Newbie question about ebay kit

[langholm]

Hi

I am thinking of upgrading my mountain bike.

I am short of funds but think I can manage a kit like the one Indicated here.

NEW ELECTRIC BIKE CONVERSION KIT E-BIKE KIT 500W on eBay (end time 13-Jul-09 16:05:04 BST)

I would really appreciate any comments about this kit. it would be used in the edinburgh area which is quite hilly.

cheers

 

[Rad]

I'm sure some of the more technically minded members will pop up and advise you about kits bought from e-bay.

If you're in Scotland why not take a look at Alien bikes they're in Fife and do full bikes as well as conversion kits. I've no idea where Fife is in relation to Endinburgh? But if it's not too far you might even be able to go and try one out. Good luck with it.

 

[Bigbee]

Over £300 for lead acid batteries with no guarantee?It states those batteries are 7.5 kgs,pretty light,hmm.

Ive got a brand new conversion kit that Im going to flog as Ive lost the instructions and cant be bothered.Its been tested for quality by Swiss Cycling who ever they are.

Bafang front hub 250w motor for 100mm forks,LiFeP04 36v 10ah battery,mounted on ali rear rack.Looks really nice.Controller ,throttle etc £500.00 .I dont know how to attach photos on here but I can email them.

 

[Madness]

I bought one of the 250w kits from these people.

Tho the kit is now working well i had issues, the connections were wired wrong from the factory the bag was damaged and the wheel wasnt' true.

Getting hold of them was not easy, 2 days to get a reply on email and never anyone to answer the phone.

Its a nice thing to get everything you need but i would now looking back looked at one of the alien kits that are on there and bought the rack and bag from other places.

Just my 2p.

 

[langholm]

Thanks for the info.

Much to think about.

 

[Tubaman]

The Alien kits are decent quality in my opinion - the 250Watt motor is also very powerfull (I have one)

 

[Alex728]

As he is a Scot in Edinburgh I think Langholm is far better supporting Alien which would be a "local" business (just across the river) than some random people who are struggling with after-sales support...

 

[aaannndddyyy]

Hello langholm
First off a 500w motor is twice the uk legal limit
I recently bought a kit from this company there is a lot of info on these kits and there cheap 500W Hi Speed Electric Bicycle Bike Hub Conversion Kit on eBay (end time 12-Jul-09 05:00:26 BST) Mine took 2 weeks to arrive free shipping uk

They don’t come with batteries but at only 200 pounds you could buy Lead acid for 100 pounds or upgrade to a better chemistry

 

[flash]

I was given one of these kits, bought by a colleague's husband which he never fitted.
So I fitted it to an old spare mountain bike my family had passed around each other for the last ten years. The bloke who gave it me said he had bought it about a year ago but had lost the instructions. A bit of research on the net and a bit of trial and error soon had it working. So here are my observations after using it for about 6 months.

bad points
1 - The SLAs are very heavy
2 - the method of attaching the SLAs is rubbish
3 - there is no battery condition meter
4 - there are no switches in the circuit so it is always on
5 - the wheel was not true.

Solutions to bad points

1 - still using the original SLAs they give me roughly 17 miles (fairly flat terrain and I pedal a lot)
2 - Placed the batteries in some plastic panniers I had on another bike placing the weight lower.
3 - still no battery meter
4 - fitted a switch and relay in the power lead
5 - trued the wheel

Good points

1 - very cheap (to me)
2 - batterys doing much better than I thought they would (touching wood as I type)
3 - performs well compared with other Ebikes I have tried

So would I buy one?
No

I have spent a lot of time researching what Ebike would suit be best and having tried a lot at Prestiegne I have decided on the Wisper 905se

 

[langholm]

Ok

Thanks for the info.

I dont like the fact that 2 contributors had wheels out of true on arival. After consideration of your comments I think I will try to get the cash together for an Alien kit.

Has less power (I think) but in every other respect seems superior.

many thanks

 

[Madness]

If i was doing another bike (which im thinking of at some point once this one has paid for itself) i will be looking at an alien kit or one of the 1kw kits.

I know they are well over the uk/eu spec but if used with in reason i think it would be fine.