This is my review of the installation process and my installation of an ebike front hub motorkit from Dillinger Electric Bikes.  This review is for folks who might not be mechanically inclined and are doubting their ability to install a kit.  Bottom line TLDR, if I could do it you can too.

The kit is a Street Legal Electric Bike Kit - Samsung Power 2.0.  This is a front hub system, and I purchased this to install on my Schwinn High Plains Aluminum mountain bike from the 1990's specifically because it was advertised as being easy to install, and because I am not very mechanically inclined.  Also, and importantly, the kit included everything. I love my bike for sentimental reasons, and I primarily use it for commuting to work, which is an easy 5 mile ride on mainly bike lanes, and the ride to work is a slight decline and the ride home from work is a slight incline.  I am new to ebikes apart from renting Lime ebikes with my family, and wanted something that will help with the commute to work.  I do occasional light trail riding, but I don't think I will do any challenging trails with this, and as you folks probably know already, front hub motor ebikes are probably the least desirable compared to the alternatives.

The installation process was surprisingly easy for someone who used to work on bikes as a kid 30 years ago but who hasn't done much since.  The hardest thing for me initially was removing the tire and tube from my front tire so I could use both on the ebike tire. Once I got the tire and tube off the old front tire, I pretty quickly and easily mounted those on the front tire from Dillinger.

The next hardest thing was that my front fork dropouts and the wheel were both 100 mm, but the wheel would not fit due to accumulated paint and rust.  This required that I buy an 8 inch bastard file, and with a small amount of elbow grease I was able to file the front fork dropouts a bit so that the wheel fit snugly.  When I first put the wheel on, I also didn't pay attention to the order of the washers.  There are tab washers, and I put them on on the wrong side of the wheel and the wrong direction.  It took a minute until I realized the correct orientation and then sorted it out.

With the wheel on, I did a slight adjustment of the front brakes so that they fit better.  And that was that.  The wheel was mounted.

Installing the battery was easy.  It attached right where the water bottle went, and the battery fit fine.  Then I installed the instrument panel screen, controls, the throttle, and since I was doing the work I readjusted the location of my shimano shifters and installed new handle bar grips.  I then installed the PAS sensor, and the cool thing with this kit was that I didn't have to take my pedal crank off.  The PAS sensor came in two pieces, and it snapped right into place.  The next thing to do was install the magnetic brake sensors.  These tell the motor to cut off when the brakes are applied.  Once everything was installed, I wired it all together.  The wiring was color coded and easy to handle.  Once everything was wired together I realized that one of the brake sensors was not reading.  I had to take it off, change the orientation of the sensor and magnet, and then it worked perfectly.

This kit's power, speed, and range are all moderate.  36V battery.  250W/350W.  Battery weights 7.1 pounds and tire/motor weighs 9.9 points.  It has a separate throttle and pedal assist, with levels 1 through 9.  It easily goes 32 kmh, is zippy, and works great.  Perhaps I am easily impressed, or a dinosaur, but this has made riding on streets so much easier.  I can't believe i didn't do this sooner.  Commuting to and from work is going to be a million times easier and more enjoyable.  And this will prompt me to ride my bike more often.

The downside of this is that a mid mount or rear wheel motor probably would have been better, but  I felt like those would be too hard for me to install.  I took the bike for some light trail riding.  I did  a pretty long/tough hill climb.  What normally would have taken me forever was all of a sudden a breeze.  But, there are weaknesses.  On very steep terrain the front motor simply can't get torque/traction.  Because my mountain bike is so old, I also don't want to ride too hard or aggressive on trails.  So now my appetite has been whet, and I want to buy a more advanced ebike for more aggressive trail riding.  My mountain bike with the front motor kit is great for street riding and light trail riding, but I would not endorse it for tougher stuff.

All the installation process was really fun and I'm glad I did it.  This was a fun project.  

My review/recap of installing a Dillinger Street Legal Electric Bike Kit - Samsung Power 2.0 from Dillinger