Well, I'm about a week away from getting a Nimh pack from battery space and I just coulden't help but to hook up some SLA's for a test run. Installing the kit went pretty smoothly (26" wheel on a Giant Hybrid bike)- just had to file the inside of the dropouts a hair and the hub motor was in. Routed the wires and the throttle- about an hour or so. I had 3 12 volt SLAs fully charged and ready to go. First thing I noticed is how much torque it has right off the line. After that I was a bit dissapointed. On the flats it does accelerate up to 19 mph ok (I was hoping for about 25). As soon as I hit a hill I definetly have to pedal to make it up. Its almost like a power assist bike at this point and I think its due to the stock controller (15 amps). I hooked up my watts up meter and went for a test run and everything looks ok 15 amps max drawn and about 500 or so watts- folks, this just ain't going to cut it. I expected so much more. Hopfully the 39.6 NiMH pack will help (13 lbs) vs. the about 35-40 lbs of sla I have now. But I have a feeling the controller is the weak link. Also the engine does whine- it's not loud, but its there, guess I'll have to get used to it.I'm not sure what to do now. I think I may need to go to a 48 volt system? and upgrade the controller? would appreciate some advice.