I can’t remember who it was on here that built an ebike
my dad has asked me to look into eBay kits as he has seen them for about £250 for a kit.
He said he fancies giving it a try for that money
If you've never done a conversion before, it's sensible to buy a complete kit so you know everything will plug together.
If buying from eBay etc, you might get customs charges unless you buy from with the EU (some ship from Germany etc to avoid this - worth looking for these sellers). Check the forums for advice, there are also a handful of UK dealers who supply kits.
There are 3 main styles, front hub, pedal-crank drive, or rear hub. All have pros & cons. Decide where you want the battery (on downtube or on rear rack etc).
Picking the wrong bike as a base can cause you big problems, you need a deep slot for a hub motor axle to fit into - many bikes are not suitable. Crank drive physically won't fit on some bikes.
24 volt systems are obsolete now, most at 36v or above.
I fitted a £350 36v rear hub kit 3 weeks ago and have done just over 500kms so far. Range on 1 charge (with me pedaling a lot) is over 50 miles, average speed is normally over 20mph, motor can be set to work up to 30mph.
Control systems vary from simple leds to computerised LCD displays, the modern (better) type is "current-control" - it gives nicer power delivery and is more efficient.
Avoid the big powerful direct-drive motors (eb@y 500w/1500w etc), they're great at high speeds if you have a huge battery but are terrible at anything else (so no use in daily life)
Check what's legal, for UK I think limits are 250w max and limited to 15mph. Your choice but do you want to be in court for riding an illegal machine if there's a crash ?
Just ask if any questions ...
Yeah I did a conversion on a Rockhopper a bit ago ...the bike cost me 80 quid and I bought it unseen ...conversion kit came from China and was something like 350 Euros the transport cost bumped it up a fair bit I think 80 Euros ...but it great I can buzz about the hills around here ..Conversion kits with hub motors do make the bike heavy so if you run out of battery it's hard work getting home.ha ha...if you are going off road a rearhub motor is better ...on the road front hubs are fine ... You can also get a bottom bracket motor conversion ..they are much lighter, have less friction so can be used without power...but tend to be more expensive .. I think if I do another I might go for a bottom bracket motor ...one day maybe ...View attachment 239735
That kit on Ebay does not have a battery ...and is not actually legal in the UK without licence , insurance and registration ....
what’s the difference from a BB drive and a hub?
only difference I can see is better wheels to accommodate the ride