Well you asked for it, so here is my story..............
Both my daughters are all grown up now and in their thirties. I bought these bikes new as they grew into them and I got one for myself to ride out with them.
So these bikes have been languishing in the back of my shed for at least 15 years and I had been reluctant to get rid of them as I had quite a history with them. Also had the intention of going back to use them - yea right!
They all needed a good clean up and service which I did. This was to make sure they still worked fully as a bike before I started the conversion. They all needed tyres and new tubes but until I purchased the conversion kit I did not buy any tyres or tubes as I knew the kit came with at least one set.
The pink little bike I left as is intending to pass on to one of my Grand Nieces. Well my Grand Nieces were a bit bigger than I seemed to remember so only the blue one got fettled and passed on.
That left me the two red bikes.
I decided to convert both of them, keep the Gary Fisher model and sell the Raleigh model.
I bought a 500w, 36v, 26 inch front wheel conversion kit and a ready packaged lithium battery and a stand alone 36w and/or 48w controller. Yes the kit did come with a controller but I had not decided what route to go with the battery.
A small aside..................... I was doing all this with my brother at our workshop in Welham Green and as customers were coming and going quite a few showed a great interest in the work.
In so much as we ended up converting five other customers bikes during the process!
Our bonus in this was that we got the opportunity to try out different power levels and configurations. We also watched as the price of these kits increased as more were sold.
here are some pictures of one of the customers own bikes we converted.............
This one was built with a 500w motor kit, a 36v 15Ah lithium battery. The control gear was put into the small bag inside the frame and we bought a case-less battery, put it into a bag and repurposed the water bottle carrier to hold and easily take the weight of the battery mounting it to the points provided on this particular frame. It worked well, no movement or sway. We did it this way as the customer didn't want a rack fitted and the style of frame meant we could not hang a sufficiently large bag inside it to take the battery and control gear. We also fitted a 2 way switch (250 / 500) together with a power on / off switch (on the battery) and the throttle came with a power level indicator and a secondary power on / off push button.
I keep digressing but from the e-bike forums we gleaned a lot of info.
Supposedly, new e-bikes for the road can only be pedal assist and not have a throttle unless they are of a certain age, 15 I think, or thereabouts.
Are only supposed to be 250w and limited to 14mph.
Well for off road bikes these limits do not apply.
As each of the controllers we bought had a 250w connection and a unlimited connection we fitted a switch to change it back and forth officer, and of course we would only use the higher setting off road.
I was concerned that the brakes, being only centre pull type blocks would not be up to the job but I was pleasantly surprised when they proved to be more than enough and no problem.
So the "first" build of my bike had a 1000w motor and a 36v 17Ah battery and a three way power level switch.
After building a few of these to customer's own bikes we converted my red Raleigh bike and that now gets used as a demo bike although it is for sale. My brother converted his bike too so we do have another for demo if needed.
I then looked closer at my bike and made a few changes.
I now have a 1000w motor and a 48v, 36 Ah lithium battery. The battery is smaller than my previous one so I can now use a smaller frame bag which also takes the controller.
It has a three way speed switch, I think the power / torque is available at all setting but the controller limits the speed. The controller also has connections for front and rear lights and a brake light which then can be run off the lithium battery.
I think there are two or three other connections on this particular controller but I cannot bring them to mind at the moment. I think it was built with more than a push bike in mind.
Using a upside down, painted over horn momentary switch I can engage or disengage cruise control. Switches fitted to the brake lines also cut off the cruise.
My throttle is a twist grip with a on / off button and low, med, high power level indicator.
As I have a soft pack battery - one without a hard case, I also fitted a big 100amp kill switch to isolate the battery from the controller and wiring. You generally get something similar on a hard cased battery.
One thing I did discover is that you cannot use a wireless speedo with a front hub motor. I suppose the induction messes up the signal.
It is ok for a rear wheel motor but I have now fitted a wired version. I carry a small tool kit and puncture repair outfit with a small pump in the bag on the rear rack and it is big enough to also fit in a decent takeaway and 6 cans of Bud!
At first it was a great gimmick to only use the electric motor and piss off "normal" cyclists in the leotards as I wizz by! But I find more and more than I am only using the minimum speed setting and "feathering" the throttle until I find it doing most of the work but with some pedal input from me.
As I said I have not done much on mine yet apart from three or four trips to the local shops, about three quarters of a mile away. It hasn't left the green, full level.
I do mean to do a longevity test for duration and distance on this bike but need to arrange for a "following" car to pick me up when it runs out or all goes wrong.
So I cannot really say how far or for how long a charge will last. My brother lives about a mile from the workshop and if he uses his e-bike 6 days a week to and from work he gets down to the second, orange power level out of the three levels showing. Green (full), orange (half full), red (nearly empty).
Like you, everyone who has tried one of our conversions has come back with a big grin on their face.
It does allow you to get more use out of something you may well have fond memories of.
At around £550, getting someone else to convert your bike, it costs a little more than a very basic entry level e-bike from Halfords and provides much more.
Both my daughters are all grown up now and in their thirties. I bought these bikes new as they grew into them and I got one for myself to ride out with them.
So these bikes have been languishing in the back of my shed for at least 15 years and I had been reluctant to get rid of them as I had quite a history with them. Also had the intention of going back to use them - yea right!
They all needed a good clean up and service which I did. This was to make sure they still worked fully as a bike before I started the conversion. They all needed tyres and new tubes but until I purchased the conversion kit I did not buy any tyres or tubes as I knew the kit came with at least one set.
The pink little bike I left as is intending to pass on to one of my Grand Nieces. Well my Grand Nieces were a bit bigger than I seemed to remember so only the blue one got fettled and passed on.
That left me the two red bikes.
I decided to convert both of them, keep the Gary Fisher model and sell the Raleigh model.
I bought a 500w, 36v, 26 inch front wheel conversion kit and a ready packaged lithium battery and a stand alone 36w and/or 48w controller. Yes the kit did come with a controller but I had not decided what route to go with the battery.
A small aside..................... I was doing all this with my brother at our workshop in Welham Green and as customers were coming and going quite a few showed a great interest in the work.
In so much as we ended up converting five other customers bikes during the process!
Our bonus in this was that we got the opportunity to try out different power levels and configurations. We also watched as the price of these kits increased as more were sold.
here are some pictures of one of the customers own bikes we converted.............
This one was built with a 500w motor kit, a 36v 15Ah lithium battery. The control gear was put into the small bag inside the frame and we bought a case-less battery, put it into a bag and repurposed the water bottle carrier to hold and easily take the weight of the battery mounting it to the points provided on this particular frame. It worked well, no movement or sway. We did it this way as the customer didn't want a rack fitted and the style of frame meant we could not hang a sufficiently large bag inside it to take the battery and control gear. We also fitted a 2 way switch (250 / 500) together with a power on / off switch (on the battery) and the throttle came with a power level indicator and a secondary power on / off push button.
I keep digressing but from the e-bike forums we gleaned a lot of info.
Supposedly, new e-bikes for the road can only be pedal assist and not have a throttle unless they are of a certain age, 15 I think, or thereabouts.
Are only supposed to be 250w and limited to 14mph.
Well for off road bikes these limits do not apply.
As each of the controllers we bought had a 250w connection and a unlimited connection we fitted a switch to change it back and forth officer, and of course we would only use the higher setting off road.
I was concerned that the brakes, being only centre pull type blocks would not be up to the job but I was pleasantly surprised when they proved to be more than enough and no problem.
So the "first" build of my bike had a 1000w motor and a 36v 17Ah battery and a three way power level switch.
After building a few of these to customer's own bikes we converted my red Raleigh bike and that now gets used as a demo bike although it is for sale. My brother converted his bike too so we do have another for demo if needed.
I then looked closer at my bike and made a few changes.
I now have a 1000w motor and a 48v, 36 Ah lithium battery. The battery is smaller than my previous one so I can now use a smaller frame bag which also takes the controller.
It has a three way speed switch, I think the power / torque is available at all setting but the controller limits the speed. The controller also has connections for front and rear lights and a brake light which then can be run off the lithium battery.
I think there are two or three other connections on this particular controller but I cannot bring them to mind at the moment. I think it was built with more than a push bike in mind.
Using a upside down, painted over horn momentary switch I can engage or disengage cruise control. Switches fitted to the brake lines also cut off the cruise.
My throttle is a twist grip with a on / off button and low, med, high power level indicator.
As I have a soft pack battery - one without a hard case, I also fitted a big 100amp kill switch to isolate the battery from the controller and wiring. You generally get something similar on a hard cased battery.
One thing I did discover is that you cannot use a wireless speedo with a front hub motor. I suppose the induction messes up the signal.
It is ok for a rear wheel motor but I have now fitted a wired version. I carry a small tool kit and puncture repair outfit with a small pump in the bag on the rear rack and it is big enough to also fit in a decent takeaway and 6 cans of Bud!
At first it was a great gimmick to only use the electric motor and piss off "normal" cyclists in the leotards as I wizz by! But I find more and more than I am only using the minimum speed setting and "feathering" the throttle until I find it doing most of the work but with some pedal input from me.
As I said I have not done much on mine yet apart from three or four trips to the local shops, about three quarters of a mile away. It hasn't left the green, full level.
I do mean to do a longevity test for duration and distance on this bike but need to arrange for a "following" car to pick me up when it runs out or all goes wrong.
So I cannot really say how far or for how long a charge will last. My brother lives about a mile from the workshop and if he uses his e-bike 6 days a week to and from work he gets down to the second, orange power level out of the three levels showing. Green (full), orange (half full), red (nearly empty).
Like you, everyone who has tried one of our conversions has come back with a big grin on their face.
It does allow you to get more use out of something you may well have fond memories of.
At around £550, getting someone else to convert your bike, it costs a little more than a very basic entry level e-bike from Halfords and provides much more.