Adding a derailleur to a e-bike
Hello,
I am looking at picking up either a Electric Bike Company S or a RadWagon, and I had a question. With the lack of mechanical gears on the S they mention that you can add gears and a derailleur. I am somewhat inexperienced on that front, are there any special considerations to take when looking to add gears to an ebike? My reasoning is that I am getting this for exercise and I do want to ride it un-powered for a good amount of time, but a single gear would be rough around me (hills all over the place :) ) Any assistance is appreciated.
Posted Sep 15, 2019, 12:24 AM UTC
16
Probably cheaper just to buy a bike with gears already. But that depends. The only thing is if you want a 1x set up, you'll need either a good chain guide or a new narrow wide chain ring to keep the chain on there. Also, I have no idea how they have that single speed set up but hopefully you could get a cassette or freewheel on there without redishing the rear wheel.
Thank you for the reply, I was kind of afraid of that. Electric Bike Company advertises that they have all the mounting for a derailleur and up to a seven speed cassette, but unfortunately I have not found anyone that has tried to put one on the bike.
You could try asking them for clarification. At a minimum you need a 7 speed cassette on (more likely a freewheel since that is common for ebikes), derailleur, longer chain, maybe theyve already used a narrow wide in front (but I doubt it), shifter, and cable. You can see this is all adding up.
I'm not too familiar with their bikes but I'm curious how they tension the chain on their single speeds... Doesnt look like an eccentric bottom bracket... Doesnt have horizontal drop outs. Maybe it has a chain tensioner somewhere... Their bikes look high quality so they must have it figured out, I just hate it when the chain gets stretched and sloppy with no way to adjust tension.
My girlfriend bought an 8 speed (rear derailleured) Magnum Metro Plus that has been fantastic. She got it for $1500 and usually gets 100mi per charge since she only uses the motor to accelerate from lights and get up hills. I've ridden it with more assist and got 40miles which is closer to their claimed range. Has fenders, a rack, 700c wheels (many options for tires in this size), and hydraulic brakes (will be changing pads and rotors soon though because they aren't the best but that's after a year and a half of almost daily use).
I'd check to see if there are any ebike stores around you, they look like they sell cheap stuff but often times they have some real gems in stock I've found.
You know, I haven't even looked locally, I am not in that cosmopolitan of an area. But I will check that out!