Electric Bike Conversion Kits

I’ve been looking at Electric Bike Conversion Kits and parts from Bionx, Crystalyte, Currie, and Wilderness.

Amazon Sells the Crystalyte, Currie, and Wilderness Kits, but not the Bionx.

      

      

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. The Bionix price tag is astronomical compared to all but the most powerful Crystalyte set ups.  It’s just an electrical motor and a battery no matter hot “techie” you make it.

If you decide to upfit your bicycle 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

It’s my understanding some of the Crysalyte 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!  So Bionx seems to clearly have the weight advantage and battery technology on their side.  Maybe the high price is justifiable.

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.

Bionx does seem to have a leg up (Clever Pun Intended) on the competition from a reputation standpoint  as Trek has chosen to work with them for a line of Electric Bicycles they will be bringing to market in 2010.  Bikes that weigh about 40lbs complete.  Unfortunately the Trek Bicycles coming to market are wedgie bikes.

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?

Please do not comment on this post if you do not have experience or if you are just “chiming in”.  I’d also appreciate comments on web urls to companies offering products – the actual manufacturers if possible.

Amazon.com’s Electric Bike, Conversion Kits, Scooters, etc. – I’m including this link to this page so that those of you who are interested can see just how many variations of electric bicycle products are coming to market.  I read, but can not quote the source that Amazon’s Sales of Electric Bike related items is up a full 60x higher this year than last!  That speaks to the ever rising cost of fuel as people look for cheaper transportation alternatives.

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