I've created my first 'sh!t shopper' bike with panniers, locks and cheap lights etc so for the first time in my adult life I have a bike I can lock up in town and not worry about it...now I just want a cheap/short range ebike kit to help me up the hill to my house when I'm in trainers and normal clothes so its a viable alternative to short trips in the car.
Swytch currently have their 50% pre-order running so £530 delivered, (for another 1.5 days unless they extend the deadline...again). The only thing really putting me off Swytch is the admittedly small bar battery bag that I need to detach and chuck in my shopping bag each time I leave the bike...and the 12 week manufacture/shipping time.
Positives: Lightest option, aftersales support
Negative: 12 week (ish) lead time, bar battery unit to cart around when locking bike
I've noticed Blacks/Millets/GoOutdoors are selling a kit called Ultra Ebike for £540 with a bottle battery with the cage transferring the power. Very slim on detail and I can't find any reviews apart from a pretty shonky review on youtube, but then how bad can it be if its being sold by a high street chain? It uses a smartphone app control rather than a display which is a bit annoying but does include a phone mount.
Positives: Easy to return, 3-5 day delivery
Negative: Smartphone control, Heavier 1-2kg?, thin on detail/reviews.
It looks very similar to https://easifitebikekit.co.uk/ which includes the display for £520 (inc discount and free shipping) and there are some extra details such as 5.8ah Lithium battery.
Positives: 1-2 day delivery, hill only assist mode, includes a display
Negative: Suspect illegal ('intelligent assist' i.e no cadence sensor and override throttle), Heavier 1-2kg?
I discounted a couple of other kits, mainly as they have huge downtube batteries. I can't work out if the Esi-fit £50 display (bluetooth) will work with the Millets kit. Millets has a magnet on the crank that looks like its detected by the bottle cage, if thats how it works then it must have a significant lag to turn the assist on and off I'd have thought...swytch has 12 magnet positions on its crank sensor so I assume it would be much quicker to respond, even when pushing a high gear...
Whilst writing this I was leaning towards options 2 and 3 but now I suspect Swytch is back in the runnning (and I've already got a refundable pre-order placed just before their window was meant to close the second time!)
A kit with a torque sensor rides better than a cadence sensor IMO
A mid mount motor is better than a rear wheel motor is better than a front wheel motor
The tongsheng kit I have rides almost as well as a full build ebike and much better imo than a wheel mounted cadence sensed motor
so I know its not what you asked but the tongsheng every time over the ones you mention
https://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/tongsheng-tsdz2-ebike-kit/
Are these front mounted hub motors actually any good up hills?
@tjagain Thanks, just checked woosh bikes and they only seem to have hub kits. Also I really don't want to add too much value to the bike, with Swytch the front wheel is probably less than £200 to replace if I've got the power pack with me, and bit more expensive for the bottle mount ones.
I just found ultraebikes direct website and it seems the pedal sensor is actually Bluetooth so probably senses motion rather than being magnet controlled, so perhaps it would be ok. However the optional display has a throttle built in so makes it illegal so stuck with smartphone control for modes etc.
Apparently the hub motors are ok but it's hard to tell from written reviews, I just need a helping shove for few minutes 🙂
you can get the tongsheng from loads of different folk - from the EU is cheaper than Woosh and from china even cheaper.
Thanks, I'll take a closer look, at first glance it seems it would be about the same price surprisingly, just with the added risk of being more appealing to thieves. This is literally a utility bike to get around a small town, it's not going to be used for recreational riding. So although a mid motor would be nice, I've got to keep in mind that its a 20 year old budget Kona that will spend much longer locked to bike rack than it will actually being ridden back home 🙂
if you are anywhere near me you can have a shot on mine to see - edinburgh
Thanks for the offer, however I can't get much further away than Sussex 🙂
What about that one that fits to your seat post and drives via the rear tyre. I watched a couple of reviews and they seemed to like it (I know that doesn't mean its good).
No idea if it works as well in wet weather but it looks easily removable.
@mugboo Yeh I saw that, first impression was it was a bit of an amateur effort...it blocks a rear rack so would more viable (and neater) if they built it into a rack I think 🙂
I saw a similar idea but the drive wheel was under the bottom bracket which looked more compact.
I think Swytch is winning it despite having read other comments claiming it's just repackaged with clever marketing.
Good point.
I've seen how quick you can wear out a tyre in a turbo or rollers and I suspect the direct tyre drive would cause similar wear due to the small contact patch of a roller versus a flat road.
I think Swytch is winning it despite having read other comments claiming it’s just repackaged with clever marketing.
I think its just a cheap low power chinese made front hub with clever marketing
I found this when looking for the mrs, Didn’t buy, but they were very helpful when I asked questions.
https://wooshbikes.co.uk/?tskit
I wanted hub, as I thought it would be lighter, and the mrs is really, really put off by the weight of the full on proper ebike.
I also wanted torque sensing as I suspect it is a better control method and with lighter smaller bottle type batteries I can get a spare for her in my rucksack.
I recently built a Switch for Mrs Paul X. It's a neat kit, seems well put together and obvious controls. With the battery off the bike its not obvious to the untrained eye that it's an e-bike conversion.
I test rode a few miles around our village and up a couple of long draggy hills. Bearing in mind it's on 15.5" frame and I normaly ride a 21" it coped with my bulk pretty well.
It's not as powerful as my Levo but for bimbleling about round town or light forest tracks I reckon it's spot on.
I wouldn't get hung up on the better ride of a mid motor. I am sure for serious riding this is the case but for a cheap, easy conversion that will be left locked up outside a front hub motor will be fine.
I can recommend Woosh, they put a front hub motor on my Charge Mixer and it is great fun and I have had 70 flat miles between charges. I can drop down to a low gear spin quick and easily and maintain 15.5mph.
I am comfortable locking the bike up, taking the battery with me knowing at worst I will only be £300 down (kit cost (less battery) + bike value) if it goes missing. I could not lock up and leave a £1500 - 2500 bike.
I saw this the other day. Initially I dismissed it as bonkers… but the reviews are fairly favorable and i could imagine it may work to convert an old bike for local use?