Geeko / 100G E-Bike Conversion Kit

[ian996]

I decided to convert my old winter bike into an ebike as a susceptibility to AF means that I need to keep my heart rate under close control nowadays.

I already have a Ribble SLE , which has been absolutely brilliant in getting me back out on the road, but would prefer to keep that as a summer / dry weather bike.

I had a look at the UK based WhooshBikes kit, but it seems that they have optimised the assistance to the motor capabilities, rather than allowing the motor to provide the most help when you most need it. (You get loads of assistance when riding at a reasonable speed, but it drops off as your speed reduces, so you get minimal assistance when you are grinding up a > 10% climb. As grinding up 10 - 15% climbs is exactly where I need the assistance, I decided to go for the Geeko / 100G kit.

I've not been out on it yet, but first impressions of the kit have been really positive. It was packed really intelligently and the quality of the components seems really good. Battery is encased in a stainless steel "bottle" (which is available in several different sizes), and cells can, in the fullness of time, be replaced by the simple process of unscrewing the bottom of the bottle. The installation is about as clean as you can get for an after-market conversion, as it is basically just a back wheel and a battery, with one cable connecting them.

The spec I chose was very similar to the Ribble / ebikemotion set up with a 250w / 36 volt motor, so it will be an interesting comparison.

I'll update once it stops raining and I get out on it, but here are a few pics:

Geeko Motor



Ebike Motion Motor for comparison



Geeko Battery with Battery reserve / power level display



Bike Pic




Overall (including carriage and all custom fees) the kit came out at a whisker under £600 with a 10 Amp/Hour battery, and communications / assistance from 100G have been spot on so far.

[OutInTheShed]

What does it weigh?

I quite like the idea of hub motors, no wear on your chain and sprockets, but with the motor driving through fixed gearing, does that compromise power up steep hills? The hills which limit my riding are in the 1 in 7 box.

[ian996]

OutInTheShed said:

What does it weigh?

I quite like the idea of hub motors, no wear on your chain and sprockets, but with the motor driving through fixed gearing, does that compromise power up steep hills? The hills which limit my riding are in the 1 in 7 box.

Overall, the Kit takes the bike from just over 9KG / 20lbs to just under 13.5 KG / 30lbs , so around 4KG / 9lbs. (Battery plus difference between standard wheel and motorised wheel).

I'm in the same boat regarding hills - I'll report back on performance once I've been up a few of the local climbs. The Geeko blurb on their website say that output is maximised on steeper hills (so, the opposite of the Whooshbikes kit),

The Ribble (with a similar theoretical output) is brilliant...the motor is not particularly efficient when you are grinding away at < 10 mph, but a 250 watt (or whatever part of that it can put out at low revs) "push" is still very handy. I'm assuming that max output at low revs might not be the best thing for ultimate longetivity (which I'm guessing is why the Whoosh bike kit limits power at low revs). Time will tell!