBike]

This past post may be of use if you're thinking of a Juicy Bike Kit...

 

[hsiaolc]

Thank you very much Flecc. I think that clears it up regarding Bafang and the battery power.