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Electric Bike Conversion Kit Options | DIY E Bikes With EMBN - YouTube
Channel: Electric Mountain Bike Network
[0]
- Off-the-shelf E-bikes are
not cheap, that's very true,
[3]
but that does not mean to
say you cannot build your own
[6]
using a kit whether you've got
a mountain bike, a road bike,
[8]
a cruiser, or a BMX.
[10]
- Yep, so today, we'll take a look
[12]
at a few different options,
[13]
and the pros and cons of each system.
[15]
(machine beeping)
[18]
- Now, before we dive
into the different systems
[20]
on the market, let's have a look at some
[21]
of the key considerations you
guys need to be thinking about
[25]
before you start building
your own E-bike kit.
[27]
(upbeat music)
[29]
- I think you really
need to take into account
[30]
whether you want throttle assist,
[32]
where you twist the grip or push a button,
[34]
or you want to pedal assist.
[35]
Also the terrain you're riding,
is it hilly, or is it flat?
[39]
Whether you want that kit for commuting,
[40]
or plain mountain
biking's a big difference.
[42]
- Yeah, there's a big
difference there, Chris.
[43]
And also there's the hardware issues
[45]
to take into account, as well.
[46]
Now, can the bike you're converting,
[48]
can it actually deal with
the added weight of a motor,
[51]
and a battery, and a control?
[53]
Second thing is such things
as the bottom bracket
[55]
with now some of these
motors only suitable
[58]
for certain widths such as 60 to 73.
[60]
And also think about the
chain line on your bike.
[63]
Can it actually deal with, say,
[65]
a hub drive or a mid-drive motor?
[67]
- And also the frame type
that you're going to be using.
[69]
Now, a traditional hardtail
is quite easy to swap across
[72]
to an E-bike motor kit,
'cause you can fit the battery
[75]
inside that front triangle quite easy.
[77]
But if you've got a full suspension frame,
[78]
you might struggle to fit
that big bulky battery
[81]
inside there, as well.
[82]
And also think about the
axles that your bike runs.
[84]
Now, a traditional old
school mountain bike's
[87]
135 mm dropouts, and
that back wheel should slot
[90]
in there quite nicely.
[91]
But if you're using a newer school bike,
[93]
something that may outboost
or bolt your axles,
[95]
then it's not going to be compatible.
[96]
And lastly, are you
technical minded enough
[99]
to put that kit in?
- Ooh, that's a big one.
[100]
- Or we cannot take it to a
shop and spend even more money.
[103]
- In fact, Chris, I think that is possibly
[104]
the biggest consideration of
all, and has a massive impact.
[108]
Is the bike you're about to build,
[110]
is it suitable for the purpose
[112]
that it's going to be
intended to be used for?
[114]
Because if it's not,
[115]
then maybe you should
think of an alternative.
[117]
Now, earlier this year, we
bumped into a couple of guys.
[119]
They bought some mid-drive kits.
[121]
They spent about 500, 600 pounds,
[123]
and then they mounted them.
[123]
They were really good, but
they found that they did
[126]
actually fall down in certain technical conditions.
[128]
It wasn't what they expected it to be.
[130]
And so they ended up actually going for
[132]
a off-the-shelf E-bike,
[133]
and they had to sell
their custom build kit.
[136]
And also, like you say, Chris,
[138]
don't underestimate the
technical know how needed
[141]
to put a kit together,
[143]
because if you're not electrically minded,
[144]
I'd probably go elsewhere, right?
[146]
- Yep.
(upbeat music)
[148]
- So you've got the bicycle
that you're going to convert
[151]
using your E-bike kit,
[153]
what then are the main
types of kits on the market?
[155]
- Well, first up, you've got
your front hub drive kit,
[158]
which obviously powers the front wheel
[159]
clamped in the front forks,
propels the bike forward.
[162]
- Yep, very straightforwards.
[163]
Then of course, there's the mid-drive kit,
[165]
which is centrally located on the bike
[167]
and is actually powered off the cranks.
[169]
- And bringing up the rear, you
got the rear hub drive unit,
[172]
which bolts into the rear
dropouts of the bike,
[174]
and again, propels the
bike forward pretty simply.
[176]
(upbeat music)
[178]
- Right, Chris, let's start
off with the front hub drives.
[180]
Now, it's amazing, isn't it,
[181]
how many companies there are now
[183]
making these kits for E-bikes?
[184]
- Yeah.
[185]
- We went to Eurobike in
Germany earlier this year
[187]
and we counted 156 different
brands making motors
[193]
from the Far East, from
France, from Spain, from Italy.
[196]
Today we're going to be
looking at a few systems
[198]
from actually from Cyclotricity
which is a small UK brand,
[201]
and they make front, rear,
and mid-drives for E-bikes.
[205]
- Yeah.
[206]
So the great things about the
front hub drive motor, Steve,
[208]
is that they're small,
they're great for commuting,
[210]
and of course, you can
fit them fairly easy
[213]
at your own home if you're
a confident mechanic.
[214]
- Yeah, and obviously
there's a lot of these motors
[217]
where there's throttle assist drive,
[219]
but you might want to go
to a pedal assist system.
[221]
How can you do that?
[222]
- Well, a lot of these kits
are actually upgradeable
[224]
to a pedal assist sensor.
[226]
All you need to do is just add
a ring to the bottom bracket
[228]
and a sensor that clips
onto your seat tube usually,
[230]
and it just detects our crank movements,
[232]
meaning you get a lot more range,
[234]
and a lot more natural feel to that ride.
[235]
- And that doesn't cost much, right?
[237]
- No, it's not a lot.
[237]
The upgrade, you can
get all sorts of things,
[239]
LCD screens, pedal assist
upgrade, you name it,
[242]
usually it's going to come in that kit.
[243]
- I think what you guys
need to be aware of is,
[246]
a lot these kits do start
from maybe 150 pounds
[249]
for a front hub drive, but you've
also got to get the battery
[253]
on top of that, and those,
what are those, Chris?
[255]
From 200 pounds upwards?
- Yeah, upwards.
[256]
Yeah, usually kind of doubles the price
[258]
of the kit, to be fair.
[258]
So they range in lots of different sizes.
[261]
Watt hours and amps, and things like that,
[263]
so just make sure you're
getting the right sized battery
[265]
to see that kit.
[266]
- Yeah, but yeah, you're right.
[267]
If you're looking for a
very straightforward system,
[268]
you're going to be using fire
roads or commuting to work
[271]
and I think front hub
drive is a great option.
[273]
(upbeat music)
[275]
Right, mid drives.
[276]
- Mm-hmm.
- Our favorites, right?
[277]
- For sure, yeah.
- Yeah.
[279]
Now, the advantage of a
mid-drive over a hub drive
[281]
is they're actually better suited
[283]
for those really hilly conditions.
[285]
And that's because they're
operated through the cranks
[288]
and the gears, rather than that rear hub,
[291]
which means you can
get the optimum cadence
[293]
for the bike involved.
[294]
- Yeah, not forgetting
you're removing the weight
[296]
from the wheels and transferring it
[297]
into the middle of the bike.
[298]
Therefore, the suspension's
going to work better
[300]
and the grip of the wheels.
[301]
You're not lugging those
big hub motors up the steps
[304]
and down routes, things like that.
[305]
- But it is a hugely complex
area, the mid-drive market.
[310]
You're thinking about
such things as the weight,
[312]
the power, the legality,
throttle or pedal assist,
[315]
it's a total minefield, right?
[317]
- [Chris] Yeah, for sure.
[318]
- Right, let's have a look
at some of the systems
[319]
on the market.
[320]
This one on the screen
now is from Cyclotricity.
[322]
It starts at 350 pounds.
[324]
Really easy to fit but
doesn't include the battery,
[327]
but it's a really good starting point.
[329]
Moving on to something a
little bit more expensive.
[331]
This is now from Dillenger UK.
[333]
It involves a Samsung unit.
[336]
771 pounds, so a little
bit more expensive,
[339]
but remember, that's the
whole kit you're getting there
[343]
to get your E-bike going.
[344]
- Yeah, some good buys there for sure.
[346]
And of course, there's those
crazy high-powered kits,
[348]
like the type of kits
we see from Lift MTB.
[351]
Now, these start at around
1,000 pounds up to 3,000 pounds.
[354]
Simply bolt onto your bottom bracket,
[356]
twist to throttle, you get
to the top of the hill.
[358]
- Yeah, but again, there's
a lot involved here
[360]
in fitting these motors and batteries.
[363]
And like we keep saying,
you need to be pretty cute
[366]
to be able to fit there.
[368]
But it gets even more insane, right?
[370]
- Monster batteries like this.
[372]
- Now, Martin Ashton went to Whistler
[374]
and he had an Eagle kit on there.
[378]
The power, the price, you're
looking at about five kilos
[382]
for the motor on your bike,
[383]
which is a significant weight.
[384]
- Yeah.
- And they're not cheap.
[386]
About 3,000 euros for a kit like this.
[388]
So at this point, you got to be thinking,
[391]
well, actually, should I just
buy an off-the-shelf bike?
[394]
- Definitely, at that kind of price,
[395]
and the speeds that these
bikes can go, as well.
[397]
We went out to Croatia
recently, rode the great G12.
[400]
And that thing was restricted
to 110 kilometers an hour
[404]
just on a hop drive motor,
so they can propel the bike.
[406]
Crazy speeds, crazy money, it's
down to what you want to do
[410]
on the bike at the end of the day.
[411]
(upbeat music)
[413]
Right, Steve, rear hub drive motor kit.
[415]
- [Steve] Yeah, well,
I've actually got one here
[416]
from Cyclotricity, this is
1,000 watt unit, I think.
[419]
- Yeah, well, it comes in
loads of different prices,
[421]
they tend to start at around 150 pounds.
[423]
So that's going to get you the
motor and all the components
[426]
you're going to need to
get it, minus the battery.
[428]
These is a pretty simple to fit.
[429]
They're a plug and play kit,
[431]
so fairly simple if you're
fairly mechanically minded.
[434]
Loads of different options.
[435]
They do tend to come in throttle only,
[438]
but you can get pedal assist
sensors and LCD screens.
[441]
Lots of different options in that package.
[443]
- [Steve] Talking of the package,
[444]
this actually is the package.
[446]
You've got the wheel
and the motor in here,
[448]
you got the cables, you got the battery,
[451]
you've got the display.
- Speed control.
[452]
- And you get the speed controls.
[453]
So it's pretty much just
a matter of just putting
[456]
all this together, right?
- Yeah.
[457]
Connecting it all together.
[458]
Twist the throttle and off you go.
[459]
Simple as that.
[460]
- I think if you're riding fire trails
[462]
and not a hilly ground, it's
a fantastic option, right?
[465]
'Cause you can convert your bike
[466]
which you might even have
it in the shed for 20 years
[469]
and away you go.
[470]
- And some of these kits are
restricted from the factory,
[473]
especially if you're in the UK.
[474]
It can be 25 kilometers an hour
[476]
or 32 if you're in the States and Canada.
[478]
But a lot of those kits you
can actually de-restrict
[480]
if you want to, you're legal
and you got the right place
[482]
to ride it.
[483]
They can be a pretty powerful unit.
[484]
- So how that works is
actually comes as, say,
[486]
you can have a mix.
[487]
You can have like a 250, 500-watt mix,
[489]
or a 250, 1,000-watt mix.
[491]
So, you simply switch on and
off between the power levels.
[495]
It's a very simple system.
[496]
- [Chris] Easy, it's good.
[496]
(upbeat music)
[498]
- Chris, let's move on to batteries.
[499]
Now, I want to pick you up
on something you said earlier
[501]
about the different type
of bikes you've got.
[504]
Obviously with a triple triangle hardtail,
[506]
you can fit that onto the down tube--
[508]
- [Chris] Very easy, yeah.
[509]
- There's bottle mounted
bosses there, that easy.
[511]
So I think the key consideration is,
[513]
get the measurements of the batteries
[515]
and the type of battery
to get on the bike.
[517]
But you still can fit batteries
[519]
to full suspension bikes, right?
[521]
Such as the Lift MTB.
- [Chris] Yeah.
[522]
- It's got the thin Panasonic batteries,
[524]
you can bolt those on.
[526]
But, yeah, a key consideration
is the type of mounting.
[529]
And there are a few different
mounting types, right?
[531]
- Yeah, you can obviously fit that onto,
[533]
Steve mentioned the water bottle bosses,
[535]
if it will fit in the frame.
[536]
We get seat post-mounted
racks that the battery
[538]
simply clips onto, and
also panniers as well.
[541]
So, there's lots of
different options out there
[543]
if you can't fit it in the
front triangle of the frame.
[545]
But it definitely needs to be super secure
[547]
because it's a heavy unit,
[548]
you don't want it bouncing around.
[549]
- Yeah.
[550]
And finally, a lot of the
higher powered mid-drive kits
[553]
actually come with a battery
pack which you carry around
[557]
in your backpack, and they can
range from two or three kilos
[561]
up to maybe six or seven kilos
depending on the capacity.
[564]
So what you're going to
bear in mind with those
[567]
is you got a backpack
with a battery in it,
[569]
and you've also got a
lead which comes down
[571]
and plugs actually into the bike rather,
[574]
to make that connection.
- Yeah.
[576]
So, yeah, lots of different
options out there,
[577]
but just make sure you're
using the right one,
[579]
for the type of riding you want to do.
[581]
- And also that you've
got the technical know how
[583]
to be charging and putting
those batteries together.
[586]
Not easy.
[587]
(mellow music)
[589]
Okay, so we've looked at the motors,
[590]
we've looked at the batteries.
[591]
What about some of the
other parts involved
[593]
in these home build kits, Chris?
[595]
- Well, a few different
items, Steve, in the box.
[596]
You're going to find the LCD unit.
[598]
Now, this is obviously a display,
[600]
it mounts on your handlebars.
[601]
Can be an optional extra on some kits,
[603]
but this displays your speed,
what power mode you're in,
[606]
what speed you're going
at, and how much range
[608]
you've got left off the batteries.
[609]
Now, lots of different options on those,
[610]
and I think you were
talking about Bafang--
[612]
- Yeah, being the Bafang one
that comes with the BBS01 kit,
[615]
another kit, really quite a
detailed display on there.
[619]
You got those nine power
modes on that bike.
[621]
Swaps between different outputs
250, 500, or 1,000 watt.
[625]
And pretty high tech actually,
again, for the money.
[627]
- Yeah, exactly.
[628]
And over home you're out finding your kit,
[629]
well, you definitely
will find in your kit,
[630]
is going to be the speed controller.
[632]
Now, this regulates not
only the motor's speed,
[635]
but it's the absolute brains of the bike.
[637]
This regulates like when you're braking,
[639]
it will cut the power off to the motor,
[641]
and literally is the brains of the bike,
[643]
so you don't want to be
without one of those.
[644]
(upbeat music)
[646]
- Big question is how much are
these kits going to cost you?
[649]
Well, we've actually built
up a kit from Cyclotricity.
[653]
We've built up a rear hub
drive, 250 watts, obviously,
[656]
making it street legal.
[657]
We've got the speed
sensor on there, as well.
[659]
We've Chris's hardtail for,
what was it, 100 pounds?
[662]
- [Chris] Yeah, it wasn't a lot of money.
[663]
It's been kicking around
in the back of the shed
[665]
for a while.
- Yeah.
[665]
But we've actually built up this kit,
[667]
and here's a shot of the bike before,
[671]
and here is what it looks like
[672]
after we've put this kit on it.
[674]
I've been for a spin down
the road on it, Chris hasn't.
[676]
And, well, I'm just going
to tell you something,
[679]
it's pretty cool.
[680]
- I'm looking forward to ride on it.
[682]
- Bottom line on the cost,
I think we managed to get in
[684]
at just under 500 pounds, right?
[685]
- Whoa, now that is an absolute bargain
[687]
for a bike like that.
- It is.
[689]
So if you're looking to
ride fire roads or commute,
[692]
or maybe just make your first
journey into the countryside,
[695]
because this is what these
bikes allow you to do, right?
[697]
- Yeah, dip your toes
into the E-bike world,
[699]
is what it's about.
- Yeah.
[700]
(mellow music)
[702]
But then when you start
going up the scale,
[704]
you start spending a bit more money,
[706]
like I said, you can you
can spend maybe up to 3,000,
[708]
4,000 on these mid-drive kits.
[711]
You've got to be asking the question,
[713]
should I be buying an off-the-shelf bike?
[715]
Now, there's this rear hub
drive bike from Decathlon,
[718]
which comes in at 799 pounds.
[720]
So if you're not
technically, mechanically,
[722]
electrically minded, that
might be a good alternative.
[725]
- Yeah, I'm sure, yeah.
[726]
- Earlier this year, we
rode the Focus Whistler,
[729]
and that was a good bike.
- That was a good bike-
[730]
- [Chris] Out of the box.
[731]
- Out of the box, 799 pounds.
[733]
Or maybe a mid-drive bike.
[736]
Now this is from Decathlon,
the Rock Rider, 1,599 euros,
[739]
I think it is.
[741]
It's a great setup.
[741]
So, if you are thinking about
making your own homemade kit,
[746]
I think there's so many considerations
[748]
you're going to bring into mind.
[749]
- Yeah, definitely.
[750]
I think budget, what you
want to do with the bike,
[752]
and how capable you are,
can you even build it,
[754]
or do you want something safe
[755]
as maybe you can have a warranty,
[757]
and it's going to all
be brand new components
[759]
on that bike, as well.
[760]
It's not a second-hand bike,
you're putting a new kit
[762]
onto it as well, so it
can make a difference.
[764]
- So there you go, that's our
overview of homemade DIY kits.
[768]
If you want to see about mid-drive kits,
[771]
done a video just about that there.
[773]
I've actually done a motor fundamentals
[774]
which did on the national mid-drive motors
[778]
like off-shelf ones just down over there.
[780]
I think in the meantime, Chris,
[781]
we need to get out on your home belt.
[783]
- Yeah, I'm looking forward to this one.
[785]
- Do some technical challenges.
[786]
- Yeah.
[787]
- And see what it's up to.
- For sure.
[788]
- Don't forget to give a thumbs
up if you like this video.
[790]
Please let us know your comments
if you get any questions
[793]
at all about these type of kits.
[794]
It's really important to get involved
[796]
in the comments down below.
[797]
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[800]
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