How to Transform Any Bike Into an E-Bike With One Click Using the Skarper Motor
For those who are curious about e-bikes, conversion kits can open up a new world of riding. And while they’ve been around for years, most of them are difficult to install and leave your bicycle looking like a Frankenstein creation with control mechanisms bolted onto seat tubes and a tangle of zip-tied wires ruining a once pretty bike.
In the future, e-bike conversion kits may become so small and powerful that they’ll fit inside your bottom bracket and other riders will have no idea you’ve got a motor built into your bike. A British start-up called Skarper is already moving the needle in this direction.
How the Skarper E-Bike Motor Works
E-bike conversion kits are a great option for people who love to bike, and research inTransportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectivesfound that those who rode e-bikes got more exercise minutes per week than those who rode normal bikes. The Skarper motor aims to give you the benefits of an e-bike with as little hassle as possible.
The Skarper e-bike motor differs from most motors you’d consider whenbuilding your own DIY e-bikein one major way: it powers your bike with a specially engineered disc brake rotor called DiskDrive instead of a replacement front or rear wheel with an integrated motor, a friction-drive system, or a mid-drive bolt-on.
Because of its design, Skarper can be fitted to any disc brake bikes with 160mm rotors, which is the most common rotor size on bikes equipped with disc brakes. Bikes with a 140mm rotor will work with the Skarper when using an inexpensive brake caliper adapter.
Skarper’s vision is for a rider to attach a motor to their mountain bike to climb and then detach it and stick it in their backpack to descend. While this may work well on tame road climbs, it may pose a challenge for mountain bikers who ride any sort of technical ups or anyone who doesn’t want to carry a 3-kilogram weight in their bag.
Skarper has also engineered its e-bike motor to be fully detachable, which further distinguishes it from every other e-bike conversion kit on the market. This means that you can install a Skarper rotor on more than one bike in your stable, and transfer the motor between bikes!
If you already own one or more bikes, you’ll be able to transform every one of your existing bikes into an e-bike using a single unit.
Features and Benefits of the Skarper Bike Motor
What makes e-bikes so popular is that they come equipped with a motor, battery, and control mechanisms seamlessly built into the bike. The problem is that many cyclists who already own a decent bike aren’t ready to invest in a brand-new one. Or they don’t want to transform what they currently ride into a mechanical abomination.
Fortunately, Skarper’s minimalist design can be attached to any disk brake bike—from high-end carbon gravel bikes to super-comfortable commuters—in a clean, wireless way that doesn’t compromise the ride. It can also be easily removed, returning the bike to its original configuration.
The best part is that, when the motor isn’t in use, your bike will look and ride as if nothing changed. Most people won’t notice the slightly different-looking rotor, and it will add minimal overall weight to your bike.
The Skarper motor weighs just 300 grams, while the unit containing the motor and battery weighs about 3 kilograms. The unit attaches to tabs that you fit onto your non-drive side chainstay.
Skarper Motor Battery and Range
E-bikes come in a variety of different classes, each with its own battery size, range, speed, and power. Skarper claims the range of their 202Wh battery to be up to 60 kilometers with a charge time of 2.5 hours. If you’re running low and need some extra juice in a pinch, Skarper claims a 30-minute charge will give 15-20km of range.
While there are otherlong-range e-bikesthat can travel over 300 kilometers on a single charge, most people who use their bikes in urban settings only ride their bikes for a few kilometers each day, so the Skarper should work for most people, such as those who commute to work and are looking for a little extra help to avoid arriving in a sweaty shirt.
The unit comes with its own charger, and you could charge the battery while on or off the bike. However, one major downside of the Skarper is that the battery is fully integrated and cannot be replaced like it can on most purpose-built e-bikes meaning that if you require service, you won’t be able to visit your local bike shop, you’ll need to send the product back to the manufacturer.
Skarper Motor Power
There are somereally fast e-bikesout there. Skarper is not one of them. That said, the modest 250W motor puts out 50Nm of torque and claims a top speed of 32 kilometers per hour (restricted to 25km/h in relevant countries).
To detect the level of assistance required, Skarper claims to have developed something they call DynamicClimb™—what they call a bespoke algorithm—that measures your output and the incline of the road. By measuring the amount of effort you put out, Skarper can adjust its output to match your speed and cadence.
Installing the Skarper Motor
Skarper claims that the disc brake rotor can be installed by an experienced mechanic at a local bike shop in 5 minutes, while the average DIY’er should be able to replace their rotor in 10-15 minutes. You’ll need to add an extra few minutes to attach a wireless sensor to the pedal crank so that the DynamicClimb™ algorithm will work, and a few minutes to attach the brackets to your chainstay where the motor and battery will attach.
Once installed, simply press the only button on the unit, wait for the status light to come on, and hit to road.
Is the Skarper E-Bike Conversion Kit for You?
The Skarper e-bike conversion kit is appealing because it allows you to transform your existing bike into an e-bike without compromising ride quality. There’s no need to replace any of the wheels or to install a battery and control mechanism to the frame, and you can remove it anytime, meaning you can ride your bike as normal, or store the e-motor somewhere safer than a public bike storage locker.
Alternatively, if you’re ready to commit to the world of e-bikes fully, there are plenty of options that come with bigger, replaceable batteries, more powerful motors, and from companies that have proven themselves in the marketplace.
Want an e-bike but still want to afford the rent? You need one of these affordable e-bikes!
These films will leave you questioning humanity, but also wanting more.
Revolutionize your driving experience with these game-changing CarPlay additions.
Your phone’s camera app doesn’t show this, so it’s easy to miss.
My iPhone does it all, but I still need my dumb phone.
The best features aren’t the ones being advertised.
