If you plan to switch to an electric bike soon, you have to choose between buying a new electric bike or going through an electric conversion kit to adapt to a classic bike . The second solution can be particularly profitable if you already have a bicycle. There are many electric bike kits on the market, but Weebot, the leader in electric mobility in France, is also embarking on the adventure.
What's happening in the e-bike market in 2021?
After the confinement period experienced in 2020, the use of the bicycle has become the most practical and safe means of transport for all daily activities. With many cycle paths that have recently flourished in our cities, it is increasingly easy to take your bike to reach your destination quickly.
The demand for electric bikes has soared at high speed and this therefore implies a new clientele with diverse needs. In urban areas, part of the population has given up their car or public transport for an ecological means of transport and in the direction of social distancing.
With a 45% market share , the electric bike is about to overtake that of so-called "muscle" bikes. This is progressing from year to year (+12% in 2019), while that of the classic bicycle drops by around 6% per year. With ever more efficient and reliable electric motors, combined with lighter and autonomous batteries, sales of electric bikes have jumped, particularly in the electric mountain bike market.
Well helped by the support of the various municipalities, the electric bike has arrangements both on the road and at the level of ecological subsidies . When we analyze the demands of users, they say they are looking above all for the comfort of using the electric bike.
This is where the electrically assisted bicycle comes into play, which has the particularity of traveling over longer distances almost effortlessly . Because when you go to your workplace every day, being able to arrive there in an impeccable suit without having sweated before is a huge advantage of the electric bike over its counterpart without a motor.
Global explosion in demand for electric bikes
Since mid-May 2020, you have surely noticed increasingly long delivery times for the purchase of an electric bicycle . Many countries have bet on the development of this ecological means of transport to counter the spread of the virus while accelerating the ecological transition .
With the Paris climate agreements, it is urgent for countries to react by finding a clean solution for travel in large cities.
While ZFEs ( Low Emission Zones ) are increasingly pushing polluting thermal vehicles out of cities, parking an electric car is still just as complicated in cities. The electric bike is therefore the ideal companion for an ecological mobility solution.
The electric bike industry shaken by the health crisis
If the health crisis has dealt a blow to the automotive industry, the electric bicycle industry is also disorganized, but not for the same reasons. Indeed, most parts of an electric bike, even if they can be assembled in Europe , are manufactured in Asia.
Between the explosion in the price of raw materials , as well as the increasingly high cost of transport , it has become very complicated to obtain a VAE in France today. It takes about 300 days to get an electric bike off the production line today.
Shortage of e-bikes on the market in 2021
If you have decided to switch to an electric bike, we want to warn you that the shortage of electric bikes will continue. the VAE market should not return to normal before 2022 or even 2023 . It is not so simple for a global industry to change the way it operates to adapt to demand while tackling the pandemic.
It is even possible that the prices of electric bikes will increase given the shortage over the coming months . As the health crisis also impacted households on their purchasing power, it was important for Weebot to offer an accessible solution to convert users to the benefits of electric bikes .
Why install an electric conversion kit on your bike?
To overcome this shortage, while being in a recycling process , installing a kit to transform your bike into a VAE is now possible. It's all about finding the easy-to-assemble electric bike kit that suits everyone's needs. The Weebot project via Weebike and its RokKit electrification kits is part of this approach.
If the electric bike kits offered until now were mainly reserved for an audience of connoisseurs, we at Weebot strongly believe in the potential of the conversion . Our kits include electric motor, battery, display as well as the various bike parts to adapt to most models on the market.
A more economical electric bike kit to buy and use
Our Electric Bike Kits offered by Weebike allow even small budgets to benefit from electric assistance. No need to reinvest in a new electric bike when you already have a two-wheeler at home.
Converting to electric also means saving money in the long run. Taking your electrically assisted bicycle rather than your car means reducing your expenses each month. You are no longer dependent on the price of fuel. It only takes a few cents to fully charge your electric bike battery.
It is calculated that on approximately 80% of trips in large cities, it is possible to reduce your travel time by half by electric bike rather than by car.
Recycling your old bike: an ethical and ecological approach
Instead of throwing away your old bike , it is quite possible to give it a second life with an electrification kit. For a much cheaper price than buying a new electric bike, the Weebike RokKit kit allows you to enjoy a high-performance electric bike in 2 hours of installation .
Your old bike that you no longer used, then finds a second youth. It's called upcycling.
We would still like to alert you to the obligation to ride your bike legally, to have on it, a bell as well as front and rear lights. All old bikes do not have one, or are no longer in working order over time and it is therefore useful to put it back very easily. You will also find many products on our accessories shop on this subject.
Keep your old bike with sentimental value
Keeping your old bike also means keeping an object that has sentimental value . But not just! You may have invested heavily in a mechanical bike in the past. It would therefore be a shame to do without an excellent, well-equipped muscle bike, to switch to a low-end electric bike.
This is the whole point of the RokKit Weebike in order to electrify an old high-end bike , rather than having to reinvest everything in a brand new VAE.
How do electric bike kits work?
Even if the bike electrification market is still in its infancy, there are several solutions for converting your bike to electric . Some have more advantages than others and we feel it is important to share with you the different e-bike kit systems available today.
conversion kit with electric friction motor
Working like an inverted dynamo , the electric motor by friction comes into contact with the rear wheel (or even the front wheel) of a bicycle. Like some systems positioned on the tire to power the lighting, here the electric motor conversely rubs the tire to help it turn more easily.
If it is relatively easy to set up, it is unfortunately the only advantage of this device. The friction on the tire causes both very high premature wear of the tire with a rather poor performance of the electric assistance . It's even worse in wet weather, where the electric motor barely has enough friction to help the rider.
This system is as unattractive as it is unbalanced in terms of weight distribution on the bike.
conversion kit with electric motor in the wheel
Worldwide, electric motors located in the front wheel or the rear wheel, also called hub motors , are the most manufactured. They have the advantage of being simple and less expensive for manufacturers to produce. They are easy to mount on a bike and are usually found on entry-level e-bikes.
If they offer a good top speed on a new electric bike studied for, they are however less interesting in the context of a conversion . If they do not require maintenance, they are more complex to change in the event of a puncture in the wheel.
The electric wheel offers little torque when crossing and causes continuous battery wear . The controller indicating to the electric wheel its operating speed must be remote and then causes a fragility in the design. Having no power detector, the motor in a rear wheel can then "bug" in the case of braking followed by rapid acceleration.
Just like the friction motor, the weight distribution is not ideal and your bike is completely unbalanced at the front (in the case of an electric wheel in the front wheel) or at the rear on a motor in the rear wheel.
conversion kit with electric motor in the bottom bracket
The electric motors in the crankset are the most complete on the market today. They offer the most efficient assistance due to their power sensor and high reliability. With recognized manufacturers such as Bosch , Bafang, Panasonic or even Yamaha , electric kits with a motor in the crankset are undoubtedly the best electric assistance conversion solution .
If it requires a slightly longer installation, the integration of a crankset motor easily adapts to almost all cycle geometries. It offers both compactness , crossing power with high torque (118 Nm on the Bafang BBS 02B) and power detection of your pedaling . Also, the chassis is well balanced with the electric motor placed in the center of the electric bike.
With this system, you are not simply "pushed" by the motor, but well accompanied in your effortless pedal movement. Driving the bike is all the more natural and efficient!
Weebike offers 4 easily installable electric bike kits
To fill the shortage of electric bikes on the market, Weebot via its bike brand Weebike has developed a range of electric bike kits to meet the ever-increasing demand from users in terms of eco-mobility solutions.
We have selected the best components to offer our customers an excellent conversion kit system. With quality materials and reliable component brands, the RokKit Weebike are perfect for transforming your old cycle into a high-end electric bike .
Weebike electric bike kit: RokKit Citadin
This electric bike kit is intended for most of our customers. For the most attractive price possible, it has the famous Bafang BBS01 250W bottom bracket motor with a Samsung 36V 14.5Ah battery . With this device, you end up with an electric bike with approved assistance up to 25 km/h while enjoying a range of between 60 and 120 km depending on the mode chosen. It is quite difficult to give an estimate of the autonomy given the many parameters that are the geometry of the bike as well as the weight supported.
The Bafang BBS01 250W motor is also very resistant to rain with an IP65 certification and its motor torque of 60 Nm allows you to overcome most slopes with ease. The RokKit Citadin is intended for the majority of people wishing to use their bike daily to get to their place of work . The removable Samsung lithium battery allows you to recharge your electric conversion bike only once or twice a week.
Weebike electric bike kit: Urban RokKit
For advanced users, we thought of offering them an autonomy kit with the same Bafang 250W motor but this time coupled with a huge 36V 21Ah Samsung battery . This electric bike kit allows you to obtain a substantial autonomy estimated between 150 and 250 km .
With the Weebike Urban RokKit , you will then have very little need to recharge your new electric bike and it will be possible to take advantage of it both on weekends for very long rides.
Weebike electric bike kit: RokKit Off Road
For off-road enthusiasts, the RokKit Off-Road offers the famous Bafang BBS02 500W motor with the Samsung 48V 17.5Ah battery . This system is not approved for use with an electric bike on public roads, but will be suitable for thrill seekers to ride in the mountains or in the countryside to replace their old mountain bike.
Weebike electric bike kit: RokKit Trail
For the most extreme, we offer the RokKit Trail composed of the Bafang BBS02 motor at 750W offering 118 Nm of torque . For this electric bike kit, with Samsung 48V 17.5Ah battery , we recommend adapting certain parts of your bike to withstand the power of the electric motor over time. It will no doubt be useful to upgrade your bike by changing the tires for more resistant ones suitable for e-bikes, as will the ultra-resistant titanium sprocket change.
The same goes for the brakes, which must be equipped accordingly to ensure quality braking adapted to high speed.
A color LCD display with GPS for all RokKit Weebikes
Each of our electric bike kits is supplied with a high-end display . This one is in color LCD with high contrast to be perfectly readable in direct sunlight . It is also rain resistant with an IP65 waterproof certification.
It offers via the bluetooth connection to your smartphone, GPS indications to follow the best path without having to take out your phone. With the Display Weebike RokKit, you can know in real time your speed, the battery level, the number of kilometers traveled or even the activation of the lights of the electric bike.
Electric Bike Kit FAQ
Being a relatively young market, there are a lot of questions to ask about installing an e-bike kit. Here are the most frequently asked questions to help you install our kits on your bike.
Can the Electric Bike Kit be installed on all bikes?
Our electric bike kits are designed to be compatible with more than 90% of the bikes on the market .
To install the Samsung battery on the frame of your bike, it is possible to use the hooks provided for a bottle cage . If you don't have one, other solutions exist either by drilling 2 holes in the frame of your bike or by installing the battery on a luggage rack.
At the level of the Bafang crankset motor, the attachment axis can be adapted up to 73mm for our 250W, 500W and 750W kits , or even up to 100m in axis width with a Bafang HD 1000W motor.
Should you adapt your bike to the electric bike kit?
To withstand the power of the engine, it is also possible to change the tires of your bike for more resistant ones adapted to electric bikes. The same applies to the sprockets with a titanium system that is more resistant to the pulling force, just like the transmission chain of the bicycle.
What maintenance does the use of a Weebike electric bike kit require?
The Weebike electric bike kit does not require any particular maintenance, but it is possible to have an overhaul in our workshops in Paris and Lyon to ensure that your new electric bike is working properly.
Is registration compulsory with 500W motor and +?
Transforming and converting your electric bike with a motor with a power greater than 250W is not approved for riding on public roads.
Our RokKit Weebike Off-Road 500W (and Trail 750W - 1000W) electric bike kit turns your old mechanical bike into a Speedbike . For this you must have insurance and a license plate to drive in town.
On the other hand, in the context of use on a private road or off-road on a mountain bike, for example, it is not compulsory to declare your bike as a speedbike.
Is the trigger throttle legal with an electric bike?
No, the handlebar throttle trigger is not legal on an e-bike . Electric assistance is only approved when coupled with pedalling, with assistance cut off at 25 km/h . In case of control by the police, you risk a fine ranging from 135 euros to 700 euros.
Do I need insurance for an electric bike?
With a 250W electric bike kit, it is not mandatory to have insurance to ride an electric bike.
What is the lifespan of a battery?
We have selected a quality Samsung battery on our electric bike kit. The life cycle of a Samsung battery is estimated to last over 1000 recharges ranging from 0% to 100% on an electric bicycle. This still represents more than 100,000 km of traffic. Like any e-bike, there are ways to keep your battery in good working order for as long as possible.
To optimize the state of the battery cells of our electric bike kit, we advise you to recharge it only after a cooling period. Even if you do not use the battery for a long time, it is useful to charge the battery at least once a month to ensure that it works properly and does not lose autonomy over time.
How long does it take to receive my Weebike electric bike kit?
By ordering on our site, delivery to your home is 24 to 48 hours on working days. If you wish to subscribe to the installation of the electric bike kit in our workshops in Paris and Lyon, you will need to select the possible dates for installation by our technicians on your bike following your order.
Is there a subsidy for the purchase of an electric bike kit?
If the new electric bike benefits from aid for the purchase, this is also the case for an electric bike kit. In terms of assistance, the town hall of Paris is the most generous in France to offer an electric bike kit subsidy of up to 400 euros. The calculation is made at 33% of the purchase price of the electrification kit for your bike, installation included!
This bonus has been valid since January 1, 2018 and is aimed at Parisians wishing to convert bicycles to electric. It should be noted that this electric bike kit subsidy is a reimbursement on presentation of the invoice only for homologated conversion kits respecting the VAE standard. That is to say with a 250W motor with assistance up to 25 km/h only.
Lists of cities offering assistance with the purchase of an electric bike kit
- City of Paris : 33% of the purchase price, capped at 400 euros.
- Toulon Provence Méditerranée urban area : 25% of the purchase price, capped at 250 euros.
- City of Vaucresson (92): 150 euros in purchasing aid.
- City of Courbevoie (92): 25% of the purchase price, capped at 300 euros.
- Bordeaux Métropole : 100 euros in aid for the purchase of a bicycle kit