Upgrade your old pedal cycle to an "e-bike"

lff12 said:
the benefit is in distance travelled, not the additional speed
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For me if I get one, it would be to cycle more frequently. Last time I cycled regularly I'd only manage 2-3 times a week. It would also make wind resistance and hills disappear, kinda.

I was including main stream bikes in my proprietary criticism not solely kits.
 
AlbacoreA said:
will you be able to get parts and batteries in a few years when you need them
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You won't.....one of the reasons I bought the Swytch kit is because of hassles getting electric repairs and parts for my folding Raleigh, Halfords bought ebike. You'd think "mainstream brand, easy to get parts" but not at all. Had to replace the battery two years ago and took months to find a UK based supplier - in the end paid almost as much for the battery as I did for the bike after the bike2work discount, 2 years later, starting to get issues again. And now the company I got the last battery from have gone under, so next time I need a battery, its curtains for that bike. (Halfords were useless and other sellers wouldn't sell a battery unless you bought the bike from them).

Anyway Swytch kit arrived last Thursday, fitted it yesterday - perfect fit, took 2 hours, including the time it took to change both front and back tyres and tubes to sturdier ones as well. Gave it a spin around - great, because the bike was about half the weight of my folding ebike & has a full size wheel, it felt easier to rise. I got the Go++ version. Says 45-60 miles but its 380w battery so its probably more likely to do around 50km with typical riding. Only issue I found was mounting the battery, but I've the lock mount on the way which should sort that out. I'm going to take it to work and back tomorrow so will report back. Interesting point was that it lets you preset the level of assistance, which includes not only the EU legal limit (25km ph) but also up to 33kmph or down to 15kmph, so wonder if the range limit is based on setting it to the lowest level?
Anyway will report back on the experience tomorrow. The bike I've put it on is a very simple basic bike with no gears so it should be a good enhancement.
 
Leo said:
Battery World and others can re-build the packs with new cells
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Correct, but these are sealed devices and as such I'd be a little uneasy about the trustworthiness and reliability of a third party company re-celling batteries. The standard battery in TranzX batteries are premium LG or Samsung batteries, which is part of the reason they cost so much, but there is also a small PCB which I assume isn't replaced, and any fault with it would remain after the re-celling process. Suffice to say, the general support for these bikes in bike shops is exceedingly poor, unless you go to a specialist supplier like Green Aer or the Fiido flagship store, and I suspect that is the reason most bike shops won't touch bikes sold by other retailers - they've enough work with their own customers.
 
lff12 said:
Correct, but these are sealed devices and as such I'd be a little uneasy about the trustworthiness and reliability of a third party company re-celling batteries.
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Replacing cells is quite common, so much so that DIY battery spot welders are now widely available. It's usually straightforward enough to open most battery packs once you know where the clips are located, and anyone replacing cells as a service will offer a guarantee. Testing the PCB and individual cells is trivial also if you have access to a multi-meter.
 
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