Power Assisted Bikes fall into two large categories, purpose built electric bikes and kits added to standard bikes.

Approximately 99% of bikes use a hub motor drive (explained below) which drives the wheel direct, ie; is not driven through bike gears.

Electric motors offer a number of advantages over their counterpart; the petrol motor.

Gear Drive Motor.

This option at the moment is the least available option as design requirements to utilise gears can be complicated. This is where Power Assisted Bikes need to head. Two versions exist, drive through rear gear only and the eLation System that drives through BOTH the front and rear gears on the bike.

• Advantages

•  They are the most common option available at the moment.

• Disadvantages

• Direct Drive, so poor torque for take-off and hills.

• Be careful if you decide to purchase a complete wheel and not just the hub. Most people have good quality wheels on their bikes. Even the cheaper K-Mart specials can have stainless steel spokes. The majority of hub motor wheels DO NOT use quality spokes and so the owner is "down-grading" one of their bike's wheels.

• Hub motors are available for both front and rear wheels. Rear wheel versions are the most expensive. However front wheel versions have a bad tendency to slide out from under the bike in the wet or on dirt/gravel if power is not applied correctly and at the right time.

• Generally only available for 26" bikes.