Recumbent Bikes & TrikesDiscover Recumbent Bicycles & Trikes | RecumbentBicycleSource.com
Electric Bike Conversion Kits – Electrify Your Recumbent
I've been looking at Electric Bike Conversion Kits from every source I could find over the past several months. And there are several options and nearly all of them come from China. But you can find USA manufacturers who will warranty these Chinese Products.
Recumbent Bicycle Source Recommends: Complete Kit - Wheel, Battery, Controller, Brakes
The above pictured kit is what I have decided to recommend for Recumbent Bicycles based on my research. This may or may not be the right kit for you but here is my reasoning. The E Bike Kit is a complete kit with instructions and a 2 year warranty from an USA Based company who will ship all over the world. So it's available to everyone. The included battery is one of the best you can buy in a format that is easy to mount to almost all racks and is so good that many other manufacturers and dealers recommend this battery for their products.
And while the hubs are Chinese OEM the wheels are hand built in the USA so you can expect them to arrive trued and ready to mount.
You can choose a hub motor that is direct drive or geared. The Direct drive electric bicycle wheels are a bit heavier but they will go a bit faster given the same amount of electricity. The geared motors are lighter but the gears will wear out over time. This kit includes the torque arm and all cabling. The only thing I'm not sure of is how good the brakes are... and if you should use them at all. I won't be using them as I'm mounting to a front wheel with a throttle... release the throttle and the power goes away. On some installations you may want a brake cut off switch.
Nearly all the hub motors are designed to operate on standard 135mm rear or 100mm front Hub spacing. I have not come across any that are designed to operate on Rear Road Drop outs of 130mm.
Here are some basics you'll need to know before you go electric.
Electric hub motors will torque the drop outs on your bicycle. This can result in DAMAGE that can result in ruined frames. So when you upgrade your bike for an electric hub motor you need to be sure that you purchase a quality TORQUE ARM. The Torque arm if properly installed prevents this from happening.
I believe most of us who ride recumbent bicycles do so for comfort and fun and are not looking to go 50mph!!! At least I am not. A 250-400 watt motor should provide plenty of ooomph on the flats up to the legal speed limit for electric bicycles in the United States (20mph). When properly installed this wattage should not cause problems with most drop outs. If you are concerned about damaging your frame it is advisable to purchase a quality STEEL front fork and mount your electric assist motor on the front of your bicycle.
Battery Technology for Electric Bicycles
Lithium Manganese LiMn2o4
The chemistry of lithium manganese oxide LiMn2O4 is not a good option for
EV applications, because of its poor cycle life, especially at elevated
temperature. In addition, the energy density of the battery with LiMn2O4
chemistry is the lowest one among all lithium-ion batteries, about 100 Wh/kg,
similar to that of Ni-MH battery. Therefore, there is no advantage to use this
chemistry in large format lithium-ion battery.This is the Battery Technology used by Bionx:
"The BionX Lithium Maganese rechargeable battery is safe, stable, light, and extremely compact."
I must be missing something here? But it doesn't make sense to me when LiFeP04 is available.
Lithium Iron Phosphate LiFeP04
Recently lithium iron phosphate LiFePO4 has been becoming "best-choice"
materials in commercial Li-ion Batteries for large capacity and high power
applications, such as lap-top, power tools, e-wheel chair, E-bicycles, e-car
and e-bus. A LiFePO4 battery has hybrid characters: as safe as lead-acid
battery and as powerful as lithium ion cells, with lower cost.LiFeP04 is the technology that most kits are recommending due to it's long cycle life and safety (Withstanding temperature changes as well).
Read More Here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithium_ion_battery
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithium_iron_phosphate_battery
PDF File: Lithium Battery Technology (Source: GE Batteries China)
Mounting on the front has the added advantage of being able to distribute the load of the wheel vs the battery. A geared hub wheel is as little as 7lbs. Keep in mind when you remove your existing wheel you are taking that weight off the bike and adding back 7 to 8lbs. So in effect you may only be increasing your bike weight by 4 or 5 pounds (Not counting battery or controller). A lightweight lithium based battery (There are many technologies which I plan to write about in a separate article later) providing 10 amp hours can weigh as little as 10lbs. The controller a pound or two. So you can upgrade your bike to electric for as little as 15-20lbs added weight. And that's not much when you ride on the flats, and because you'll now have the oomph you need to get up the hills it won't matter on climbs.
A brief note about Power Usage: Amps x Voltage = Watts. So a 400 Watt Motor that is drawing 36 Volts would use 11.1 Amps per hour... assuming a steady draw. At least that is my understanding. So a 10 Amp Hour Battery would give you about an hour of unassisted (No pedaling at all) riding on the flats. Again this is my understanding. And that same motor will give you a speed of 17-20mph on average for an average size rider. Add your own pedal power and you can double or triple the range. So if you are the kind of person that like to ride for an hour or two then this is the perfect option for you!
One major advantage of the geared hub motors over the direct drive (DD Motors) besides weight is that they freewheel when not engaged. So your bike rides more like a bike... on the flats you'll probably not notice a difference. A DD motor will add some drag when pedaling without power due to the coil windings. Is this a bad thing? Not really... depends on the motor kit you buy.
There is an excellent Forum called Endless Sphere for those who want to learn more. Be advised most of the people on the forms are do-it-yourselfers who like to tinker. I don't... I just want a good easy to install kit that works and is warrantied.
Important: Most rear wheel kits will NOT work with 9 speed cassettes... only a very few will, and I haven't researched this enough to be able to name all the brands. Most will work with a 7 speed cassette.
This is why I've chosen to go with E Bike Kit... inexpensive, complete, well designed Electric Kits that are warrantied by a United States Company for 2 years! I have found ZERO complaints from their kits and they are well received in all the electric bicycle forums that I've read. So this is why they get my endorsement. And it's not to be taken lightly as I've been researching this for the better part of a year. There is no perfect kit, but these are really good and one of the least expensive quality options.
What about Bionx Electric Bicycle Conversion Kits?
Well this was what I thought I wanted to buy. And they do make a fine kit. The upside is it's as refined as you'll find. The Bionx is a "Turnkey" solution. One kit that goes on smoothly and looks nice. The downside to this upside is the kit is proprietary - you can't mix and match parts. If you need a new battery you need a Bionx. And the same for the wheel. The warranty is okay (Standard 2 year... don't do this or that to make sure you are covered), but not great in my view because if your wheel fails after 2 years you get to buy a new one... and it MUST be a Bionx. With the other brands you can mix and match and find good hubs for as little as $160 and build up your own wheel with the rim of your choice (But it should be double walled and very strong).
I've read some good and bad stories in the Forms, but overall the company does seem to do a pretty good job of taking care of customers. Bionx is the choice of TREK Bicycles - it's what they use in their electric bikes. I like TREK products, so I believe the Bionx may be a good choice for some. But keep in mind that these are DD motors so they will have some drag when pedaling unassisted. I believe a person who purchases a Bionx kit will want to ride with some level of assistance all the time... personally I don't.
And don't buy into the Regenerative Braking too much. I've read this has the capability of creating maybe a 3% re-charge on a typical ride. Sure it's a neat idea... but not that practical. Another neat idea would be to ride around with solar panels on our bikes so they would constantly charge... but again not real practical.
Again the Bionx seems to be the most refined product for Bicycles in that they are integrated for various levels of power assist and have the option to recharge their system while braking or riding in a "Training" Mode. There is some question as to how useful the "Training Mode" really is... it takes a lot of power to regenerate the batteries on your own. Perhaps some benefit on long downhills. But why pay so much extra for that feature when you probably won't ever ride in training mode. It's just an electrical motor and a battery no matter how "techie" you make it.
Again If you decide to upfit your bicycle for an electric wheel be sure you know that the dropouts on your fork/frame will support the additional torque of the kit you buy. Some front forks, especially suspension forks do not have strong enough drop outs. Make sure your kit is for the correct wheel front or back
BMC, Crystalyte, EZee and the Rest of the Pack
It's my understanding some of the Crystallyte motors may actually be too powerful... my goal is not to turn my recumbent bike into a motorcycle I just want to go up hills! But they may be the perfect choice for creating a commuter bike where you have to carry cargo or a recumbent tricycle which tends to be heavier. Keep in mind the Cyrstalyte Hub/Motor Combo can weigh as much as 23lbs before you get to the batteries. So you could easily add 40lbs to your existing bicycle!
BMC makes some nice motors, but I haven't seen a nicely polished complete kit from BMC. There are some dealers that are making bundles, so for you folks who like to tinker this may be for you. For me I want the convenience of an all in one solution where parts have been tested and known to work together. Plus I want a warranty... after all most of these kits are coming out of China and I don't speak Chinese so I can't pick up the telephone and get help... can you? Maybe?
I am intentionally not covering Mid Drive Motors (Which attach via different methods to the drive train) because they are heavy and should probably be installed by a bike shop not an individual (Unless you are very mechanical). Most will not fit on recumbent bicycles without special brackets and modifications. The upside to these kits is they work with your bicycles gearing and will allow you to climb some very steep hills.
Some of the kits like the $299 Currie Electric Bike Kit would not mount easily on many recumbent bikes by design... they are built for upright mountain bikes. The Currie product is inexpensive and it resides on the outside of the wheel. I don't think this would work very well for most recumbents. The real downside however is the low cost kits use Sealed Lead Acid batteries which weigh a ton for the amount of energy you get out of them.
Miscellaneous Electric Bikes and Parts at Amazon
Amazon.com's Electric Bike, Conversion Kits, Scooters, etc.
Please comment if you have experience with converting a recumbent bicycle or trike to full electric or to hybrid part time electric. Tell us what you think? What have you experienced? Again feel free to use the comments area to voice your opinions. You'll need to register to post a comment (I don't save your email addresses, and I don't send out any newsletters or product spam) because every time I have tried to leave the comment section open to the public without registration I get hammered with spam.
You must be logged in to post a comment Login
Thank You for visiting the Recumbent Bicycle Source the most complete listings of Recumbent Bike Information and Trikes.