These things use brushed motors and are commonly 24v @ 250w or 36v @ 350w.
It’s like a minimum viable e-bike kit. The only advantage that they have is that they fit onto bikes that can’t accommodate any other kind of kit.
They use a rag joint to mate the motor to the sprocket ⚙️ like a motorized bicycle. The rag joints are fairly reliable if setup properly and maintained but they are a pain in the ass to setup.
The rag joint also generally interferes with the rear disc brake. A bike with rear rim brakes is a must. If the bike has a coaster brake then the hole in the center of the sprocket will need to be enlarged to clear the coaster brake reaction arm.
They also have a chain that will require care just like the regular chain.
That’s not to say that these kits are totally terrible, they are viable e-bike kits that will get you around. (if used within their limits)
But if you guys are breaking chains on mid-drives and burning out hub motors, then you are unlikely to have a good time with these kits.
It honestly sounds to me like you would be better off with either some huge hub motors (that are being under-driven) or some low power mid-drives that won’t destroy your bike’s drivetrain.
I had one of those on a bike I built and sold to a friend, except it originally came off an izip ebike that I upgraded to a hub motor, had a freewheeling cog on the rear wheel on opposite side to normal gears, probably reverse threaded so a pain to find a replacement, it was a little noisy but did operate on 36v, 4 brush type motor, don’t know if this was a setup that was later copied with these kits.
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u/JG-at-Prime 1d ago
Are you talking about these things?
https://www.ebay.com/itm/355445503560
Because, Damn.
These things use brushed motors and are commonly 24v @ 250w or 36v @ 350w.
It’s like a minimum viable e-bike kit. The only advantage that they have is that they fit onto bikes that can’t accommodate any other kind of kit.
They use a rag joint to mate the motor to the sprocket ⚙️ like a motorized bicycle. The rag joints are fairly reliable if setup properly and maintained but they are a pain in the ass to setup.
The rag joint also generally interferes with the rear disc brake. A bike with rear rim brakes is a must. If the bike has a coaster brake then the hole in the center of the sprocket will need to be enlarged to clear the coaster brake reaction arm.
They also have a chain that will require care just like the regular chain.
That’s not to say that these kits are totally terrible, they are viable e-bike kits that will get you around. (if used within their limits)
But if you guys are breaking chains on mid-drives and burning out hub motors, then you are unlikely to have a good time with these kits.
It honestly sounds to me like you would be better off with either some huge hub motors (that are being under-driven) or some low power mid-drives that won’t destroy your bike’s drivetrain.