# Gas or electric bike conversion kits...?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gas-or-electric-bike-conversion-kits/760877>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [July 25, 2016, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gas-or-electric-bike-conversion-kits/760877 "2016-07-25T19:18:53Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Cuckoorex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Cuckoorex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cuckoorex)\
**Post date:** [July 25, 2016, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gas-or-electric-bike-conversion-kits/760877/1 "2016-07-25T19:18:53Z")

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I plan to buy a bicycle in the next few weeks. It’ll be my only personal transportation for right now, and I was thinking about maybe buying a kit to add a motor to the bike. Anyone have experience with gas versus electric motors, or the installation of either?

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**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\
**Post date:** [July 26, 2016, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gas-or-electric-bike-conversion-kits/760877/2 "2016-07-26T15:56:47Z")

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No experience, but there are plenty of YouTube videos on the subject.

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**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\
**Post date:** [July 26, 2016, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gas-or-electric-bike-conversion-kits/760877/3 "2016-07-26T16:15:11Z")

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Just be warned, bicycles with motors are often the worst of both worlds: the motor and battery makes the bike so heavy that it’s very hard to ride for very long or far (especially up a hill) without the motor, but at the same time the motor doesn’t have enough energy to really take you anywhere by itself.

In my humble opinion, unless you’re just interested in tinkering for the fun of it, you’re probably better off either riding an unmotorized bike, or getting a Vespa/Honda/Harley and not pedaling at all.

(P.S. Read this before riding in traffic: [Bicycling Street Smarts - Table of Contents](http://www.bikexprt.com/streetsmarts/usa/) )

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**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\
**Post date:** [July 26, 2016, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gas-or-electric-bike-conversion-kits/760877/4 "2016-07-26T16:24:31Z")

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I can’t speak to the quality of these items, but the two easiest to install are: [a replacement wheel with a motor in the hub](https://www.amazon.com/Generic-Motorize-Electric-Bicycle-Conversion/dp/8805001546), or [a small spinning motor that simply presses against your tire](https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/add-e-simply-add-electricity-to-your-bicycle#/).

If it were me, I would go with the latter, as it’s likely to be lighter and less problematic when you’re bicycling _without_ using it. The in-wheel version is going to add work to pedaling.

That’s about all I can tell you.