Which electric bike conversion kit?

[mccarf]

I've been looking into electric bike conversion kits for a little while, but I'm still rather confused what to get. I would preferably like to do it myself so something that has fairly comprehensive and straightforward instructions would be nice.

I looked into the Swytch kit but at €580ish and 6 months delivery, I think it's quite steep for a 250w kit. I would prefer something more powerful. Must also be able to deliver to Finland.

My bike is this 2012 Giant Revel 1 mountain bike:
https://bikeindex.org/bikes/110811

Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks.

 

[mccarf]

@bainbridge has ordered the Switch which is due soon, i don't think he's waited 6 months but maybe not too far off.

Quite a bit of dicsussion in here
https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/threads/has-anyone-done-a-swytch-conversion.18934114/

The first of the Swytch kits arrived yesterday and the other one is due any day now, ordered in mid August. I'm yet to install. They're going on 700c wheeled hybrids, I don't know how the Swytch kit will fare on a MTB but the wheel looks well built, with a double walled rim.

Thanks, I did read through that thread which prompted me to apply to Swytch. They quoted me 580 euros in the email they sent and that was with a 6 month delivery time too, it also mentioned that this wasn't the final price or inclusive of import fees etc so I think it would probably be more in the 650-700 euro region. Relative to the other kits available it seems like a very steep price for the end result. I would imagine given that they're made in the UK it's probably a more reasonable kit if you live there.

If you're going to use it off road then definitely get a mid-mount kit. That way you will get the advantage of the gears which I don't get on my rear wheel Dillenger conversion. I can swap between rear wheels though when I don't want to have the assistance or extra weight.

Plenty of details in the thread linked above.

Yeah I've looked into some of the mid mount kits. Bafang seems to be a popular brand for those style of kits but at least on Amazon it seems very confusing which one to get. For example:

https://www.amazon.de/-/en/Bafang-B...ang&qid=1638010197&s=sports&sr=1-3&th=1&psc=1

On the "size" you can select between battery capacity, type of battery and then there's numbers like 44T, 48T etc. Are these just internal codes to make the choices unique or do they actually mean something? It doesn't seem to explain on the page itself.

I've had converted bikes for nearly 10 years built with these kits - https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/393177920365 and also converted a lot for friends/family.
They are simple to put together.

These are my two

I did actually look into Yose Power too! Until yesterday they had a 1000w conversion kit available on their website for 500-600 euros. I held off because I have a couple of questions:
1) It says 7 speed. Does it matter if I currently have 8 speed seeing as they would be sending one out with 7 speeds? Would the current gear selector I have work with this or would I have to replace that too?
2) I notice this says freewheel. I currently have a cassette. Would this simply just replace the cassette or would it be a different fitting somehow?

To be honest if this kit worked for me, then from what I have seen it's the best bang for buck I've seen so far from a decent brand and I would probably be prepared to wait until it came back into stock. Out of interest how does the 250w one cope? They did offer a 350w one instead which would be more of a straight fit from what I can see and 100 euros+ cheaper. I'm just not really sure how good such a low power actually is. The only electric bikes I've actually tried have had around 1000w.

 

[mccarf]

If it says 7 speed you are looing at a rear wheel and no your derailleur won't work properly. My hybrid has been having problems changing gears properly and only a few months ago I realised I had bought the wrong cassette around 3 years ago so changed it. It did work but would miss a gear out now and then.

You may be able to put an 8 speed cassette on the new wheel, not sure the difference between freehub and Freewheel.

Beware that anything over 250 watt is illegal on our roads, you make your choice you take your chances but I know 4 people who have had their bikes confiscated and crushed.
I did have a 1000 watt for 1 month and went back to a 250 watt because for my 4.5 mile commute it does it easy and handles the banks OK.
This is my worst climb and it does it easily - https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@53.0...hyLdyYhpg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en&authuser=0

Okay that actually looks like a pretty big hill! I'll try the 350w Yose Power kit then, if you can make it up that easily then I probably don't need 1000w. I think with the 250w rule, I'll just take it easy in more built up areas and use the full juice in less busy places. Big thanks to you and everyone else for the help