Manufacturers/Dealers to Gravitate Towards

[docnjoj]

Roger that for Holmes Hobbies. Really does good work!
otherDoc

 

[gaddman]

It's been said before, but John Karambalis at E-MTB Oz (http://www.emtb.com.au/). Happy to provide advice and takes an interest in what you're building. I also was unfortunate enough to end up with a Cycle Analyst from a bad batch (high inrush current blows R9 resistor and display disappears) - John had no problems with returning it for a new one.

And another one for AmpedBikes - good value kit which is going well so far (although only a few miles in).

 

[John_Kelly]

A while back I decided to upgrade my custom surf kayak hauling trike to an electric front hub motor. I did some online research and settled on the idea of getting a Crystalyte set up or something similar. I contacted several places. One person returned my email immediately, another several days later with limited information, and little apparent enthusiasm or interest for my project. A few people never got back to me. The person who got back to me immediately was Don at ev-universe.com. He first emailed then called to make sure I got the information and offered me a kit with a slight modification for the weight of my trike. A 5304 instead of a 5303 in order to handle the extra weight.

He tested all the components and sent out the kit right away. I received it about 3-4 days later, and installed it. There was a problem. The motor would spin very slowly and then stop. The battery registered a full charge. I emailed Don, and he called me right away to discuss what might be wrong. After trying a few things, he said he would send me another controller. Again, I got it in a few days. It did not fix the problem. He sent me another hub motor, this time the 5303 because he did not have another 5304 in stock. Unfortunately, that did not fix the problem either. Don sent me another new and tested (as all of the components were before shipping) battery pack. Eureka! It works. At this point Don had sent me what amounted to two full kits to get me up and running. All this for the original price of one kit. He told me he had never seen this type of problem happen before and wanted to make sure I was happy with the product. He obviously meant what he said.

I tried the original 5304 hub motor again and it did not work. So apparently we had a rare instance of two things going wrong at the same time. Don told me to run the 5303 motor while I am waiting for the new 5304 to get in. He said it may be several weeks or more. I would have completely understood if he had simply not sent me the replacement motor and told me to wait for the order to arrive. Instead I got what ends up being the best experience I have ever had in my many years of buying and selling. I am sending the extra parts back so Don can try to figure out what went wrong with them. He is paying for all shipping. Every time I emailed Don I got a rapid and detailed response. Major kudos to Don for being such a stand up businessman! I highly recommend Don's business, EV-Universe.com as a great place to get a conversion kit or a complete bike. You will not find a better or more attentive vendor. Thanks Don!

John

 

[The Journey Guy]

I made a thread a while back about my first Headway build, viewtopic.php?f=14&t=18757&start=0

When I made that thread, I said that I wasn't ready to advise members of where I got them, because it was my first time dealing with the company in China and all that. Well, I was going to make a thread about the company tomorrow, but tonight will do just as good.

Yes, I do recommend EV Assemble, http://www.evassemble.com/index.php?mai ... mk0ug1g3t5 . Matter of fact, I am really happy with the service that Michael provides, top notch all the way.

I've just placed another order for 16 more 10ah Headways and I expect to have them in hand within 10 days or so. Last time it took about 14 days, but I believe Michael has been working very hard to streamline the ordering system. And don't forget, they provide the building blocks and buss bars at no additional increase in price. Shipping is fair, IMHO. The Headways I got last time are great! They have conditioned very well, and all are holding steady at within .01 of each other.

I've not gotten a BMS from them, so I cannot comment. But I believe Michael would make things right if something were to happen to anything you order from them. The Headway cells come with a one year warranty, so I suspect other items for sale would have something of the sort.

I like that I can pay with Paypal, instead of having to do a bank transfer as some other vendors require.

So, I put my seal of approval with this company, as of this point in time. Two thumbs up!

TJG

 

[xsi6]

MaxAmp.com has really good prices on shrink wrap 99 cents a foot for 205mm.They also have excellent customer service and are generally nice people,I had a problem with my order ,I ordered 4 feet but when i received my order there was only a foot there,my fault somehow the amount got reset back to 1 and I didn't double check before confirming anyway shipping was 5 bucks so the order was a complete waste.When i went to reorder I called to place it and mentioned my mistake the guy immediately waived shipping and i got my order very quickly.

 

[sparky9]

Joshua at Evsolutions.net has always treated me very well. This guy really knows his stuff, and I know he uses his stuff too. He isnt a small guy (putting it mildly!) and if he says a kit is strong enough for him, guaranteed it is strong enough for you. I'd recommend him any day of the week.

 

[Lessss]

He's not to be trusted.
http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=236&start=135
$820.00

 

[firebike]

Electro ride After getting very poor customer service and a lack of communication and broken promisses from another BMC dealer. I finally found Brian Howell of Electro-Ride, also affiliated with Better-bikes along with his partner Rob Means. I like to call Brian the Wizard because he works electro bike magic and also has knowledge of electric cars and solar systems. Brian returned all my calls and Emails in a timely manner and answered all my questions, even after he got paid. He does'nt sugar coat things and tell your kit will be ready in four days. He told me my kit would be ready in a month and I got it in about a month. Brian is very enthuisactric, so much so it's hard to get a word in edgewise. So I just listen and learn. I bought a 1000w BMC rear hub with disc break, nine speed cluster and a BMC 50a controller that Brian tuned down to 40a so I would'nt burn up my phase wires or motor. Brian has a small shop in San Carlos CA. (good if your in Northern California). He has met me there twice, the first time when I ripped out my hall wires because I didn't use torque arms and again after I collapsed a wheel after nearly being hit by a car. ( Had to get a new rim and have it relased ). All in all my do buissness with Electro-ride has been a pleasure and I would highly recommend Brian. 1000w BMC 50a BMC controller tuned down to 40a. Top speed 44 mph pedaling hard with a 60 tooth front sprocket. 46 mile range average ( Sacramento suburbs to Davis California and back ) speed 22 mph with a lot help from me, on a 48v 15a ping. Good electrorideing firebike .

 

[docnjoj]

I want to put in a very positive response to FFR Cycles in Pennsylvania. I needed two test wheels for my trike and these guys got them to me in 3 days at a reasonable proce. If my experiment works I will be able to have John Holmes build me some "real" wheels with the Bitex hubs I will send him but the plastic wheels were relatively inexpensive and good to test out my theory regarding Big Apple tires since they are only made for 305 mm wheels, not the European 349 mm "16 inch" wheels that come with the trike. I eat front tires at a rate of one set every month or two and my wife's Big Apples really seem to last. Hmmm...... the tires I mean.
otherDoc

 

[kadir]

Anytime, and anywhere..
if your leg muscles don't want any more wear and tear,
and you want an Electric gear..
call Justin(Ebikes.ca) on the number here >>> (604) 569-0902 :wink:

Just came up with that

 

[madact]

Not quite exactly on the topic of electrified bikes, but for excellent bike lights, http://stores.ebay.com/uwelectronics did me a good deal on shipping when I ordered a couple of Ultrafire C8 / SSC P7 torches with 3AH batteries, charger and bike mounts. Very helpful, and putting two of these together is roughly equivalent to your average modern car's low beams - not even remotely kidding. I figure this may be helpful to someone who wants bike lights which are genuinely useful at e-bike speeds.

 

[rumped6]

On the left side of the world - Justin at ebikes.ca.
On the right side, Elise at Cycle9.
Can't go wrong, either way :lol:

 

[The Mighty Volt]

Electric Rider. Good guys for spokes I found.

 

[D-Man]

I ordered some sla batteries from powerstream and got them really fast. Like 1 day. Dropped shipped from BB battery.

But, I sent back a battery charger that didn't work right and it took 2 months to get my refund. The returns must be piled to the ceiling! Obviously something isn't right.

 

[georgefromvt]

Randall at R Martin Bikes. Answers emails and takes calls almost 24x7. Also produces a great ready made E Bike. Very satisfied with mine. http://www.electricbikedistributor.com/r12a-electric_bicycle.html

 

[Beavinator]

I am building my first e-bike and I have had a great experience with renaissance bikes(e-bikes.ca). The only complaint is that Justin seems to have no faith in me and told me Im in way over my head for my first bike. Thats just me though its all or nothing!

 

[Beavinator]

I also have been dealing with EV Assemble for my battery packs and they seem to be quite helpful.

 

[Cold-E-Commuter]

Let's not all forget the little things that make our bikes possible like connectors. A recent rewire of my bike using Anderson Connectors made me realize why they are so widely recommended but also fall under the radar. These little gems are quite the piece of engineering. I ordered mine from powerwerx.com. Service from this vendor was absolutly perfect. There was a confirmation e-mail in the matter of minutes and a shipping e-mail within 24 hours. They were recieved in a matter of days. But back to the connectors. The fact that these have no male or female ends makes them unique. I can now connect my Watt's Up to a charger on the source side and a battery on the load side and then swap ends to connect the battery to the source and my bike as the load. All without a crazy jumper or opposite connections. Hard to explain unless you use Andersons. Another great thing is the variety of colors so that each connection is identifiable. Then there is the engineering in the connector case itself that allows a person to create custom connector blocks. Just WOW. I am an engineer and I am jealous of the genious behind these. I have soldered all of mine but crimp connection seems to be standard. Soldering is a piece of cake. Since the metal part of the connector is seperate from the case it is possible to solder without fear of melting the case. You simply snap the connector into the case when done. I recommend a toothpick and liquid flux on the inside as well as flux on the wire. Then place the wire in the opening and solder from the top, the same as a sweat joint. (See pics) This seems to provide a great connection. Enjoy

 

[Anthony Webster]

Electro Ride LLC, Electroride. I purchased my first eBike kit from Electro Ride this summer, and I'm very happy. Not knowing ANYTHING about ebikes, I found Electro Ride's website (electroride.com) to be extremely helpful. Electro Ride's full-system-kit ordering pages have a great feature that shows you, once you settle on a motor, all the compatible components and options that Electro Ride offers. This was especially important to me because I didn't even know what was required to make a complete, working system, and had no idea which components would work with which. I also liked the fact that Electro Ride offered several company's products and gave enough information on their differences to help me make intelligent choices.

My system arrived complete and looking good but was 100% dead. I called Electro Ride and was quickly put in touch with Brian Howell, who found my problem and got the system running quickly. (Even though my battery appeared to take a charge well and read 52 volts on a voltmeter, some internal flaw made my Cycle Analyst, throttle and controller unable to recognize it). Overall tech support through Brian was easy to reach, very knowledgeable, and speedy.

I will definitely buy from Electro Ride again. My next purchase will be a battery with more Amp-hours, to give me more time on the hilly roads of extreme northwestern NJ.

 

[Eujangles]

Just ordered my second battery (for a new project) from luckybbd off ebay. First one arrived in a week and works great, pretty good price too ($455 incl shipping for 48v 10ah battery).

http://myworld.ebay.ca/luckybbd/

 

[Spacey]

Justin at http://www.ebikes.ca/ is exactly the sort of company that others should be emulating. I get things tracked, sent very quickly and also sorted out very quickly when an item is may be missing a part. Brilliant service.

Not far behind in UK is http://eclipsebikes.com. Very quick service, bit pricey but delivery was very quick and they replaced a part that broke when I had my cyclone kit before.

 

[bill909]

I'm new to the world of elec.biking .I was looking for a bike that I didnt have to build and would be capable of handling a 28 mile city street round trip commute as I want to avoid dependance on a car.I also wanted to run fast enough to not have to give up the lane to cars. I bought from Hi Power Cycles,its a khs-204 bike with a bmc v2 motor,51v controller and 48v lifepo4 battery.Hi Power worked with me on reducing cost,selling me a non current bike and recommended the motor controler setup.The bike performs above my expectation and the package was cheaper then I was able to find elsewhere.I have had a problem with the controler and the battery chargers ,but they have to this point stood by them by sending re-placements.I do wish they were better with communications ,but I couldnt be happier with the product.

 

[spinningmagnets]

Based on recommendations from many others I have recently bought parts from the three suppliers listed below, and I am very happy with the results
McMaster-Carr, 1/2" diameter case-hardened steel shafts
VXB, bearings
SDP-SI, HTD pulleys, shaft connectors and adapters, and various other jackshaft supplies

 

[Ykick]

I just bought a replacement iCharger 106B+ from epbuddy.com and was very impressed with their service/price. They also have cell logs for $17.80 free shipping.

I've had nothing but good transactions direct from HK too but epbuddy seems to be a very reasonable domestic source for many of the same products.

 

[docnjoj]

+1 for EPBuddy! They have good prices and excellent domestic service.
otherDoc