JJ Lad
Member
- Region
- Canada
I've been considering converting my favorite road bike for years but have never felt confident in my knowledge nor the quality of the kits on offer. Fortunately, Grin Technologies is local to me and their technical support group proved invaluable.
After a number of back and forth discussions, we concluded that my Trek FX7.7 Carbon Fiber road bike isn't a good candidate for any of their offerings due to the rear dropout spread of 130mm. If the frame had been steel or aluminum, it could have been spread out to 135mm to accommodate Grins motors, however putting that amount of stress on a CF frame wasn't advisable..
So it looked like my most comfortable bike was destined to be a push-bike forever.
After much interweb surfing, I came across the offerings from Geeko. Geeko is unique as they offer custom modifications to their kits including frame dropout width, axle diameter, and of course component colors.
I spec'd a 700c wheel, with 350Watt motor, 130mm dropout width, 10mm axle and 10Ah black battery. The kit comes with a throttle (which I later removed). They also provide a phone holder to allow you to use their app.
Their battery holder contains the speed controller, and they've developed a cadence sensor that's fitted inside the rear cassette (cool). So in the end, there's only one wire to connect between the motor and the battery holder. (Two wires if you want to use the throttle).
Installation is a breeze. They provide all the tools needed to swap your cassette to the wheel provided. It took me about 3-hours to complete the installation.
Except for the oversized looking water bottle, you would be hard pressed to identify the bike as an Ebike.
The kit adds 5kg to the total weight (from 9.5kg to 14.5 kg). Super light for an ebike.
Expect delivery within 3-weeks and a cost of about $750USD depending on options.
BTW, even at assist level 5, it looks like I'll get close to 100km per charge!!!!
(Oh, and there's a hack to remove the speed limit
)
After a number of back and forth discussions, we concluded that my Trek FX7.7 Carbon Fiber road bike isn't a good candidate for any of their offerings due to the rear dropout spread of 130mm. If the frame had been steel or aluminum, it could have been spread out to 135mm to accommodate Grins motors, however putting that amount of stress on a CF frame wasn't advisable..
So it looked like my most comfortable bike was destined to be a push-bike forever.
After much interweb surfing, I came across the offerings from Geeko. Geeko is unique as they offer custom modifications to their kits including frame dropout width, axle diameter, and of course component colors.
I spec'd a 700c wheel, with 350Watt motor, 130mm dropout width, 10mm axle and 10Ah black battery. The kit comes with a throttle (which I later removed). They also provide a phone holder to allow you to use their app.
Their battery holder contains the speed controller, and they've developed a cadence sensor that's fitted inside the rear cassette (cool). So in the end, there's only one wire to connect between the motor and the battery holder. (Two wires if you want to use the throttle).
Installation is a breeze. They provide all the tools needed to swap your cassette to the wheel provided. It took me about 3-hours to complete the installation.
Except for the oversized looking water bottle, you would be hard pressed to identify the bike as an Ebike.
The kit adds 5kg to the total weight (from 9.5kg to 14.5 kg). Super light for an ebike.
Expect delivery within 3-weeks and a cost of about $750USD depending on options.
BTW, even at assist level 5, it looks like I'll get close to 100km per charge!!!!
(Oh, and there's a hack to remove the speed limit
)
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