Converting my Cannondale to an e-Bike

[wings02]

I have an older Cannondale Silk 400 Comfort bike in excellent condition and I am thinking of converting it to electric. I have just begun reading about the kits that are available and came across products from Bikee Bike and Bafang along with others. They are mid bike conversions at the pedal crank. I consider myself a strong DIYer. My e-bike selection would be a modest price Sondors Step Thru model. I do understand that the conversion will cost near the price of the Sondor e-Bike but as I said, I like the DIY challenge with the exception of finishing a project and getting a poor result.
I would like some opinions of members about doing this conversion, which kit to consider, and what type of conversion in reference to pedal crank or hub (either rear or front) design.

Thank you!

 

[Mike_V]

Hi W2,
It seems:
You will probably build one someday; will you be happy with anything less than your ideal eBike?
You'll find Bafang BBS__ kits at fraction of that bikee.

 

[PDXzap]

Since you are a "strong DIYer" I'd say get a Bafang and have fun! There are a lot of folks here that can help if you get into trouble.

 

[wings02]

I just saw some reviews of the Bosch and Yamaha kits and they look very impressive. Does anyone have experience with these models?

 

[Browneye]

A kit might make sense for a bike you already own. Building your own ebike is akin to building your own computer. Do-able? Sure.
For what you'll invest there are some REALLY nice bikes out there all ready to go. There's a bike shop called Luna that is making a living of doing just this same thing.

 

[indianajo]

Does your cannondale have disk brakes? Huge advantage over rim brakes, they actually work in the rain.
The advantage of a Hub motor kit is if there is a problem, you throw the motor/controller/pas/throttle/brakehandles away and buy another for $250. Batteries, I recommend lunabikes, I got two trash ones from amazon & ebay. Got my money back from Amazon, the ebay one it took me more than 31 days to figure out it was the battery again.
Hub motors the only mod required is maybe grinding out the fork slot to fit the 14 mm shaft. Mid drives like bosch are addictive like a drug, you can't pedal yourself on them to stay in shape. Bosch drags like a boat anchor power off. Except Yamaha shimano & brose mid drives that don't drag power off. I use my motor mainly for 25 mph headwinds that extended my ride home in 2018 to 6 hours. Too much exercise. Also for zipping across 6 lane streets on a 6 second green light.
The bike shown left is a yubabikes bodaboda, special for small people. It came out of the box perfectly adjusted, just add handlebars.

 

[indianajo]

I put my hubmotor on the front. It takes a substantial steel fork to do this, and I used torque arms also. No carbon fiber or aluminum front forks for a front hub motor. Other than that it works great, & with the battery up front too, balances the weight of groceries on the back. I found steering a battery on the front annoying, don't ride that first converted bike. This cargo bike has bosses in the frame for front basket that you don't steer. Yuba & Rad both have those, don't know about the cheapest cargo bike, the envoy mongoose. (which thread see under diy kits). Motor on the front means I can have a premium 8 speed or even 12 speed sprocket cluster on the rear. Rear hub motor, you're stuck with 7 speeds, and 11-32 is never available in stock for 7 speed "freewheels".

 

[Al P]

I have a 500w front hub motor kit on the Mongoose. Although I really love the bike, if I had to buy a kit again I would get a mid-drive. On hard surfaces the front drive is perfect but on gravel or sand, when using the throttle to start off, the front wheel spins. It's a small annoyance, and if you don't need a throttle it is not an issue at all. On the plus side, the front hub drive is the easiest and quickest to install. You just replace the front wheel and add a torque arm rather than taking the manual mid-drive apart and replacing it.

 

[Matteo Bikee Bike]

Hi W2,
It seems:
You will probably build one someday; will you be happy with anything less than your ideal eBike?
You'll find Bafang BBS__ kits at fraction of that bikee.

You can also check our last mid drive, the Lightest. Light, powerful and with torque sensor.

Lightest ebike kit: YOUR BIKE WITH SUPERPOWERS

Lightest is the most compact, light and affordable mid drive ebike system. | Check out 'Lightest ebike kit: YOUR BIKE WITH SUPERPOWERS' on Indiegogo.

www.indiegogo.com

 

[tomjasz]

BBSHD kits are being used by a growing number of pedicabs and commercial delivery bikes.

Be sure you check out the dealers warranty and response time. If this is the first build you'll need some tools for a mid-drive install. I did mine in 2014 and am still using the BBS01 first version 36V 350W. There's lots of help, plenty of frustration too. But being self-sufficient for service was important to me.

We see builds that exceed those budget reseller direct bikes. Investing in a great bike that you really like, and already own, is well worth the adventure. I like flatfoot and comfort frames. IME and IMO my Townie and Trek Pure builds exced the quality of the budget bikes out there.

Do a search with your bike maker, model, and year with BBS02, and again the maker, model, and year with BBSHD. Finding a build thread is invaluable and if you find them you're ahead of the game getting potential issues solved.

Cannondale Silk 400 Comfort bike in

You may have cables running under the bottom bracket making a mid-drive more difficult to install. There are solutions but it adds complexity. But someone solved it with a Stabilizer.
Solution for bottom-routed-cables

I sell and support BBSxx series kits but recently tried a MAC and an Ezee hub drives and really like them. I don't need the power to climb or go off-road

 

[Deacon Blues]

Thomas, have you ever installed a hub motor on a carbon framed road bike? The reason I asked is I have a Specialized Diverge carbon , that I'm using as a winter bike, and I'm considering turning it into an ebike. My main concern is whether the carbon frame can take the added torque of a decently powered hub motor, such as this kit from Grin https://www.ebikes.ca/shop/electric...its/grin-all-axle-motor-kit-advanced-pas.html