This would be great to add to my 9 year old's bike. We couldn't do long bike tours anymore because he would stop biking after 100m, telling is he is completely exhausted and must go home. I was looking for something like this!
Asus Bike Booster
91–100 of 476 posts
Re: Asus Bike Booster
#92Friction drive e-bike conversions were popular years ago. They generally: * Wear tires surprisingly quickly * Absolutely suck in any form of weather or terrain condition (dirt, rain, etc.) * Have ~20% less efficiency than any other drive form. But, they are easy, and they do work.
And, don't forget: easy to steal off even a well-secured bicycle.
Re: Asus Bike Booster
#93Earlier quoted context omitted.
Get a Bafang kit or a hub motor replacement rear wheel instead. At least those systems work well.
I mean I agree but those aren't zero-skill install like this.
Bafang isn't, sure, but a hub motor is relatively easy. I guess hub front motor is even easier than hub rear.
Re: Asus Bike Booster
#94some bike vendor told me that the biggest problem with regular to ebike conversion was that regular bike frames were not strong enough to support the additional forces that the electric bike imposed. And it was why the ebikes were much heavier than regular bikes. Does anyone know if that’s true and if that applies to conversions like this one?
Interesting point. That might be the only thing this thing has going for it self. The angle of force is perfect even for the most fragile frame.
Re: Asus Bike Booster
#95some bike vendor told me that the biggest problem with regular to ebike conversion was that regular bike frames were not strong enough to support the additional forces that the electric bike imposed. And it was why the ebikes were much heavier than regular bikes. Does anyone know if that’s true and if that applies to conversions like this one?
It's less of an issue for this device. The reason is that the motor is further from the axle than a hub motor would be. Thus, there's less force on the frame for a given amount of torque.
Re: Asus Bike Booster
#96Friction drive e-bike conversions were popular years ago. They generally: * Wear tires surprisingly quickly * Absolutely suck in any form of weather or terrain condition (dirt, rain, etc.) * Have ~20% less efficiency than any other drive form. But, they are easy, and they do work.
They could have made basically the same thing except with a sprocket to help drive the chain.
Chain moves side to side with gear changes, and adding extra chain tension with an extra drive sprocket could make the deraileur angry. Also, chain-tube geometry varies a lot. Not impossible, just more complicated than it might seem.
I ride an all-original 1970s steel-frame road bike, which seems like a prime candidate for this sort of product. I'm certain no sprocket-based design would fit it. I'd buy one of these if there was any way to lock it up.
Re: Asus Bike Booster
#97They should turn it into a phone lan gaming platform with dedicated games. That would make it instantly awesome.
Re: Asus Bike Booster
#98I just bought a Boost conversion kit from the UK and am excited to install it in a couple weeks. If anyone has installed this kit would appreciate a comment on the experience.
(I'm in the US and have been unimpressed with the kits available here. The Boost one looks compact and well designed).
Re: Asus Bike Booster
#99Haha, I like all these adapter designs though my favourite was the Copenhagen Wheel[0]. I saw someone ride one near Mission and S Van Ness and loved it. Sleek device. This particular one in the OP is definitely built for safe societies, right? Definitely not for the North American market, haha! 0: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copenhagen_Wheel
Basically, the Copenhagen Wheel moved all the complexity of setting up a hub motor drive system - motor, battery, controller, sensors, computer - into the hub shell itself. Which made it seem neat and clean, but meant it had serious reliability issues, couldn't handle wet conditions[ ], wasn't really repairable, and was expensive compared to more reliable alternatives with better battery life, etc. [ ] The manufactur…
Psst, you can escape an asterisk [*] with a backslash.
Hub gears work quite well though don't they? In particular respect of being sealed and protected from the weather. Unclear why there's an opposite effect for this wheel.
Re: Asus Bike Booster
#100Anything for the world to actually avoid the health benefits of riding a bike. What is wrong with a standard human powered bike? I expect a global obesity epidemic in 10 years as people begin buying/building WALL-E-style beds.
Found the person who lives in Kansas. Sometimes I just want to ride to work without having to deal with that 2km hill on the way. And my bike is still human-powered, with electric assist. Do you not know how e-bikes work, perhaps?
Signed, former Cat 2 road racer