I’ve got a Kona Dew hybrid, 135mm QR and 700c, it’s pretty old and has rim brakes. What are my options for decent non-flammable non-dodgy road legal e-bike conversions? Probably a rear wheel job. Doesn’t need a long range.

I’ve got one of these on my ‘94 Stumpy. There’s no U.K. distributor so mine came directly from China. I’ve done just over a thousand miles and not burnt the house down yet. I got the most powerful battery and it gives me 40 miles range, I’m very pleased with it.

Didn’t TJ like his Bafang?

I’ve had the tongsheng tsdz2b on my old charge cooker hard tail for the last year and nearly 3000km with no exploding house. Got it off Amazon.

I like it as it’s torque sensing so  a smooth power assist and you have to pedal. There was a little throttle you could fit, but I didn’t. It’s UK road legal as long as you don’t turn off the limiter in the settings.

I’d recommend Woosh Bikes if you want a kit that you know will all work together, and stands a chance of coming from a half-decent manufacturer. You can source all the bits yourself somewhat cheaper if you want, but you’ll have to learn what works with what. Woosh were also very helpful with advice and sorting the couple of little problems I had.

I’d recommend Woosh Bikes

I’d recommend Woosh too. They’re on another forum im on and seem quite a diligent lot.

https://wooshbikes.co.uk/?kits

I’ve got nothing particularly useful to say, but that 94 Stumpy looks awesome.

Tongsheng on my Genesis Tour de Fer. No problems with it over ~10000km commuting (I don’t have a commute at the moment so it’s sat doing nowt)

https://wooshbikes.co.uk/?tsdz2

All the above recommendations seem sound (I have a Tongsheng and concur with the earlier comments).

WRT non-flammability, the key is simply to not skimp on the battery & charger quality. With my conversion, which doesn’t need a huge range, I bought the motor separately and added branded Makita power tool batteries + charger. 2-off 18V 5Ah batteries in series is plenty for my commute and IIRC cost me a little over £100.

I’d also consider a front hub motor if your use is surfaced roads in good conditions. It’s a simpler conversion process, allows you to keep existing (or freely upgrade) your gears, and shouldn’t cause wheelspin problems if used sensibly.

How does a front hub detect that you are pedaling or are they throttle only (i.e. not legal).

How does a front hub detect that you are pedaling or are they throttle only (i.e. not legal).

They’re usually cadence sensing with a sensor on the cranks.

CYC Photon here – several places sell them, one advertises the UK legal one but CYC make available the EU legal firmware as a download if you buy from elsewhere.

Nice motor and very nice torque sensing.

Some people have had overheating or other issues caused by overheating, but they run them unrestricted (it’s a 750W motor then) and with a throttle, so there is no way the UK legal version should have those issues.

Got my motor from Paradise Cycles and a battery from BesBikes.

Technically a throttle is OK on a conversion kit as long as the 15.5mph and 250W limits are still met (unless there has been some change since 2014) I haven’t seen.

Can you share the prices you paid?

If you consider front motor hub, take note it can snap off fork dropouts due to the high torque, which is the last part of the bike you want to lose a wheel from.

or are they throttle only (i.e. not legal)

I think the law changed recently over that, and a throttle is now ok to fit and use.

I bought a Bafang kit from Brighton E-bikes to fit to my cove hummer back in 2017, also fitted the optional thumb throttle kit as I couldn’t pedal. Good kit, very reliable and an easy 25+mile range on hilly Galloway roads using the thumb throttle alone, I imagine you’d get 40+miles easy with pedalling.

Tongsheng mid drive kit is great.   Proper torque sensing.

Woosh front wheel kit on a Charge Mixer here.  Perfectly adequate for my needs.  Paid £600 in 2019. Still running great no noticeable tail off in battery performance.

Can you share the prices you paid?

I paid US$604 for my Tonsheng in 2020 with a 17AH battery with Samsung cells in 2020. Came from China via Germany.