“Faced withy the dilemma of making a decision between a new e-bike or converting my nearly new hybrid with an e-bike kit, I opted for the Swytch method.
Swytch offer a discount to those pre-ordering and as such I was expecting a fairly long wait for delivery. I was pleased and not a little surprised to receive delivery by the promised time, three months - well done Swytch (although some report long waiting times)
The fitting is straightforward and well within the capabilities of someone who can do basic bike maintenance. Clear instructions are supported by a number of videos and underpinning this is the offer of assistance by Customer Support. The process went well for me and in a short time my Genesis Tour de Fer was transformed into an e-bike.
Riding the bike is great. It really is like a permanent tailwind, or a helping hand. The assistance is controlled and powerful. It works on pedal assistance and can be detected after about half a revolution of the pedals. The level of assistance is controlled via easily accessible buttons on top of the battery pack (in my case fastened to the handlebars and looking like a small bar bag)
I live at the top of a significant hill and this has always been an issue when planning rides. No more, the Swytch kit gets me up the hill and no longer is it a leg breaking struggle. I still have to work a little but I now climb the hill more quickly, more easily and in a higher gear.
All in all I'm delighted with my decision to go down the Swytch route. I can continue to ride my bike which I love and which is only two years old but which now has the benefit of assistance. I have saved many hundreds of pounds when compared tot he cost of buying a ready made e-bike.
A technical problem with my kit was very quickly diagnosed by Swytch Customer Support and a replacement handlebar bracket sent to me within two days. Excellent after sales service
I'm happy and would recommend Swytch”
“The Swytch universal ebike kit is a great product. I converted my wife’s Specialized Hardrock mountain bike with this kit. It is very easy to install following the instruction manual and the video. The kit is extremely light weight because the controller is built into the battery. It only added 11 lbs weight to her bike vs. my e-bike with separate controller and battery has added a total of 22 lbs instead.
The service is excellent. The kit took a longer time to deliver then original estimate but is understandable because of the pandemic crisis as all the kit were assembled in China. I did receive email notices regularly throughout the period to inform me Swytch’s progress in production. The Swytch also sent me a brake sensor without charge as a courtesy to my request. As for the ride, the PAS sensor works very well and smooth, and the operation is simple and straight forward. My wife loves her ebike that makes going uphill an ease. She is totally happy with her ebike experience. I highly recommended.”
“Overall I would not buy from them again. With 1 exception (on-line technical assembly assistance) customer service is non-existent. This is a ghost company - no-one is there to talk to you and you are forced to send in forms or emails to which there is often no reply.
I ordered 2 kits in May 20. Allowing them some slack for delivery delays that may have been out of their control I did not complain when the 2 kits did not arrive until Dec 20. One of the kits was fine. The second was (AND STILL IS in Mar 21) missing a wheel nut. I have tried numerous times to get one shipped but nothing arrives and they seem to have given up contacting me. Since the 2 kits were purchased to allow my wife and I to go out together the whole purchase is incomplete and a waste of time. Although I have tried my kit and it works well I don't wish to cycle alone.
I am tempted to send the whole lot back and ask for a refund. If this is the sort of service that I get with the new product what hope is there of getting service after a year or 2?
In future I'll pay more and buy locally from a reliable company.”
“Love this product. I wanted to convert my bike to an e-bike and Swytch enabled me to do that. Quality construction, beautiful look, impressive packaging. I'm 65 and Swytch enables me to ride longer and easier. Just what I was looking for. Getting one for my husband next. My brother-in-law has the same bike as me and now he's looking at Swytch, too.
Thanks for a great product, great customer service.”
“After a long wait, the Swytch universal kit finally arrived.
I've installed it on my wife's Giant Box Two full-suspension mountain bike.
The end result is great; my wife is very happy. She can now keep up and overtake :-$, recently easily completing an initial 14 mile circuit.
The installation needs some comment. If you have 1" diameter handlebars where it is clamped to the stem you will need to ask for some suitable spacers; they aren't included by default.
Regarding the pedal sensor magnetic disk installation. For the size of gap between the pedal arm and frame, the manual suggested 'Easy Fit Regular' configuration. However, due to the 16mm spindle diameter, with the semi-circular toothed spacers trimmed to suit, it seemed to me to be liable to be knocked off since the semi-circular disks are not a tight fit nor is the retention ring (circlip) a tight fit. So I decided to glue them together with contact adhesive (which should still allow for it to be dismantled in the future if needed) AND I installed the pedal disk arm. This has resulted in a much more secure installation.
Being a full-suspension mountain bike, the pedal sensor itself had to be trimmed to fit nicely, which was suggested in the manual.
The front wheel was an easy fit and blends nicely with the existing rear wheel. The other components fitted easily.
In use, it just works! We did discover that there is a 0 power level which I think to maximise range will be needed because the assistance wasn't necessary on the flat (or downhill of course).
It would also have been easier to change power level without taking your hands off the handlebar but that isn't an option. We did try the twist throttle but it interferes with the gear levers so it can't be used.
I gave it four stars because there is room for improvement both on kit content and price.
Looking forward to the summer!”
“Having long been tempted by the idea of an e-bike, my interest was piqued when I learnt about Swytch and the ability to keep my existing bike. I took the plunge last summer. Whilst I understand the business model and was fully aware of the long ordering process it was a little frustrating not to be able to have the kit in a matter of days or weeks. I am very much a fair weather cyclist so the prospect of the kit arriving in the middle of December was a little disappointing. However, overall I was happy to trade this off against the cost savings compared to buying a ready built e-bike.
Once the kit arrived I found it very easy to set up. The only drawback was the need for Swytch to send
me spacers for my handlebars as the ones supplied were an unsuitable size- I appreciate the need to keep costs - and therefore prices - down but it is a shame that the kit does not include several different size spacers. This caused a frustrating delay of a further week before I could try out the kit.
However, now everything is up and running I am very pleased with the set-up. Everything works perfectly and I am very happy with the performance and flexibility of the settings. I am now using my bike on a regular basis and no longer count myself as a fair weather cyclist, tackling longer and hillier journeys than in the past. The wait was worthwhile and I thoroughly recommend this as an alternative to buying a second or replacement bike. Rating would be 5 stars if the business model was different but the price was the same!”
“I bought this kit in June 2020 and it was delivered in February 2021. I expected a long wait as this is a crowdfunded product.
Fitment was really easy and has brought new life to my 23 year old Kona! I can now keep up with my wife on her e-bile.
The kit is pretty stealthy and doesn't detract massively from the look of your bike.”
“It took a while coming due to local lockdowns and results of delays with regards to Brexit but it was worth the wait. The kit arrived really well packed, first impressions were good (I am fussy!) packaging was great, included info and links to web help was also great. The installation was very quick and easy on my Specialized Crosstrail Hybrid. The tyre went on without issues and the wheel installed without having to modify anything or file the forks. After some trial and error I got the PAS fitted, I opted to use the one that has an attachment to fit on to the pedal arm, this was held solidly by some zip ties which were in the kit. My PAS sensor would not fit, after researching on the internet and on the Swytch site I decided to take the mount off and cut the bracket which allowed a perfect fit using the double-sided pad included. I also used two small zip ties for increased security. On to the handlebar mount, the first hurdle - with the inserts, it would not fit, and without it was to slack. I managed to cobble it with some spacers I had printed as a stop-gap, a quick email to Swytch and some smaller ones were sent very quickly. The next job was to tidy up the cables using zip ties and then attach the battery pack for a test. Before I did this I noticed the stitching on the contact cover/hood had come apart, this is not an issue but I was concerned that the contacts were not protected when not in use, again a quick email to Swytch and they are looking into a replacement. The first test was a quick ride around the block, everything went really well, the whole system is very quiet. Just come back from a longer test. I had a full charge and cycled 21.1 km power setting was mostly set to 1 with occasional bosts to 5 for the hills including one very steep one. It's great as it makes you feel like you have still had some exercise and a bot of assistance on hills mean my knees aren't causing issues. I am a real pedal-assist convert. I would recommend it to anybody and to be honest, I am thinking of converting my other bike. Yes there were teething problems but Sytch sorted them quickly ( and to be fair they were only minor ones)”
