some bike vendor told me that the biggest problem with regular to ebike conversion was that regular bike frames were not strong enough to support the additional forces that the electric bike imposed. And it was why the ebikes were much heavier than regular bikes.
Does anyone know if that’s true and if that applies to conversions like this one?
It's less of an issue for this device. The reason is that the motor is further from the axle than a hub motor would be. Thus, there's less force on the frame for a given amount of torque.
A lot of extra force when slowing down from faster speeds though, no matter where the motor is added.
Not a lot of extra force.
About 5% more weight you need to slow down (80kg rider + 10kg bike + 4kg motor + battery)
Depends on the bike and motor combo. Something like a mountain bike from the last 20 years would be fine, but I wouldn’t try and put one on like a road bike from the 70s or something. Basically anything that’s well built sturdy steel is going to be ok with the common sub kilowatt motors, but there are like crazy ones that will output considerably more power than that.
Also that’s going to be more applicable with a mid drive or a hub motor than something like this.
Interesting point. That might be the only thing this thing has going for it self. The angle of force is perfect even for the most fragile frame.
Weight
3.7 kg (including battery)