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

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.

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.

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

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

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 👍

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.

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.

so what was the weight on 7.26kg road bike after install?

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

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.

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 😊

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.

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.

Always guys very informative, would be great to have the option for miserable commuting day - luckily working from home means only two days in the office, if I was in 5 days I'd defo consider one of the kits

I use one, and in fact rode to work (+plus a train ride) using a previous version of the swytch kit this morning. Love it! I've added it to my customised Brompton. It is a fabulous way of making a ride to work simple!

Very canny set up & honest review gents 👏. Gear such as this to help folks get out and help them ride their bikes can only be a good thing 👍

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.

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.

Got one for my work commute and it’s bloody brilliant- just get one, they’re ace!!

You should bring back Justin once in a while.

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.

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.

Seems like a neat kit. I have a 16 km commute each way so as long as the bigger battery doesn't take forever to charge I could while at work. It's normally around a 15-20kmh headwind to work so this could potentially help on arriving so sweaty here in the Florida heat.

Thanks for the video, I’ve been looking at their product for a little while now and I think you’ve convinced me. So thanks ( Jerry from Canada)

Loads of fun! There's always a bit of weather around Derwent Reservoir and up on Waskerley Way.

Great review thanks - been looking at those to fit on an old bike for my da....

Sounds perfect for my commute to work..on a 700c Trek hybrid...when you have finished with it I could give it a great home 😂 loving the Cade Media

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.

I love mine. I have one for my Brompton and I have one for my cube Mountainbike ! Just awesome ! Nice video indeed

Wish they could make a bottle cage battery ! Better than the upfront one

Great video. I wanted a Swytch kit for my Canyon Roadlite. Unfortunately it has thru axles so will not fit and I do not want to convert to quick release. Waiting for the Skarpa to come out which fits to the rear rotor and I am very interested in. Hope you do a review when it is available.

The return of Pump Action Francis! I'd love to hear about any follow up to the USA adventure epic sometime?

I ordered one of these for a folding bike. For the price of the kit, and the folding bike I bought (A Giant)....I will have spent a lot more money than just buying a complete e-bike. If I bought an e-bike, you are relying on the e-bike not breaking and being able to get replacement parts (especially the battery) years later. What I like about these kinds of kits is: it's completely reversible....you can revert it back to a regular bike....something you can't do with an e-bike. Also, I find most e-bikes very clunky and heavy. This Swytch kit is more compact and simple.

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

I've just ordered one, I'll see how it goes.

We have two bikes both with the pedal sensors fixed, I swap the swich motor and battery between them as needed, just a five minute job.

I ordered one of these based on your first video with the old model. Still hasn't arrived yet but should be here any time. I'm putting it on an Electra Townie 7 speed cruiser. We live in Florida and this should be perfect for running errands and such. Fingers crossed.

You finally did what I was waiting for. I thought it was vaporware for a long time. 21 km on the bigger battery isn't bad, and it will be useful for some people, especially in hilly cities. My commute is 21 km each way, so I can't use it. The low weight is pretty useful, because I imagine most ebikes with flat batteries are deal breakers, and it's not so with this.

You should do more janky ebike conversions. Like take a single speed klunker and put a Pedal assist on it! As an avid cyclist it’s hard to say that I’ve really enjoyed ebikes. It enables me to bike commute everyday. Like I would ride my Regular bike one day and my Ebike the next as a kind of ‘Rest Day’ 😄

These kits definitely serve a need, I don't have the Swytch kit tho' I do have a Green Zone Bikes kit with Samsung battery and thumb throttle on my commuter and it is still a lot of fun to have and ride on a 28-mile round-trip commute, not enough power for all the way either way but when the weather is warm, I can pretty much stretch it to cover the sections where I want assistance and that's more the false flats and boring flats than ramps and rises which I tend to attack out of the saddle lest I use up the juice in the battery on those. And you are right, so much better to ride a bike with a dead battery on a kit than a full-on heavy e-bike with a dead battery, no comparison. And when I run out of juice, either in the colder months or from riding into work with lots of assistance to beat the time clock, I'm pretty much okay with it as it was nice to have the assistance while it lasted. And all in all it is just a fascinating learning curve to apply an e-bike kit to your own riding style and, O the joy, when I run errands around town on my commuter on a day-off work, I'm essentially riding a silent motorcycle as I can basically let the motor freely power me a mile here and three miles there, such fun.

The part I’m more impressed with is the quality of Dunkin Donuts in the UK.

Not sure I'd do what he did but I do like my Swytch kit if you don't need to go super far or super fast . Very happy with mine.

I have two max battery kits.. Love them .. Use them at the end of long ride in case I run out of energy.

Good idea, my commute to work is uphill and I ride a Hybrid 8 speed to work and for errands and I don't really need e- assist (maybe in a few years when I get old lol I'm 60), if I was getting a second bicycle I think I would use save up and just buy an e-bike outright

Interesting to see this in action. I chatted to the Swytch guys at The Cycle Show last year and it seemed like a well priced alternative to a full e-bike. This would definitely serve the majority of people I know who commute to work in London.

Mine arrived last week, unfortunately I need the 9mm not 10mm bolt axle thing. I have messaged Swytch as per instruction pack, just waiting for them to respond. They did say they had unusual customer traffic at the minute. Can't wait to try it out, looks great and hopefully gets my fat arse doing some exercise 🙂

(I could be wrong but) I think the bodge you did on the crank sensor was only required because you didn't read the manual (or watch the video) where the frame spacing was explained. You would have seen that the sensor gets mounted on the down tube, not the seat tube, and the spacing between the frame and crank is accounted for with the proper selection of bits in the kit.

Would I have one probably not, I'd be looking at it and thinking how I can make this sensor fit better. Still a useful bit of kit to anyone on a short commute.

Did you have a chance to look at another easy conversion kit from Rubbee? Would be nice to see your test, considering your experience with the Swytch

On my alloy roadbike with the max battery around central London at setting number 2 the battery is easily good for 50 Km.

Would love to see more of that Jimmy’s bike 😮

Could you fit two of them to the back wheels of Justin hand bike? Not that he needs it, just seems like a good challenge

Thanks Francis and Jimmi......interesting .!

I tried putting my Nintendo switch on my bike and it didn't do much

I bought one for my wife. Did the first ride on it today - mixed impressions. For some reason, it cuts out on the hills, which is, unfortunately, exactly where the help is needed most. Hope fully it was just the cadence sensor being moved during transport. Did you guys have any issues with random assistance, or more likely to have consistent power on the flats?

Great video thanks guys😊 I've a 2010 Trek Fuel EX 9.9 carbon full sus bike I'm hoping to fit the latest Swytch Bike kit too....I've the same issue regarding no space for the magnet ring between the frame,BB & the crank arm, it seems to have proved impossible for you to fit that magnet ring in position....is it a 'no go' for me and my carbon frame ? 😢

thank you for the video guys what did the bike way in the end

Of course you chopped the range if you increased the top speed out of the box. BTW I do do a 22km commute which is why I still use the old kit with the Pro pack. TBF they replaced the bracket out of warranty period because they'd had some dodgy ones (probably why this is a new design where the battery pack doesn't flex the bracket on every bump) and I hadn't ridden in lockdown. Customer service was a bit slow as I don't think they were exactly overstaffed but maybe better nowadays. I don't think I'd have bought it with the current max range on the new kit tho. Good video!

I'm pretty worried about those carbon dropouts which were not designed to take torque.

Haha it took you so long to do a Switch video- looking forward to this one!

It would be great for folk who would otherwise not recreationally bike/ commute. However, I prefer the energy assist of the far less expensive banana

Great video I wonder if It saved to install this kit on my Cannondale ultegra synapse? Thanks.

Interesting video. Since my road bike has a carbon frame & a thru axle on the front I won't be installing it. Other products are available which don't require replacing the front wheel although, I still think I'd be better off losing some weight than fitting one of these kits to my road bike.

Will you be releasing the “Wild” t shirt that Francis is wearing guys!? Love the colour

Great video guys thanks!! A couple of questions if I may... Where is the best place to mount the accelerator on Drop bars? - Where do you mount yours? I have 25mm wheels - Swytch size is 28mm+ - Do you think I could retrofit my wheel? (what size are your wheels?)

Switch kits should be fold out solar charging like the bear grills charger you could fold it out as u camp/rest or run out of juice

the opening of dropout slot on my old Specilized Expedition is 9mm. The axle on the Swytch wheel I just received in the mail is 10mm. How do I get it to fit on a CrMo metal forks slots? any ideas would be appreciated

I have a carbon road bike- Scott Contessa bike, do you think the standard kit you got would work on my bike? Since it did not fit on your carbon ebike I am wondering if it will fit. I don't have the ability to "fit" it like you guys. Thanks for any help.

Please talk about new laws in NYC that relate to ebikes and batteries sold in NYC having to meet UL certification and how if this speads to other locals will affect the ebike industry. Are these switch kit batteries UL certified?

I’ve got one and despite repeated asks the buggers at Swytch haven’t replied to my messages for over two weeks! How did you get hold of them? 🤦🏻‍♂️

Interesting experiment and top job to actually try to get it fitted! If you’d got it on the 5k bike wouldn’t the torque from the motor have buggered up the carbon fork/dropouts?

I would like to get a Swytchbyke kit for my £5,000 carbon road bike. Unfortunately, you gave no details about why the sensor did not fit. Can you tell us what gap is needed between the crank arm and the frame for it to fit? Thank you

Here's a question totally unrelated to this video. I ride a large road bike (58cm) surely the performance, stresses, and handling will be different on a large compared to the same bike in a small. No?

You'll get near double range in HOT 🔥 weather.

so why buy this and not a typical e-bike? intrigued...what's the difference between the front mount kits and the rear mount?

I'm really intrigued to try this out for my partner. She has little interest in cycling but might join me once in a while if she had an e-bike. Trouble is, the selection in her size (150cm tall) is pretty thin. Seems like a retro kit might open up options. As always, I absolutely love the tinkering and hardware hackery. As a great man once said "If the women don't find you handsome, they should at least find you handy"

i have a converted Carrera hellcat 29" but went with a 250w torque mid drive motor from tongsheng, about £100 cheaper than the swytch with a 13ah battery and found for hills etc this is better overall, did have a rear wheel motor prior but found it a fair bit heavier, we also have a peak trail 3e (rear hub) and a raleigh forge (front hub) and the mid drive feels more natural and has a fair bit more range, and was easier to install than the hub motors with the cadence sensors and controllers, range on this swytch kit is pretty bad tho our worst bike is the forge and that manages 35 miles on max assist, the hellcat will do about 30 miles on half a battery

How would this get on powering a delivery bike up a fair few hills over the course of 6 hours? 🤔

What are the cycling glasses you wear with the white rim?

You can use the tail frame which I did and work

I bought and installed, it is good, but another chinses company provided cheaper choise, I will buy and try.

I ride 17 mile to work without the battery and use the battery to commute home 17 mile 982 ft elevation It’s always lasted the full journey (old type battery)

Set up one for a customer. The wheel was pretty wildly out of true with pretty crumby tensioning. Something to be wary of.

Can you use this kit without the display? I ordered it and it didn't come with one and now the company isn't getting back to me.

That's a great video, I see that you have a Dacia Duster, is it a good vehicle?

I bought one only because I work as a deliveroo rider and I'm often riding 30 - 40 miles a day, in London it's not so bad but in Birmingham, the hills can be tough. So I bought this, the bigger battery and I expected to get 30 miles from it (waited 7 months nearly so it will arrive soon). When I worked for Just Eat Takeaway full time I was doing 500+ miles a month easily for 15 months. But I still didn't get an electric bike. So I guess I'm not like most riders who pick this up and I actually need a lot of mileage, however, as I'm used to doing the 30 miles on a regular single speed road bike, I am hoping that even if my pedal assisted miles are cut short, that it will still be worth it JUST for the hills and to make me a bit less tired out. Even if I can just cruise along with the lowest pedal assist or with none sometimes, then put it up to 5 for the hills, I am hoping that it will be enough for a day. As I do really need about 40 miles. I'm using light tires, single speed so less weight from components, and barely anything at all on the bike so hopefully, it will be very ridable even when not using the battery, on flat road (I would save some battery for the hills coming back home). I am already quite a strong cyclist, but sometimes I don't want to be sweating my ass off and working out just to make a few quid. I'm also hoping to switch job and use it to save thousands a year on my commute, and it will just make further away journeys much more manageable.

7:39 The abrupt cut 😂😂

I have disk breaks on my front wheel. Would that also work ?

LOL 7:40 the bike completely changes :D

You two are great

20km is pretty good ? I never go lower then 60 so how can i use it ? U go to shop and its half dead

Can someone post the link to the 90's bike electric conversion please, I can't find it.

Your tool wall is just begging for a Shadow Foam installation. Would look great in Park Tool blue with some Cade branding.

When you mentioned cable ties vs. zip ties I assumed Zip was a brand like Velcro or Q-tips but nope! The name comes from the sound it makes 🤦‍♂

I’m actually thinking about getting one, they’ve got an early access for the next release the week coming. I’ve got a 25km commute to work and the main reason I want it is so that I don’t sweat on my way into the office. It’s between this or the bafang kit

I have issues with front hub motors. Forks aren't designed to pull a bike

Any return to the old skool ride vids? Miss those.

I want to collect a tax rebate $ for an ebike but have the handling of a standard bike. Bundling Swytch with a good road bike looks promising.

Put this on a e-bike. So it can be a ee-bike :)