Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)Recently purchased this kit to help with some of the hills we have here in Dayton OH. I use my bike for commuting. I installed the kit on a used full suspension mountain bike. I purchased a new Shimano Tourney 7Spd 14-28T Freewheel to go with it as well as a heavy duty kickstand. I recommend you do the same. Installation took a couple of hours since the kit isn't really made for this type of bike. If you are not mechanically talented you should probably find help from someone who is because installation is necessarily flexible to fit as many bikes as possible. Tools needed are wrenches to fit your bike, a set of metric Allen wrenches, #2 Phillips screwdriver and tire tools. I won't go into details as the manual is here:
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Some notes on the installation:
First I recommend some thread lock, like Henkel Corp 209728 Loctite Blue Threadlocker, since not all fasteners have lock-nuts or lock-washers and will vibrate loose eventually. The kit comes with some extras but not many. You will probably also want some extra zip-ties to tie the wires to the frame. Make sure all fasteners are tight after assembly and check them daily for the first few days as metal mounting straps will "set" over time allowing fasteners to become loose. Be sure the wiring isn't going to get pinched in any way or is allowed to rub on any moving parts like wheels, chains or brakes. The kit is fairly heavy so the heavy duty M-Wave Steel Double Leg Side Bicycle Kickstand is HIGHLY recommended. Your bike's normal lean-over stand will probably not hold it. It wasn't meant to hold more than the bike. The wheel in the kit fit my tire and tube but is a wider wheel than the original so a longer rear brake cable or wider brakes may be needed by some.
Ride Report:
I am a big guy. I'm 5'10" and 250lbs. We have lots of steep hills here and I live on the tallest one in town. The motor has very good torque for only being 450 watt (about 1/2hp) but with hilly terrain and a heavy rider range WILL suffer. 10-15 miles on this kit would need flat terrain and a smaller, more athletic rider. For me and where I live, I'm estimating 3-5 miles. The weight of the kit isn't noticeable when riding.
Speed is good, I can pedal along in the top two gears of a 21 speed comfortably at full throttle. Throttle response is good, if a little delayed. This seems to be due to a "soft Start" function of the motor controller. Very fine speed control with no noticeable "Stepping"
One thing to note, always lock the battery in place since it gets a good rattling around being bolted to the rear suspension. (If it doesn't fit good and tight, bend the mount's rails inward till it does or the battery will bounce around on it's contacts and arc, causing overheating in the contacts.) So far, the kit has not been adversely affected by the record setting rain we've been getting around here, though the thumb throttle seems to be stiffening up a bit.
Overall I think I got my money's worth. Until I get in better shape, this is great help up hills. It has a fair turn of speed at full throttle, but cruises well at half throttle too. The only downside is that it adds a fair amount of weight to a bike (mostly the battery) so if you have to lift it onto a bike rack it's going to give you a workout doing so. Currie could have designed the rear of the rack with more space as a handle to help with this.
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