{"id":449,"date":"2021-06-11T07:00:11","date_gmt":"2021-06-11T07:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kevinfell.ca\/?p=449"},"modified":"2023-10-12T09:18:29","modified_gmt":"2023-10-12T09:18:29","slug":"want-to-turn-your-bicycle-into-an-e-bike-heres-just-the-gizmo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/kevinfell.ca\/index.php\/2021\/06\/11\/want-to-turn-your-bicycle-into-an-e-bike-heres-just-the-gizmo\/","title":{"rendered":"Want to turn your bicycle into an e-bike? Here\u2019s just the gizmo"},"content":{"rendered":"

I<\/span><\/span>\u2019ve been something of a sceptic about technological bike gizmos over the years, add-ons that too often seem to represent a solution in search of a problem, an attempt to reinvent something \u2013 the bicycle \u2013 that was not far short of perfect anyway.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m no luddite. New developments make cycling even more enjoyable and useful, not least near-puncture proof tyres and tiny, retina-searing lights. Plus, of course, there\u2019s the amazing world of electric-assist bikes, or e-bikes.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s not space to fully get into why e-bikes can be a cycling gamechanger<\/a>, but they are increasingly common, even in the UK, whirring along with a passenger, or cargo of kids and shopping.<\/p>\n

If I have an issue with e-bikes, it\u2019s that some can be slightly \u2026 overengineered. Once you clamp a battery and motor on to a bike, weight becomes a slightly moot point, and the motors on modern e-bikes are so powerful they can easily get riders up to the 15mph maximum-powered speed allowed.<\/p>\n

And so, some e-bikes tend to be awash with, well, extra bits. Cheap suspension forks. Extraneous racks or baskets. Overly clunky components. There are, of course, many excellent e-bikes, but the world of conventional bikes is that bit more straightforward. Plus, of course, e-bikes can be expensive, and those below \u00a31,000 tend to involve some compromise.<\/p>\n

So what if you could turn your existing bike into an e-bike? This is not an entirely new idea. The much-touted Copenhagen wheel<\/a> from a few years back attempted this. Some liked it, but it was hugely expensive \u2013 \u00a31,700 in the UK \u2013 and seemed overly complex, working only via a proprietary phone app.<\/p>\n

After much preamble, this brings us to Swytch<\/a>, a UK mini company that raised big sums via crowdfunding<\/a>, and now manufactures kits which, they say, can fit almost any bike \u2013 rim brake or disc brake, 700C wheels, or even Brompton-size.<\/p>\n

A standard order costs \u00a3999, but if you wait a bit, every two months the company offers \u201cpre-order\u201d windows, where you get a 50% discount.<\/p>\n

The concept is pretty straightforward. Your money gets you a front wheel, a compact battery\/control panel that sits on a handlebar mount, plus a sensor that attaches to one crank (e-bikes provide power when you pedal, and the sensor lets the motor know this). Without an app in sight, it connects via chunky wires.<\/p>\n

I decided to electrify a very old, very tatty hybrid bike, someone else\u2019s \u201cspare\u201d bike that had lain unused in a garage for some months. Why? Partly for the sheer fun of it. Partly to see if, indeed, \u201cany\u201d bike could be converted.<\/p>\n

But also I realised the bike I was going to use had carbon forks, and I was wary of putting too much strain on them. As it turns out, Swytch makes an optional torque arm for this, but it\u2019s something to bear in mind.<\/p>\n

So how easy was it to fit? After an initial hiccup, the short answer is: fairly easy. The hiccup? The axle on the wheel I was initially sent was too wide to fit. There are various website threads about filing down the fork dropouts, but Swytch had sent me the 10mm version, when I needed 9mm.<\/p>\n

\n
\"Swytch<\/picture><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

I\u2019m moderately handy with bike-twiddling, and once I got the correct wheel, from box-opening to first try-out took maybe 90 minutes. All it involved was a spanner to attach the wheel, an Allen key for the bracket, and something to snip the ends off various zip ties.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s simple once you know how \u2013 clamp on the wheel in the correct way, attach the battery mount and sensor, and connect the wires \u2013 but I didn\u2019t always find the instruction manual as clear as it could be. I also needed to find my own rubber grips to properly attach the bracket as the ones supplied were too thick.<\/p>\n

I also spent a while thinking I\u2019d got the wiring wrong, as there were two spare ones dangling from the battery. Eventually I worked out these were to attach optional brake sensors, which cut the motor when you\u2019re slowing down.<\/p>\n

But this is all minor stuff compared with the big question \u2013 what\u2019s it like to ride? As with pretty much every e-bike, it\u2019s enormous fun.<\/p>\n

Modern e-bikes have largely shed the sudden twitch when the motor starts up and a decelerating thud when it cuts out, and the Swytch is smooth and intuitive. It\u2019s not quite as posh-feeling as the more expensive e-bikes, in part, perhaps, as it\u2019s front drive, but for the price it\u2019s really very good.<\/p>\n

What I liked most about it was the simplicity. On top of the battery pack are some enjoyably basic buttons and gauges \u2013 a big on-off switch, up-down arrows to move the power setting between five levels, and a similar, five-step battery indicator. Some people might prefer VanMoof-style on-bike speedometers and endless app settings, but I found the Swytch system reliable, clear and easy to use.<\/p>\n

The battery pack is also simple to remove and portable. Once it\u2019s off, the bike is still fairly obviously an e-bike, but could be less noticeable to thieves.<\/p>\n

<\/figure>\n

The relatively small battery size does limit the range a bit. The claimed average for medium power and some pedalling is about 30 miles, and if you use the system on full power \u2013 as I have done with every e-bike I\u2019ve tried \u2013 you apparently average about 45 minutes of use. But even if, say, you had a very long and hilly commute, it would be possible to leave another power cable at work to charge the battery there.<\/p>\n

The entire setup weighs about 3kg, though the net bulk depends on the weight of the wheel being replaced. I could happily have lifted the tatty hybrid on which I installed it up some steps if needed, not always a given for an e-bike.<\/p>\n

But the big appeal of Swytch is that you can attach it to a bike you already use and know you enjoy riding. And with the battery off, the bike still feels more or less the same as it did before, albeit a bit weightier at the front end.<\/p>\n

There was something particularly joyful in adding it to such an old bike, like putting a supercharger on a 1980s Volvo estate. And that\u2019s the thing \u2013 e-bikes are, ultimately, great fun. If you have a bike you love and don\u2019t want to give up, but you\u2019re thinking about going electric, then Swytch could be just the thing \u2013 especially if you can get it for \u00a3500.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I\u2019ve been something of a sceptic about technological bike gizmos over the years, add-ons that too often seem to represent a solution in search of a problem, an attempt to reinvent something \u2013 the bicycle \u2013 that was not far… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":451,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[11],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/kevinfell.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/449"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/kevinfell.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/kevinfell.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/kevinfell.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/kevinfell.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=449"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/kevinfell.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/449\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":452,"href":"http:\/\/kevinfell.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/449\/revisions\/452"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/kevinfell.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/451"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/kevinfell.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=449"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/kevinfell.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=449"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/kevinfell.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=449"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}