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FAQ: Can you make my bike electric?
Back in the day, when there weren't a ton of awesome electric bike choices out there, it made sense to convert normal bikes into electric ones.
Nowadays, you can get on a decent dedicated electric bike for a similar price that it costs to convert. Entry level ebikes we sell come with excellent motors by brands such as Shimano and Bosch and most critically, these bikes are built to handle the power of a motor. All of our dedicated ebikes also have things like built in lights, mudguards and racks which you would otherwise have to be fitted to an older bike.
As an example, if you buy a $1,500 bike and you're adding $2,000 for the motor plus a few hundred dollars for the accessories mentioned above, you're quickly up to the same price as a basic electric bike such as a Linus Ember or Tern Quick Haul. For this reason, it now makes less and less sense to do a conversion, as you end up with what is an ordinary pedal bike with a motor strapped onto it, rather than a bike designed to both support and integrate an electric system. A conversion also voids the warranty of your pedal bike.
This is the Linus Ember, a very good option for those of you looking for a great value ebike for commuting.
If you already have a bike that you want to convert then we can discuss a conversion. But that will be a calculation you'll need to make on whether it's worth the money, particularly if it's a used bike that has a lot of servicing costs, or needs upgrades such as brakes to match the extra power and speed of an electric system. Usually we find it weighs in favor of buying a new bike and keeping the old one as a spare or a guest bike.
However, there are some times when it does make sense to convert a bike, usually when you have a particular project or bike that suits you much better than anything available on the market. A good example of this is if you have a recumbent or a cargo bike that you want to electrify. If this is the case then feel free to come in and have a chat with us as we are always happy to discuss your options. But as a rule of thumb, we usually recommend against converting regular bikes.