How to go electric on a postie-type bike ?

[poor pete]

Hi everybody I am a new-be to the forum and as yet do not own a e-bike. I have 4 bikes in the garage all 20 years plus in age 3 have engines between the wheels and one does not. The one with out the engine is a 30 year old postie bike It has three gears (that's good for me not too many to cause confusion) a rack up front and one behind a seat that is built to respect a mans comfort and a frame that is built like a bloody tank, for want of a better way to describe her. However I still love her.
Now to the point the bike was retired off some years ago and so was I however we still like the feel of the open road So I should like to perform an operation on her and convert her to electric that way we can both ride of towards the pearly gates together,
questions
is there a conversion kit that will pull the old girl and myself (6 foot 2inch and 100kgs) Has anybody out there done this or am I wasting my time and hard earned brass contemplating doing it
hopefully some body will be able to enlighten me
yours PP POOR PETE

[SimonCelsa]

I recently converted a tandem with a front hub kit from 'Woosh'.

Manages to pull the bike, myself, the wife, a little one in a kiddie seat & a couple of bags of shopping OK. Mainly pedal assist but has the option of throttle only if required. All up weight about 185 kg so should be stellar performance with your svelte 100 kg.

Fairly easy to fit, good assistance from Woosh when requested, not so cheap, £550 or so for 36V 250W front wheel 17Ah battery.

No problems so far, check out 'pedelecs' forum http://www.pedelecs.co.uk/forum and the Woosh website http://wooshbikes.co.uk/?hubkits.

I believe there are several other companies offering similar conversion kits which are also highly regarded so take your pick,

Goodluck, Simon

[foxyrider]

Just be aware that if you go 'twist and go' it will be considered in law to be a moped and associated rules will apply.

[stodd]

We have also converted tandem with front kit from Woosh. For various reasons (legality ... BPM is nominally 350w, availability, ...) only the relatively weak XF07 kit. It still gives excellent assist; but we certainly wouldn't expect it to drive us up a hill unaided.

Their XF08 CST rear hub kit should be very good for your postie bike if it is available in appropriate wheel size. Contact them and I am sure they will advise; excellent help from them.

We have the twist and go throttle but hardly ever use it; I'm thinking of disconnecting it. I believe there is some uncertainty about the legality of a throttle. Probably OK if it is limited to a max of 4mph for throttle assist with no pedalling (ours isn't). Also for older bikes the regulations were different. For converted bikes it is unclear (to me) whether the regulations apply based on the age of the bike or the age of the conversion. I have heard arguments both ways. I would be interested in any greater clarity on that.

[willcee]

On such a rugged heavy bicycle I would suggest a mid motor with lots of torque Bafang BSO2 range, its up to you whether you wish to be legal but I can tell you that 250w the paltry power available without doing overvolting etc etc isn't going to supply the experience I think you are looking for.. pulling 100 kgs and another 30 odd when you have the kit [10lbs approx and 8lbs battery] on board isn't a light weight task..physically there's no size difference between the motors its all done internally..I'm not going to expound on here the route I would take because there are many on here who haven't had the experience of E cycling, yet are detractors, speaking from my own experiences as an fairly savvy cycle guy who has 2 machines both built by myself, and 2 more for friends, again my work, and have done this spring and summer perhaps 6/700 miles, have hip issues, lost 14lbs + over this summer using pedal assist , which never happened on a regular lt/wt machine, still able to do 30+ miles and my op is in 3 weeks time..Harking back to comments made by Brucey in 2013 when I began my research, he said I would be cold , he was right, on any cold sharp day, you need layered up.. will

[hemo]

You can't over volt the BBS01, if you try you get the magic smoke from the controller.
Even with the 250w if you tinker with the programming via a programming lead and it is a different beast from the factory default settings.

[hercule]

If it’s a postie bike, then it will have hub brakes I presume – which means that hub motors are out of the question unless you are able to fit rim or (more complicated) disc brakes. If you want to stay with the current brake configuration, then you’re going to need a bottom bracket drive. Advantage of this is that will make full use of your limited gearing.

[Stradageek]

No sure of the age of your legs POOR PETE but I found that the major problem with my Pashley postie bike was the serious over-gearing.

I replaced the front chainset with a 33T alloy and both reduced the weight of the bike a bit (the old steel chainset weighed a ton!) and geared the bike to a far more sensible range.

The bike is now a dream to ride, loaded or unloaded

Might be an option?

Cheers

Stradageek

[Cunobelin]

Just be aware that if you go 'twist and go' it will be considered in law to be a moped and associated rules will apply.

Technically...... (following on from Stodd's post) The regulations only apply to bike would be exempt from "Twist'n'Go", it would depend on teh motor. If the motor was imported of r manufactured before 2016 then you could argue that it was pre 2016 and therefore exempt

The Association of Cycle Traders view:

"Twist and Go" cycles
As explained previously, any e-bikes (including "Twist and Go" cycles) which do not meet EAPC regulations need to be type approved as per the previous section.
E-bike throttle control
Some "Twist and Go" cycles are however able to meet the EAPC regulations (i.e. have pedals, a max. power of 250W and a max. assisted speed of 15.5mph), but due to the way in which the user has access to the assistance are subject to separate legislation and therefore, unlike standard EAPCs, may need type approval.
Since January 1st 2016, "Twist and Go" cycles which are in-scope with EAPC specifications do need to be type approved*, and fall within the L1e-A category under European law.
* there is an exemption to this for cycles where the assistive power available without pedalling cuts out at 3.7mph (6km/h), which do not need to be type approved. This small start-up or walking assistance helps get the cycle moving which can be beneficial to those who are less able.
These laws are not backdated though, so “Twist and Goes” manufactured, imported and sold before January 1st 2016 do not need type approving.

[Cunobelin]

If it’s a postie bike, then it will have hub brakes I presume – which means that hub motors are out of the question unless you are able to fit rim or (more complicated) disc brakes. If you want to stay with the current brake configuration, then you’re going to need a bottom bracket drive. Advantage of this is that will make full use of your limited gearing.

My Pashley Delibike has rod brakes!