Downhill bikes as donors for mid drives?

I have noticed that used downhill bikes seem to go for next to nothing in my area; apparently because they make terrible bikes anywhere else than barrelling down a trail. Hardtails and XC full sus are much more popular in the used market.

On the surface they seem to be well suited for electrification in terms of heavy-duty frames, strong (usually 26") wheels, wider hubs, motorbike grade suspension etc; and as you're adding a motor who really cares about extra weight and "bob" up hill right?

just wondering if anyone had tried this and whether there were any drawbacks / pitfalls? Motor will likely be a Cyclone of some variety

Yes there are numerous builds on E-S using downhill bikes as donors. They are ideal as they are full suspension and have a "relaxter" head angle making them ride better (less nervous) at higher speeds.
The new CYC X1-Pro motor kits seem ideal for a conversion: https://www.cycmotor.com/x1-pro

They are most suited to ebike use, but depending on frame they lack space for a battery. Many get around this by using a backpack battery, which makes them excellent for off road, ok for commuting.

I agree on the battery part. Many of the frames don't leave you a nice place to put the battery. Other than that, should be ideal.

Yes.. With backpack battery they can make excellent cheap fun machines. From my experience with conversions, good battery mounting is the most time consuming part. Minus that, you could literally jam a kit on a bike on about 45 min and be rolling. Very pleasant for parking it and hucking jumps too... Less practical for shopping if your pack is already full of battery.



Another big decider is how the dropouts are. Some bikes with overly 3D shaped ones can be hard to mount up to... Konas happen to be one where they're big blocky flat faced chunks.

Edit- just remembered mid drive... That makes it tougher, but still doable. Get something with the beefiest pivots possible... One conversion I did the frame snapped from the bowing to the right from the chain pull.

Downhill is ideal here are some caveats:

1: "busy" frames need more creativity to mount your e-stuff
2: used bikes may or may not have wear or fatigue issues. low probability, high risk situation that could be partially mitigated by not buying bikes from advanced riders since they are really hard on the bikes if you live in an area where they are going down mountains
3: in general steering on DH bikes is really lazy. I personally prefer less rake and trail for quicker steering.

DH bikes work well with +2kw mid drives in my experience. Fitting a batter can be a challenge if using off the shelf items. Many folks mount them under the downtube though.

Triple clamp forks camp be raised in the clamps to sharpen steering.

I have no problem fitting my battery :wink:

devo1223 said:

I have no problem fitting my battery :wink: frame welded 3 (600 x 450).jpg

Click to expand...

I'm not sure but that might void your warranty.