i was/am an urban cyclist for the last 15 years and would like an ebike because i find more and more excuses not to ride, and part of that is - riding a bike is kinda tiring.
i have a surly steel frame bike with 41mm tires that would be a great candidate for an ebike conversion. i don’t think i’m interested in a bike doing most of the work for me, i still want to exercise. i want a stealthy conversion (don’t want to look too much like an ebike, trying to avoid large battery bricks). torque sensors preferred over cadence.
budget: ~$1k
what i’ve learned is that there are four ways to convert a regular bike to ebike, listed in increasing cost/complexity (see table pic below - couldn’t figure out how to format a table)
What I’m determining is - around $400-$600 can get you a basic front hub or friction kit if one wants an entry level/starter option, with kits starting to get “good” at about the $800 range and really good above $1000. I’ve priced out a good front hub kit at $700 and a good rear hub kit at $860. A friction drive kit would be around $400.
As the price approaches $1000, it seems more sensible to get an entire ebike for that price rather than add $1000 in parts to my existing bike. There’s lots of great ebike options out there in the ~$1500 range and having an extra bike could be really useful for guests etc.
So, I guess the question becomes: $500 subpar front/friction kit or $1000+ new ebike? after typing this up, I’m leaning towards the “QiRoll” friction motor as a lower cost of entry option
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A cheap bike is expensive. Ebikes put a lot of chain stress on the motor. If you get a crappy one, it will last a year or two before it needs repairs that you probably can’t do at home. Your best option here is trying out a mid-drive and a rear-hub bike with a torque sensor before choosing between them. The mid-drive is worth the extra cost in terms of feeling natural- your legs are 5x stronger instead of feeling like there’s a motor pushing you from behind. A proper Bosch mid-drive can last 80,000km before experiencing issues. The rear-hub makes repairing that tyre more complicated which I also don’t like. With the rear-hub you can use a throttle which is nice for starting a heavier bike, but mid-drives typically won’t have them.
You also can’t cheap out on the electronics or brakes. A proper battery on its own is $300-500, but you’re paying for a battery that will reliably last 10k+ cycles without having corrosion or fire risks. You’ll be casually pedaling at your normal top speed with a bike that weighs 2-5x as much, so quality hydraulic brakes are essential along with upgrading the tyres.
In your situation I’d save up $1500 and buy a 2025 model from https://upway.co/. You can get a great $2000-3500 tier ebike with a one year warranty. They don’t currently have any in stock, but the cheapest good rear-hub option would be the Aventon Level 3: https://www.aventon.com/products/level-3-commuter-ebike . My Abound LR is a fantastic cargo bike and it’s nice to have the extra electronic features.
edit: I’d also suggest just going with a cargo bike for maximum utility. All ebikes within class 2/3 feel just as agile as a road bike. The only difference is 10-15kg in weight that you mainly notice when lifting it. I’d compare the feel of my cargo bike to a sporty subcompact car, able to carry 60kg of cargo with ease. It’s nice to do all the week’s shopping on a bike, bring everything needed for a day trip, and commute with all my work gear.
Serious question: Bosch, really? Like, with China’s manufacturing standards nowadays, I’m 99% sure there must be a Chinese brand with the same quality as Bosch without the associated 2x markup.
Another question: are there type of motors that offer regenerative braking? It seems to me like an obvious thing to implement, not so much for the sake of recharging the batteries, but for the improved braking, seems especially easy to me to implement in hub motors.
There probably is a Chinese brand that’s on par with Bosch, but they’re the gold standard in $2000+ ebikes with a two year warranty and I like the app/controller/battery that pairs with them. Part availability with repairs is also a big consideration. A bike shop can easily source Bosch parts, while importing parts for a smaller manufacturer could take a month or more if they’re willing to work on it.
I’ve seen a few attempts at regenerative braking but it you need a direct drive motor and it introduces a lot of wear for basically no gain at cycling speeds. I can’t speak to the improved braking though.
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Conversions have their upsides in avoiding proprietary parts and being able to do modular upgrades, but the direct-to-consumer brands pushed the profit margins of the industry down to the point that there isn’t really an economic upside to it anymore. It’s only prestige brands like Specialized and Tern which still have a big logo premium on top of the component cost. Local’s definitely the way to go either way just for the assured support network. Especially with smaller ebike brands, my local shops are a crapshoot on whether or not they’re willing to service models they don’t sell. I can just personally speak to Upway being a good fallback option after getting my commuter bike from them.
after a few more days pondering, it seems like my money is best spent on a used ebike in this case. thanks for taking the time to write that up
Hopefully it works out! They make cycling so much more fun.
