best conversion kit

Electrically assisted bikes, trikes, etc. that are legal in the UK
simon@3dart
Posts: 5
Joined: 14 Oct 2019, 1:24pm

best conversion kit

Post by simon@3dart »

i'm looking to add an electric 'front wheel' motor to my dawes karakum. Can anyone advise on the best kits to do this please.
i would like to keep all my gears and cycle as normal but have the additional motor power there to switch on or off when the boost is needed.

can anyone advise ?
Oldjohnw
Posts: 7764
Joined: 16 Oct 2018, 4:23am
Location: South Warwickshire

Re: best conversion kit

Post by Oldjohnw »

I used this company. I cannot say whether or not they are the best but they worked brilliantly for me. I converted an old Raleigh hybrid and have had many a camping trip in the last three years. On Saturday I cycled 75km on 50% battery. The trip involved a number of hills.


http://www.electric-bike-conversions.co.uk/
Last edited by Oldjohnw on 14 Oct 2019, 8:16pm, edited 1 time in total.
John
yakdiver
Posts: 1466
Joined: 12 Jul 2007, 2:54pm
Location: North Baddesley Hampshire

Re: best conversion kit

Post by yakdiver »

As above ^^^^ I have one on my trike works well and easy to fit
stodd
Posts: 708
Joined: 6 Jun 2018, 10:24am

Re: best conversion kit

Post by stodd »

Woosh have good kits and excellent service. http://wooshbikes.co.uk/
Also you will get lots of advice (mostly good) at https://www.pedelecs.co.uk/forum/forums ... ussion.42/
simon@3dart
Posts: 5
Joined: 14 Oct 2019, 1:24pm

Re: best conversion kit

Post by simon@3dart »

thanks everyone for the replies.
electric-bike-conversions.co.uk have pointed me in the right direction and cyclotricity appear to have the cheapest option of what i might need.

being new to ebikes .. daft question i guess but with a motor and panniers loaded you'll get you up the steepest of hills no problem ?
Oldjohnw
Posts: 7764
Joined: 16 Oct 2018, 4:23am
Location: South Warwickshire

Re: best conversion kit

Post by Oldjohnw »

simon@3dart wrote:thanks everyone for the replies.
electric-bike-conversions.co.uk have pointed me in the right direction and cyclotricity appear to have the cheapest option of what i might need.

being new to ebikes .. daft question i guess but with a motor and panniers loaded you'll get you up the steepest of hills no problem ?


Earlier this year I cycled Hadrian's Cycleway. At one point I had to climb several km upwards to my campsite. My battery was low, the extra pull finished it off and I had to push. And a fully loaded ebike is heavy!

Mostly I get up hills. But certainly not 'no problem,'. When fully loaded it's still hard work. And, of course, a fully loaded rear wheel has a negative affect on a front hub drive.

I am able to do much more than at first. You learn how to balance gears and level of assist and my fitness has improved. A trip that would have emptied my battery two years ago I can do on half a battery.

Bear in mind the forces of gravity. They still apply. Even cars struggle up some hills. Some batteries/motors, whilst still restricted, have more power. Others can explain the techy stuff.
John
stodd
Posts: 708
Joined: 6 Jun 2018, 10:24am

Re: best conversion kit

Post by stodd »

Check Cyclotricity reviews; some positive but certainly not overall glowing. General option (mainly on pedalecs site) is that Woosh I mentioned before give much better service. They don't appear to be significantly more expensive ... make sure you compare like with like, especially battery and controller.
See https://www.pedelecs.co.uk/forum/thread ... ies.34379/ and https://www.pedelecs.co.uk/forum/thread ... ity.33869/ for comments.

Confirming previous post: don't expect a legal hub drive to get you heavily loaded up the steepest hills without quite a bit of your own effort. eg
im not sure if im expecting to much but it just doesn't feel like it helps a great amount up hill
People in the reviews say they feel like superman and fly up hills on there front hub kits.
They do make a huge help though. A 48v kit will help a lot there. Cyclotricity don't give specs for the controller which is key to the peak (as opposed to continuous) power you might get. You'll probably find that as well as having less overall capacity/range that smaller batteries can't deliver the peak power needed for best hill climbing. To get an idea of what to expect on hills etc try https://www.ebikes.ca/tools/simulator.html

Again see previous post: front drive can suffer slipping; but has the advantage that your effort is still driving the back so the effort is spread between both wheels. Really helpful on our tandem where there is more weight on the front that on a regular bike.

Not sure how beefy the forks are on you Karakum; at least I think they are steel and not aluminium. Unless they are pretty good you will probably need to install torque arms for most front kits. A torque washer may be enough; that is what Cyclotricity supply; and Woosh with the XF07 we have. See the warnings about torque at http://www.electric-bike-conversions.co ... nt250w.pdf
hemo
Posts: 1438
Joined: 16 Nov 2017, 5:40pm
Location: West Sussex

Re: best conversion kit

Post by hemo »

Hubs shouldn't be fitted to front forks unless they are steel, some ali D/O's will eventually crack/snap due to rotation torque.
Rockshok's are poor for fitting the D/O's are thin and fragile, Suntour's are better as they are quite meaty and thick. All ali forks with a hub should have torque arms fitted if you don't want a face plant.
Phil Fouracre
Posts: 919
Joined: 12 Jan 2013, 12:16pm
Location: Deepest Somerset

Re: best conversion kit

Post by Phil Fouracre »

Can highly recommend Cyclotricity. Have fitted four of their kits, all working perfectly. Concur with comments on front motors, always use torq arms, in fact I used them on the rear kits as well (belt and braces!)
Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity
Oldjohnw
Posts: 7764
Joined: 16 Oct 2018, 4:23am
Location: South Warwickshire

Re: best conversion kit

Post by Oldjohnw »

AFAIK Electic Bike Conversions motors are 250w. I thought they should be ok without and strengthening. Happens I have steel forks.
John
hemo
Posts: 1438
Joined: 16 Nov 2017, 5:40pm
Location: West Sussex

Re: best conversion kit

Post by hemo »

Oldjohnw wrote:AFAIK Electic Bike Conversions motors are 250w. I thought they should be ok without and strengthening. Happens I have steel forks.


Steel forks are ideal for 250w so no Torque arms are needed, just make sure axle nuts are nice and tight.
Two main reasons for T/A's is to prevent axle rotation in soft/weak alloys esp ali and secondly anti rotation also prevents the motor wire/cable from twisting and causing damage due to shorting. Most motor wires/cables are damage at the worse point which is the hollow axle entry where they mostly get cut, replacing a damaged cable is not a 5 minute job.
Oldjohnw
Posts: 7764
Joined: 16 Oct 2018, 4:23am
Location: South Warwickshire

Re: best conversion kit

Post by Oldjohnw »

Another thing I find is that the spokes need constant checking for tightness. And the wheels occasional checking for integrity , in my case with my LBS.
John
stodd
Posts: 708
Joined: 6 Jun 2018, 10:24am

Re: best conversion kit

Post by stodd »

Another other thing whichever you go for ... make sure you install it with the motor wire leaving in a downwards direction to prevent/reduce water ingress.
simon@3dart
Posts: 5
Joined: 14 Oct 2019, 1:24pm

Re: best conversion kit

Post by simon@3dart »

My bike has Chromoly forks. Supposedly stronger than steel but ive also heard can be brittle ? Anyone have any opinions ??
hemo
Posts: 1438
Joined: 16 Nov 2017, 5:40pm
Location: West Sussex

Re: best conversion kit

Post by hemo »

simon@3dart wrote:My bike has Chromoly forks. Supposedly stronger than steel but ive also heard can be brittle ? Anyone have any opinions ??


Show a pic of your fork drop outs.
I fitted a front hub to a MTB with Rockshoks and T/A's and the drop outs both cracked/broke because they are weak, the same hub previously was fitted to a 700c with Suntour forks with much meatier/solid dropouts and they were fine and presented no issues.
The critical part is anchoring T/A's so there is no movement at all possible in which the axle can twist.
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