Converting a folding bike

Folders are a natural front-hub bike. Swytch is built around that: 250 W, a small pack, wheels down to 16 inch, a rear end you leave alone. The hinge, the luggage block and the handlebar fold are the parts a normal hybrid kit never meets.

Check these before the motor

• Does the motor wheel clear the latch and the mudguard in the folded position, not just when riding?
• Does the pack mount on the bar, and does that bar still fold?
• Is the fork 100 mm quick release, and is it a fork you trust with a hub?
• Where does the cable go through the hinge?
• Is the wheel 20 inch or 16 inch? They are not a shared spare.

A mid-drive on a folder can work when the shell is BSA and the chainstay is long enough for the ring. Many folders are not that bike. A rear hub can work and can also fill the only part of the fold that used to be empty. Put the bike in the folded position on the shop floor before you pay.

Mass matters more here than on a hybrid you never lift. A 3 kg motor and a 2 kg pack are a different train ride from an all-in-one wheel. Read system mass, and then lift the bike.