Electric Bike Conversion Kit or Electric Bike?

I'm just using a 250 watt motor and leaving it at a max of 15mph like my other bike.
I use the motor rarely and only to give me a kick.

Ok, it's you're choice. I've seen front dropouts snap - not pretty.
 
I've tried a few mirrors but these Blackburn are the best.
The furthest is the new one and uses a strap to tie around the grip and the one nearest plugs into the end of the handlebar (yes I hit a post).
I also don't know why I've got my thumb up :D

bikemirrors.jpg
 
nice one cheers! cheap as well, I'm going to order myself one and save my neck :):):)

You'll wonder how you ever did without one.
I would honestly say it's got to be one of the best safety features there is to instantly see idiots behind and what they are getting up to.
 
I'd consider one if they didn't increase the profile of the bike so much and get damaged when the bike falls over, maybe rear mounted camera going to my smartphone? ;)
 
That looks pretty heavy duty, kind of the thing I'm looking for, even though I'm on tarmac road 90% of the time, large tyres and suspension make such a difference in handling.

Having gone back to using my normal bike for a little while, I've nearly come off a couple of times due to loss of traction.
 
Admission 1: I initially poo-poo'd the idea of electric bikes. That was silly.
Admission 2: I haven't read the whole thread ;)

Couple quick questions for those already using e-bikes:

What's the max range of your battery? I'm thinking of 30mile to 60mile treks and wondering if the battery is good for that?

How cheaply can you convert an existing hybrid?
 
What's the max range of your battery?

Depends how you use it, wind conditions, hillsm level of assist etc. Same as a car - boot it everywhere and you'll empty the tank pretty quick.

On my hybrid I ranged from 50 miles with only using 3/4 of the pack with low assist maxing out at 15mph down to 20 miles on a windy commute with max assist and hardly any pedalling (I'd dislocated my knee that morning).

On my mtb, I've done 25 miles off road on lowest assist with only a few hills and only using half the pack down to completely flattening the pack in 14 miles with loads of hills and max assist everywhere (and using the throttle to boost up jumps :-) ).

How cheaply can you convert an existing hybrid?

About £500, but that would be for a smallish battery doing about 20 miles. you'd want at least a 36v20ah for 50 miles.


In other news, interesting take on the ebike concept.

http://www.engadget.com/2014/05/15/vanmoof-10-electrified/
 
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I'm not really referring to riding it, my bike is similar in performance but moving it is a right pain. Though the performance of lighter bikes is better in terms of acceleration and battery life.
 
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Been looking at this for a while now, I'm a retained firefighter and we have real problem with traffic here in the summer, I live fairly close but its a bit to hard to ride it within the 5 mins we get, I'm thinking of converting my bike to electric but need a good top speed and only need about 30 mins battery life as a max really. Any ideas on a good kit or custom build? not sure on batteries don't want to wast money on ones that last long as no need.

I can recommend this if all you need is 30 minutes - http://www.cyclotricity.com/front-drive-electric-bike-kit/
I've got the bottle battery version and my commute is 20 mins each way so I can probably get 60 minutes out of it.

With the LCD display you can de-restrict it and get up to 20mph just on the throttle (on the flat obviously) but I've left mine on 15mph because I like to do most of the work.
 
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