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ampedbike e-bike kits

Old 10-04-10, 11:45 PM
  #1  
John Phoenix
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ampedbike e-bike kits

I am ( or wanna be) new to E-bikes. I want to get the 501 dollar front wheel complete kit from this page from Ampedbikes. (direct drive)

https://www.ampedbikes.com/complete.html

They seem like a good company and I have read good reviews about them and their kits. I like that they can go 23 mph wide open with a 20 mile range. I weigh 135 lbs and plan to use the bike to get to the fishing hole 2 miles away and back. This 36 v kit will be mounted on a Next full suspension mountain bike. I need to carry 15 to 20 lbs of fishing equipment in a backpack as well as about the 10 lbs of fish I will catch for a total weigh of about 170 lbs at the heaviest.

I know it has an SLA battery but that is all I can afford for now and I have read a few thread about the pros and cons of the SLA.

Does anyone have experience with this company and these products? What do you guys think of my choice of kits and are my expectations realistic?

In the FAQ the owner of the company says ," I weigh 240lbs and I get between 14-15 miles on a 12ah pack on every hub kit out there if with wide open throttle and no pedaling. "

The Faq is here: https://ampedbikes.com/faq.html

I figure I may do better than this because me and my stuff weighs a lot less than 240 lbs, but still, what does your experience tell you guys?

Thanks.
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Old 10-06-10, 06:18 PM
  #2  
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I have the amped rear geared kit. It's a good product, I've had no problems. The geared motor is a little slower from what I've heard, I get around 20mph. I have a 36v 20ah LiPoFe4 pack and get over 35 miles on a charge. From what I've heard you might be pushing it to get 14-15 miles on a 12ah SLA pack. Most people will tell you to get something better than SLA batteries if at all possible.

My only issue with amped is you are a bit limited with their kits. They do not warranty above 36volts, the controllers tend to limit you to lower currents (14 amps on mine). Other kit seller are good to 48 volts and their controllers tend to have more amps.

Also, if you haven't already, search the forums for info on the risks of front kits with aluminum and alloy forks.
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Old 10-06-10, 07:09 PM
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Thanks for the info. The SLA is all I could afford but I plan to baby the battery. If I get 14 to 15 range that will be good for me. I cannot see going 10 miles away from the house and not being able to make it back. Most places I need to get to are less than 5 miles away. I choose to go with Ampedbikes for the price. Again, all I could afford a complete kit for 501 dollars. I did have to get torque arms for the front fork another 25 dollars for a total of 526.00 spent.

I have read with a 48 V you can get more speed but I don't know if i will need it. The forks are steel I suppose.. a magnet sticks to them and the dropouts. My only real concern is if the motor will even fit. I have a 26 inch mountain bike and at the dropouts I have 4 inches. About an inch above that the forks get an inch bigger giving me a clearance of 3 inches. Well I took the plunge and ordered, so I guess I will find out when it gets here.
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Old 10-07-10, 07:09 AM
  #4  
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You must remember that SLA must be recharged after even 20% discharge.
Simply after every use.
tHEY just should never be left like for an hour to sit untill you got a chance to charge, sulfur start to deposit and it is mean DEATH for SLA.
So how you are going to charge at the fishing?
MC
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Old 10-08-10, 11:41 AM
  #5  
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Good point. I cannot recharge while fishing unless this public pier I fish at has an outlet I can plug into, and I just take the charger along. But.. would it help if I disconnected the batteries for that time being? What causes the sulfer build up? If I knew, perhaps i can find a way to counter it. I usually fish for 10 to 24 hours at a time at the pier so i need to find a way to solve this problem.

Edit:

You know, I have been thinking about this and if you cannot stop for as much as an hour before charging, then having an ebike for running errands is foolish and self defeating. What if you need to go to 3 stores and shop for an hour at each while your in the city at each store. With this battery problem, you cannot do it. I need to be able to run around all day within my range limit (leaving half my range to get back home) and do my stuff and not worry about recharging until I get home at the end of the day. I am going to start a new thread on this as I think it deserves its own.

Last edited by John Phoenix; 10-08-10 at 02:12 PM.
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Old 10-08-10, 03:01 PM
  #6  
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Now you are seeing why SLA's don't last very long and usually are upgraded to some form of Lithium battery pretty quickly. It can be a waste of money in the long run. Also SLA's tend to sag their voltage under load, where lithiums can hold up under load.

If you check around you might be able to find everything you need to put together a good kit and have lithium batteries for another $100-200.
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Old 10-08-10, 03:12 PM
  #7  
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Check this out:

Rear kit $300
https://www.e-bikekit.com/shop/index....d=95&parent=16

Ping 36v 15ah LiFePo4 battery with charger and bms $385
https://www.pingbattery.com/servlet/t...LiFePO4/Detail

Total $685 plus some shipping. And you have 15ah (20-30 mile range) and batteries that will last you for many years.
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Old 10-08-10, 04:05 PM
  #8  
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Originally Posted by John Phoenix
Good point. I cannot recharge while fishing unless this public pier I fish at has an outlet I can plug into, and I just take the charger along. But.. would it help if I disconnected the batteries for that time being? What causes the sulfer build up? If I knew, perhaps i can find a way to counter it. I usually fish for 10 to 24 hours at a time at the pier so i need to find a way to solve this problem.

Edit:

You know, I have been thinking about this and if you cannot stop for as much as an hour before charging, then having an ebike for running errands is foolish and self defeating. What if you need to go to 3 stores and shop for an hour at each while your in the city at each store. With this battery problem, you cannot do it. I need to be able to run around all day within my range limit (leaving half my range to get back home) and do my stuff and not worry about recharging until I get home at the end of the day. I am going to start a new thread on this as I think it deserves its own.

As long as those three stores are within 6 miles of each other and/or your home and you pedal along with it, and charge it as soon as you get home.. That should last you about a year if your lucky and them by then, hopefully you'll have the money to go lithium (or other/better technologies that may come out by then)
(FYI, when I started in ebikes, 4 years ago, I started with SLA..)
I had no clue on "taking care" of SLA's my first set lasted only 4 months. (24v 12ah- 2 12'a)
The next set, I upgraded to 36v SLAs and "baby'd" em and they lasted a year..
Now I spent 115 for first set SLAs, $180 on second set and only got 1.5 years out of 'em..
Next set I got was 36v 20ah LiFePO4's which I still have (and use today) that still has 75% of it's capacity
(I won the auction for $160 and paid $98 shipping.. Took me 2 months to get (from china by boat), but for the price ($250) I have a kit that Currently (pardon the pun) still gives me a 21 mile range out of 28 original
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Old 02-22-11, 08:15 AM
  #9  
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I am also interested in getting the amped rear bike kit, it states it is 500-750 watts. Which battery should I get? What is the benefit of getting a battery with more Voltage and more Ah? The more voltage the faster the bike will get up to speed? The more Ah the farther the bike will go?
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Old 02-22-11, 10:35 AM
  #10  
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You nailed it.
These days, going SLA is not an option...
It's a little cheaper in the (very) short term, but lithium will last 3x's longer and will get you better speed and distance compared to comparable SLAs.
For "36v" batteries, Li is 2v higher then SLA (re: slightly more speed) and allows you 33% more distance then the same AH in SLA.
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Old 02-23-11, 06:34 PM
  #11  
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Good point. I cannot recharge while fishing unless this public pier I fish at has an outlet I can plug into, and I just take the charger along. But.. would it help if I disconnected the batteries for that time being? What causes the sulfer build up? If I knew, perhaps i can find a way to counter it. I usually fish for 10 to 24 hours at a time at the pier so i need to find a way to solve this problem.

Edit:

You know, I have been thinking about this and if you cannot stop for as much as an hour before charging, then having an ebike for running errands is foolish and self defeating. What if you need to go to 3 stores and shop for an hour at each while your in the city at each store. With this battery problem, you cannot do it. I need to be able to run around all day within my range limit (leaving half my range to get back home) and do my stuff and not worry about recharging until I get home at the end of the day. I am going to start a new thread on this as I think it deserves its own.
There should be no problem if you turn off the controller with the included switch. It is not really necessary to even to disconnect the batteries. For a 4 mile round trip, you should be OK with 3 5Ah SLAs. They will weigh about 11 pounds and cost less than $100. I got about 8-10 miles of range with my rear geared Ampedbikes kit.
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Old 03-01-11, 01:41 PM
  #12  
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Originally Posted by John Phoenix
What if you need to go to 3 stores and shop for an hour at each while your in the city at each store. With this battery problem, you cannot do it. I need to be able to run around all day within my range limit (leaving half my range to get back home) and do my stuff and not worry about recharging until I get home at the end of the day. I am going to start a new thread on this as I think it deserves its own.
I have been using the same recycled SLA 7ah batteries for 3 years now. For the first two years I was riding 20+ miles a day and hitting LVC on the return trip after sitting at work for 8 hours. No recharging at work. I don't know were all these theories on the real world use of SLA's is coming from.

I am now in my third year on the same 2x3 pack of 7ah SLA's. These batteries were at least two years old when I got them out of a APC UPS system.

Don't get me wrong, lithium is CURRENTLY the way to go... if you have the money. I don't. So I use SLA's.

I would be inclined to guess that one of your batteries has a bad cell in it an needs to be replaced. Check your SLA's individually after charging and verify that each battery reads nearly 14V. Run the bike around the neighborhood and then check again. Make sure none of the batteries reads lower than 13.5V and you can be relatively certain the batteries are healthy.

As for the comments on having to charge IMMEDIATELY after use and before no more than 20% use... that's just crap. Sulfation does occur when the batteries are idle, but NOT at the rate described above. As another rider commented, disconnect the battery packs from the controller, by switch or by plug, when sitting idle.

I finally invested in a quality 36V charger that has a de-sulfation/conditioning cycle and have seen a bit of a gain in deliverable current and range to my ride.

One further comment... best practice would be to leave two-thirds of your available AH in your packs for your return trip after bar-hop... ,er, shopping. SLA's do not deliver the full rated AH usually. Plan on NOT having a third of the rated AH's for actual usable range.

- My two cents. I am now in my fourth year on my AmpedBikes front DD with 2x3 36V 7AH SLA's.
The charger I am now using is a Save-A-Battery 36V.
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Old 03-02-11, 03:46 AM
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Thanks all for your suggestion i think i can go with ampedbikes...
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Old 03-20-11, 03:49 PM
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The E-Bikekit are a slow knockoff of the Amped kits. You are right AmpedBikes is the best way to go. If you go through a dealer you might save $50 but if you go through Amped they will help you all along the way. I am a dealer and They come out with a new product about every 4-6 months and all dealers are privy to the new products.
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Old 12-09-11, 01:16 PM
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Originally Posted by hopon
The E-Bikekit are a slow knockoff of the Amped kits. You are right AmpedBikes is the best way to go. If you go through a dealer you might save $50 but if you go through Amped they will help you all along the way. I am a dealer and They come out with a new product about every 4-6 months and all dealers are privy to the new products.
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What do you mean a slow knock off, is it not as good as the Amped Bikes kit in some way?
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Old 12-09-11, 06:17 PM
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They are many brands of Lead Acid batteries, like with everything they are topof the line brands and crap on other end.
You don't haveto charge LAcid right away but it iscommon knowledge Lead Acid battery WILL last shorther the longer you wait to charge it, it will not just deteriorate rapidly but slowely/
The best brand is B@B brand and most expensive one.
I own LeadAcid ebike and tried Haze brand for example - too much voltage sag, Long brand not bad.
Dartaensate,
nobody said here "immediately charge" but the longer you wait , process will start.
Read a bit for example at Battery University web site
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Old 12-10-11, 09:01 AM
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Be ware.... they do not honor returns if you are not happy with the product. They get very mean and nasty... and make you have to dispute it with the CC company. I have never seen such terrible company in the cycling community.
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Old 12-12-11, 10:32 AM
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Agree with philybill. I would avoid this ebike vendor. I've had problems with this company as documented here:

https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...d-(in-progress).

It's never their fault that their products don't work. It's always YOUR fault.

If you decide to take the plunge with them, and your item does not work as advertised, return it as fast as possible and get your money back. Don't mess around with them by thinking they'll fix it, because they won't.
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Old 12-12-11, 11:19 AM
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I returned mine in less than 30 days .... and they have been nothing but a pain... and have sent many rude emails to me. I will not name them personally, but when I talked to them, they said " Customer satisfaction - 30 days return policy... no questions asked." I ti=old them that I was returning it... (cost me 100.00 ) and not they will not honor their word. They should be glad they are a on the other coast.
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