Can i build a better bike than this for the price?

[neoplasticity]

So I have over 12,000 miles on my front geared hub commuter setup.

https://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=28355

and i think the motor is starting to fail because it's gradually going slower. I'm guessing the gears are wearing and needs to be regreased as well. But the motor is made in such a way that i need some specialized 3 prong tool to open it. Also my donor bike is now 20 years old and has over 20,000 miles on it and pretty much everything is starting to fail on the donor... bottom bracket, hubs, derailleurs, headset, etc.

So I want to buy or build another commuter.

I want something that is light, fast, looks clean, easy to maintain and will last for several years of 5000 miles a year. I'm not afraid to pedal hard to help the commute and overall I've been happy with the current setup I have. I only wish it was lighter. Basically, my ideal ebike would be a light road bike that can assist me up hills so I can climb 2-3% grade hills at 20+mph. Unassisted, I climb those same hills at 14-15mph.

Now I found this.

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/daymak-ec1-ebike-carbon-fiber-electric-bicycle#/

now 1200 bucks shipped for an ebike that weighs 34 lbs and has a spare tire that's easily swappable to make it a normal bike doesn't seem too bad.

downsides are the battery is a bit small at 24V and 9aH but i think it will be plenty of capacity for my commute so it's not a real issue

250w geared motor is less powerful than my current 350w geared motor but they claim it will pull to 20mph up a 1-2% grade with a light rider which is slightly faster than what i was getting with my current setup.

plus I think it looks really clean.

if i had the skills and the money, I would love something like kepler's latest build

https://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=74269&p=1120550&hilit=kepler+stealth+commuter#p1120550

so i'm trying to decide if i should just buy the daymak ec1 bike for 1200

or if i build something myself, does anyone think I could build something better for around the same price? thoughts?

 

[Chalo]

I strongly suggest you consider a refined crank drive like the BBS02 or BBSHD. With PAS, it's an intuitive, efficient, and thoroughly satisfying take on e-biking. At the power level you're talking about, there's really no downside to amplifying your pedal effort through the gears.

 

[neoplasticity]

I definitely looked into the BBS02 but it's pretty heavy and the crankset is pretty ugly and most of the time i just pedal. I would just like help up hills. so i was thinking that a small geared motor would be lighter and i could just turn it on at will.

 

[amberwolf]

I dont' have any help for your title question, but here's a tidbit in reply to part of your post about your old bike:

and i think the motor is starting to fail because it's gradually going slower.

I'm not sure how it could go slower if it were failing, unless it was simply taking so much more power htan usual (because of excess friction?), that it would be getting (probably noticeably) hotter, and you'd see a higher power usage on your wattmeter if you have one, for what had been otherwise exactly teh same trip.

If it's not showing higher power usages, then the motor is unlikely to be the problem, but it certainly could be the battery (if it's teh same vintage as the motor), which will sag to a lower voltage for the same load (current) and thus make the motor not able to reach the same speed it did before.

 

[neoplasticity]

I guess it could be my batteries... How many miles have people gone on small geared hub motors before you need to take them apart to regrease them?

 

[amberwolf]

I dunno; several of those on ES using such motors have broken clutches on them before ever having problems with the gears, usually due to heavy cargo hauling or other similar high-startup-loading of the clutch, AFAICT (that's what broke the clutch on my little well-abused Fusin on DayGLo Avenger a few years back, though I since got a newer bigger Fusin and didnt' break anything on it yet, even abusing it harder than the old one).

I'd guess at least several thousands of miles, and possibly mulitple tens of thousands, for some people. I've never had a build stay the same that long, with the same motor/etc., as I experiment a lot.

 

[nutnspecial]

Frame : 130 MMR QR, 22" / 560mm Frame ,700 Unidirectional Carbon Fiber 1.15kg / 2.53lbs
• Headset: 1.125" / 28mm Top 1.5"/38mm Down
• Rims: Front - 36H Aluminum Rear - 24H Aluminum
• Forks: 700C Aluminum Suspension Fork
• Handlebars: Aluminum angle 6 degrees 31 x 2.6 x 620 mm/ 26.7"
• Tires: 40-622 (700x38c – 28 x 1 5/8 x 1 ½)
• Gearshift: Shimano EZ Fire - Right 7 Speed 2055mm / Left 3 Speed 1800mm
• Derailleur: Direct Attachment Type: Rear - Shimano Tourney TX 6/7 Speed, Front - 3 Speed
• Motor: Daymak Specialized Motor 250W Brushless
• Controller: Daymak Drive 24V Intelligent Brushless Controller
• Charge Time: 4 - 6 Hours
• Levels of Pedal Assist: 5
• Max Load: 265 lbs / 120 kg
• Display: LCD Multifunction
• Weight: 34 lbs / 15.5 kg
• Range: 25 - 30 km / 15 - 18 miles
• Battery: 24V10.4 AH GEB Lithium Ion self-locking key release, on-board or off-bike charge capable, LED power indicators, start-up diagnostic feature, magnetic connectors
• Max Speed: 20 mph - 32 km/h (25 km/h in Europe)
• Charger: 110V/220V cUL/CE

It's nothing to sneeze at for 1200 shipped - I like it and it sounds ideal for what you described. At a deal the E components might be 500-700 w/ light labor, and the bike easily looks like it's worth the balance. Could you build a better one for the money? Well probably but it would be more about the 'build' journey than anything, and comes down to what you want for time/money.
What would really be useful is to have some customer feedback so there's any awareness of subpar or cheesy bits best to immediately upgrade or at least be aware of (cheapish controls, rims, bb, bms etc), but my take is it looks solid as described. It appears they are aiming for happy customers of 34lb 250w ebike for $1000.

If you 'have the money' and are in the market I say give it a shot.

 

[dogman dan]

If it needs grease, it would be getting noisy. It doesn't use up the grease inside, but it can sling off the gears so most of it is on the motor housing rather than the gear.

But I've had controllers fail, getting slower and slower till they died. This type of failure seems to take only a week or two.

My guess is also your battery, is the main problem.

None of that though, is a reason not to try that indiegogo deal. But bear in mind, you may still need to get a new battery to get through this summers riding season. They say delivery may 2016, but I seriously doubt a backer right now will get delivery in may. The first backers might, but not when you pay right now. They'll have to deliver a few hundred of them before your turn.

 

[LewTwo]

It cost me at least that much to build my lightweight bike (30 pounds).

 

[wesnewell]

Depends on what you consider better. Performance wise, one can build a bike that will run circles around it for half the price. And performance is all I'm concerned with. I couldn't care less what it looks like.

 

[USAEBIKECO]

Building your own is more rewarding in my opinion. Also if something does not work properly then you know how to fix it instead of shipping it back to the vendor.

 

[Chalo]

I definitely looked into the BBS02 but it's pretty heavy and the crankset is pretty ugly and most of the time i just pedal. I would just like help up hills. so i was thinking that a small geared motor would be lighter and i could just turn it on at will.

A geared hub motor is lighter, but hanging the weight on the bottom bracket makes it less noticeable, pound for pound. It has a much smaller inertial moment when maneuvering the bike.

One thing you might notice with a crank drive is that your pedals are father apart, unless they were rather widely spaced to begin with.