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  • The issue is that none of them are BS kitemarked, because they’re all bought online and there’s no restrictions on what’s coming in to the country. The idea of a cheap li-ion battery would have been ludicrous even a few years ago, but that’s what we’re getting now, and the reason they’re cheap is because there are zero safety features built into them. A Bosch or Shimano battery will cost £500 while a Chinese one will cost around £150. The chargers you get with cheap bikes & scooters have no cut-outs either, so if the battery fails the charger will keep pumping into it, exacerbating the issue. Cheap li-ion batteries are made from cheap materials, and the cells are badly insulated - eventually the insulation will break down, debris will fall down to the bottom of the cell and short out the next cell, and wahey, it’s thermal runaway time.

    Basically you get what you pay for.

  • because they’re all bought online and there’s no restrictions on what’s coming in to the country.

    Bingo, and highly likely self-build as (I hope) bicycle shops won't touch them.

  • Our rule is no conversion kits, nothing with a throttle or trigger and definitely nothing de-restricted. We’ve had a few pissy people when we’ve refused to fix a puncture or whatever but it’s not worth the hassle.

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