Suggestions for someone who REALLY wants to get a kit but knows nothing
09-20-10, 08:37 PM
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Suggestions for someone who REALLY wants to get a kit but knows nothing
Hello all,
I have been wanting to get an e-bike kit, but am completely lost. So I figure to come to a place where people know the field. I have a lot of questions and I know there will be a lot of opinions, but I would like to hear them all. So thank you for taking the time to help me out. I am in Wisconsin and want to use it year round. I am looking more for distance so I know I will need to carry extra batteries along with charger and a bike kit for repairs. I am a 5' 8" 250 - 300 lbs 40year old man in HORRIBLE shape along with a bad knee. Will be using the throttle a lot at the beginning and as I get in better shape pedal more and more than just use the throttle for uphills (this is my goal). Well here are my questions.
1. Do I get a front or rear brushless hub motor preferably 700w or something completely different.(for distance, durability, and all seasons including snow must be waterproof)
2. What batteries to get. I imagine I will either get a 36v or 48v (distance, also will be carrying extra batteries. looking to get at least 100 miles.)
3. Compatible charger for batteries. (also needs to be portable so I am able to charge on the go. Coffee breaks lol)
4. Want to be able to hold 15 - 20 mph even up hills with very light peddling.
5. Life expectancy of motor you suggest (remember it will be year round, snow, rain, heat)
6. Recommended Bicycle for motor. (prefer something comfortable, and might have to hit a trial once and a while (will be buying used to keep cost down. I do know some about bikes. I used to disassemble them 20 years back and paint than reassemble))
Thats what I can think of right now to start I am sure I will have more questions as we go.
My budget is around the $1500.00 U.S. for the kit and batteries and about $300.00 U.S. for the bike. I do not like e-bay, I would rather do business with a company. I use local craigslist. (Milwaukee, Wisconsin)) able to see product and try before I buy). I guess I am looking for advice on all parts to get the best I can for the budget I have. This is a new concept for me so if I missed anything please add or ask. I just registered here so I will be coming on this form daily, so I will be able to communicate pretty well. <mod edit--email removed, spam bots will pick it up, so it's for your own good> So any insight on this will be very helpful. Thank you again for taking a look and helping me out on this grand new venture. It is going to feel good getting out again.
I have been wanting to get an e-bike kit, but am completely lost. So I figure to come to a place where people know the field. I have a lot of questions and I know there will be a lot of opinions, but I would like to hear them all. So thank you for taking the time to help me out. I am in Wisconsin and want to use it year round. I am looking more for distance so I know I will need to carry extra batteries along with charger and a bike kit for repairs. I am a 5' 8" 250 - 300 lbs 40year old man in HORRIBLE shape along with a bad knee. Will be using the throttle a lot at the beginning and as I get in better shape pedal more and more than just use the throttle for uphills (this is my goal). Well here are my questions.
1. Do I get a front or rear brushless hub motor preferably 700w or something completely different.(for distance, durability, and all seasons including snow must be waterproof)
2. What batteries to get. I imagine I will either get a 36v or 48v (distance, also will be carrying extra batteries. looking to get at least 100 miles.)
3. Compatible charger for batteries. (also needs to be portable so I am able to charge on the go. Coffee breaks lol)
4. Want to be able to hold 15 - 20 mph even up hills with very light peddling.
5. Life expectancy of motor you suggest (remember it will be year round, snow, rain, heat)
6. Recommended Bicycle for motor. (prefer something comfortable, and might have to hit a trial once and a while (will be buying used to keep cost down. I do know some about bikes. I used to disassemble them 20 years back and paint than reassemble))
Thats what I can think of right now to start I am sure I will have more questions as we go.
My budget is around the $1500.00 U.S. for the kit and batteries and about $300.00 U.S. for the bike. I do not like e-bay, I would rather do business with a company. I use local craigslist. (Milwaukee, Wisconsin)) able to see product and try before I buy). I guess I am looking for advice on all parts to get the best I can for the budget I have. This is a new concept for me so if I missed anything please add or ask. I just registered here so I will be coming on this form daily, so I will be able to communicate pretty well. <mod edit--email removed, spam bots will pick it up, so it's for your own good> So any insight on this will be very helpful. Thank you again for taking a look and helping me out on this grand new venture. It is going to feel good getting out again.
Last edited by Allen; 09-24-10 at 09:59 AM.
09-24-10, 02:07 AM
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>> 4. Want to be able to hold 15 - 20 mph even up hills with very light peddling.
My guesstimate is that you'd need about 1000W sustained from the motor to do 15mph on a 10% hill. I suggest you relax this requirement.
My guesstimate is that you'd need about 1000W sustained from the motor to do 15mph on a 10% hill. I suggest you relax this requirement.
09-24-10, 06:55 AM
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First off you are being very agressive considering a 100 mile range and I don't care how many coffee and donut stop you make. This would be aggressive for a light weight person no offence but consider the weight of you, the bike, batteries, motor/electronics, charger and tools. Now throw on something you want t ocarry along just in case. Lets be honest you likely have not ridden in a long time and as you basicly indicated your out of shape and like me with a bad knee ( depending on the knee problem it may actually improve over time by bike riding providing you actually peddle _ mine sure did). Now for you speed requirements; again I think condisering the total weight the motor will need to handle plus the hills you want to climb your going to need one hell of a motor. Not to mention have you ridden a bike at 20mph? Considering your situation I would highly recommend you consider something you can build on as your situation changes. Yeah, I know there are people out there that ride 100 miles at a crack but damn few of them. I find 25 miles on a bike seat is about all my butt can handle and I'll bet you a 100 bucks you will not get close to that for sometime. So why worry about it now? Start out with a setup that can get you say 20 miles and if you feel you can go futher in the future add more battery power when it's needed.
BATTERY: For sure you need to look into Lipo or at least lifepo4 batteries. Lipo would be the best because they are the lightest, fastest to charge and offer the best power to weight ratio. But there are some draw back to using them too. Lifepo4 and at least twice the weight and size but easier to care for. Absolutly stay away from lead (SLA).
MOTOR: I'm not going to recommend a kit but as I said I would highly recommend you look into a setup that uses the bikes gearing so you can contend with the hills without having to extream oversize the motor to handle them. Most people will tell you to go with the higher voltage motors because they are more eff. I'm not an electrical eng. so I won't argue about it but I have always felt 1000w is 1000w of power no mater what voltage it's running at. Of course most of us know the watts are devided by the volts to determine the required controller amperage output. But let me tell you I run a small 24v_450w brushed gearhead motor through my bike's gearing and I can do 22mph with no peddling. I have a twin motor setup so if I kick in the second motor I can do much more (still testing it). Bottom line, the # to look for is the wattage of the motor not the voltage. Remember the lower the voltage the cheaper the battery and adding more battery adds less weight as you increase your distance.
BIKE: Tp me the perfect bike is anything of good quality and FULL suspension. The problem is a full suspension bike is hard to carry a lot of batteries on. Personally I think a steel framed bike would be better for provided you are not going to carry up steps for storage. While a steel frame is generally heavier it is easier to work with when doing modifications.
Why aren't you looking into complete ebikes instead of trying to patch something together. You could look on Craigs list for a used Currie and build it up to your needs. There was a posting on one of the forums the other day from a guy that bought an EZip for $25 and it was in perfect condition (the seller thought it had a problem because he didn't know how to use it). The Ezip is of course a cheap bike but it's goo for starters and it can be upgraded with twin motors and better batteries. The frame is very strong as well. the normal speed is 15_16 mph but with twin motor I think it could do 18 mph. You can also change the gearing on it to get up to 30 MPH. Even if you bought it new for $400 and added a second motor and lifepo4 batteries you would be spending less then your budget. I would guess with twin motors and lifepo4 batteries you range would be between 20 to 40 miles. And you could look into lipo batteries that would get you a lot more range. You can also over voltage the motors and get even higher speeds. There are guys that have thousands of miles on these bike and have had very little problems with them. My wife and I both have one (of course we also have others). the twin motor bike I have is a modified EZip.
Good Luck, Bob
BATTERY: For sure you need to look into Lipo or at least lifepo4 batteries. Lipo would be the best because they are the lightest, fastest to charge and offer the best power to weight ratio. But there are some draw back to using them too. Lifepo4 and at least twice the weight and size but easier to care for. Absolutly stay away from lead (SLA).
MOTOR: I'm not going to recommend a kit but as I said I would highly recommend you look into a setup that uses the bikes gearing so you can contend with the hills without having to extream oversize the motor to handle them. Most people will tell you to go with the higher voltage motors because they are more eff. I'm not an electrical eng. so I won't argue about it but I have always felt 1000w is 1000w of power no mater what voltage it's running at. Of course most of us know the watts are devided by the volts to determine the required controller amperage output. But let me tell you I run a small 24v_450w brushed gearhead motor through my bike's gearing and I can do 22mph with no peddling. I have a twin motor setup so if I kick in the second motor I can do much more (still testing it). Bottom line, the # to look for is the wattage of the motor not the voltage. Remember the lower the voltage the cheaper the battery and adding more battery adds less weight as you increase your distance.
BIKE: Tp me the perfect bike is anything of good quality and FULL suspension. The problem is a full suspension bike is hard to carry a lot of batteries on. Personally I think a steel framed bike would be better for provided you are not going to carry up steps for storage. While a steel frame is generally heavier it is easier to work with when doing modifications.
Why aren't you looking into complete ebikes instead of trying to patch something together. You could look on Craigs list for a used Currie and build it up to your needs. There was a posting on one of the forums the other day from a guy that bought an EZip for $25 and it was in perfect condition (the seller thought it had a problem because he didn't know how to use it). The Ezip is of course a cheap bike but it's goo for starters and it can be upgraded with twin motors and better batteries. The frame is very strong as well. the normal speed is 15_16 mph but with twin motor I think it could do 18 mph. You can also change the gearing on it to get up to 30 MPH. Even if you bought it new for $400 and added a second motor and lifepo4 batteries you would be spending less then your budget. I would guess with twin motors and lifepo4 batteries you range would be between 20 to 40 miles. And you could look into lipo batteries that would get you a lot more range. You can also over voltage the motors and get even higher speeds. There are guys that have thousands of miles on these bike and have had very little problems with them. My wife and I both have one (of course we also have others). the twin motor bike I have is a modified EZip.
Good Luck, Bob
10-02-10, 04:59 PM
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Expect to pay $1500+ just for the batteries, if your looking to get 100 miles distance...
You can lessen that figure if you go with a dual motor setup, but then again, you have to add the price and complexity of a dual motor setup.
My current ride gives me 117m at 18mph, using 2 36v 20+ah batts..
You can lessen that figure if you go with a dual motor setup, but then again, you have to add the price and complexity of a dual motor setup.
My current ride gives me 117m at 18mph, using 2 36v 20+ah batts..
10-03-10, 01:54 AM
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Wishful Thinking?
Upwards of 30km/h on the flat and you're moving it along. To expect that sort of speed up a hill (regardless of pedalling input) is totally unrealistic.
I'm also guessing that your expectations of 100 miles on a charge is completely improbable too.
With all due respect, I think you need to do a LOT more research before building this SUPERbike! If you do manage to get it together for $1500, you'll be a millionaire overnight LOL.
—Cheers.
10-03-10, 06:03 AM
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I'm sorry, but I'm guessing that you have NO idea what 20mph (32km/h) feels like on a bicycle!
Upwards of 30km/h on the flat and you're moving it along. To expect that sort of speed up a hill (regardless of pedalling input) is totally unrealistic.
I'm also guessing that your expectations of 100 miles on a charge is completely improbable too.
With all due respect, I think you need to do a LOT more research before building this SUPERbike! If you do manage to get it together for $1500, you'll be a millionaire overnight LOL.
—Cheers.
Upwards of 30km/h on the flat and you're moving it along. To expect that sort of speed up a hill (regardless of pedalling input) is totally unrealistic.
I'm also guessing that your expectations of 100 miles on a charge is completely improbable too.
With all due respect, I think you need to do a LOT more research before building this SUPERbike! If you do manage to get it together for $1500, you'll be a millionaire overnight LOL.
—Cheers.
1000W kits can be had cheap and if your buying cheap batteries you could get TWO 48V40ah batteries and still not go over the budget.
That's not for me though i'd rather have a quality kit that will stand the test of time and worth something when I want to sell it.
10-03-10, 11:11 AM
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I would love to know where you think you're going to find even one 48v 40ah battery for under $1000
Lifepo's and Lipo's cost that much and one [set of 4] (and especially two sets) of SLAs would be way to heavy.
Lifepo's and Lipo's cost that much and one [set of 4] (and especially two sets) of SLAs would be way to heavy.
Last edited by Sangesf; 10-03-10 at 11:15 AM.
10-06-10, 05:32 AM
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suggestion
i have to agree, i am a newby to this and just in the final stages of buying my kit....
i am going for lifepo4 batteries 48v 15ah - 1000w 48v hub
48v 40ah is going to cost a mint......
what we have to remember though is this person is trying to do something good, and it is going to be rather hard!!
the benefits might outweigh the cost!!
if i can offer a suggestion - do your research first, posting individual questions if needed.. and then post a "what you need it for" and "bike or kit that you think you will need" - and ask for comments.....
People here will be very helpful
hope this helps
i am going for lifepo4 batteries 48v 15ah - 1000w 48v hub
48v 40ah is going to cost a mint......
what we have to remember though is this person is trying to do something good, and it is going to be rather hard!!
the benefits might outweigh the cost!!
if i can offer a suggestion - do your research first, posting individual questions if needed.. and then post a "what you need it for" and "bike or kit that you think you will need" - and ask for comments.....
People here will be very helpful
hope this helps
