Putting A Swytch Kit On My £5000 Racing Bike

Electric Bike conversion on a £5000 racing bike, why not? We test the new version of the Swytch kit in some challenging conditions.

The following companies (that you'll see in my content) support me either financially or with free stuff, so huge thanks to these guys for helping the channel thrive:
Attacus Cycling,
SCOTT,
MET Helmets,
Shimano,
fidlock,
Hutchinson Tyres
Sungod
Tailfin
GT85
Garmin
Parcours Wheels

#cycling #bikes #bicycle

[thebikepackingadventurer]

Great bit of kit for people who already have a bike but don’t use it due to effort or fitness. Anything that gets more people on bikes is a good thing

[terryschultz]

Yes I love mine. 66 kms today with plenty of climbs, and the motor to save my life/ get me home. Incidentally I am nearly 80, and this will I hope extend my riding life - it already has actually. So easy to fit and plenty of advice available. I don’t understand those who complain.

[JohnLemieux]

The other interesting thing about this is that since it uses the front wheel it converts your bike to all wheel drive. Throw some snow tires on that thing and try it in winter.

[hughjaars]

Be lovely if Swytch could deliver kits to those who ordered them, been waiting eons for mine.

[MikeWestern-ulrm]

Great video guys I am looking to change a couple of old bikes in our shed to give them a new lease of life. This kit looks just what we need for shopping and backwards and forwards to the pub. I am 80 years old but still play a lot of golf and do my large garden so luckily still very fit and a very handy with anything mechanical. Thank you again for your inspiration.
Mike Western

[monkeyboy]

I bought one of these, it arrived last Thursday. The reason I bought one is because my partner is only 4'10" and nobody makes a light, non folding, sensible ebike for an adult of that size.

I didn't expect to be wowed by the swytch conversion but it's surprisingly good. I've fitted it to her Carrera Saruna 13" frame with 26" wheels and it rides well.

And as for the bit where you mentioned finding out how to speed it up, I was straight onto that. It'll run at over 20mph when you tell it it's got 16" wheels and you also turn the max kph up to 31 👍

[Rose.Of.Hizaki]

My commute used to be 24km. I worked with a guy whose commute was 50-60km each way and have known one or two to commute 90-100km each way. I personally found that to be absolutely insane but they still managed to do that daily. They got up a few hours earlier just so they could have a relaxed ride into work where as me. The moment my feet touch the pedals Im basically doing a mini-crit till I make it to work or home.

Some people just have absolutely mad levels of endurance.

[FaithsFallen]

Swytch need to put some regeneration into their design to put some power back into the battery when going downhill!

[fredcrane]

I installed my Max Swytch on my 11sp Dura-Ace equipped road bike. I did not install the pedal sensor and solely rely on a throttle. Most of my rides approach 50 miles (80km), so I carry a spare Max in a slim frame bag just above the seatpost water bottle cage.

Some of my rides exhaust both batteries over hilly terrain, but flattish ones can get me close to 60km on a charge, before swapping them out. So far over my two months of operation, I've accumulated around 500 miles and with complete satisfaction with the system.

Overall, it adds about 8 pounds to my bike's original 18 pound weight, but keep in mind about me carrying a second battery. Complete electric bikes exist out there with greater range, more power, and similar final weight, but most cost over four grand.

[therealchayd]

I was sceptical when I first saw these kits, thinking they were overpriced, underpowered and impractical, but in retrospect maybe I was unfairly judging them given that they're designed to be easy to install, maintain, have a useable but not excessive range, and designed for last mile city commutes rather than huge distances over difficult terrain. I was surprised how well they did even under difficult conditions. So well done to the team at Swytch 😊

[screscenti]

Thanks for the good work guys. I think the question at the end (which includes the short range), could be answered easier if they made a more universal charging format like USB-C. This way someone who does have a 15k (9 mile) or 30k (18 mile) commute to the office could pop it off their bike and charge it up just like a phone or tablet.

[markjthomson]

Will be interesting to see how this goes. Recently saw a frame with a failed bottom tube. The guy had fitted a similar system to his road bike and it appeared the frame didn't like the power being applied through front wheel in that manner. Obviously there are a whole lot of other reasons it may have failed in that area but keep an eye on your bottom tube near the headset area.

[ChrisALindsay]

I recently got the swytch kit with the Max battery. I retrofitted it to a 2015 Giant TCX. It seems to get the advertised 30KM range you need to be in power level 2 (see below). I've also just discovered you can go to power level zero (no lights on the power level indicator, at least on the basic display) when going downhill or sitting at traffic lights to help save a little more battery. When I first got the kit I set it to the highest settings and wondered why the battery was being drained so quickly which is what I imagine it was set to in this video.

Here is what Swytch Support sent me. The below-recommended settings are not available anywhere that I could see on Swytch's website or documentation.

Level 1: 34km
Level 2: 30km
Level 3: 26km

Levels 4 and 5 are designed as power boost settings to help on inclines and difficult terrain, please note the range will vary significantly with increased use on steep or long hills. Check that your Power Limit setting (hidden setting, see the manual to access) is set to the standard, middle option which is 80%. (The max it would let me set this was 90%)


I now mostly use power levels 1 and 2 with 3 reserved for those steeper hills to get a good balance better range and assistance. My commute is around 16.5 miles (26.6 km) and quite hilly and the battery lasts as long as I use power levels 1 and 2.

[michiohirai]

I installed a swytch kit on my wife's bike for two reasons:
1) Without a motor, she is really slow. Children go faster than her. But with the swytch motor, she and I can enjoy a bike ride together without me stopping every 30 seconds.
2) Weight. A real e-bike would be too heavy for her to lift and we live at the second floor of an appartment. She needs to be able to lift that bike up and down the stairs.
So far, she seems to like it. The range isn't great, but it's perfect for her commuting to work.

[andyfairchild]

I’ve got one of their old generation kits on my Brompton and its great. It’s perfect for getting round Bristol with its many delightful hills! It adds a little extra weight, but still manageable when carrying the bike, folded, up the stairs to a third floor flat.

[alanashizume]

Biggest selling point for me is that when the battery dies, or if I get bored of the kit all together, I can easily remove it all and still have a great road bike left over. Dedicated ebikes are too heavy once the battery dies. And proprietary ebike batteries that stop being sold mean that eventually the ebike becomes massive ewaste.

[spishco]

7:36 Looks like the Swytch literally transforms your bike into another one!

[Hyfly]

100% tried that at home - if it doesn't fit chop the bracket off with side cutters - no biggie, you're not affecting the capsule and they accepted my warranty application video.

[rupert]

I have the old kit on my hybrid bike and it helps me get more mileage in and tackle steeper climbs than I might have otherwise done. I had to remove sensor tape and screw lugs from sensor unit to get proper clearance to magnets but Swytch instructed me to do that - don't think it voids the warranty.

[igorsajn]

I have a new Swytch kit for about a month and it works great on my trecking bike. I do not use it on top level 5/5 100% power (all the time) but rather just turn it on for steeper slopes above 5% or stronger wind conditions. And if you use it like that, range for smaller Air battery is far beyond 30 km. In the summer I am gonna test it on mountains terrain (10-20% slopes) and see how long the Air and Max battery will last. Thx guys for your videos. Greetings from Slovenia