E bike conversion

[sctb29]

Hi! I was having the same question. It seems for a road bike a front hub may be lighter and I have found more front hub kits online. For an MTB bike, definitely get a rear motor. Although I can't seem to find an easy plug and play kit. If anyone knows a more user-friendly kit, please let me know! I know my way around a bike but is just I don't want a lot of wires and big batteries that have unnecessary weight.

Cheers!

[stodd]

Swytch is one of the simplest hub kits. Their 'standard' prices are way over the top, more reasonable at their preorder prices. Reputation for patchy customer service. Cytronex is another https://www.cytronex.com, lightweight but very expensive for what it is.

Woosh XF07 and others are a fairly simple to install kits, but they do have wires/separate batteries etc. Excellent customer service.

A lot of the weight is in the battery. Often the lightweight kits have very low capacity batteries. Fine for road riding where you expect to do almost all the work and just want a little help on the hills, but otherwise very limiting.

[hemo]

I make my own kits using plug and play, all kits are China made so cut out the middle man and buy direct via China sellers.
If you want warranty then buy via Woosh bikes in Southend though for the most part they tend to only supply in the main Freewheel motors for rear kits.
Bafang are good but they charge affair price for their kits/motors, an alternative that is as good is an Aikema hub.
A mid drive kit is another option but the three I have had have been carp, all three have suffered controller issues and one of them twice.
Imho the best go to place for putting kits together is Topbikekit.com.

[philg]

Agree about Swytch, especially as they seem to have increased the price and decreased the battery capacity since I bought mine last year.

For plug and play I have 3 kits from Yosepower and I have no hesitation in recommending them.
Delivered from the EU and they do meet their warranty obligations. They have low stocks atm along with everyone else I suspect.

Pswpower do similar stuff though I have yet to use them.

[stodd]

Making up your own kits is certainly a good option for value for money. Be very careful for compatibility of the various bits (including connector plug/socket types); before you make any decision check back here and hemo might be able to confirm it will all work together, or ask at https://www.pedelecs.co.uk/forum/forums ... ussion.42/ where there are lots of people who know all the details.

Uncertainly in that area was why I went for a Woosh kit. Even though I know an awful lot more now than when I got that kit 2 years ago I'd be very careful before buying separate bits.

[philg]

I make my own kits using plug and play, all kits are China made so cut out the middle man and buy direct via China sellers.
.

How does the duty and tax play out on your imports?
I've often thought about buying direct from China but having been stung years ago buying an LED light from the states I am wary.

[hemo]

My last order beginning of March was about £205 I paid £24 duty/courier charge, payable before it leaves the UK depot. I received a text with the payment details but didn't see it up for a week, I used the text link paid the duty and it arrived within 18hrs.

With hubs it pay's to build your own wheel or find someone who can do it for you, you have to tell them it is a motored hub. A lot of LBS won't touch a motor hub build as in general most haven't a clue about ebikes and they really are just box sellers. Like Bsoch and the likes they just refer most issues back to Bosch for replacement the most dealers can do is plug a bike in for diagnosis or a software upgrade, hence the term they are box sellers.
For a motor hub build if you aren't able to, try contacting Woosh bikes first to see if they will do it for you. There is a gap in the diy market to supply hub a building service but starting one up won't be hard it is the business and whether it is profitable to make any head way.
I myself build all my wheel builds motored or not and am self taught, my truing stand is a wooden homebuilt one for my needs.

[hemo]

Motor wheels and batteries via China add a lot to the freight cost and duty so I only buy the bare motor hub, for batteries I build my own or from within the EU.
Enerprof.de for complete cased batteries or ebay eu shops, there is a UK ebay seller Marley who builds supplies batteries or try Jimmy at ebikebatteries.co.uk. Jimmy does a great deal in re-celling existing battery cases.

[philg]

My last order beginning of March was about £205 I paid £24 duty/courier charge, payable before it leaves the UK depot. I received a text with the payment details but didn't see it up for a week, I used the text link paid the duty and it arrived within 18hrs.

With hubs it pay's to build your own wheel or find someone who can do it for you, you have to tell them it is a motored hub. A lot of LBS won't touch a motor hub build as in general most haven't a clue about ebikes and they really are just box sellers. Like Bsoch and the likes they just refer most issues back to Bosch for replacement the most dealers can do is plug a bike in for diagnosis or a software upgrade, hence the term they are box sellers.
For a motor hub build if you aren't able to, try contacting Woosh bikes first to see if they will do it for you. There is a gap in the diy market to supply hub a building service but starting one up won't be hard it is the business and whether it is profitable to make any head way.
I myself build all my wheel builds motored or not and am self taught, my truing stand is a wooden homebuilt one for my needs.

Thanks for that - I assumed they would add 20% VAT on top of the duty.

Not sure I agree about the wheel bit though - my last hub motor, built into a 700c wheel supplied with controller, display, PAS disc - well everything bar the battery, was £175 delivered in week from Germany.

OK, the rim turned out to be badly machined (first time this has happened) but I got a partial refund from the supplier (overnight!) to cover a new rim rebuild which I was happy about as I now have a wheel to match the existing rear!

[hemo]

There are different varying kits etc, some are better then others even if the same make. It depends on how cheap a third party seller spec's them from the producer.

[hjd10]

What sort of range do you get from the FWD system? I'm looking at something for commuting, my commute is about 5 miles each way with a couple of short steep hills.
Regards,

As post above, the real difference in range is how much climbing and how much e-effort you need and what capacity your battery has.

As an example, on a ride last week of 48km and 1533m of climbing, I probably had ~15% in reserve with a 470W hr battery (can't lie though, it was getting anxious towards the end due to voltage sag)
Spa Tourer with rack bag full of junk and FWD hub motor, probably 25kg all up)

(Your mileage WILL vary )

Thank you.

[hamish]

I have been flirting with the idea of a cargo bike or a cargo ebike. People here quote reliability over relatively short distances, but what about ebike reliability and wear costs compared to conventional bikes over more realistic commuting distances?

I would be worried if someone was pleased to say, for example, Long Hall Tucker was still doing ok after 7000 miles! i had presumed that a good ebike or conversion had 30 to 40 thousands miles in it with only normal maintenance. is that the case?