This post will be a little off-topic, but I’ve just found out an interesting product I did not know existed. You’ve probably all seen electric bicycles, but YUNZHILUN iMortor 36V-X wheel allows you to convert your existing bicycle into an electric bicycle with up to 50 kilometers range by simply replacing the front wheel.
The electric motor and battery are all built into the wheel, and GearBest sells for $199.99 plus shipping to customers based in Europe.
iMortor 36V-X specifications:
- Wheel Size – 26″
- Range – 25km mileage in pure electric power mode. 40 – 50km in “moped power mode”
- Motor – 30V 240W permanent magnet brushless DC motor
- Control driver – FOC (field-oriented control) intelligent drive controller
- Thumb gear shifter with 5 gears
- Smartphone Connectivity – Bluetooth 4.0 and USB for charging.
- Battery – 36V 115.2Wh lithium-ion battery
- Dimensions – 66.00 cm ∅ x 10.00 cm
- Weight – 11.57 kg
- Materials – rubber tire, aluminum alloy hub, ABS motor shell, nylon battery shell
The wheel ships with the battery, a charger, a gear shifter, a phone holder, an accessory set, and an English User manual. Assembly seems easy enough as shown in the video below.
The iMortor mobile app is available for Android and iOS, but users are not especially pleased with it. The product is new to me, but it was released last year or before, so we already have some feedback from actual users mostly positive except for the app. The good news is that the smartphone is only needed to select one of the 3 speeds, but once you’ve selected a gear (e.g. 2nd gear), it’s possible to ride without smartphone at all. People also mentioned the real range in pure electric mode is closer to 15km, and “moped” mode is when combining electric and human power. Another complain is the apparent lack of spare battery.
Your user experience may also depend on your weight, as one person over 100 kg explains on Amazon, the thing won’t climb hills:
… Unfortunately as the second video shows, it is not just the battery that is limited, the hub motor itself does not have the capacity to assist much on even small hills. I weigh 110 Kg and the iMortor manual says it has the capacity to handle 180 Kg. But even smaller people than me would not find that this hub motor provides much assistance on inclines and hills – perhaps it would work for someone 60 Kg, but not much more. On the flats and downhill, it certainly can boost speed, but that is not what I need a hub motor for.
I JUST LOWERED MY RATING DOWN to a 1 star from a 2 because they now expect me to pay the shipping fee back. Given the false advertising about the performance of this system, they need to pay for return postage.
iMortor also offers 20″, 24″, 27.5″ and 29″ wheels with either disc brakes or rim brakes (aka V brakes) as you’ll find out on Aliexpress.
Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.
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