Hi everyone,
I've been trailing through endless sphere and r/ebikes for a while now and have gotten the courage together to go to the ordering part. I've got previous experience riding and maintaining motorbikes as well as bicycles, but nothing electric. Changing tires and wheel bearings, balancing/truing spoke wheels is something I'm comfortable with, just nothing electric.
I want an ebike for commuting, it's about a 20km/12mi round trip. Maximum grade on my commute is 5%, although for other general usage it can be 7% with short sections (2-300 meters) of 9%. All of this is going to be on smooth asphalt roads. The law here limits max speed to 25kmh/15mph and 500W if you don't want to pay insurance (which I don't). I don't have a bicycle yet, but I've got my eye on a cheap used Merida Kalahari 550: http://www.velospec.com:8080/en/bikes/merida/kalahari550sx-2006. Total budget would be around 1000-1500$, I'm obviously happy to save money but if the extra bucks are worth it then I'll put them in.
I want something simple and robust to get the job done. From what I've read, a hub DD will last the longest. I read good things about leaf motors, the 48V 1000W is recommended and seems like a good bang for the buck. So either I'd go for this leaf motor :http://leafbike.com/products/diy-bi...-rear-hub-motor-bike-conversion-kit-1067.html and get a battery from em3ev. Or go with a recommended eBay supplier, for example getting a full kit with battery: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1000W-Ele...hash=item1a2887e396:m:myFSE2UyBrbMot26KATYSKg
I thought I'd limit it to 500W and 25kmh/15mph to comply with the no-insurance terms, with the possibility of increasing it in the future. From what I've gathered, this is what I need to look out for:
- 135mm rear dropouts is standard for rear hub kits, make sure this matches between the bicycle and motor
- Get torque arms if getting a bicycle with an aluminum frame
- 26" rim is also standard, order correct size matching bicycle
- Max discharge rate of battery matching controller
- Make sure battery can fit in the frame, best point for weight distribution would be on lower downtube
Anything else crucial that I'm missing out?
How about the leaf motor + em3ev vs the ebay supplier? It seems the ebay supplier is cheaper and supplies a 48V 15Ah battery with the kit. I expect delivery to be shorter as it's UK vs China. However, there's no info about the brand of motor, or if it's really a direct drive. It may also be simpler because everything is sold as a kit, so it all fits together easily. I'd like to get a 48V battery in any case to be able to test out the entire 1000W. I may also switch out the bicycle for something nicer if I'm not happy with it.
Thanks for taking the time to read and writing down your thoughts!
Nez
I've been trailing through endless sphere and r/ebikes for a while now and have gotten the courage together to go to the ordering part. I've got previous experience riding and maintaining motorbikes as well as bicycles, but nothing electric. Changing tires and wheel bearings, balancing/truing spoke wheels is something I'm comfortable with, just nothing electric.
I want an ebike for commuting, it's about a 20km/12mi round trip. Maximum grade on my commute is 5%, although for other general usage it can be 7% with short sections (2-300 meters) of 9%. All of this is going to be on smooth asphalt roads. The law here limits max speed to 25kmh/15mph and 500W if you don't want to pay insurance (which I don't). I don't have a bicycle yet, but I've got my eye on a cheap used Merida Kalahari 550: http://www.velospec.com:8080/en/bikes/merida/kalahari550sx-2006. Total budget would be around 1000-1500$, I'm obviously happy to save money but if the extra bucks are worth it then I'll put them in.
I want something simple and robust to get the job done. From what I've read, a hub DD will last the longest. I read good things about leaf motors, the 48V 1000W is recommended and seems like a good bang for the buck. So either I'd go for this leaf motor :http://leafbike.com/products/diy-bi...-rear-hub-motor-bike-conversion-kit-1067.html and get a battery from em3ev. Or go with a recommended eBay supplier, for example getting a full kit with battery: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1000W-Ele...hash=item1a2887e396:m:myFSE2UyBrbMot26KATYSKg
I thought I'd limit it to 500W and 25kmh/15mph to comply with the no-insurance terms, with the possibility of increasing it in the future. From what I've gathered, this is what I need to look out for:
- 135mm rear dropouts is standard for rear hub kits, make sure this matches between the bicycle and motor
- Get torque arms if getting a bicycle with an aluminum frame
- 26" rim is also standard, order correct size matching bicycle
- Max discharge rate of battery matching controller
- Make sure battery can fit in the frame, best point for weight distribution would be on lower downtube
Anything else crucial that I'm missing out?
How about the leaf motor + em3ev vs the ebay supplier? It seems the ebay supplier is cheaper and supplies a 48V 15Ah battery with the kit. I expect delivery to be shorter as it's UK vs China. However, there's no info about the brand of motor, or if it's really a direct drive. It may also be simpler because everything is sold as a kit, so it all fits together easily. I'd like to get a 48V battery in any case to be able to test out the entire 1000W. I may also switch out the bicycle for something nicer if I'm not happy with it.
Thanks for taking the time to read and writing down your thoughts!
Nez