JennyLink

Hi y'all. I refer to myself as a crusty in training (late 60's). Almost 5 yrs. ago I broke both ankles and now I have to ride a trike. I'm looking into the possibility of adding an e-kit to it. Any thoughts, opinions, suggestions? The bike shops in my area don't get into Trikes much, let alone conversion E-kits. Thanks hope to hear from some of you.

VegasTriker

Obviously it is possible as shown by this picture of what looks like a motor on the front wheel of this trike https://www.upzy.com/products/belize...cle-disc-brake Belize Bike Tri-Rider E-Trike Li 6 Speed Electric Tricycle, Disc Brake Unfortunately, the price of this model is about three times what you probably paid for your trike which makes me think the e-assist would be expensive. The fact that it is done to the front wheel means most bike shops that add e-assist could probably do it. They do it all the time to regular bike front wheels and your wheel isn't out of the ordinary.

The alternative is to have one of the moderators move this thread to the Electric Bikes forum on this site https://www.bikeforums.net/electric-bikes/ and see if anyone can help.

JennyLink

Thank you for your post. I actually looked under electric bikes as well, but wanted to see if anyone in this group had experience with a conversion. I've seen two kits both of which are pricey, plus I've only seen one electric trike and that was using a gas-powered engine on it in my area. I might have to move my query to the other group. I'll give it a few days.

CliffordK

What type of a trike are you using? Upright? Delta recumbent? Tadpole Recumbent?

For a tadpole recumbent, it should be easy enough to swap the rear wheel for an electric wheel of the proper size.

This one has been up on Craigslist locally (well, 50 miles away) for a while.

https://eugene.craigslist.org/bik/d/...625189625.html

It looks like a pretty old model, but the electric mods should be pretty straight forward.

I'd be somewhat careful about electrifying an upright trike. They are supposed to have moderate stability issues, and I could imagine the issues being worse at 20 MPH.

JennyLink

CliffordK, it's a Belize Tri-Rider 24" Semi-Recumbent 6-Speed Comfort Adult Trike. The trike on Craigslist looks interesting. For me, I'd have trouble getting on to it, cuz the ankles don't bend all the way. Wish I could get onto a true recumbent.

DiabloScott

Looks like a front wheel electric conversion kit ought to be pretty straight forward. Whether it'll do what you're expecting is another matter.

JennyLink

That's pretty much what my bike looks like. I wonder if anyone has done a conversion and how difficult it was? I noticed many of the front wheel kits are made for 26". Mine is a 24" in front and 20" in the rear. I did see a pix where the battery was attached to the backrest. it seemed to work because of the size of each.

CliffordK

The rear basket should be nice for carrying a battery and accessories.

20", 26", and 700c seem to be a bit more common, but you can find 24" front wheels pre-built, or build your own.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/LCD-48V1000...t/262779844123

I think that has most of the parts except the battery and charger. And, apparently works with pedal assist (which (I would encourage you to use).

I don't know about the power. 1000W seems like a lot of power, but should also work at lower wattage.

Consider for an amateur road cyclist, 200W to 300W is a pretty considerable effort, and can keep one cruising > 20 MPH.

Nonetheless, I'd prefer running an electric motor at sub-maximum power for hopefully less stress on the system.
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I can't say that all Chinese direct sellers really care about wheel size. Using a motor designed for a 26" wheel in a 24" wheel will simply make everything run a bit slower, but it shouldn't hurt that much. On the other hand, using a hub designed for a 20" wheel in a 24" wheel will overdrive it slightly. Still, probably not that big of a deal.

I'd encourage you to bump over to the electric bike forum to discuss some details of the conversion.