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If you’re considering converting your bike to electric assist, navigating the huge number of available kits can be mind-boggling. Fortunately, one of the cheapest and most reliable conversion kits is available on eBay. In this Yose Power e-bike kit review, I will look at the pros and cons based on my experience installing over 50 kits on customers’ bikes. Find out more about my electric bike conversion service.
| Motor Type | Front or Rear Brushless Geared Hub Motor |
| Power | 250-watt or 350-watt |
| Voltage | 36-volt |
| Pedal Sensor | Cadence PAS |
| Display | Multi-Function LCD |
| Accessories | Tool Kit, Installation Manual, Cable Ties |
| Availability | Online Only – UK, EU and USA |
Pros
- Excellent Value for Money
- Decent Performance
- Nice Display
- Easy to Install
- Comes with Toolkit
Cons
- Broken Spokes
- The motor can be noisy under load
- Struggles on very steep hills
Summary
From 2016-2019, I made a living converting bikes to electric assist, and one of my favourite conversion kits was sold via eBay. Yose Power is based in China but sells most of its e-bike kits through eBay in the UK and EU. I installed my first Yose Power kit in 2017 and was immediately impressed with the quality and performance of the motor.
Fast forward to 2020, and I still do the occasional conversion; since 2017, I reckon I’ve converted over 50 bikes using this kit. One of the stand-out things about these conversion kits is not only the price; long-term reliability is the best I’ve encountered in the DIY e-bike world.
I have had many issues with mid-drive conversions and a few problems with cheap direct-drive hub motors, but the Yose Power kits have never caused me any major bother. On top of that, you get a lot for your money – it’s one of the few kits that gives you a useful tool kit and headlight.
Below, I have outlined some of the key features of the Yose Power e-bike kit.
Buy from Yose Power directly and use the coupon code BH2E24BXQH for a €10 discount.
Motor Kit
The kit comes in various options and wheel sizes (listed below) and is available as a front or rear-wheel conversion – the latter being the more popular choice.
- Wheel sizes: 26″ / 27.5″ / 28″
- Motor colour: Silver/black
- Gear cassette: Screw-on freewheel or cassette (8/9/10 speed)
- Power rating: 250w / 350w
- Voltage: 36v
As you can see, there are options to suit all the common wheel sizes and gear systems used on modern bikes.
Compatibility
The Yose Power kit is designed to fit regular ‘quick release’ front or rear dropouts of approximately 100mm wide on the front and 135mm at the rear. Many modern mountain and road bikes have ‘thru-axle’ hubs – bikes with this type of hub would not be suitable for an electric hub motor.
Another occasional problem I’ve encountered is tyre width – this isn’t a problem on hybrid or mountain bikes, but if you’re considering fitting this kit to a road bike, you will need clearance for a 28mm wide tyre. This is the minimum width tyre recommended for this rim.
Pedal Sensor Compatibility
A cadence pedal sensor is included in the kit – it comes in the form of a split magnetic disc (secured with a spring clip) and the pick-up sensor. This is usually fine with a regular square-tapered bottom bracket axle, but it will not work with a Hollowtech-type external bottom bracket. If you have the latter fitted to your bike, purchase a separate sensor.
Brake Lever Compatibility
The supplied brake levers with integrated motor cut-off sensors suit cable brakes (disc, cantilever or v-brakes). If your bike has hydraulic brakes or an integrated brake lever/gear shifter, you are faced with two choices – don’t bother with cut-offs (the motor will run fine without them) or buy specific sensors for hydraulic brakes.
Do you need to fit the supplied brake levers? I’ve never used them. The motor will start and stop only when you pedal – even if you use the supplied throttle, it will only work once you are travelling at least six mph. If the motor stays on, you can hit the kill switch or apply the brakes hard.
Compatibility with Disc brakes
Both the front and rear hub motor have six bolt fixings to mount a brake rotor if required – you must use the disc bolts provided as if you use longer ones, they will interfere with the motor’s running.
Display
On the older kits, they used to use the proven KT-LCD3 display, but more recently, they have used a different display, which is very high quality and has an aluminium back plate. This is an excellent display, especially when you consider the price of the kit – I would go as far as saying it’s better than many of the displays you get on factory e-bikes.
The information available to the rider:
- Speed (mph or km/h)
- Pedal assist level
- Battery indicator
- Real-time battery voltage
- Trip function
Accessories Included in the Kit
Yose Power is one of the few e-bike kit suppliers that includes instructions and a toolkit. The toolkit comprises a full Allen key set, crank puller, chain whip and cassette removal tool. They also include a headlight that plugs into the wiring harness and can be powered on/off by the display. Cable ties are also supplied, which is a nice attention to detail.
Motor Performance
The motor supplied with the Yose Power kit is available in 250w or 350w power options. These small hub motors have an internal gear reduction system, so the motor always spins faster than the wheel. This makes the motor more efficient and produces more torque than a similar direct-drive unit.
The controller determines motor power – 250w has a 36v 15A controller and 350w a 36v 18A. In the UK and EU, the law states the motor should not exceed 250w of continuous power – it’s up to you whether you get the 350w version, but I don’t feel the extra power is worth the risk – the motor power rating is visible on the hub motor.
I live at the bottom of a short steep hill (10% over 0.25 miles), and I converted the old Giant hybrid bike (pictured below) for a chap in his 80s – he rode up the hill whilst simultaneously laughing his head off, saying “This is brilliant”! I think that sums up the Yose Power motor. It’s not a speed demon like a Bafang mid-drive, but its power is more than adequate for most riders. I used to own a bike fitted with one of these kits, and I rarely used it above level 2 assist (out of 5).
How Reliable is the Yose Power E-Bike Kit?
The simple answer is very reliable indeed! To date, the only problems I’ve encountered have been minor and related to the pedal sensor – on some bikes, there is limited clearance between the pedal crank and bottom bracket, which can cause the magnetic disc to stick. I have never had a motor fail or cause problems.
Another issue I’ve had a couple of times is on the cassette freehub version – occasionally, this fails and can be a pain to fix. If your motor kit is still under warranty, it shouldn’t be a problem as their customer service is usually very good.
Potential problems with broken spokes. If you ride a bike regularly, broken spokes are a frustrating fact of life. An e-bike motor, because of the increased weight, increases the risk of broken spokes. My customers haven’t reported higher-than-expected incidences of broken spokes than I would expect. However, I have heard from other people that broken spokes can be an issue with this motor.
Ease of installation
Installation is fairly straightforward, even for a novice. You will need a bit of patience (roughly 2-3 hours) and preferably a workspace and bike stand. Most of the tools are provided, but you will also need some cable cutters (to tidy up cable ties).
The front wheel conversion is easier than the rear as you don’t need to swap out the gear freewheel or cassette. You will need to remove the tyre, inner tube and wheel liner. Then remove the freewheel/cassette and disc rotor (if you have disc brakes). Then you transfer everything to the motor wheel.
Fitting the wheel can be tricky as the hub is a little wider than the standard 135mm – on alloy and steel frames, you will need to splay the dropouts by a few mm to get the axle to drop in.
Then it’s a case of mounting the pedal sensor, battery, controller and display – plug everything in, tidy the wires, charge the battery, and you’re ready. If you’re not confident in doing the job yourself, I would try a local bike shop, as more and more are doing conversions these days.
Battery
Some of the Yose Power kits are supplied with a battery. These kits are great because the controller is integrated into the battery mounting plate – this makes for a neat installation. Batteries available are usually 36v 12.5Ah, and these battery packs seem to be very reliable.
The Verdict
If you’re after a cheap electric bike kit that will perform as well as a hub motor found on something like the Carrera Vulcan, you can’t go wrong with the Yose Power kits. When it comes to quality, they punch well above their weight.
They perform well, are reliable and can be used for leisure riding or commuting – I did one in 2017, and the guy used it for commuting five days a week for three years, all through British winters, and it was still running like a dream!
I always recommend these kits for their simplicity. Even if the motor packed up after a couple of years, they’re easy to fix (for the DIY-minded) or cheap enough to buy another kit.
The Yose Power kits represent an affordable entry to the world of e-biking and feature on my list of the best e-bike conversion kits in 2023 – If you want to breathe new life into an old hybrid or mountain bike, these kits are the best value by far.
Where to Buy the Yose Power Electric Bike Conversion Kit
| Buy from Yose Power direct and use the coupon code BH2E24BXQH for a €10 discount |
| eBay UK |
| Amazon UK |
| eBay Germany |
| Amazon Germany |
| eBay France |
| Amazon France |
| eBay Spain |
| Amazon Spain |
Thanks for reading; if you have any questions, please use the comments section below. I usually respond within 24 hours.
Hi can i ask how do you know what kit to buy for your bike??………i see yose do two types of 26in wheel kits one for “rear motor freewheel” and the other kit is “rear wheel fit for cassette”, not very clued up on the terminolgy used i have a Giant Talon mountain bike and was looking to add an electric kit as my knee is pretty well goosed now but unsure of what one to buy lol…
Hi Stuart,
If your bike has 7 gears or less on the back wheel then it’s likely to be a screw-on freewheel, unless your bike was made in the late 90’s, then it could be either. 8 gears and above is usually a cassette. If in doubt send me the exact model and approximate year of manufacture and I’ll let you know for sure.
Cheers,
Tony
Hi Tony…i have had a good look around the internet trying to find my model i believe it to be a 2010 Tallon 3 26in Wheel model Black and Blue in colour and it has 8 gears on the rear… i also did manage to find a copy of a brochure from Talon for 2010 on the net for their complete model range that year and all the bike specs and looking at it seems my Talon 3 is a cassette type ..it may be over ten years old but its been kept in good order and it suits my needs so a yose upgrade will hopefully keep it going for another ten years lol…thanks again Tony your informative article has convinced me its the kit to go for thanks again..
Cheers
Stuart
You’re welcome?
Hi Tony,
Fascinating article and it is so generous of you to spend your precious time answering questions. So I have another one! I am considering fitting a front-wheel Yose Power conversion to my beloved Raleigh Royal 531 road touring bike, which has good old 27 x 1.25 ” rims – I imagine the 700c (28″) wheel will fit. BUT: what battery is available that might give me a touring range of 60 miles per day with luggage? Obvs I intend to use as little assistance as possible, but my dodgy knee is getting dodgier as I get older! I really don’t want to use another bike, as my present one is an old fiend – we have seen many, many touring miles together. Many thanks, Simon
Hi Simon,
I converted two Dawes Galaxy Touring bikes a couple of years back and I fitted 36v 20Ah batteries on both. The customer reported a range of 70-90 miles which I thought was pretty good. Yose Power sell a 36v 20Ah frame bag battery which should do the job comfortably. Here is the link. Also, I have just installed a forum on this website (in menu bar). It’s empty at the moment but hopefully will build steadily over the next few months. Good luck with the build and if you need any more advice, please let me know.
All the best,
Tony
Thank you Tony, that is amazingly helpful. I will let you know how I get on! The Galaxy is similar to the Royal – in fact, I had one for a while but preferred the Raleigh, mine is one of the last of the hand-made specials from Nottingham, so as you can imagine I want to keep it. Thanks again, and All the best, Simon
Hi Tony. I have just converted a bike using a 36v 250w rear wheel kit. Because I have yet to determine how to attach the PAS sensor to the bottom bracket, I left the PAS disconnected and powered up the motor. I was surprised to find that the motor controller did not need the sensor to operate. Have I got the wrong controller or do I need to change a setting?
Paul.
Hi Paul,
That’s quite normal, the motor can run (on throttle) without the pedal sensor fitted. You can usually disable the throttle function in the advanced settings on the display, but if you’re not going to fit the throttle it won’t matter. The pedal sensor should be fairly straightforward to install if you have a sealed cartridge bottom bracket. They were supplying a split magnetic sensor ring with a separate sensor, but if they’ve gone back to the integrated sensor unit you’ll need to remove the non-drive side crank arm. The sensor slides over the BB axle and presses into the notched cup of the bearing.
Let me know if you have any more questions.
All the best,
Tony
By the way, after posting my first reply, I see that you also live in Cornwall! I am near Callington – Harrowbarrow, in fact, with a very steep climb out of the village, which sometimes puts me off even starting a ride… I’m originally from the Highlands, another hilly area – which I used to cycle as a teenager on a fixed gear BSA Golden Clubman dating from the 1950s. I was a lot stronger then. I wonder which part of Cornwall you are to? 🙂
I’m about 6 miles from Callington, near Blunts. I do a regular ride through Harrowbarrow down to Cotehele – there’s some challenging climbs in that area. I ride a 1990 Dawes Galaxy which I brought from Tavistock 3 years ago for the princely sum of £50. 10’000 miles later it’s still soldering on!
10,000 miles in three years is pretty impressive! I have probably seen you pedal past at some point… Call in for a cuppa sometime! (“Shalam,” Rising Sun, opposite Pearce’s yard). BTW, which wheel size would be the bettter replacement for the old 27 x 1.25″? I see a 27.5 inch seems to be on offer…
I reckon the 27.5″ is worth a try although the rim will be marginally wider. Another option would be to see Pete at Callington cycles and get the motor laced into the original rim. He’s an excellent wheel builder and very reasonably priced. The drop-out spacing will be a bit wider on the hub motor (135mm) but that shouldn’t be too much of a problem on an old Reynolds frame. I know roughly where you are so I’ll pop in for a cuppa when I’m over there next.
Cheers,
Tony
Hi Tony, me again!
I have received the kit but to my consternation the PAS at first appeared to be missing…but there is a small round rotary item with a cable attached that *might* be the PAS but will certainly need the crank pulling off if so (it isn’t neatly split like the one in the packing list, and in your article). Also, kinf of hard to see how it should be fitted. Any thoughts?
Thanks again, Simon in Harrowbarrow.
Hi Simon,
It sounds like you have the one-piece pedal sensor which I’d thought they had stop using due to compatibility issues. I might have a split one here, but I’ll need to check later this afternoon. If I haven’t got one you can ask YosePower to send one out.
Regards,
Tony
Hi Tony,
I worked out what it was eventually, and to be fair to YosePower they had included a crank-puller in the toolkit! So I have fitted the PAS now. Had to do a fair bit of filing away at the wheel spindle to allow the front hub to fit the Raleigh’s dropouts…hope to have the conversion completed this afternoon. Mentioned you to Pete at Callington Cycles this morning (I had to buy a 700c tyre and tube!) and he remembers you well (in a good way that is). All the best, and thanks for replying again,
Simon
Cheers Simon, thanks for the update. Let me know how things go, and I’ll have to drop by on my next ride out your way to see it in person.
Hi Tony, just converted my road trekking bike to an ebike with Yosepower kit. It’s really super so far and am looking forward to testing it out fully. Just one question: what are recommended settings for the Advanced Settings menu (I’m just a casual bike user aged 69 and don’t plan any assault on Alpe d’Huez anytime soon! Thank you. Gus Kelleher
Hi Gus,
If your kit has the latest C500 display I would be inclined to leave the settings as they are. The current is limited to 15A (to match controller). The slow start up setting should reduce or increase the initial boost and ramp up the power slower or faster. Pedal assist sensitivity will determine how far the pedal needs to rotate before the assist kicks in. I think the best thing is to take it for a ride and see how it feels. If you feel it needs more initial boost then incrementally increase the slow start up setting and PAS sensitivity settings.
All the best,
Tony
It was all going so well!
Thought all I had left to do was connect up the battery…then I discovered that the battery connevtor (it’s the 20 Ah one as discussed) was ENTIRELY different to the controller’s connector!
Ah well….I’ve messaged Yose Power to see if they have a convertor cable they can send me. If not, I’m up for getting out the soldering iron and making one up myself…but won’t do that quite yet in case it invalidates a warranty.
Nearly there…butI’m off on tour in a week’s time!
Please do drop in when you’re passing, BTW.
Cheers
Simon
I used to come across that problem quite frequently. I used to use the small red and black Anderson connectors, I think the YS battery controller has male/female bullet connectors. Let me know if you get stuck, I could drop some round early next week.
Hi. I have the 20 inch version of this kit and I think the km/h computer counts with a 26 inch wheel hence it reads higher speed. Can I this adjust for 20 inch?
Hi Tony,
Great review!
I was reading the c500 display manual and noticed that the current setting is set to 15A while the setting on my display is set to 13A.
Do you know what would be the pros and cons of changing the current setting even to the max to 18A and why mine was set only at 13A, did you had the same setting before?
Is there any other settings that you recommend to change to improve this kit?
Best Regards
Hi Ted,
I’ve never played around with the current settings, but I would imagine it depends on what controller is fitted. If your controller has a maximum current of 15A, then that is the maximum you could draw from it. If you have the 350w version then it will be an 18A controller, if it’s the 250w version then it will be 15A. If you can increase the current in-line with your controller maximum then you should see a slight increase in peak power – this will also marginally increase battery energy consumption.
I hope this helps.
All the best,
Tony
Hi Tony,
Thanks for the thorough review. I know you’re not tech support for these guys but wonder if you can help…
I just installed a kit from these guys and had it working before it was all fully fitted. Now that it’s all in place on the bike I can turn the battery on and see it has power, the controller is getting warm, but the display will not light up (neither will the PAS sensor). I’ve tried taking out every connection and putting it back in again and again but not getting any joy. Is the most likely option a faulty controller or display? Or are there any common issues you’ve come across that I could be falling foul of?
Many thanks,
Robbie
Hi Robbie,
That’s not a problem I’ve encountered before with the YS kit. It’s unusual that the controller is getting warm – that shouldn’t feel warm until you’ve been riding it with the assist on for a while. I suspect there could be a problem with the wiring loom possibly causing a short, but it’s hard to say without seeing the bike in the flesh. It’s worth inspecting all the pins in the connectors as they can easily get bent. If they’re all okay I would contact YS to see if they can either send out some new parts of accept a return.
Let me know how things go.
Cheers,
Tony
Thanks for this Tony. I am speaking to the supplier to hopefully resolve this. I appreciate your time.
You’re welcome?
Hi Tony,
Thanks for your very informative review of this kit. I’m planning on converting my adventure bike, a Voodoo Nakisi. it has a Sealed, Square Taper, 68/122.5mm bottom bracket. I know that mid drives conversions are not compatible with sealed bottom brackets, but do you envisage any compatibility issues with the Yose Power rear hub?
Thanks so much for your help,
Katie
Hi Katie,
I’ve converted a Voodoo Marasa hybrid before using the Yose Power Kit, and it was a fairly straightforward job. I’ve just checked the specification of the Nakisi and it should be compatible. You won’t be able to use the supplied brake lever cut-offs as the Nakisi has drop-bar shifters – the brake cut-offs are only really necessary if you’re using a separate throttle.
I hope this helps, let me know if you have any more questions.
All the best,
Tony
Hello 🙂
I posted a question few days ago but for some reason it disappeared. Just in case that you havent seen it im reposting it again. Im interested in buying yose power kit with downtube 36V15Ah battery and rear motor kit with casette, and these are my questions:
I have Jamis citizen 3 with 700x38c tires ( i guess 28″ wheel). My downtube is rather thin with 4.7 cm diameter. Is it smart to go for downtube battery or downtube thickness is not an issue when choosing a battery? I thought of buying rear rack battery but i assumed that it might be to much weight for the back wheel with motor included.
Best regards
Josip
Hi Josip,
I had a look at the Jamis Citizen 3 and if it’s the low-step frame version you won’t be able to fit the downtube battery in there. A rack-mounted battery would be the easiest option, or you could drill a couple of holes in the upper tube, fit riv-nuts and mount the donwtube battery there. The dimensions of the YosePower downtube battery are approximately 365mm x 110mm x 110mm. I have fitted quite a few rack mounted batteries over the years and I’ve never had any issues reported.
Regards,
Tony
Hi Toni,
There are few versions of citizen 3 bike. This is mine https://drive.google.com/file/d/1twgyjBu9q1JPBAkNG_zIQjyGabTkI8w8/view?usp=sharing
Best regards
Josip
Hello 🙂
Im thinking of buying conversion kit from yose power but im not sure what type of battery to go for. My downtube is rater thin, so i tought that going for downtube battery is not such a great idea. I was thinking about buying rear rack battery. Is there any difference in performance between the two if they have same specifications? Also, does downtube thickness play an important role when choosing a battery? These are the batteries i was considering:
https://yosepower.com/collections/e-bike-battery/products/36v12-5ah-ebike-battery-with-black-rear-carrier
https://yosepower.com/collections/e-bike-battery/products/36v-12-5ah-down-tube-battery
Also, what is the difference between 36 v and 48 v batteries, in means of performance, and is there a big difference between 12,5 Ah and 15 Ah batteries?
Best regards
Josip
Hi,
Looking at the frame design of the Jamis Citizen 3, You will need to purchase a rack battery as there’s no mounting points for a downtube battery.
Most of the YosePower kits are 36v so you will need a 36v battery. The Ah rating refers to amp hours – to get the total energy capacity you multiply V x Ah = Wh (watt hours). A higher Ah battery will not improve the motor performance but will mean a greater battery range – a 15Ah battery will give a slightly better range than a 12.5Ah.
Let me know if you have any more questions.
All the best,
Tony
Hi Tony,
Thank you for your answer, i wasn’t able to see it for some reason. Regarding the answer… i have a bottle carrier on my downtube installed on two mounting points. Can they be used for mounting purposes? About 6,5 cm between two points.
Here is the picture
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Uox3U2GP0pMQQ7oVNc2NOzfVXbhmF5LN/view?usp=sharing
I’ve just found some more images of the Jamis and if yours is the regular frame version then you should be okay. The only potential problem I can see is lining up the bottle holes with the battery mounting plate, but this can usually be overcome by drilling an extra hole in the plate.
All the best,
Tony
Yes, its the regular one. Thank you very much for your answer.
Best regards
Josip
Ok, i have one more question 🙂 I would have to drill 3 new holes (existing ones are not in line with the size of the whole set) and one hole, the one on the top would be in an akward part of the rim. Rim is not that round in that part, its even thiner and kind of spiky. Is it advisable to put rimnuts in that part?
Best regards
Josip
Looking at the position of the bottle holder holes, you may be okay. You only need to fix the battery using a minimum of 2 screws. On the Marin bike featured in this article I turned the battery the other way to fit it. It’s not aesthetically ideal but it does the job.
Regards,
Tony
Hello Tony 🙂
What do you make of this battery? Its a bit lighter, not that durable though, regarding the specs at least. If it can go for 100 km on eco mode its good for me. ( im guessing lowest assistance level)
https://yosepower.com/collections/e-bike-battery/products/36v-10ah-bottle-battery-e-bike
Best regards
Josip
Hi Josip,
I have used these batteries in the past but never tested the full range potential. My customers used to get around 50-60km using mixed levels of assist – I would imagine you could squeeze 100km if you were using level 1 and you didn’t need to climb any big hills.
Regards,
Tony
Hi would this be suitable to fit on a ladies Halfords Carrera Crossfire 2 hybrid bike. It has disk brakes. Which would be the better lighter option with least resistance. Only want to use it for the killer hills. Thanks
Hi,
Yes, the motor weighs around 2kg and battery is about 3kg, because it’s a geared hub motor there is virtually no resistance when pedalling without assist.
Regards,
Tony
Hi would this be suitable to fit on a ladies halfords carrera crossfire 2 hybrid bike. It has disk brakes. Thanks
Hi,
Yes it will fit a Carrera Crossfire 2, you’ll need the 700c / 28″ wheel version and if you’re going for the rear motor you will need to choose the gear cassette freehub version (as opposed to the screw-on freewheel version).
If you are buying the whole kit with battery, the frame mounted battery will not fit inside the frame, you will need to mount the battery on the rack if possible.
I’ve converted a couple of Crossfires in the past and they’re fairly straightforward to convert.
All the best,
Tony
Hi Tony,
What are the main reasons that makes this kit a better value than the Bafang’s 250W BBS01B and how would they compare to each other?
Is it true that there is no power switch on their default 12.5Ah battery?
Thanks
Hi,
That’s correct, there is no power switch on their 36v 12.5ah battery.
Regarding comparison between the Yose Power kit and Bafang, it depends on your usage and budget. A BBS01B is going to produce a lot more torque and will be more efficient plus the finished product will be neater. But there is noticeable pedalling resistance when the motor isn’t in use and you’re limited to a single chainring. Long term reliability can also be an issue. The Yose Power kit is better suited to moderately undulating terrain and produces very little resistance when the motor isn’t in use. You can also retain your existing crankset. The YS kit is also much more reliable in my opinion. If I had to choose between the two I would go with the Bafang, but I can repair it if it goes wrong. If you’re happy expect to service the motor from time to time then the Bafang is a great motor. But if you want a kit you can fit and forget, the YS kit is hard to beat.
I hope this helps, if you have any further questions please let me know.
All the best,
Tony