Advice on conversion kits please

[Juliansou]

Hi all,
I'm hoping to pick the brains of those far more experienced than me! I’m looking to convert my Elephant bike (refurbished Royal Mail bike) to an ebike - photo attached. It’s a pretty robust steel frame made by Pashley, weighing in at at hefty 23kg! The main issue I can see is that it’s has the Sturmey Archer 3 speed hub, and hub brakes front and rear. Does this mean just swapping out the front wheel is a non starter? Any ideas would be very much appreciated. I’m happy with the bike but would like to make it just a bit more versatile ( especially up the hills). I have limited knowledge of the cost for these conversions but would obviously like to bring it in for as little as I practically can. I’ve heard mixed reviews on a friction set up - any views on these too?

Thanks all in advance for you shared knowledge.

 

[aldus]

Might I suggest a mid-frame conversion? you can keep the brakes and the hub. The Bafang kits seem to be pretty dependable, they're assembly is very well documented on YouTube, and they seem to be quite available.

 

[HMS_Dave]

I have an elephant bike and have mulled over this myself. I would get mid drive conversion kit similar to these https://wooshbikes.co.uk/?cdkit#tsdz2 which replaces the bottom bracket for a motor assembly, simply put. The SA Hub is a robust bit of kit and would handle the power im sure. That would eliminate the need to replace the hub brakes and keeps the bike largely as it is. Forget the friction type ebike kits, if by friction you mean the ones that drive directly onto the tyres, i would avoid. Extra tyre wear, questionable performance in all but the most perfect conditions and can be quite noisy and unreliable.

 

[toffee]

I have just converted my wife's Dutch style bike below with one of the Tonsheng 36v kits, works a treat.

 

[Juliansou]

Thanks folks
I think mid frame is the way forward - I like the idea of keeping the bike ’as is’ if possible.

 

[Pale Rider]

A crank drive is the only practical solution.

Judging by what I've read over the years, Bafang kits are more reliable than Tongsheng.

One thing that will almost certainly have to go the journey is the bike's centre stand.

Pity, because a prop stand would be a bit iffy on a cargo bike.

Some touring bikes have two prop stands - an 'extra' one on the front fork.

 

[CXRAndy]

A crank drive is the only practical solution.

Judging by what I've read over the years, Bafang kits are more reliable than Tongsheng.

One thing that will almost certainly have to go the journey is the bike's centre stand.

Pity, because a prop stand would be a bit iffy on a cargo bike.

Some touring bikes have two prop stands - an 'extra' one on the front fork.

The wife's bike is happily running a TSDZ2 with centre double leg stand. I had to remove the anti rotation bracket, but the motor hasn't rotated, so all is good

The Bafang don't use an additional bracket from what I can see. The motor is held by the locking tabs in the bottom bracket, so a centre stand is still possible (bike frame dependent)

 

[HMS_Dave]

A crank drive is the only practical solution.

Judging by what I've read over the years, Bafang kits are more reliable than Tongsheng.

One thing that will almost certainly have to go the journey is the bike's centre stand.

Pity, because a prop stand would be a bit iffy on a cargo bike.

Some touring bikes have two prop stands - an 'extra' one on the front fork.

It's been done with the stand left on before now, so it may be OK. Think that was a bafang unit if memory serves. Came across that on another forum.