I have an elation V3 kit fitted to my mountain bike that goes great. I commute 23 km (46 km round trip) to work each day and charge at work. I double my son to school for 7 km of that. There has not been a hill on the road it cant handle, though I have found a few off road that test it out :lol:
It takes about 3 hrs to charge from empty. I pushed it for approx 34km (mostly flat with a few hills and one massive hill) on one occassion which flattened the battery, though I wasnt particularly riding conservatively. There was a sudden drop (over about 10 second period) in power, where I just switched the power off and rode home manually.
On the flat with no wind, it sits on anywhere between 30-38 km/h without pedalling (2" slick tyres), easy pedalling bumps it up to about 38 -42 km/h and hard pedalling can be maintained around 46km/hr. If I really push it, I can hold it over 50km/h though this is unsustainable for my fitness unless there is a tailwind. I have top speeded at 68 km/h down hill behind a truck and I had run out of gears.
I had a minor installation issue with the battery rack. The mounting point didnt work with the rear disk brake assembly. This was over come by bending the small mounting lever to fit, then going to my local engineering mob and getting it copied in steel ($10 cash). Once fitted, no problems.
The kit held up well with no problems at all for the first month. After 1 month (1000 km), a part on the battery casing cracked. I phoned elation who asked for the battery back ASAP. I took it to them on the next weekend and it was repaired on the same day. After 4 months (4000km), a small crack developed in a weld on the rear battery rack frame. I took it to my local security gate manufacturer who re-welded the aluminium ($10 cash). I was probably a little hard on the offroading (small jumps and bumpy riding) one weekend prior to the weld cracking so wouldnt necessarily consider that a design problem.
Now the kit has been on the bike for 6 months and still going strong. The motor and battery are going great, they are the standout features. I am due to get my licence back in 2 weeks and wouldnt bother with the car at all except I hate riding in wet weather!
In a nutshell, the kit has performed as well as I could have hoped and I am very happy with it. I hope that answers a few questions people may have. I remember when I was looking for an electric kit, I found info hard to find.
It takes about 3 hrs to charge from empty. I pushed it for approx 34km (mostly flat with a few hills and one massive hill) on one occassion which flattened the battery, though I wasnt particularly riding conservatively. There was a sudden drop (over about 10 second period) in power, where I just switched the power off and rode home manually.
On the flat with no wind, it sits on anywhere between 30-38 km/h without pedalling (2" slick tyres), easy pedalling bumps it up to about 38 -42 km/h and hard pedalling can be maintained around 46km/hr. If I really push it, I can hold it over 50km/h though this is unsustainable for my fitness unless there is a tailwind. I have top speeded at 68 km/h down hill behind a truck and I had run out of gears.
I had a minor installation issue with the battery rack. The mounting point didnt work with the rear disk brake assembly. This was over come by bending the small mounting lever to fit, then going to my local engineering mob and getting it copied in steel ($10 cash). Once fitted, no problems.
The kit held up well with no problems at all for the first month. After 1 month (1000 km), a part on the battery casing cracked. I phoned elation who asked for the battery back ASAP. I took it to them on the next weekend and it was repaired on the same day. After 4 months (4000km), a small crack developed in a weld on the rear battery rack frame. I took it to my local security gate manufacturer who re-welded the aluminium ($10 cash). I was probably a little hard on the offroading (small jumps and bumpy riding) one weekend prior to the weld cracking so wouldnt necessarily consider that a design problem.
Now the kit has been on the bike for 6 months and still going strong. The motor and battery are going great, they are the standout features. I am due to get my licence back in 2 weeks and wouldnt bother with the car at all except I hate riding in wet weather!
In a nutshell, the kit has performed as well as I could have hoped and I am very happy with it. I hope that answers a few questions people may have. I remember when I was looking for an electric kit, I found info hard to find.
