Cost of your bike...Stock

[ngocthach1130]

Alright it is apparent some of us are ballers, while most of us are pennies pincher. I'd like to know what is the cost of your bike in its stock form. When you first bought it, no modification, no motor, unconverted goodies. I realizes some of us have a stables of bikes and not one, so you can pick two option. Maybe put down an average cost i guess. So vote on the poll and possibly leave a post on a brief description of your bike?
1Year
2 Manufacturer
3 Model
4 Cost
5 Metal?
6 Type? Cruiser, racer, downhill full suspension
7 Why you believe, or rather why you had believed that it was a good choice for conversion

My first bike is a
2003 Schwinn S-60 with aluminum frame and full suspension. I think it cost $250 new. I got it used for $150 on ebay. Previous owner used it at his summer house and had ridden about 10 miles on it before he sold it. It was almost pristine, just needed some air. It believed it was a great frame because it look sturdy, had disk brake, and full suspension. Found out later that mounting battery was a pain, but got it solve and it's running great since.

[TylerDurden]

I bought two junk ebikes for $60 and made one running ebike.

2005 Currie/Mongoose CX450
90lbs w/ stock 24V12Ah SLA
stock 15A controller
stock 250W motor
passive cooling mods
baskets
bell
14oz. canister bear-spray (capsaicin)

I use lithium tool batteries to power the bike, but I use the batteries just as much (or more) with my tools.


I did buy some extra batteries. (14)

[Link]

$60 Next Rampage BMX. Steel. The rear dropouts aren't thick, but they're huge. Could actually make a working torque plate for them without actually fixing them to the bike. Might do that if I get a bit of scrap steel, too.

Also have a $250 Schwinn S-40 that the Golden Motor will (eventually) go on.

[Ypedal]

2005 Norco Chaos

1200 $, on sale for 1000 $ taxes in year end sale.

Ball bearing swingarm pivots, mid grade brakes and shifters but standardized frame mounts so i can swap forks, brakes, shifters etc with off the shelf bike shop parts when i need to upgrade.

so far so good.. many miles and no failures of the bike itself..

[voicecoils]

1Year 2004
2 Manufacturer Davinci
3 Model Hucker
4 Cost ~$2300AUD after being slapped with customs fees
5 Metal? Aluminium
6 Type? DH Hardtail
7 Why you believe, or rather why you had believed that it was a good choice for conversion

Not an eBike (yet!) however it has extremely burly dropouts, very well built all around. Designed for downhilling, dirt jumping, hucking, etc... I think a full suspension would be a bit more suitable as an eBike if the rear shock can be set up for the additional weight of the setup (by changing spring, etc).

[slayer]

i started with a used mountain bike i paid 50,00 dollars, hardtail

Then i wanted a double suspension so i looked for around 400.00 and i saw this used
2002 Rocky Mountain Slayer. the guy was asking 450.00 he had a rear tire flat . i offered him 350.00 and he accepted right away...that bike is so great i cannot beleive the difference it has hayes hydraulic brake, all the best (for that year) is on this bike... i really like it.

the guy who sold it to me said his brother bought it new for 3,200 canadian dollar and he bought it from his brother for 800 ...i checked where he bought it and they said it was true...

i did not have to put on your poll, wtf was i thinking ...loll

it has marzocchi bomber front , fox float rear, aluminium frame , shimano xtr full kit.

i recently had to change the frame for a taller one... it is still a rocky mountain frame but it is called a spice so i might have to change my name for spice now ...loll

[vanilla ice]

Same bike and same price as Tyler, minus the lithium.

[OpAmp]

In the old days, when I was the neighborhood wheelie champ and the dude who could get enough air I could table top someone in the face, I bought all used bicycles, while all the yuppie kids had brand new bicycles. 125lbs later, and a bit older I decided to buy a mountain bike. It’s a 2002 trek 4500. The forks have been replaced because of an incident when I was replacing a flat. Upon replacing the flat, I cracked the aluminum dropouts of the Rock Shocks. It’s now chromoly with a 5303 motor.

[OpAmp]

Maybe if i didn't get lost in my rambling I would of answered the question, heh. I payed $400 for it at a bike shop already assembled.

[ngocthach1130]

good grief. From the look of the poll result. There are quite a few of us here who fall into the high baller status. My prediction at first was that a lot of us is going to be penny pincher and stay below 200 dollars on donor bike. Yet the poll clearly speak the opposite. Guess a lot more people prefer peace of mind when building their ebike with disregard to budget.

Then again i can't blame them. After 2 cheap bikes. I'm prepare to build my next one which i've bought already. Close to $400 bikes in stock form. After disk brake mod and some improve parts i might be looking at 500 bucks in bikes parts alone, no conversion yet. YIKE!

[Sturdly]

1Year 2000
2 Manufacturer Kona
3 Model Blast
4 Cost ~$13,500
5 Metal? Aluminium
6 Type? DH Hardtail, suspension forks, disc brakes
7 I already had it when I started playing with ebikes.

HPIM0091.JPG

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( Received a free 2000 Kona MTB edition Ford Focus with it. Bike listed for around $900 at the time ) First day out last year with the original conversion. Since added Old Man Mountain rear rack, lower drive gearing and trimmed the fender struts. Closest thing to a before picture I have.

[Johnbear]

1Year 2005ish
2 Manufacturer Giant
3 Model Warp DS2
4 Cost 2nd hand $375
5 Metal? Aluminum
6 Type? Cruiser, racer, downhill full suspension - Full suspension
7 Why you believe, or rather why you had believed that it was a good choice for conversion
After a few thousand km's riding front suspension only I felt my body was taking a bit of a beating, so I decided it was time for dual suspension. Now I would not want to ride anything else!

[Iron Yeti]

1 Year: 2008
2 Manufacturer: Iron horse
3 Model: Maverick 3.0 XC
4 Cost: MSRP 499.99, Paid $299.99
5 Metal? Aluminum
6 Type? Hardtail
7 Why you believe, or rather why you had believed that it was a good choice for conversion:
It met all of the criteria for a bike I wanted to convert.

Can't wait until it gets here.

[Zoot Katz]

1Year: ~`1985
2 Manufacturer: Araya
3 Model: MB261
4 Cost: Free
5 Metal?: Butted Cro-Mo. Lugged construction.
6 Type? Cruiser, racer, downhill full suspension: Mixte frame MTB
7 Why you believe, or rather why you had believed that it was a good choice for conversion: It's been attached to my Xtracycle since March 2007.

The bike belonged to a neighbour. I'd tuned and repaired it for her sometime around Summer of 2003 and asked her to give me first dibs if she ever intended to part with it. It's a pretty bike. January 1st 2007 she called and said to come and get it. In March it was married to the demo unit Xtracycle (with extras) I'd scored off craigslist for $250 in August 2006. The Xtracycle is the best bicycle accessory I've ever bought.

Adding a tall stem and North Road bars, new tires, chain and cable cost $63.00 plus GST. There is no provincial sales tax on bikes or parts in BC. The fenders, vee-brakes and pedals were free. The Brooks Champion Flyer, PowerGrips and HD rear wheel came from other bikes in my stable. It's the bike that gets the most attention. Being car-free since 1996, it's my pick-up truck. Electrifying it will only add to its versatility.

This month I've spent $1617 (including GST) at ebikes.ca. for a Crystalyte 5304R, controller, throttle, charger, Cycle Analyst and 36v 18Ah Nexcell NiMh pack. Justin offered to match the $100 issued as a carbon credit/election ploy by the Provincial Government.

So, let's see: That's $1804.41 after subtracting the discount and windfall $100.
Batteries and controller are yet to arrive. I expect to be buzzing by mid August.

Donor bike and Xtracycle total: $317.41. Cheap but definately not a POS beer can boinger. If Vancouver was as flat as Chicago, I'd probably not have bothered buzzing this rig.

[swbluto]

1Year
Y2K
2 Manufacturer
Mongoose... I guess.
3 Model
MGX DXR
4 Cost
$10
5 Metal?
Steel.
6 Type? Cruiser, racer, downhill full suspension
Double suspension "mountain bike"
7 Why you believe, or rather why you had believed that it was a good choice for conversion
It was a good choice because it had the double-suspension. Also, it's made of steel which seems more able to take the extra strain of an electric motor. On the flip-side, some decry it as a piece of junk(And, if you're fairly particular about each notch in the gear-shifter to correspond to a particular gear, you would.) which should theoretically make it great for an electric conversion, but most of those who do so seem to be the die-hard "Department store bikes suck" garden variety automatons.

[nomad85]

1Year 2008

2 Manufacturer Trek

3 Model 7.3 FX

4 Cost 560$

5 Metal? "Alpha" Aluminum

6 Type? Cruiser, racer, downhill full suspension Fitness Road bike

7 Why you believe, or rather why you had believed that it was a good choice for conversion
700c wheels. I wanted to be able to go pretty fast and have long range, as well as be able to ride the bike without power. I wasnt going for a torque monster, so I preffered a lighter weight bike. So far it as met and exceeded all my expectations. I can get 60 miles at 20mph or 30 miles at 30mph with a 15 Ah battery. I seem to average 3 miles per Ah though.

[biohazardman]

1Year? 2008
2 Manufacturer ? Giant
3 Model? Trance 3
4 Cost? $1000
5 Metal? Aluminum
6 Type? Cruiser, racer, downhill full suspension. XC full suspension
7 Why you believe, or rather why you had believed that it was a good choice for conversion? Impulse buy it had full suspension one of my requirements and figured I could make it werq when I looked at it.

Werqs good on trails, cushy ride, handles great, very stable at high speeds, love it.

[liveforphysics]

Effectively unlimited funds for bike stuff.

No bike frame suited my needs. I bought 4330 chromo tubing and made my own from scratch.

[biohazardman]

Unlimited funds for bike stuff. Got to love that. ;^)

[amberwolf]

First "ebike", DayGlo Avenger:
1Year? 2005
2 Manufacturer ? Columbia
3 Model? "Comfort Bike"
4 Cost? Free, prize from work for being there 10 years.
5 Metal? Aluminum
6 Type? front suspension, hardtail, low-end components. Might've been worth $200-300.
7 Why you believe, or rather why you had believed that it was a good choice for conversion? Cuz it was the only bike I had, and half the point of my project(s) is to reuse things I already have for things they weren't meant for but work fine as.

2nd bike, CrazyBike2:
1Year? I dunno. Front frame maybe 1990s, rear frame late 70s or early 80s.
2 Manufacturer ? Front frame Magna, rear frame Schwinn.
3 Model? Dunno.
4 Cost? Almost free, from truckload of old frames picked up at a bike shop's discards pile.
5 Metal? Chromoly steel.
6 Type? cheap no-suspension roadbike frames.
7 Why you believe, or rather why you had believed that it was a good choice for conversion? See #7 above. Plus, they happened to fit together the way I needed them to for this design.


1Year? Dunno. Front frame late 80s, maybe 90s; rear frame no idea.
2 Manufacturer ? Front frame Trek, rear frame no idea.
3 Model? Front frame Singletrack 930, rear frame no idea
4 Cost? Nearly free, see previous truckload of frames.
5 Metal? Trek frame chromoly steel, other frame some form of light steel.
6 Type? Trek MTB, other frame some kind of BMX
7 Why you believe, or rather why you had believed that it was a good choice for conversion? See previous #7s.

[sico]

I paid $30 for my Apollo Vigilante frame, but it's not a "piece of crap," and would have been part of a $600 bike in its day. No idea what year it is, maybe early 2000s. I replaced all of the components, its amazing how much of the cost of a bike lies in its parts, isn't it?

[StudEbiker]

I don't really know how to answer the poll. I got a TidalForce frame set from Oatnet and built the bike around it. If I kept track of how much money I spent on it, it wouldn't actually be too much, but if I factor in the time, well, that would be another story. The frame (which included many parts) was $75, but it was hardly a "Wal-Mart special", so I didn't answer the poll. you don't have to spend a ton of money if you are willing to look for and wait for the good deals to come around.

[AussieJester]

Effectively unlimited funds for bike stuff.

No bike frame suited my needs. I bought 4330 chromo tubing and made my own from scratch.

In a Similar boat to Luke, nothing suited my special needs and, i didnt use chromo just mild steel LoL

1Year - custom built frame in 2010

2 Manufacturer- me

3 Model- custom

4 Cost- god knows didnt keep track but over 1k and under 3k...i hope

5 Metal?- yes, with hints of carbon fiber and alumnium.

6 Type? Cruiser, racer, downhill full suspension- cruiser, front suspension sprung seat

7 Why you believe, or rather why you had believed that it was a good choice for conversion- nothing off the shelf was avaialbe to suit my special needs (im physically disabled)


KiM

[kmxtornado]

I don't think the descriptions are fair. Much of it is b/c old bikes are priced in categories that don't match how they're described in your poll. But either way, here's the info on my $250 bike (at the time).

1Year...12 yrs old
2 Manufacturer....Specialized
3 Model....Hardrock
4 Cost....$250 plus tax.
5 Metal?....Yes, it's metal. Steel I suppose.
6 Type? Cruiser, racer, downhill full suspension...no suspension at all. It's a hybrid. I thought it was a mountain bike for 12 yrs.
7 Why you believe, or rather why you had believed that it was a good choice for conversion....only one I have.

I haven't started the e-bike build yet - at least not the electric portion of it. I'm repainting it and replacing some components ($150-175). For now it's just primed. It had looked like this a few weeks ago:

[Kingfish]

Specs of P1-2WD (present eBike)…

1 YEAR: 2009
2 MFR: Felt
3 Model: Compulsion 1
4 Cost: Frame MSRP $1499 (sic; this was higher when first considered ~$1799). Paid ~$850 from eBay.
5 Metal: Hydro-extruded Alum 6061
6 Type: Downhill full-suspension
7 Why: One of the best open-triangle configurations in that year (top-5 in my book), price, and availability. Triangle was important so that I could load up the most batteries possible to create an extended-range commuter.

The rest of the bike is a collage of MtB and Road-Racing gear, with some custom-designed parts. It took a lot of experimentation to find the right marriage of components. Not perfect, though good enough for my 2011 road trip.

Cheers, KF