Most people in the United States learn how to ride a bike when they’re young but quickly transition away from riding them once they can drive a car. For a lot of people, driving a car seems like the only option when it comes to getting around. On the contrary, there are plenty of better options when you want to get somewhere. If you feel like busting out that bicycle again, you have more options than you think. Chief among these is the option to convert your bike into an e-bike. E-bike conversion projects are becoming much more popular as the realities of driving a car every day begin to dawn on many people. Converting an existing bike into an e-bike doesn’t have to be difficult, and it will provide you with a ton of benefits that you’ll learn more about the longer you ride. We’ll give you a few of the reasons you should convert your bike into an e-bike so that you have a better idea of whether it seems like something you’d be interested in. What Makes an E-Bike? If you’ve never heard of an e-bike before, we’ll go over some of the basics to give you a better picture. E-bike is shorthand for electric bicycle. Typically, this takes the form of a bicycle equipped with a battery-powered motor that kicks on when you need a little more speed or helps with a steep incline. E-bike batteries are rechargeable, and they come in several different configurations. The e-bikes we’re talking about are power-assist bikes, meaning that the motor helps your bike move, but you still need to pedal to make it go. The motor you install into your bike allows you to take on steep hills with ease and fight back against strong winds without tiring yourself out. It takes a lot of the less enjoyable parts of biking regularly and makes them much more manageable. Why You Should Convert to an E-Bike Now that you have a better idea of what e-bikes are and how they work, we can address some of the reasons you should convert your bike into an e-bike. Depending on what you want to improve in your biking experience, some of these may seem more or less pertinent to you. The important thing to remember is that e-bikes come with a lot of features that make biking more enjoyable and efficient without taking away what makes standard biking an attractive option in the first place. Here are some of the biggest reasons people choose to convert their bikes into e-bikes. Cost-Effectiveness Perhaps one of the simplest but strongest arguments for converting your bike into an e-bike is just how cost-effective it is, compared to dealing with a car or buying a new e-bike from a shop. You already know how pricey cars can be on their own, even before you consider fuel costs. Brand-new e-bikes can also be quite expensive—even cheaper models can cost over a grand. In contrast, e-bike conversion kits are much more cost-effective, and they don’t even require a ton of difficult work to install. As long as you already have a bike you enjoy, you can make it an e-bike for a very reasonable price. Environmental Protection Anything with a fuel-guzzling motor will contribute to the environmental damage we humans do every single day. If you’re the kind of person who cares about the planet’s future and wants to do what you can to protect it, an e-bike conversion kit may be the perfect fit for you. By switching your bike to an e-bike, you give yourself a new way to commute, even over longer distances, that won’t add to your carbon footprint at all. More Comfortable Ride Even if you already enjoy biking, you may want to smooth out your rides a little bit so that you don’t need to work as hard. If you bike to your job, you probably don’t love showing up sweaty and panting. E-bikes offer you the ability to enjoy yourself a little more on your regular bike rides by reducing the amount of effort it takes to make the trip. It provides all the benefits of biking to work and takes one of the biggest downsides out of the equation. Bike Familiarity Maybe you already have a bike that you really enjoy using and don’t want to spend a bunch of money on getting another one that you’ll need to take care of. That’s why e-bike conversion kits are the solution you need. Utilizing an e-bike conversion kit doesn’t mess with your bike in any way; it only adds another layer to its usefulness. You don’t need to get used to a new, expensive bike if you can convert the one you already love into the machine of your dreams. Makes Exercise More Fun You might think adding on a motor to your bike is a little bit like cheating on your workout, but that isn’t entirely true. E-bikes don’t take over the job of propulsion; they just help you get more out of the pedal power you already put in. You can go farther distances on the same amount of work, making an e-bike ride a little more enjoyable than a typical bike ride around your neighborhood. Ease of Installation The word “conversion” may give you a bit of pause, especially if you’ve never really modified or worked on your bike in any major way. It’s important to remember that converting your bike into an e-bike doesn’t require a ton of effort or tools that you might not have lying around. You might even discover that you enjoy working on your bike in a way that you never have before. If you’re intimidated by the idea of installing the conversion kit, know that it’s likely much easier than you imagine. If you decide a conversion is the right step for you, Ebike Essentials has you covered on the parts front. Check out some of our options, like the 500-Watt front hub motor, to see which ones look like the right choice for you. If you have any questions or concerns, we’ll be glad to address them before you buy.
