PhilWinIL

Since I started to seriously consider an e-bike to add to the other bikes Iwas looking at a Surface 604 Colt. Sonce then and after some car repairs on one vehicle and a new van for the wife, I held off on the 604. What I am now in the process of doing is converting a new bike into. an e-bike. This will make it about $800 cheaper. The bike I plan to retro-fit is a 6KU Bikes Canvas. It was just assembed this weekend bofore the rain moved in here. The next step is to purchase a Bafang 500W 48V rear hub upgrade kit. That will be this next month hopefully.

With a newly opened bike trail just 2.5 miles west of our house, I can't pass up the temptation. Plus as stated originally, to save some mileage on the car.

For trail use, as in the Katy Trail, I will use the Sun EZ-1. A recumbent wins on the gravel pavement there. The Grand Prix's I have, normal street anad trail use. The Canvas, the Commuter Bike.

I will post some photos as the upgrade moves along.

Phil

Here are some of the photos I spoke of in the earlier post. This is a "work in progress" and is not complete yet. One thing for sure when you get a kit is that you get more wiring than you need. I plan on mounting a plastic box on the underside of the rack in back and also moving the controller box to the back of the top tube so that the extra wiring can be housed in the plastic box. A battery is currently on order, and should come just after Christmas. That will balance out the weight of it. Cost-wise, this has run just over $1000. The Bafang wheel worked out fine with the cassette that came with the bike. Enjoying the challenge on setting this up!

In the photos you will notice HWBS brake sensors on the brake lines. That is to take place of the brake grip sensors that came with the kit. They sense the motion in tha cable to cut the power to the motor.

There are more phots out on Dropbox at: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/4g38ptaft...Q7sWmwR0a?dl=0
More later,

Phil

dieth34

I live in Thailand where it is hot all year long (30*-35* c) and I don’t like to arrive at my customers place totally sweaty.

JaxOhm

I'm a few years behind the OP in age. Enjoyed bicycling all throughout my youth, but it eventually gave way to racquetball and motorcycles. Fast forward thirty years and a few motorcycle get-off's along the way, and I found myself with a partially torn meniscus. I'd just had two foot surgeries from one of the more serious motorcycle events. Combined they took away about a year of my healthy normal gettin-around life to recovery. I can't complain...could have been far worse. So the idea of yet another surgery and possibly another 6 months of recoup to completely normal (varies according to tear and procedure), my surgeon said I might do fine if I limited my exercise to low-impact activities. The big three are swimming, rowing, and bicycling. Two wheels always close to my heart, especially with a motor added, I decided to go back to bicycles, but came right up against the brick wall of being in piss-poor condition, and living in a hilly city. Enter the eBike option. A big investment, yes, but one test ride had me hooked. Steep hills were no longer a daunting sight, and I quickly was back to my youthful aggressive riding style, with added street savvy of having been over thirty years on motorcycles in urban traffic. About four and a half years later I have over 16,000 miles on my Ohm eBike. I'm on my third battery and just killed my first motor. I'd say that riding like I do 3K-4K miles/year in all four seasons, my experience has been that it is definitely NOT the money-saving mode of transportation some dealers might want people to think. The high cost of admission, the price of replacement batteries, and higher maintenance in general all add up quickly. That combined with the technology is very much I tried to ballpark it, and was looking at about .40 cents a mile if my calculations are accurate.

lkoyanagi

Im 72. Ebike is my only choice rather than a ratchet grip shifter and another low geared bike, effort and sweat to take steep driveways, hills, rises and grades. I start from stop uphill using aftermarket throttle, could go laterally first a couple of cranks. No sweating or much effort, enjoy scenery. New add-on throttle took a 5 days, mods to controller software, waterproof connectors and $100 to my shop. Very happy and humble.

BrocLuno

70+ here too, so I'd like to add "power steering" to help me along as the miles add up ...

We have relatives in Holland who use them for commuting. I tried out one of their Gazelles, and liked it. Beats a head wind any day