Electric bikes are great, they remove much of the effort from climbing hills, and allow you to skim along smoothly and quickly.
There's a downside, however, and that’s the cost, especially if you already have a non-electric (‘acoustic’) pedal cycle that you’re attached to and don’t want to see become obsolete.
Why not upgrade it? An e-bike conversion kit gives you everything you’ll need to electrify your beloved bike and join the e-bike revolution.
You’ll require a modicum of technical know-how - many kits require you to replace a wheel and push together some wiring - and will need to know how to use a spanner and screwdriver, but installing a kit isn’t particularly difficult as long as you’re happy with potentially taking your bike apart. Some have stipulations as to the size of wheel hubs and the distance between your bike’s forks, so make sure you know these before you begin.
A 2023 ruling from the EU Court of Justice underlined the precedent that e-bikes don’t need insurance, or even a helmet, to ride, but there are some rules. People over the age of 14 can ride an e-bike on the roads in the UK as long as its motor doesn’t put out more than 250W of power - any more, and you’re restricted to off-road paths unless you’re happy for it to be classed as a moped. It also needs to be limited to 15.5mph - you can go faster downhill or using leg power, but once you hit that speed limit the motor stops giving you any assistance.
It's important to know what you’re buying, however, as unlike e-bikes themselves there's no regulation of conversion kits. A recent report from the London Fire Brigade suggested up to 40 per cent of fires involving e-bikes are caused by conversion kits, and it’s critical to check that the charger you’re trying to use with your new battery-powered bike isn’t trying to force more power into it than it can take.
With this caveat in mind, here are some of the best conversion kits that will transform the way you cycle.
Best electric bike conversion kit with batteries at a glance:
- Best for fitting to any bike: Swytch Universal - £625, Amazon
- Best for a potential bargain: Dillenger Samsung Power 2.0 - £1,099, Dillenger
- Best for high-spec DIY: Cycmotor Photon - £1.516 - Electric Bike Conversions
- Best for easy fitting: Cytronex C1 - £1,036, Cytronex
- Best for taking back off again: Rubbee X - £500, Rubbee
- Best for an all-in-one kit: Boost by LaVita - £587, Boost
- Best for Bromptons: ARCC e²-pod Brompton - £1,899, ARCC Bikes
- Best for futuristic conversions: Skarper - £1,295 - Skarper
Swytch Universal
Best for: fitting to any bike
This London-based company operates a pricing scheme whereby the further in advance you pre-order your kit, the less you pay. So while the RRP may be high, you can get it down significantly by planning ahead.
The compact and light Universal kit claims to fit 99 per cent of bikes, and replaces the front wheel with one that has a 250W motorised hub. This isn’t the ideal way to drive an e-bike - rear hub or even mid-mounted motors are a better option - but it does have the advantage of being quick and easy to fit, with a minimum of fiddling about. Wheel sizes range from 16in to 29in, and there's a choice of batteries that offer 10 or 20 miles of range.
Buy now £625.00, Amazon
Dillenger Samsung Power 2.0
Best for: a potential bargain
Often found for sale at almost half its RRP, this kit from an Australian brand has a good reputation. You’ll need to check on the Dillenger website whether it’s compatible with the bike you intend to convert - something true of all kits - but this 250W front hub motor kit comes in a variety of wheel sizes and comes with a 13Ah battery that gives it an estimated range of up to 60 miles on a charge.
Buy now £1099.00, Dillenger
Cycmotor Photon
Best for: high-spec DIY
This is the UK road-legal 250W version of a mid-motor kit that offers much higher power in other countries. It’s expensive, but a lot lighter than many other mid-motor kits, puts out a lot of torque (the force that governs how hard it can turn the wheels), and comes with a range of battery options. There's also a phone app that connects to the motor via Bluetooth.
If you’re determined to turn a manual bike into an e-bike, then this is a top-end option, but for the price you could buy yourself a completely new e-bike, and that might be a better option for most people.
Buy now £1516.00, Electric Bike Conversion
Cytronex C1
Best for: easy-fitting
This lightweight and high-quality kit features a front hub motor and a bottle battery - one that sits up from the frame’s downtube like a water bottle would. You’ll have to relocate your drink storage location, but having it here is a convenient place that means it can be charged and removed easily.
There's up to 250W of assistance on offer, which means it’s street-legal in the UK, and a wide variety of wheel sizes are available, so you can fit it to a range of bikes, and there's even a version available that will fit a tandem. At 180Wh the battery isn’t particularly large, but should provide enough range for leisure rides and commutes.
Buy now £1036.00, Cytronex
Rubbee X
Best for: taking back off again
If there's one drawback to the majority of e-bikes conversion kits, it’s that they make a permanent alteration to your existing bike. Replacing an entire wheel means that changing it back means keeping the old wheel around the place. Enter the Rubee X, a friction drive kit that literally pushes your bike’s back wheel around from the outside, with no major changes needed.
The entire kit is a single unit that attaches to your saddle post and has a wheel that touches your rear tyre, providing the drive. The batteries fit into the same box, and there's a wireless sensor that senses whether the pedals are turning. A rear light acts as a brake light or for being seen at night, and a smartphone app allows you to change settings.
Buy now £500.00, Rubbee
Boost by LaVita
Best for: an all-in-one kit
Replacing the rear wheel of a bike is a more complex undertaking than slipping in a new front wheel - there are things like gears to get in the way, and these either have to be replaced or accommodated in some way. LaVita offers build-to-order kits with various options for wheel sizes, rims, spoke colours and a number of gears from seven to 11 (or none, if you want a single-speed or plan to attach your own). You get a 250W motor, wireless handlebar controls (and phone app), and a relatively small 6Ah battery.
The size of the battery is a drawback, though spares are available and should still be good enough for city riding. The convenient and custom nature of the kit, so you can be sure it will fit your bike and work to your specifications, outweighs any battery concerns.
Buy now £587.00, Boost Bike
ARCC e²-pod Brompton
Best for: Bromptons
Brompton folding bikes are a common sight on city streets and in public transport, but if pedalling around on those tiny wheels looks like too much hard work, there's a way to electrify the experience. This kit is lighter than Brompton’s own offering, and uses the Bosch 36v battery packs that are commonly seen in rechargeable lawnmowers - so spares are easy to come by.
With a 250W motor and a range of up to 30 miles depending on the battery you choose, those little wheels suddenly don’t look so exhausting.
Buy now £1899.00, ARCC
Skarper
Best for: futuristic conversions
Currently taking pre-orders, Skarper’s conversion kit takes a different approach from others, as it uses the rotor of your bike’s rear disc brake to push your bike along. Of course, this means you’ll need a bike that actually has disc brakes to start with, but if you do there's no need to modify the bike, and the Skarper simply clicks on or off.
A range of over 30 miles on a charge is predicted, though this will depend on how you ride and where, and compared to the ramshackle look of many DIY conversions, the Skarper has a sleek and futuristic vibe.
Buy now £1295.00, Skarper
Verdict
Being able to turn an acoustic bike into an electric one does more than just make it easier to ride. E-bikes are more fun too, and you’re more likely to use a bike instead of a car if it’s something you can jump on and ride without having to worry about pumping up hills and arriving at your destination as a sweaty mess.
Kits such as those from Swytch, Dillenger and Cycmotor can open up the paths and byways of cities to cyclists who might not have explored them if they were putting in all the effort themselves, and in most cases are cheaper than buying an entire new bike, and less wasteful than sending an existing ride to landfill.
