Newbie to electric

[Funkster]

Hi, I'm after advice on a kit to buy, this is the bike I want to convert. I am a competent bike mechanic but don't know much about kits. Any advice would be great

 

[dwvl]

Hi, I'm after advice on a kit to buy, this is the bike I want to convert. I am a competent bike mechanic but don't know much about kits. Any advice would be great

Hi. Welcome to the forum

You'll receive lots of excellent advice here, from people who know a lot more than me. They will need to know more information from you, such as what you plan to use the bike for, where you plan to ride it, how heavy you are, what your budget is, whether you have tried any ebikes before, and what you thought of them. Do tell!

 

[vfr400]

It looks perfect for conversion, though it's difficult to get an idea of the frame size from the photo. it looks pretty small. what size is it?

 

[Funkster]

Hi, it's a 17" frame. I will do a little off road, I'm around 65kg, maybe upto £600

 

[vfr400]

Hi, it's a 17" frame. I will do a little off road, I'm around 65kg, maybe upto £600

You can take your pick. Woosh are a good UK supplier. See what they've got.

If you could give a lot more details about yourself and what you're expecting the bike to do, we could give more specific advice.

 

[Funkster]

hi, the bike would just be for light trails,some hills. i dont need to go overboard as its first attempt at a conversion. i also ride a few other non e bikes

 

[vfr400]

hi, the bike would just be for light trails,some hills. i dont need to go overboard as its first attempt at a conversion. i also ride a few other non e bikes

That's not enough. You need to be much more specific about your weight, how far you want to go and how fast you want to go. without that, any kit available meets your requirements.

 

[Geoff_L]

I'll come clean -- I'm a bear of little knowledge regarding eBikes. That said, I'm trying to convert a couple of old (i.e. dating from the 1990s) bikes using Cyclotricity kits. It hasn't been straightforward, so here are some of the 'gotchas' I've either encountered and/or might apply to your project:

• If you're considering a front hub conversion, ensure that you have 'inboard' drop-outs on the front fork. If you don't, the motor casing might foul the fork blade ends.
• Your bottom bracket doesn't look suitable for some pedal-assist sensor (PAS) rotors (e.g. Cyclotricity's) due to the lack of clearance between the crank and bottom bracket shell.
• The PAS sensor needs to be fixed to either the down or seat tube. Your seat tube might be an issue because the PAS fixings might foul the front mech clamp.
• With such a small frame, be careful that the battery will fit and can be removed for charging.
• If you're considering a rear hub conversion, check that you have the correct gear system (freewheel or cassette) as at least some need a particular system.

Although not strictly legal, you can get by with a throttle rather than PAS if needs be. However, AIUI, range might suffer. For rear wheel conversions, you can always buy a new rear gear cluster if the one you have doesn't suit your chosen conversion.

As I wrote, I'm a beginner myself -- but I hope this helps. Geoff

 

[Funkster]

Hi, I'm about 65kg. I don't need something top end,just having a go at conversion that will get me up some steepish hills in the peak District. What benefits are their for converting rather than buying newbie bike? Thanks

 

[vfr400]

You get to keep your bike if you like it

 

[Geoff_L]

Benefits of converting:

1. You only have one bike to store and maintain.
2. The cost to achieve the same functionality tends to be lower.
3. If you select individual components, you have much more flexibility to achieve a specification that best suits you.

Benefits of buying a dedicated eBike:

1. Assuming, you already have a conventional bike, you have more than one bicycle from which to choose.
2. Cost can be less if you don't have an existing bike to convert.
3. Less work is involved and the bike is almost guaranteed to work properly 'out of the box'. In contrast, convertion can involve significant "bodging" to work around incompatibilities between your chosen kit and the 'donor' bike.

By no means exhaustive, but HTH, Geoff

 

[Benjahmin]

With conversion you end up with a bike that you understand. You know where everything is and what's connected to what. Should any component fail you are more likely to be able to find the cause and replace like for like. Conversions are great for the inveterate tinkerer, 'cos there's always something to be fettled or 'improved', without voiding any guarentee.