Getting Started on my First E-Bike

So I have been interested in constructing my first e-bike for a while. I understand the basics but there are so many different products I don't quite know what to go for.

I have another problem though. I am living in a dorm so I wanted my bike to get most of its charge from simple pedaling and then use the motor on hills and the such only. I am not sure if this is possible.

So what would you guys suggest in the way of parts or kits for my first bike and can I charge it by just pedaling?

Forget the charge-by-pedaling idea. It would be like riding with your brake on. You can rig things to be able to use your motor as a brake when you want, which will charge the batteries a bit (regenerative braking). May not be worth the complexity, though.

When I wanted to get into this I bought a fairly cheap Wilderness Energy kit. It's worked fine for a couple of years, but there are many options, as you've probably noticed if you've looked around this site. My biggest surprise was that it turned out to be even more fun than I expected...

One of the easiest cheap ways to get started might be the ready-made Mongoose e-bikes for around US $300. Several people have had pretty good results with those.

Welcome to the forum IIPunnII. I agree with Jay, that charging by pedaling would not serve your purpose on a bicycle.

If you can't charge where you park your bike, just make sure you have a battery pack that is easy to remove, and charge it in your room. The chargers do not draw much current and should have no real impact on the electrical usage.

I am also using WE kits, and have been satisfied with them. Of course after reading about all the other motor and battery options available it will be fun to upgrade when my current stuff dies.

Yeah - hope you have an elevator or on the 1st floor. If you add something like the 5304 Chrystalyte motor (24lbs) and batteries (15lbs) , it gets real heavy.

Mine feels like the rear end's glued to the floor.

Mounting the battery so you can easily take it with you is the best bet.

Also, I'm assuming you suspect they (management) won't let you plug it in and charge it, multiple people in a room, fire hazards, etc.

You should counter with: then don't allow students to charge their laptops in the room - it's the same system..just more batteries..

Could I get a link to the best website to shop for a good kit for me?

Welcome to the site!

As for pedaling to recharge, its a neat idea, untill you start adding up the numbers. In reality, you would have to pedal twice as hard to go the same distance that way. you can double your range by NOT pedaling to recharge, but I'll spare you the boring details unless you want them.

The best type of kit for you, being that you're in a dorm and probably have limited acces to space and places to do maintance on a bike, is going to be a hub motor. They are easy to install, and most are nearly bullit proof. There are basicly 2 types to consider. Direct drive, and internaly geared. the direct drive are nearly silent, and last for ever. The internaly geared do make some noise, but have high torque.

http://www.ebikes.ca - Best Ebike company to buy from. As a retailor, they have done more for the hobby than anyone else.
http://www.poweridestore.com Realy grate store, and has things Ebikes.ca doesn't in the same product line.

I took some reading from my car a while ago to try and get some estimate of the amount of energy it recovers from regeneration (power captured during braking and when going down hills). It's surprisingly low, less than 10% of the total power it consumes.

My guess is that a bike would be much the same, perhaps 5 to 10% of the total input. Assuming the bike uses around 100 watts average power, you might get between 5 and 10 watts back from regeneration, which makes it hardly worthwhile.

An average rider can put out around 80 to 100 watts continuously, more if an athlete or in short bursts. Trying to ride and generate is a non-starter, as there isn't enough spare capacity left in the rider. Trying to use the pedals to recharge the battery when stationary (perhaps with the bike on a stand) is likely to result in more time on the stand pedalling hard than time spent riding with electric assist, due to charging and motor power losses.

Jeremy

PS: The car's a hybrid, with an energy display which allowed me to collect the data.

How do you guys feel about a DC motors. They are cheap and I don't have much money...

charging in your room shouldn't be an issue if you set it up in a non conspicious fashion...

At the moment I've got my batteries (SLA) sitting here at my desk at work...



The charger and the wires are showing right now cause I took a picture but normally i have them hidden behind the laptop.

One of the benefits of having a 'plug and play' setup.

DIVE! HE'S GOT A BOMB !

I think DC motors are great. Not only are they cheap, the controllers are cheap and a good selection of them is available. Which is the more important thing. And its not like they are horribly inefficient or require brush changes every month or anything.

hahaha yeah I occasionally get funny looks when i lug the pack upstairs!

Here is what I am looking at purchasing from ebikes.ca. Tell me if I am missing something or you don't suggest something.


-26 inch DC Front Wheel..~1.2 kph/V
6.1 kg (13.45 lbs)

-36V 25A DC Controller
0.22 kg (0.49 lbs)

-36V 8Ah NiCad, 5C Max Rate..Triangular Layout
6 kg (13.23 lbs)

-36V 4A NiMH / NiCd Charger
0.9 kg (1.98 lbs)

-Left Side Half Twist Throttle
0 kg (0.00 lbs)

IIPunnII said:

-26 inch DC Front Wheel..~1.2 kph/V
6.1 kg (13.45 lbs)

Click to expand...

What motor is that?

is that the brushed motor?

If so, 36v is ok but if it's brushless, i have to say performance is much improved if operated at 48v.

brushed motors do not benifit so much from a bump up to 48v as they are already pretty torqy at 36v.

I know 48v raises the cost of the entire system but for a brushless motor, it means being able to ride at 25 mph or more.

IIPunnII said:

Here is what I am looking at purchasing from ebikes.ca. Tell me if I am missing something or you don't suggest something.


-26 inch DC Front Wheel..~1.2 kph/V
6.1 kg (13.45 lbs)

-36V 25A DC Controller
0.22 kg (0.49 lbs)

-36V 8Ah NiCad, 5C Max Rate..Triangular Layout
6 kg (13.23 lbs)

-36V 4A NiMH / NiCd Charger
0.9 kg (1.98 lbs)

-Left Side Half Twist Throttle
0 kg (0.00 lbs)

Click to expand...

Sounds good. 2 things to consider.
the rear motor is $30 cheaper, and generaly, its better to have the motor on the rear. its more stealth that way, and you don't have the problems with the front fork that are fairly common when fitting a front motor.

the other is the left throttle. any reason you want to do it backwards from normal?



Also, if you're looking to shave cost, you can run the 3c version of that battery, since your controller is a 25 amp unit. it would shave another $80 off the bike, and the diffrence would only be in the life cycles of the battery. (the better battery will live longer)

Drunkskunk said:

Sounds good. 2 things to consider.
the rear motor is $30 cheaper, and generaly, its better to have the motor on the rear. its more stealth that way, and you don't have the problems with the front fork that are fairly common when fitting a front motor.

the other is the left throttle. any reason you want to do it backwards from normal?



Also, if you're looking to shave cost, you can run the 3c version of that battery, since your controller is a 25 amp unit. it would shave another $80 off the bike, and the diffrence would only be in the life cycles of the battery. (the better battery will live longer)

Click to expand...

The reason I am considering the front mount is because it would better balance out the weight, or at least I thought. Would you really recommend the rear?

Thanks for the suggestion on the battery, I might take you up on that.

And the reason I am getting a left twist is because my brake for my rear tire is on the right and I want my brake hand to be free.