Trek Sawyer 29er Conversion

My favorite bike I ever owed is this 2012 Trek Sawyer. Best of all, I won at a raffle! This 29er is a throwback and Trek only made it for 2 years so they are rare. I'd LOVE to convert this to an e-Bike!

What do you guys think?

I am new to this but I guess I would put something like a 1000w motor on the rear. Maybe I need to change the gearing. Battery? Not sure if it would fit on that down-tube but even though I am a noob I have been doing RC stuff for years so I am totally comfortable using LiPos.

I really want it to be clean so I am willing to pay extra to keep the look.

So much extra crap goes on an e-bike that it really transforms everything about the bike-- to the point that I strongly suggest not electrifying a bike you really like the way it is. By the time you can roll with electric assist on that Sawyer, every single quality you like about it will be harmed, including its looks. Consider getting a bike along the same general lines, but with straight round tubes and more space inside the frame.

A donor bike for electric conversion should be
1) simple
2) sturdy
3) easy to maintain
4) cost effective (for its category)

Notice I didn't say lightweight, up-to-date, or distinctively styled? All those things tend to work against the above desired characteristics and against a smooth conversion.

If you want 29" wheels, you will get better results from a mid drive than from a hub. I've tried it for myself, and hub motors simply work better in smaller wheels. You can make 29" hub motors work, but it's always like buying and feeding and carrying around a big heavy hub system to do a smaller, lighter hub's job.

I have to agree with that, if you are a real bike rider, don't ruin your favorite bike with a motor. Now that I'm feeling better, and getting over my chronic fatigue, I am pedaling it a lot now. I would not dream of putting a motor on my vintage 83 centurion road bike. But my even older motobecane, I might. Its also a nice bike but no beauty. the centurion is just such a joy to ride as is, and a real beauty.

However,,,, That looks like a really good bike to turn electric commuter. 12s or 14s lipo will fit in that triangle easy, in 10 ah size. Its also small enough to carry that battery on a rear rack too. The main problem with the triangle carry is finding the box just the right size for 4 7s or 6s packs. The cheaper rear kits won't fit though, they don't come in 29 er . The better, more expensive kit sellers do have 700c wheel kits, or, could sell you the spokes that would fit a cheap motor to lace into 700c rim. One real clean looking kit is ebikekit.com. But its pricy. I used to work for them, but if you want a kit without ugly connectors, its one of the options, in 29 er. Its certainly not the only kit out there with the nice higo plugs on the wiring harness.

The bike will though, look converted, somewhere a battery attached, and someplace else, an ugly controller on the cheap kits . Plus all the wiring.

You might really consider just buying a used trek 720, or a beach cruiser with 7 speeds, to motorize. 26 inch wheel bikes, any 7 speed. Weight won't matter on an e bike, so a cruiser can be a good choice. Fenders are gross looking, but on an e bike, very nice to have fenders and chain guards. Then your beauty remains a beauty, and a joy to ride.

Thanks for the responses guys. As you pointed out, I should probably leave this bike as is because the battery, wiring and controller would really ruin the looks of this.

I only need 20 miles range on this but still...

When I walk into an ebike store, anything under $2K has a base bike with a ton of crappy components. I was hoping to address that with a conversion.

At the end of the day I will be using this to commute a short distance and go on some urban adventures with my GF (need to get her one too). Maybe I need to get over looks and bike quality and optimize for cost.

So I guess last question, is it worth converting a donor bike with these goals? It looks like a fun project but as you can tell by now, design aethetics are kinda important to me

Buy used 26" bicycle(s) that have good suspension and decent components, SLX/Deore/Alivio. However remember that once you go electric, you hardly use many gears, I personally have not installed a chain on my e-bike for a year now. Convert your used bike to e-bike: Buy an e-bike kit like the Leafbike.com kits, or a mid drive like the BBSHD or www.Cyclonetw.com kit. The Leafbike direct drive hub motors have gotten lots of great reviews, especially the 1500W. Going to a smaller wheel, say a 24" in a hub motor is only beneficial for achieving more torque, going up hills, getting up to speed more quickly. Hubs go a bit slower when reducing diameter, so gotta choose a lower Tooth-count motor which is higher KV (rpm/v).

If you want complete silence, direct drive hub + sinewave controlller is ultra silent. Though ppl have said mid drive's are quiet too when match with sinewave cont.

Mid drives do stick out to the casual eye, but they are monster hill climbers! And are good for stop and go. Using the bikes gearing as the transmission helps! I prefer direct drive because its silent! But when ya run outta juice, there is a drag, like riding a bike with a flat tire. Pro's and con's to everything when it comes to ebiking.

FWIW, if you only need "assist", you can use a clamp-on Kepler friction drive and a "backpack" battery, (or a small battery in a saddlebag, under-seat bag, etc), to not change the bike much from it's original characteristics and looks.

I'm doing this for a Trek 1000 to keep around as my "emergency" bike (as I don't have one right now), since an unpowered bike isn't very useful to me anymore. :/ I'll be using an RC Lipo pack for power (two in parallel if necessary), as I have some old ones around, and they're very small so will fit in an underseat bag to keep the power wires really short, or a small handlebar bag if I have to.