Swytch Air expands your world for less than the cost of an e-bike

The conversion kit is revealing.

I've been working from home for over twelve years now, and between that, the kids and the COVID-related lockdowns, I hadn't realized how much my world had shrunk. We have a car that my wife uses to get to work, so I spent my days getting around on foot or using the local bike share system. But it wasn't until I started listing where I'm going that I realized how small my world had become. These days, I'm confined to my office, the backyard, my kids' school, and the nearest, admittedly drab, mall. I think I realized how narrow my horizons had become until I was given an excuse to probe beyond.

This, I must explain, came in the context of my 38th birthday, having decided to try a complete rebuild of my bike. A 2005 Falcon Nomad, which had been sitting in a succession of sheds for about fifteen years. I thought I would ask for the tools and a book explaining what to do, then teach myself how to disassemble and reassemble a bike as I go. This, my friends, didn't go very well, as the advanced age and poor condition of the bike meant that every repair I attempted, from paint jobs to brake replacements, went horribly wrong. past. (Perhaps I should just admit that I am not, and never will be, "good with my hands", and that when the apocalypse comes, my job will be to be hunted and eaten.)

Daniel Cooper

It also seemed like the perfect time to try Swytch, a product I had been interested in for several years at this point. The company produces an e-bike retrofit kit that can be easily bolted onto existing bikes, giving them new electric life. All you have to do is replace the front wheel with a new one with a built-in 250W electric motor, which comes with a battery, pedal sensor and controller. Now, depending on your patience and budget, you can pick up a Swytch kit for around £450 ($550 before tax), although it's usually more expensive. That said, a Swytch kit and analog bike are often much cheaper than all but the most basic (and ugly) new e-bikes.

(There's also the long-held view that millions of people have bikes in similar states of disrepair in their own sheds or garages. But a lack of confidence or fitness means they don't won't take them out and get used to cycling again. However, if you could easily and cheaply add an e-motor to an e-motor, most of these objections go away pretty quickly.)

Buying a Swytch kit is more complex than just going to a store and getting one. You will need to advise Swytch of your existing bike and wheel size. You will need to send them the detailed measurements of your front forks and the size of the space a wheel can fit into. Then, after a while, they'll send you a custom-sized wheel designed to fit the space, complete with everything needed to get you started.

Daniel Cooper

The ads say if you can change a tire then you can install Swytch, which is correct. Even I, who couldn't get my rear brakes to sit properly, was able to screw in the wheel and wire the cable. Once you're done, it's mostly self-explanatory, although I would have liked more advice on the best location for the pedal sensor. Basically, you just need to use a hex wrench to bolt together the small OLED display, controller/battery mount and wire up the cables (colour coded), using the included cable ties to keep everything tidy.

Tip: When attaching the magnet wheel to the crank arm and hall sensor, leave your cable ties loose until everything is aligned. This way you can make finer adjustments, useful since every Swytch customer gets a quick video call with a tech support person. They will review your setup and make sure your installation was successful...