How to transform your ordinary bike into a cooler electric bike

Summer isn’t over yet, and you may want to indulge in the new fad — electric bicycles — but not want to bother with the time or money of researching and purchasing an e-bike.

Electric bicycles are like normal bicycles, except that they have a motor in the wheel allowing you to travel faster and farther without pedaling. They don’t even require gas so you can ride for 100 miles on just 25 cents of electricity.

E-bike expert Micah Toll introduced an e-bike DIY guide earlier this year about converting your bike into an e-bike and has now released a simple kit to make your life easier.

Toll has built hundreds of e-bikes, founded an e-bike company, and even volunteered to teach people how to build their own e-bikes. Now he’s launching a kit of his own via Kickstarter.

Any bicycle can be turned into an environmentally friendly moped that requires no license, registration, insurance, or other costs. 

What’s inside?


The Barak kit, as it’s called, contains four parts: a battery to power the e-bike, a controller, to manipulate the bike, a motorized wheel that replaces the front wheel of the bike, and the throttle which slips over one of the handles and allows the rider to control the bike's speed.

Toll includes everything you’d need in the kit — from the wiring to the hardware and even the zip ties. All you have to do is follow the instructions and install it on your bike.

Toll claims the whole bike can be converted in just 15 minutes (as long as you know how to use a screwdriver) so you can get riding quickly.

To learn more about the kits or purchase one visit the Kickstarter page.