Apologies for the late update, I've been very busy for 2 months and forgot about the thread!
Both kits arrived in November and were very well packaged. Installation was straightforward:
1. Remove old wheel and swap tyre and inner tube to new motorised wheel.
2. Fit the new wheel to the bike. It was easy on the Mrs's bike, but I did need to file 1mm off the forks on my bike in order to accommodate the thicker spindle. I'd also ordered torque arms to be included in both kits. It might seem like overkill but I wanted them. A torque arm was missing from 1 kit, so I initially fitted that wheel with the torque washers that come with the kit. Swytch did send out a replacement straight away and it arrived 2 days later.
3. Fit the pedal arm sensor. The instructions were easy to follow and there's a few differently sized discs in the kit, for different bikes.
4. Fit the battery cradle on the handlebars. This is straightforward, and a nylon strap stops the weight of the battery pack pulling the battery clamp downwards.
5. Zip tie the wiring and ensure it's routed so it doesn't rub or catch on anything.
There's a few negative comments on trustpilot, but these are mainly expressions of dissatisfaction about a tyre not being included on the new wheel, or the wheel not fitting the bike. You already have a tyre coming from the old wheel! When ordering, you have to specify the wheel size and spindle width. It's a conversion kit, basic research is required to guarantee it all fits. If you have the ability to mend a puncture and measure a wheel, you'll be able to fit a Swytch kit.
Anyway, the kits are fantastic! The battery pack is simple to use, you select the power assistance from 0 to 5 and after about a second of pedalling yourself the motor kicks in to assist. There's nothing weird about it, it just works. It's very similar to when you're going along on a bicycle and someone comes along next to you, reaches across and gently starts pushing you along to make you go faster. The kit has now done over 100 miles and has worked flawlessly.
Regarding range, if you keep the power at 1 and only turn it up for hills, it lasts for ages. I've done some testing and estimate that, based on using it in the above way, you'll get about 25 miles from the eco battery, and about 35 miles from the pro battery. I bought an eco kit for the Mrs and a pro kit for me, though either battery can be plugged into either bike. It is very tempting to whack up the power to max, but if you do, don't expect it to last long. I did some testing and got about 11 miles out of full power on the pro battery before it ran out.
Riding around on number 1 is great. You just pedal gently as if you were pootling along at 10mph, but with the helping hand pushing you along, you're actually doing 15.5mph. On hills, simply turn up the power, get in an easy gear to enable you to keep up the pedalling rate and the bike cruises up the hill. I've taken the bike up some very steep hills and it flies up. Don't get me wrong, it certainly doesn't have enough power to do all the work itself, but I've taken it up some very steep hills which normally I'd be grinding my way up in 1st gear, standing on the pedals. With the Swytch kit, it's still an exertion, but I can cycle straight up the hill, sitting down, and by the time I reach the summit I'm just a bit hot and breathing quickly, rather than literally dripping with sweat and panting.
Another benefit is cycling into a headwind. Normally, a headwind can make an easy ride hard work, but the extra power helps you push through a headwind without too much exertion. It's tempting, when cycling into a headwind on 1 power, to nudge the power up to number 2, but this doubles the battery drain rate. It's more efficient to change to an easier gear and simply go more slowly, you're still getting power assistance and it's still much easier than cycling into a headwind completely under your own steam.
So that's my view on the Swytch conversion kit, I'll put some pics up too.
