If you have an idea of converting your bike into an electric one making use of a conversion kit, your first attention has to be on the type of bicycle you plan to convert. Most of the kits are compatible to all bicycles, but there are a few bikes more adaptive for electrical conversion. The points discussed here make the process of conversion easy and fault free.
How you want to use the electric bicycle is the first consideration, before selecting a bike. If it is used for a comfortable ride from place to place on regular basis, your bike needs fenders and chain guards to protect from splashes and mud.
You may need the gears of 5 -10 speeds, most likely used for such rides. But for fast rides and mountain climbing, opt for a bike that can perform all such heavy tasks. Mountain bike would need more gearing than the usual street bikes.
The second point is the front fork and suspension. If you want to install a powerful motor of the capacity of 350 watts or above as front wheel drive kit, your bike should necessarily have a steel fork than an aluminum one.
The aluminum forks are not powerful enough and may tend to bend or break easily. There is no need to use a shock absorber or suspension fork. It is rather easy to install a front drive kit. If you install a rear drive kit, go using an aluminum front fork also at your choice.
The third point is the way how you have to mount the battery and the controller box. In most of the kits the batteries are mountable on the rear wheel on a rack. A controller can be mounted at your choice but most often it is mounted to the under side of the rack or the seat post. As the rack has no flexible frame, a bike with a flexible frame is unsuitable for this purpose.
The flexible frames are used mostly in mountain climbing bikes. The fourth point is how the bike shifts the gears. In electric bikes, a twist grip activated throttle is provided as one of the hand grips or a thumb throttle is fitted as a substitute. If the bike is fitted with the twist shifting on both ends of the handle bars, the shifter is moved towards the center which possibly shortens the throttle grip.
The next point is to reduce the weight on the bike. The lighter the bike, the better and also costlier it would be. If you are installing a battery, motor and controller for conversion into an electrical bike the additional weight it most likely to bring in is 30 pounds or more.
Hence it not ideal to buy a lighter bike at a higher cost, only for saving a few pounds. A low cost solid steel framed bike is preferable for electric kit installation. The brake system is the last but one most important point to pay attention to. The electric bikes require front and rear hand brakes which are mostly in the form of “v” or “u” style friction brakes.
For a front drive kit, a rear coaster brake is used with a front hand one. The electric bike is fitted with a safety device that cuts off the motor charge, the instant you apply the brake. An electric bike will be unsafe for riding without at least one hand- operated brake. It should be ensured that the conversion that you acquire is compatible to the bike that you have, to avoid the problems of buying several additional parts later. Consider these installation points and make your bike ride a pleasure.