Recently retired Civil Engineer

[Nkata]

Hi,
I'm no longer doing the massive mileage, or much at all now and I have been using a mountain bike with road tyres as my daily shopper or riding out machine. My legs or lungs not being as good as they used to be, a ten mile round trip mainly on the flat is about my present limit. I am here out of interest for either buying a new ebike or converting my old Carrera Vulcan MTB. I hope you can help with this.

 

[sjpt]

Either conversion or new bike take a look at the offerings from Woosh. http://wooshbikes.co.uk/
I guess once you go electric you may want to ride up to 20 miles or so, including hills?

I don't know how old you are; it may well be worth thinking a little ahead and considering a step-through. I'm 72, reasonably fit but often stiff back and hips. Getting on/off our tandem (full crossbar) can be quite a ow-oof, especially if we stop with left side downhill for any reason. Our Raleigh Motus low step (hub gears) is a delight to get on and off. The tandem has Woosh front hub conversion, Motus (2nd hand) was built as electric. We didn't convert a solo partly because of the step-through issue.

 

[Nkata]

Either conversion or new bike take a look at the offerings from Woosh. http://wooshbikes.co.uk/
I guess once you go electric you may want to ride up to 20 miles or so, including hills?

I don't know how old you are; it may well be worth thinking a little ahead and considering a step-through. I'm 72, reasonably fit but often stiff back and hips. Getting on/off our tandem (full crossbar) can be quite a ow-oof, especially if we stop with left side downhill for any reason. Our Raleigh Motus low step (hub gears) is a delight to get on and off. The tandem has Woosh front hub conversion, Motus (2nd hand) was built as electric. We didn't convert a solo partly because of the step-through issue.

Hi, sjpt,

I'm 67 and fairly active weighing only 10st or so. But with COPD and a recent op, I just feel that some days the wind is too brisk or hills are too adverse. I will look at the link you have posted, thanks.

 

[Woosh]

I'm 67 and fairly active weighing only 10st or so

I would recommend the woosh Krieger to you.
It has a throttle in case you don't want to pedal.

The Woosh Krieger CD | Chain Drive Electric Bikes from Woosh

The Krieger: electric mountain bikes from Woosh with crank drive motor, automatic gearshift sensing and 15AH/17AH battery.

wooshbikes.co.uk

 

[Nkata]

My first thought was to convert this bike using a front hub conversion with pedal assistance. The forks are Rock shox SID air suspension which are easily adjusted for weight. I would look for a road legal setup with a 30 mile typical range. The gears use shimano shifters and cassettes. The brakes are v type on shimano rims with quick release.

 

[Woosh]

front hub is easy to fit to your bike but rear hub conversion gives you better traction.
what is the tyre size on your Carerra? I can't read it from your picture.

 

[Nkata]

front hub is easy to fit to your bike but rear hub conversion gives you better traction.
what is the tyre size on your Carerra? I can't read it from your picture.

26" x 1.5". Originally fitted with 2.25" wide MTB tyres but using narrow road tyres mainly at the moment.

 

[Woosh]

I asked because you have rim brakes.
If you want front hub, then the XF07 would be my recommendation:
http://wooshbikes.co.uk/cart/#/product/uid-197-xf07kit-17ah/xf07-front-hub-kit-2026700c-with-17ah-battery
If you want rear hub, then XF08C:
http://wooshbikes.co.uk/cart/#/product/uid-177-xf08c-17ah/xf08c-rear-hub-kit-with-17ah-battery

both are currently available with inline brake sensors and left side pedal sensor without extra charge.

 

[vfr400]

I wouldn't fit a motor to those forks. It will spoil their operation and there's a fair chance that you'll break them. The lowers are magnesium. Also, on some SID versions, the drop-outs are not the most inboard point, which brings clearance problems. A rear motor is better anyway for many other reasons.

 

[Woosh]

I wouldn't fit a motor to those forks. It will spoil their operation and there's a fair chance that you'll break them. The lowers are magnesium. A rear motor is better anyway for many other reasons.

there is a risk with magnesium lowers but the XF07 is lightweight enough (2.8kgs) not to break his fork.

 

[Fat Rat]

Hi
Welcome to the site and good luck with whatever you decide
I would also go rear hub
Traction is better and the bike feels more natural and secure being driven from the correct end
With a front hub traction is an issue and I would also be cautious asking the forks to do something they were not designed to do

 

[D C]

I tend to agree with the above remarks about the forks, though I successfully fitted a front hub kit around 6 years back, XF07 hub (not from Woosh) to magnesium forks similar to yours.
I haven't experienced any problems having fitted a good quality torque arm and carefully used a hand file to open out the drop outs to take the extra depth of the axle.
The forks are still fine even after a lot of off road use and the bike is now on it's second battery and in the hands of a friend who's very happy with it.
A couple of years back I fitted a Woosh rear wheel kit to a different bike and though I'd been happy with the front hub at the time the rear hub was a revelation, the bike rides so much better and has a much more natural feel. Although the rear wheel kit was a bit more fiddly to fit I wouldn't use a front hub again from choice.
Your bike looks perfect for a kit and I would recommend considering a Woosh kit, along with many others on this forum my experience with Woosh has been excellent.
I guess if you did go for a front hub kit the wheel would come disc brake ready and would enable you to upgrade to a front disc fairly cheaply as I think I can see disc brakes lugs in your picture but I would still advise a rear wheel hub kit rather than front.
Welcome to the forum.
Dave.

 

[vfr400]

there is a risk with magnesium lowers but the XF07 is lightweight enough (2.8kgs) not to break his fork.

It's not the type or weight of motor that breaks the drop-outs. It's the installation. He has a 9mm axle, so he'll need to file the drop-outs too, but without inboard drop-outs, he'd be out anyway, so no point in discussing until that's verified.

 

[KirstinS]

I broke a really nice set of magura forks with mag lowers. But it was a big old BPM motor and overvolted

I did spend ages filing the dropouts by hand so as not to overdo it. I also used torque arms

But they were jubilee clip type not bolted on. So prob an installation issue as well as weight and power

 

[Woosh]

It's not the type or weight of motor that breaks the drop-outs. It's the installation. He has a 9mm axle, so he'll need to file the drop-outs too, but without inboard drop-outs, he'd be out anyway, so no point in discussing until that's verified.

I usually ask for photos and check them out for potential issues before making up the kit.

 

[Nkata]

Hey, Thanks for all the discussion guys. I believe I thought that the front hub would be more of a drop in solution but I guess there are issues. I understand the rear drive being preferable for grip and I don't really fancy filing the drop-outs so maybe that will end the discussion. It is a sturdy frame so I think it will take the required mods and extra weight (I am 5' 10" and ~68kg so there's a bit of spare left there). I will read up a bit more and be in touch again.

 

[Woosh]

Hey, Thanks for all the discussion guys. I believe I thought that the front hub would be more of a drop in solution but I guess there are issues. I understand the rear drive being preferable for grip and I don't really fancy filing the drop-outs so maybe that will end the discussion. It is a sturdy frame so I think it will take the required mods and extra weight (I am 5' 10" and ~68kg so there's a bit of spare left there). I will read up a bit more and be in touch again.

you have a quick release at the rear too.
The diameter of the opening is 9mm, motor axle's 10mm so you will have to widen and deepen the channel a little bit. I use a dremel but a round file will work as well.
Check also the dropout width. It's usually 135mm-140mm.

 

[Nealh]

More likely you will damage the forks or they will fail, the rear hub or mid drive is the way to go.