Hi everyone,

I met Sarah Howell at a Sustainable Living and Renewable Energy Fair in
Shoreline, WA on Saturday. I introduced myself because I bought an
electric conversion kit from her shop (Electric Vehicles Northwest:
http://www.electricvehiclesnw.com/ ) about 7 years ago, and continue
riding it to this day. She let me know about this group then..

The conversion kit I bought is no longer carried by that shop, I suspect
at least in part because my initial experience with it was not perfect,
but some of the issues I've had with it, and the ways we found to get
around them, may be instructive.

First, the kit I bought was a Currie US Pro Drive, which is still
available from some vendors:

http://www.electrikmotion.com/conversionkit.htm

Sarah's shop installed this on what's now a 20-year-old Puch steel-frame
road bike. I still go back and forth over whether it was better to add it
to an existing bike vs. whether I should've bought a new bike for it, but
in light of developments this year, I think I made the right choice: it's
a tough old bike and already fit me pretty well.

I bought this kit because I thought it would make it easier for me to
bike-commute a 30-mile round trip over two large hills, and in fact it did
so quite nicely, but I started encountering mechanical issues with this
setup not long after: my rear wheel started popping spokes and warping.
The result was that every few months I would have to bring it back to the
shop to have the broken spokes replaced and the wheel re-straightened.
Other people might not have had these issues, since I am a large, strong
rider (with a waistline that's increasing with my age!), and when I'm in
shape, between the motor and my pedaling, I probably torque the bike
harder than most would, especially going up one of those big hills.

I've used it on and off since I first bought it, but not heavily until
last spring and again this year. Last year I worked closer to home, but
with an equally large hill in between office and home. This year I work
farther from home than ever, with the same hills in between as before. My
experience this year may be the best example of how to use a kit like
this, vs. how not to.

Early this spring I had the bright idea to take the bike back into the
shop for the usual rear-wheel repairs, but this time to ask for a new,
stronger rear wheel instead of the one this shop initially installed. The
result was been wonderful, with the new wheel taking everything I could
dish out, and enabling me to ramp up to my present 40-mile commuting round
trip, even over a pair of ugly hills. Here's a partial map of my commute,
showing my route to work (the return trip is several miles longer to avoid
the worst of the hills coming back) if you're interested:

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=1146915

Note that you can easily use this page to plot your own route(s); just
click "Clear points and start over", then "Start Recording" button,
double-clicking the map to add each waypoint.

Things I love about my electric bike:

1. Except when I'm in excellent shape, it allows me to ride much farther
than I normally could, especially up large hills.
2. Because riding up hills or over long distances are possible even when
I'm in poor shape, I have many more opportunities to ride than I normally
would, which enables me to get into biking shape much more quickly than I
otherwise could.
3. I can ride with or without the battery (which weighs at least 12
pounds). I currently keep the battery at my office, riding mostly downhill
to work without it, with the option to use it while returning up the
largest hills. Because I don't bike-commute every day (I usually do so
twice a week), this allows me to carry the battery back and forth in my
car in between bike-commutes.

Things I don't like so much about my electric bike:

A. When I'm already in good shape, riding with the extra drag of a second
chain and the extra weight of the electric motor (and sometimes the
battery), means riding long distances is more draining.
B. The electric motor is mounted on the left rear horizontal strut, in the
same place where most bicycle trailers expect to be able to mount. This is
a bummer when I want to take my kids out for a family bike ride, pulling
the youngest in a trailer. It also reduces the usability of a bike like
mine for running errands to the grocery store and returning with several
bags of cargo in a trailer.

Note that newer conversion kits or stand-alone pedal-electric hybrid bikes
may not share these weaknesses, but if you're considering buying one, you
might want to check to make sure. In any case, now that my bike has a
stronger rear wheel, I think the pluses of my setup far outweigh the
minuses, and I'm very happy with my purchase!