Hello everyone. I found you when looking for opinions / reviews on aftermarket conversion kits. I’ve been thoroughly put off the Swytch kit by their unhelpful attitude and am now considering the Nano kit. I have two bikes so I really like the idea of being able to use what I already have - one hybrid and one mountain bike. The mountain bike needs a rebuild as it was stolen and wrecked so thought this might be ideal to convert. The hybrid is a fun little bike and is ready to go. I would really appreciate your collective wisdom as to what the best course of action would be, including kit recommendations. Cheers.
Newbie needing advice
- Thread starter Brie
- Start date
Woosh is a good place for kits: they won't try to sell you something unsuitable for the sake of it and will give give good service and advice before and after sale. http://wooshbikes.co.uk/
If a bike needs rebuild anyway it may be cheaper and more satisfactory in the long run to replace it with complete e-bike. Again, woosh is a good place to start looking.
If a bike needs rebuild anyway it may be cheaper and more satisfactory in the long run to replace it with complete e-bike. Again, woosh is a good place to start looking.
There's plenty of stuff to choose from. It all works, though some better than others. Rather than choose a kit just because it's available, it's better to decide what you want it to do, then choose the right stuff accordingly. You can choose such characreistics as high torque, long range, light weight, high speed, easy to fit, long life, but never all together.
Thanks for the replies. I’m pretty clueless so will be looking for someone to build it for me, I think. My ‘wrecked’ Specialised is a gorgeous, lightweight bike - it just needs a new lease of life. Even if it costs me more it would be worth it to get riding it again. I’ll drop Woosh a message and see if they have any links to installers closer to me (Leicestershire).
Well my bike is now rideable again and ready to be electrified. We’ve decided the XF08C will be the best way to go. There no bracket to fix a rack to, but Simon is going to work something out to make a seat-post rack and I’m happy with the plans, except I don’t want to be paying over the odds for battery capacity I won’t use or add more weight than necessary. My commute is 14 miles round trip and I’d like the range to go 25-30 miles - mostly pedalling with assist on the hills. Will a 10aH battery be sufficient? Is it worth paying more for the 15aH given I won’t need to charge it as much? Or is a smaller bottle cage battery good enough and I could carry a spare if needed, if it will work with the XF08C kit? @Woosh its the Specialized Era Comp you’ve been chatting to Simon at FMB about - hoping to order it today / tomorrow so battery advice would be much appreciated, thanks.
As well as better range you'll probably find the 15aH has quite a lot less voltage sag for a given current draw as you start using significant power (assuming similar quality cells in both). I doubt you'll regret it in a few months time when the price difference has faded away a bit.
If you're going to use an aluminium seatpost rack, you must add additional struts to support the back otherwise it will snap at the clamp due to metal fatigue. Some of the cheap ones have steel clamps and cantilevers, which are OK, but they never tell you in the adverts what that part is made of, though they're nearly always aluminium.
Why can't you fit a down-tube battery?
Finally, seat-post racks tend to hold the battery very high and fairly far back, which is not good for handling. If you're going to use a rack battery, it needs to be as close to the wheel as you can get it and right up against the seat-post.
Why can't you fit a down-tube battery?
Finally, seat-post racks tend to hold the battery very high and fairly far back, which is not good for handling. If you're going to use a rack battery, it needs to be as close to the wheel as you can get it and right up against the seat-post.
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Simon did not mention the model of the bike, and as far as I know, the problem is the bike does not have fixing threads to bolt the legs of the battery rack to.
I did mention the idea of drilling a couple of holes and die thread them.
Simon did not come back to me but I think he spoke to Andy about it later.
Can you send me (support@wooshbikes.co.uk) some close up pictures of the rear dropout area like this one?
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Thanks for the reply. Simon did speak to Andy. The bike is with Simon, but I have a stock picture which I’ve sent - will get him to take some photos if it’s no good.
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Bike is finished! I’ve had a couple of trips out and aside from a few issues with my balance it’s fab! Heavier than I’d hoped, but still liftable and I don’t notice once it’s moving. The pedal assist is strange, but brilliant. Great to feel my thighs working, without getting breathless or really hot and sweaty. Hope to start commuting on it again next week 
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