03-06-2018, 07:37 AM
I’d also suggest visiting Cycle Electic in Waterloo, on King just North of Northfield. The owner (Adrian) is very friendly and you can try out all different styles of drives.
One other thing to remember about kits, is you get what you pay for. I know the allure of a sub-1k system from China is nice, but... they’re really crappy. For a little more, you can get a perfectly engineered system from giants like Shimano, Bosch, Yamaha or Brose who have been doing this for more than a decade.
Torque sensing that you get with a middrive is also a huge plus over the cheap cadence sensing that most kits use. You feel like the assist isn’t even there - it’s invisible and just feels like always having a little tailwind, because the output of the drive is directly proportional to your pedal input.
We bought a Pedego City Commuter for my husband from Cycle Electric a year ago when he was interested in going on long bike rides with me. I rode it a few times to work (25-30 km each way), and decided I wanted one with Shimano’s STePS system, and settled on a Trek Lift+ after many test rides at the bike show last year.
If you really are stuck on kits, look at Bafang if you’re thinking of middrives, or BionX if you’re thinking hub motors. They’re Canadian and make some really nice stuff - again Cycle Electric sells BionX stuff.
One other thing to remember about kits, is you get what you pay for. I know the allure of a sub-1k system from China is nice, but... they’re really crappy. For a little more, you can get a perfectly engineered system from giants like Shimano, Bosch, Yamaha or Brose who have been doing this for more than a decade.
Torque sensing that you get with a middrive is also a huge plus over the cheap cadence sensing that most kits use. You feel like the assist isn’t even there - it’s invisible and just feels like always having a little tailwind, because the output of the drive is directly proportional to your pedal input.
We bought a Pedego City Commuter for my husband from Cycle Electric a year ago when he was interested in going on long bike rides with me. I rode it a few times to work (25-30 km each way), and decided I wanted one with Shimano’s STePS system, and settled on a Trek Lift+ after many test rides at the bike show last year.
If you really are stuck on kits, look at Bafang if you’re thinking of middrives, or BionX if you’re thinking hub motors. They’re Canadian and make some really nice stuff - again Cycle Electric sells BionX stuff.