E-bike Kits for senior rider

[woodswalker88]

Hi, I'm a very casual senior rider, my knees start to hurt & I can't make it up the hills so I'm thinking about an e-bike Kit. The Hilltopper looks easy enough that maybe I could do the conversion: all you have to do is basically swap out the front wheel.
I want to keep my present bike, which is a Schwinn Searcher 700 wheel. I am 5'2, weigh 110 lbs & wouldn't have the strength to lift a heavy bike into my car. A lot of the e-bikes/kits have heavy batteries that add so much weight I wouldn't really be making things easier. I would go for the lightest; I believe the Hilltopper Sprinter model weighs 13 lbs

Sprinter Electric Bike Kit - Hilltopper Electric Bike Company

Electric bike kit for turning any bike into an electric bike. Go further, last longer, climb higher with a Hilltopper Electric Bike kit. Shop now!

hilltopperbikes.com

 

[JES2020]

Hi, I'm a very casual senior rider, my knees start to hurt & I can't make it up the hills so I'm thinking about an e-bike Kit. The Hilltopper looks easy enough that maybe I could do the conversion: all you have to do is basically swap out the front wheel.
I want to keep my present bike, which is a Schwinn Searcher 700 wheel. I am 5'2, weigh 110 lbs & wouldn't have the strength to lift a heavy bike into my car. A lot of the e-bikes/kits have heavy batteries that add so much weight I wouldn't really be making things easier. I would go for the lightest; I believe the Hilltopper Sprinter model weighs 13 lbs

Sprinter Electric Bike Kit - Hilltopper Electric Bike Company

Electric bike kit for turning any bike into an electric bike. Go further, last longer, climb higher with a Hilltopper Electric Bike kit. Shop now!

hilltopperbikes.com

Most kits don't include the battery, so you can choose what size battery you want. If you don't need the range, just get a small battery.
The kits themselves (geared hub) only weigh 4 to 8 lbs.

 

[indianajo]

I've been riding a front wheel kit for about 4 1/2 years 9000 miles.
I'm age 72 and I don't give my bike rides in my car. I ride it everywhere, unless I rent a U-haul truck.
Hilltopper has 250 w (very low power) and 36 v 5.4 AH battery. The 12 mile range is about right. Out and back in one hour maybe, flat terrain? 500 w 36 v will pull me (160 lb) and 60 lb groceries up a 12% grade @ 1 mph if I pedal really hard in low 2nd speed (32:28). A 1300 w motor would drag me up a 15% grade with that load of groceries @ 8 mph without pedaling. My security kit for parking while I shop or eat out weighs 8 lb in a 2 lb pannier bag. When calculating weight for a power wheel kit you get to delete the weight of the old wheel.
This ebikeling 750 w front wheel kit has a 36 v 12.8 ah battery. $679 + freight + use tax. You might ride that for years without desiring an upgrade. https://ebikeling.com/products/750w-geared-ebike-conversion-kit?variant=39561544302658 Only $100 more than hilltopper. My front wheel kit has been as high as 16 lb with 17.5 ah 48 v battery & 1000 w motor, but is down to about 15 lb with the 500 w bafang motor. I started with ebikeling, wore the gears out of their motor in ~4500 miles 2 1/2 years. The ebikeling controller errored out this year after 4 years and ~8500 miles. The ebikeling kit comes with PAS pickup & magnet wheel for cadance control so the throttle can be removed if the parks & bike paths in your area ban bikes with throttles. The hilltopper does not have a PAS system.
In any case mount the controller under the seat out of the rain and use torque arms on the motor to keep it from spinning out of the slot in the front fork. Make sure your front fork is steel with a magnet. Make sure the front fork has no suspension features for a front hub motor. Warnings about front wheel drive: do not use front power on ice. Do not use front power on wet or muddy rock, wet or muddy steel plates, wet or mossy wood as bridge decks. Walk in those environments.

 

[K PierreR]

If the front fork is steel, I would say yes. If the front fork is cast aluminum, I would say no. I have seen to many broken aluminum fork dropouts due to the torque a front hub can cause. Very injury prone failure.

 

[CB Mac USN]

I've been riding a front wheel kit for about 4 1/2 years 9000 miles.
I'm age 72 and I don't give my bike rides in my car. I ride it everywhere, unless I rent a U-haul truck.
Hilltopper has 250 w (very low power) and 36 v 5.4 AH battery. The 12 mile range is about right. Out and back in one hour maybe, flat terrain? 500 w 36 v will pull me (160 lb) and 60 lb groceries up a 12% grade @ 1 mph if I pedal really hard in low 2nd speed (32:28). A 1300 w motor would drag me up a 15% grade with that load of groceries @ 8 mph without pedaling. My security kit for parking while I shop or eat out weighs 8 lb in a 2 lb pannier bag. When calculating weight for a power wheel kit you get to delete the weight of the old wheel.
This ebikeling 750 w front wheel kit has a 36 v 12.8 ah battery. $679 + freight + use tax. You might ride that for years without desiring an upgrade. https://ebikeling.com/products/750w-geared-ebike-conversion-kit?variant=39561544302658 Only $100 more than hilltopper. My front wheel kit has been as high as 16 lb with 17.5 ah 48 v battery & 1000 w motor, but is down to about 15 lb with the 500 w bafang motor. I started with ebikeling, wore the gears out of their motor in ~4500 miles 2 1/2 years. The ebikeling controller errored out this year after 4 years and ~8500 miles. The ebikeling kit comes with PAS pickup & magnet wheel for cadance control so the throttle can be removed if the parks & bike paths in your area ban bikes with throttles. The hilltopper does not have a PAS system.
In any case mount the controller under the seat out of the rain and use torque arms on the motor to keep it from spinning out of the slot in the front fork. Make sure your front fork is steel with a magnet. Make sure the front fork has no suspension features for a front hub motor. Warnings about front wheel drive: do not use front power on ice. Do not use front power on wet or muddy rock, wet or muddy steel plates, wet or mossy wood as bridge decks. Walk in those environments.

What you said is very clear. However, I am not sure that your 250w 36v 5.4ah battery motor is a GEARED front motor. I realize that a geared front motor has more torque and really requires a STEEL front fork /Non Suspension type. And here is the big question - I have a Hyper e-ride 26mtb and want to use the front motor -not geared- only as an extra assist in extreme uphill situations only every now and then for that limited time. The OEM fork is an internal spring type (I am not sure it is Steel) but with that said... Is it still taboo -- I know it only needs to fail once to create serious injury (even slowly uphill) ! I am mentioning this only because it seems that you are using your front wheel motor as a primary not an occasional assist motor. Your thoughts would be extremely helpful to me (as a person of approximately my age 70+ and much wisdom - my weight is 220lbs. Cheap bike weights approx 50lbs) ! Thank you in advance.

 

[Solarcabin]

Electric Bike Kits - Transform Your Bike Into An Electric Bike

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hilltopperbikes.com

Hi, that is a front hub motor but you would still need a battery that matches that motor and a controller that they sell as a kit.

So you will be adding significant weight to your bike.

I have seen a motor advertised that fits over your rear tire and is self contained with the battery but can't tell if you the weight or if it would work for your bike. It was removable so if you wanted to ride without the motor you could. I will try to find it.

We all get fond of our old rides and are comfortable with them but I would really recommend you consider a new ebike that is similar in style and Scwinn does carry ebikes:

Electric Bikes

Put the power behind your pedals when you ride on an electric bike from Schwinn. Visit our website to shop e-bikes, helmets, accessories, and more!

www.schwinnbikes.com

The problem with kits are they are generally not well made to meet UL standards and may be too much torque for your bike.

 

[tomjasz]

use a lower power gear drive, like from eBikes.ca and two high quality torque arms from the same source, eBikes.ca. Cheap bikes with spring forks are often steel. Especially 50lb bikes!
a simple magnet will reveal the metal makeup. But below 500W even if alloy Id not worry. But again, QUALITY TORQUE ARMS TIMES TWO.

G311 Front Minimal RTR Kit

Front 250-500W Minimalist Bafang G311 RTR Kit, Throttle control, Downtube battery with Baserunner, and Optional Display. Full Product Information Page

ebikes.ca

The problem with kits are they are generally not well made to meet UL standards and may be too much torque for your bike

UL ratings are rare! FFS. And have nothing to do with torque.

 

[justforfun]

Treat yourself with a factory ebike and have fun.

 

[kevinmccune]

Treat yourself with a factory ebike and have fun.

You can find some pretty nice ones under $1000, step thru with basket and rack very handy, other than being made with cheap components, the "EcoTric" "Peacedove" is a lot of bang for the buck( around $700)

 

[harryS]

The Hilltopper kits use a Bafang motor (link) . They're geared and available in either 250W or 350W. If you know what you're doing and use torque arms, you can put something this small on an alloy fork, but not knowing a user's technical aptitude, there are less problems with a rear motor, and it's not likely to put you in the hospital if you do it wrong..
.
I ran a 250W motor for several years on an alloy fork and the hardware never moved, but I finally switched it to a steel fork when I finally found one that fit.
.
If you're looking at an ebikeling kit, you might as well go rear wheel. I think there is only a minor price difference. He throws in an $8 freewheel and keeps the $3 torque arm.
.
The make vs buy question is quite interesting these days. Most people can't wait around for bargains, but you can often buy a serviceable ebikes for less than the cost of a kit with battery. On the other hand, if you have a decent bike you like, with good brakes and shifting, a good kit makes it easier to ride when you get old.

 

[AHicks]

I built my first e-bike, and it taught me a TON. Not the least of which is whether or not I would even use an e-bike. As it turns out, I LOVED the darn thing, but it wasn't long before I wanted to replace it with one that served my purposes better and bought a production bike that I ended up doing several mods on. That #2 bike taught me a ton! Now on bike #4, ride daily, and find justifying what I spend on e-bikes pretty easy to justify.....

My point is, I started out on an inexpensive bike and loved it. The smile is still there when I climb on one 7 years later. I would encourage you to do whatever is necessary to get SOMETHING going ASAP....

 

[tomjasz]

You can find some pretty nice ones under $1000

Sure. And be prepared to be your own mechanic. EVERY build in my garage FAR exceeds the quality andc tree liability of a $1000 eBike. A decent bike with ok components is $500-$600. A decent battery $500. Now you heed a motor. HarryS is a total talent, but those budget kits take a total talent to maintain. IMNSHO

 

[tomjasz]

The problem with kits are they are generally not well made to meet UL standards and may be too much torque for your bike.

From a guy riding a bike that meets none of the standards espoused. Also banned for posting bad information.

 

[tomjasz]

Oops! We’re talking to a wall, again.

Joined Jul 27, 2022
Last seen Jul 30, 2022

 

[lkoyanagi]

Hi, I'm a very casual senior rider, my knees start to hurt & I can't make it up the hills so I'm thinking about an e-bike Kit. The Hilltopper looks easy enough that maybe I could do the conversion: all you have to do is basically swap out the front wheel.
I want to keep my present bike, which is a Schwinn Searcher 700 wheel. I am 5'2, weigh 110 lbs & wouldn't have the strength to lift a heavy bike into my car. A lot of the e-bikes/kits have heavy batteries that add so much weight I wouldn't really be making things easier. I would go for the lightest; I believe the Hilltopper Sprinter model weighs 13 lbs

Sprinter Electric Bike Kit - Hilltopper Electric Bike Company

Electric bike kit for turning any bike into an electric bike. Go further, last longer, climb higher with a Hilltopper Electric Bike kit. Shop now!

hilltopperbikes.com

I just installed Hilltopper Sprinter kit on my Tern D7i ebike that didnt have a proprietary battery replacement at the Los Angeles Tern Distributor. He offered $1,500, if I bought another new Tern ebike. They are now over $3,000, cheapest one. Bought mine for $1,500.

It has been trials, tribulations and massive downtime during its three years of life and death. If it were a car, it would have been a lemon. That's in and out of the Tern dealer shop many many times and high expense for controller, reprogramming and miscellaneous adjustments. In for one month for new proprietary controller. They started to charge for diagnosis $60 towards the end of three years. A new battery would have been $300 paid in advance. Couldn't get one. I have read that ebikes last an average of three years, then, massive repairs or retire them.

Getting up my two hills is a bear without the granny gear or an ebike, 250W, pedalling. So, a Hilltopper Sprinter kit is on my Tern ebike tested as of yesterday. It should work minimally on hills. It is used for utility daily.
I'm retired, 77 years old, had bikes all my life.