cheesepuff12

OK, i wana make an e bike. what i need to know is which parts are the best for my money.

i need -

*a mountain bike with disk brakes
*brush-less motor with throttle, battery level indicator, etc (the whole conversion kit)
* a Battery

I dont know which bike to get, so please recommend me one. I want disk brakes on the front and rear, but i dont know if the brush-less motors will prevent me from having that as an option. please advise.

I was thinking a LiFePO4 48v 1000w 40AH battery. I want it to last long, and be able to climb moderate hills, as well as be able to go off road, and i want it to be at least a little fast.

as for the entire conversion kit, im not sure witch to get. please advise.

I want to keep it as cost efficient as possible. I'm thinking $1200 for everything without the bike (including shipping)

jethro56 

With well known Battery people. The Cost of a 40 Ah Battery will be $1200 without shipping. https://www.pingbattery.com/servlet/t...cks/Categories

sunnyday

$1200..for the best ?

fugget about it...

I got almost $1300 in mine...and it isnt near the best...and its only a 48 volt /20 a/h lifepo4 battery...

heck, I dont even have disc brakes !

you dont get the " best' for $1200..in this hobby..

maybe $4000 ....just for electrics/battery,.....

My suggestion, lower your expectations

or

save alot more money and keep your expectations.

for $800 delivered...you can get a 1000 watt/48 volt system off ebay , with a 48volt /20Ah lifepo4....but be prepared to spend extra money to get a decent controller and a better lifepo4 battery charger....

this setup will be like mine...it works nicely..but it isnt anywheres near the best.

corkscrew

Not to mention that would be 43.8lbs of batteries!

I'll put it plainly. I'm in the process of putting together a low-mid level setup with a 9C hub motor kit from ebikes.ca. (kits start around 450ish). I'll be building a 20Ah 44.4V LIPO battery. With the chargers, connectors and other misc parts I have into it (torque arms!), I'm in for about $1600, not counting the trike that I'm converting.

Find a bike that you like first. It's hard to say what would be best if you don't know the platform your working with. Figure out what sort of range you need and go from there.

morph999 

Well, first, I'd say not to jump into anything. The bikes and kits aren't going anywhere and just take your time and look at everything on the internet because there are a lot of different motors and batteries and kits. 2nd, what are your plans with this? Just recreational or going to work or what? Are you worried about theft?

The E+ bike kits are great. They are good for just about anything. They are fast, good for against theft, and good for convenience. The batteries and controllers are in the hub on one rim and then on the other rim is the motor so it's a very stealthy type of bike. People like them on this forum. Here it is...https://epluselectricbike.com/discove...nversion-kits/
I think the kits are around $1200 so just barely in your price range.

You also have nine continent, crystalyte, ezee, and aotema hub motors. All of these can be put together on your own and you can get a cycle analyst or a watt meter to tell you how much battery you have left. I put my own together. I recommend either the E+ if you are looking for convenience, or a crystalyte or a nine continent. I bought a crystalyte. As far as battery goes, with lithium, you probably don't need as much battery as you think because it's like 2x or 3x more powerful than SLA. And for each AH, you usually get 2 miles without pedaling and 3 miles if you pedal. I have a 48v 20AH but if are planning on leaving the bike places, I'd recommend getting a smaller battery so you can take it in with you so it doesn't get stolen (unless you get the E+ which is built on the rim).

these are good places to buy from
https://ebikes.ca (this is where I bought mine from)
https://hightekbikes.com
https://e-bikekit.com

jethro56 

I certainly wouldn't describe your build as low level. It may be a lower level than you wanted at first. You're building what I think I'd try next winter. But then again a full suspension two passenger trike with a 100 mile range @ 40 mph is an interesting project also.

corkscrew

That's why I said low-mid level. It's not the cheapest setup, but there are much nicer/faster/more AH capacity bikes out there. The one thing though is battery packs will now be much cheaper to build since I've already invested in the charging systems for LIPO.

Actually I think my incoming setup will be nicer than than what I originally planned. Which was a 500w Cyclone motor and 30A/h 24 ping battery.

solarbike

Hi, I run a small business in Australia selling mainly the conversion kits and have some experience in the different battery options. You can get kits with discs but it's better to use V brakes to stop the motorised wheel torquing sideways I feel. Regarding 48V 40Ah - it's going to be huge and too expensive. I sell 1000W kits sometimes but only use 48V 12Ah, this is really the maximum I'd say that you want to put on a bike as performance suffers even at this point. If you run a motor between 200W to 500W then you can get away with running it as 36V (with a decent Li ion battery anyway) and then a capacity of 10Ah will get you about 30km. Generally, I suggest to people if they really want this huge capacity, it's better to get one battery first and then buy a second later if you need it. The problem with getting two is that the life of a Li ion battery dies even if it is not used. An extra problem with going to the 1000W kits is that because of the increased speed, the wind resistance is greater and this means you need more energy to get the same distance and so more battery power. My personal feeling is that 500W is plenty, will still get you up to about 35km/h, gives ample power up hills and there are some really nice moulds you can get for this. Have a look at my battery option animation, the last couple are quite nice and come in a water bottle style mould. You can even get these same moulds now with Panasonic or Samsung cells packed in them. https://www.solarbike.com.au/batteries.php

Cheers, Matt

cheesepuff12

no no no. I said the best for my money, not the best. I mean what is the best stuff i can get for my price range. i was thinking the fallowing things

https://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...=STRK:MEWAX:IT

https://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...=STRK:MEWAX:IT

and then a bike.

jethro56 

If you want to deal with a china dealer direct sales@emissions-free.com. This guy is respected in many forums. The ebay deals are like playing Russian Roulette, however they only take one bullet out.
The 1000 watt claim is a marketing term. I have a 44.4 V 20 AH LIPO setup with a 22 amp controller hooked up. 44.4V X 22 amp = 976 watts. Notice I didn't say anything about the motor. When my model motor was tested on a dyno It's maximun ouput was around 750 watts with this configuration. Designing industrial automated equipment for over 25 years ,I know the conditions that can destroy motors by allowing too many amps. I have a 35 amp controller that I'm awaiting connectors before I install it. 44.4V X 35 amp = 1554 watts. Will I be able to use this continously? No. Will I be able to use this at times? Yes.

Your signature talks about advice. I hope you aren't looking for advice that only confirms what you've already decided.

cheesepuff12

if i had already decided i wouldnt be asking for advice. thanks for the info though. is there a website for this guy, or just an email?

yopappamon

He has some info on his site www.emissions-free.com but he has lots of stuff that isn't on his site. He's a Brit doing business in china. He goes by cellman on the forums but I think his name is Paul. He has some killer deals on hub motors. Very good reputation.

jethro56 

https://www.emissions-free.com/ it's a work in progress. He's a guy that uses forums to spread the word. Known for taking care of problems. When you're inexpensive you're bound to have some quality issues. How you deal with these becomes important.

macrocircle

If you want to order kit from China or ebay, here are my suggestions.

If you know how to install spokes on rim, get one without rim, it will save you a LOT on shipping. Package with rim charged by oversize rate, could cost you $30-50 more on shipping. Manufacture charges way to much for shipping, if possible, use your own agent. I can give your my shipping agent's contact info if you need it.

Try to get s kit with a brand name motor, such as BA FANG, AO MA and XIN FENG. Both of them are in Jiangsu, China.

These suggestions are from my own experience while looking for suppliers in China, hope it will help you a little bit.

cheesepuff12

i sent the guy an email, but no response as of a few days

thanks for the info, but i always have trouble with adjusting spokes. Its never been easy for me for some reason.