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Review: iMortor 3.0 Wireless Electric Bike Front Wheel Conversion Kit

I decided to convert an old folding bike into an eBike with the iMortor 3.0 Wireless Electric Bike Front Wheel Conversion Kit. It was a learning experience. Ultimately got it installed onto a Dahon Espresso.

Building a folding eBike with a child’s seat for ~$1,000

This is a super-long entry and not part of my usual nonsense about nuthin.

Before all the madness with the pandemic set in, I hit upon an idea during one of my sleepless nights: For the summer, I would buy an eBike, slap on a child-seat, and take the kid all over the city, and potentially, as far as Westchester.

I’d get some exercise, he’d get some fresh air, we’d bond and avoid watching too much TV: win-win-win.

I did tons of research – particularly speaking to CoB and her boyfriend, who manages a Trek bike shop – and figured I needed four major things:

      1. A bike that folded because I live in a tiny Manhattan apartment.
      2. A full sized (26″) bike so I could safely use a standard child-seat for maximum protection of my most prized possession.
      3. Either a front or center mounted motor to keep it as far away from the kid as possible.
      4. A battery that was also as far away from the kid as possible.

You’d never guess how few options I had. Actually, zero is the answer. No one made anything with those four criteria.

So, I decided to build/assemble it myself (with Chad’s help, in exchange for (copious amounts of) food and rum).

I started by doing some research on inexpensive but well-regarded folding bikes and Dahon seemed to fit the bill. But they stopped making 26″ bikes.

So, I picked up a used Dahon Matrix. Much more on this later.

I also figured out that the simplest option was to get the iMortor 3.0 Wireless Electric Bike Front Wheel Conversion Kit.

It’s a pretty ridiculous name – “iMortor” is how they actually spell it – but people looked like they were having fun on it, at least the 2.0 version.

On Amazon, it was about $620 (this is the 2.0 version); I picked it up for $500 from Banggood but it would take two months to get here. I wasn’t in a rush so that was fine.

Insert worldwide pandemic here.

By the time the wheel arrived, the boy was safely in NJ. So, with Chad’s help, we tried installing it onto the Matrix.

Dude, nothing we did could make the damn wheel fit. We even Dremeled part of the axel. Nuthin. A week of nuthin.

Either the disc brake kept hitting the braking mechanism or the wheel itself couldn’t fit into the fork.

Giving up, we brought it to a pro shop and they cracked the fork. Balls!

So, we bought another fork and that too didn’t work.

The bike shop was so irritated that they told us to get out and never to return.

Him: Get out, get out, get out, get out.
Me: It sounds like you want me to leave.

This whole thing took a total of five months from the time I ordered the wheel to getting kicked outta the shop.

Was about to give up when I eventually figured out that the Matrix had shocks on the front fork – and so did the replacement fork – and the hub was hitting against the shocks.

So, I gave it one more try.

I sold the Matrix at cost to Chad – who is now a NYC biking fool with a brand new fork with shocks – and picked up a Dahon Espresso (also used), which didn’t have shocks on the front fork.

Bam! The wheel took literally 5 minutes to install. (ARGH!)

After weeping in a fetal position for a bit, we were back to work. Chad and I spent the next week learning how to install V-Brakes onto a bike. That’s a whole ‘nother entry.

Good thing I went to law school.

One thing that was puzzling was that there was no throttle.

Chad: How does it start?
Me: I know exactly as much as you do at this point, man!

Usually, with these conversion kits, there’s either a throttle that you press with a thumb or twist like a motorcycle OR, on the higher end models, there’s a sensor on the pedals that sense when you’re moving and kick in for assist.

This thing, nuthin.

Turns out that it kinda combines both types: Once you reach a nominal speed, the wheel kicks in. Now, one time Chad was pushing the bike, it started to go, which freaked him out, but it didn’t do that with me…yet.

Most of the controls are via the fairly sketchy but still functional app that they have for both Apple and Android. It works rather well, connecting via bluetooth; the app just doesn’t look very polished.

During this whole time, I also managed to get an extra battery for $250 on ebay.

So, after five months of insanity, I finally have what I wanted: A folding ebike that could take a standard child safety seat with the battery and motor far from where the kid was gonna be.

Cost a bit more than I planned but it was still worth it.

Honestly, it’s insanely fun. The motor is super powerful and with both batteries, I could easily make it out to my parents on the tail end of Queens. It’s pretty amazeballs.

I’ll put up a video of the bike at some point – this entry’s getting super long as it is. But if you’re thinking about getting it, with the right bike, it’s just great.

I’ll let you know if there are any problems down the line too.

Here’s it’s final form. Just need to figure out where to put the damn thing:

Cost:
Bike (used): $400
iMortor electric wheel: $500
Extra battery: $250
Accessories and wasted purchases: $100
Total: $1,250

Location: home, with a fully functional eBike but no kid to put on it
Mood: hot
Music: I know I can count on you (Spotify)
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27 replies on “Review: iMortor 3.0 Wireless Electric Bike Front Wheel Conversion Kit”

Ha – I think if someone were actually smart, they wouldn’t have taken weeks to do it all.

i found your review when i googled imortor. i ended up buying a similar kit from green zone bikes based in texas for $500 shipped. i think it’s better than the imortor for many reasons. also ebikeling is worth checking out, more powerful kits for $600

Hi from Spain, the same problem here, my fork width is 104mm but the wheel doesn’t fit. When you bought the fork without shocks the width in that fork I assume that it’s at least 120-130 mm isn’t it??. I’m searching forks without shocks but all of them have a 100mm width size so the wheel wouldn’t fit. Hope you help me with this.

Regards!

No – without the shocks, a regular 100mm fork fits the iMortar. You just have to make sure it doesn’t have shocks.

Hi Logan thanks for the answer but I don’t understand why, in both forks the width would be 100mm and the with of the wheel axe is wider, so I understand the problem would be the same

At least for me, it was the disc brake (which I removed) and then the width of the motor that was preventing me from getting the wheel mounted. It wasn’t actually the axle width, which is what I thought it was for weeks.

Without the shocks, it fit onto a regular fork that was 100mm in width.

Thanks Logan, a friend of mine had left me an old fork without shocks, i’ll try wit it.

Hi there – sorry, it was totally just a quirk; I was searching for reviews on the iMortor to try and get the fork issue resolved and came across a private Craigslist sale of a battery from a guy that had the wheel and crashed it, wrecking the wheel but saving the battery. I ended up buying it off of him just by chance.

Good job with getting this going! Great bit of luck finding that extra battery too! I’ll need one of thoseas I’m using the iMortor for winter UberEats work. (I use nice light old-school MTB in the summer) I just got the iMortor 3.0 kit (I just love saying that name) but decided to get it from a dealer in Vancouver who shipped it. I trust dealing through a domestic dealer. Don’t feel too comfortable with sites like Banggood. (bought a jacket on there once) More expensive through the dealer but better buyer protection that way. I was able to get my kit with a handlebar-mounted LCD controller included. Converting my old rusty Trek 820 MTB as it was going to be my winter beater anyways. I haven’t finished building the bike up yet. How does yours ride? Does the front-wheel-drive feel strange?

Thanks! The front-wheel drive feels GREAT and I’m super happy with it; really, the only issue I have with it is that, because there’s so much mass and because I have V-Brakes, it seems likely that I’ll need to replace the brake pads every 1.5 months or so, for safety reasons. I wish there was a way to safely use the disc brakes.

Having said that, I don’t have any other complaints.

How far along are you?

I’m using a rigid fork that has a disc brake mount on it. I bought it from a local shop. It came from a dirt-jump bike that somebody had traded in for an upgrade. It’s fat and heavy (just barely fit the iMortor) but I know it will be able to handle the weight of the motor. I’m installing a Zoom hydraulic disc brake. Check ebay, they go pretty cheap. You could probably find a rigid cromoly fork with a disc mount that will fit the iMortor wheel. I’m just hoping I can squeeze at least a 2.5″ tire on there. With no front suspension something will be needed to smooth out my deliveries or there will be a lot of spilled drinks.

I’m still waiting on the new disc brake and a new rear wheel. I tried overhauling my old one but the cones are shot. (and vintage replacements aren’t worth the $$) I have most of the other parts in my spare parts box. (new chain, cogs, B.B. etc) Need to have it ready before winter hits. My summer ride is not going to see any snow or salt. Still trying to pick out tires.

Where are you located? It’s definitely closer to winter in NYC than it is summer, that’s for sure. I stopped riding the bike a few weeks back and am thinking of bringing it to my basement.

You sound much handier than I am when it comes to bikes. I was just happy my buddy and I managed to get that damn wheel mounted.

I’m up in Toronto so very similar weather to NYC. Using the bike mainly for work (4 to 6 hours/day) but with COVID 19 going on I’m avoiding public transit completely. I’ve done bike courier work, on and off, since the late 1980s. This food delivery thing is new and I have to compete with all the young folks doing it. Most are using e-bikes.

Gosh, that was a long time ago but I think you need the right password, which I *believe* was 0000 or 00000.

Let me know if you get it to work!

The problem for me is that the wheel doesn’t show up in the bluetooth list. I thought maybe there was some button somewhere to turn the bluetooth on.

Nope, sorry, for me, it was always broadcasting and just showed up in a search for it. Good luck getting it connected!

God I wish I could unsubscribe to this! I keep trying the unsubscribe link but no luck.

Shoot, I spent a solid 10 minutes trying to figure that out for you BUT you can add this to your spam list so you never see them again? Sorry and good luck!

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