I'm a bit lost. Help me select a kit!

This is my first venture into ebikes and I'm hoping to do a conversion myself. I know very little and have only been reading up on these topics for about a week.

My bike is a Trek Police http://www.trekbikes.com/us/en/bikes/mountain/sport/police/police/.

Its my only bike. I love it and I use it for everything. I weigh 240lbs and often carry 25+lbs of stuff. During the week I load it up with panniers and commute 10mi round trip on good roads. Weekends I often take the bags off and do moderate trail/cross country riding. I don't do any serious rough mountain biking, just nature trails and gravel road type stuff.

I'd like to add a good size rear hub motor, but I can't figure out exactly what type I need or what will be compatible with the 29" mtb wheels. Ideally I'd like to have a motor capable of getting me up over 30mph on the flat roads while still having some decent torque and acceleration.

Budget is variable. I'm willing to pay for high quality parts if they're worth the money.

Advice would be greatly appreciated. I'm still reading through the wiki and old threads, but I'd love a little hand holding before I buy a kit that doesn't work with my bike.

Offroad + DD hubmotor + 29inch tire + big dude = bad idea

Unless you go with big power on a DD or get a geared and monitor temps you will not be happy or be constantly burning things up. How many miles do you intend to ride per year and are you okay changing chains and rear sprockets often? Mid drive or geared hub might be the best options.

>How many miles do you intend to ride per year and are you okay changing chains and rear sprockets often? Mid drive or geared hub might be the best options.

I expect to do 2500ish miles in a year, with 90% of that being fairly flat streets or concrete paths.

I'd rather build something that won't break or require constant maintenance. I'm certainly open to mid-drive. The biggest reason I wasn't looking that direction already is because it seems more complicated.

Okay that helps.

Depending on how steep your trails are and how hard you want to pedal you could probably get away with it. Are you intending on switching tires for the 10% offroad riding or sticking to a single hybrid tire for all purpose riding? That could make a difference on which way you want to go.

I commute regularly on a 29er hybrid with a HT3540 hub normally running about 800watts because I have found that it gives me the best combination of workout and pace. On the several 10% grade hills I can keep it about 12-15mph+ by standing on the pedals to stay in the efficiency zone of the motor's output. In general, you go much lower than about 10mph for a long time on most motors, the majority of your power is going to go to heating up the stator rather than kinetic energy and you will burn things up.

With the kind of loads you are going to incur, if you go with a mid-drive you would have to get used to changing drivetrain parts fairly regularly. The BBS02 or new BBSHD is worth checking out, just be aware of that main downside. They will give you everything else you want otherwise as long as you are mindful of not heating them up too much for extend high speed runs.

Thanks for the help! I'll keep doing research but I'll look more toward the high quality mid drives like those.

BBSHD........

WoodlandHills said:

BBSHD........

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Bleeding edge for a n00b. BBS02 750W since many kinks are worked out. Bafang didn't do a good job of wringing out problems for well over a year on the BBS02. Do we suddenly think they didn't put this new version out with kinks?

That said, buy a BBS02 from a reputable seller. One that will support what they sell.

Where's the pirate live ?

Dallas suburb.

tomjasz said:

WoodlandHills said:

BBSHD........

Click to expand...

Bleeding edge for a n00b. BBS02 750W since many kinks are worked out. Bafang didn't do a good job of wringing out problems for well over a year on the BBS02. Do we suddenly think they didn't put this new version out with kinks?

That said, buy a BBS02 from a reputable seller. One that will support what they sell.

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I'm a total noob, been on an eBike for 6 days. I got a bikes Direct bike last Thursday for $400 and on Friday I put a new BBSHD on to it in 4 hours, the hard part was cutting the new chain to correct length. Everything fit without drama or alteration, I plugged in a battery pack, turned it on and went riding for over an hour... I have been bashing the trails every day since. Plug and play. If I can do it why can't he. And what bugs need to be worked out? I climb hills so steep (25 degrees) I have to stand on the pedals, but the motor never gets warm, the kit was a simple direct bolt on product: what's not to love?

https://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=66302

Actually, since he's not riding in the rocky mountains, just about any rear motor, direct drive, 48v kit will be enough for him.

Will it climb steeper hills than the BBs02? no. but it will be easier to install, and will do what he wants.

Can't link him to the hub motor kit I'd recommend, since I work for the company selling it. But 1000w of direct drive will do him fine, even in 29" wheels. If he lived in Denver, he'd need the mid drive. He can choose from kits that cost between 200 and 700 bucks, depending on his wallet, and kind of warranty he wants.

The bugs referred to with the Bafang were some issues with parts inside the controllers. Beefed up now, and the problems with kits from 2 years ago seem fixed now.

Agreed on a 1000w hub kit working, it just depends on how you define 'moderate trail riding.' I could have done a better job being clear about that in my last post. Dallas trails are going to be quite a bit less taxing than even the moderate ones out east, let alone the rockies!

dogman dan said:

The bugs referred to with the Bafang were some issues with parts inside the controllers. Beefed up now, and the problems with kits from 2 years ago seem fixed now.

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Do we know that there aren't bugs in the BBSHD? I'll let those in a hurry do the due diligence at their expense and wait for it all to flush out.
BTW my BBS01's have been stellar. We keep getting reports of new BBS with inadequate lubrication. Several more this week. While I love my BBS, there are potential problems IMO, I NEVER buy first version and release. I leave that to the experts or those with more ready cash.

UPDATE!

After reading more threads and some debate I changed my plan a bit. I kept the Trek Police as it is and purchased a new Fuji 29er to convert with a BBSHD. So now I've still got my regular bike, but also a big fast and powerful mtb to play with.

Pictured with an odd "around-town" setup with a big padded seat and bar ends angled in for an upright position. But I will be taking it around some singletrack with a real mtb seat and a few cockpit changes!





Thanks for the help all!

ThePirate said:

UPDATE!

After reading more threads and some debate I changed my plan a bit. I kept the Trek Police as it is and purchased a new Fuji 29er to convert with a BBSHD. So now I've still got my regular bike, but also a big fast and powerful mtb to play with.

Pictured with an odd "around-town" setup with a big padded seat and bar ends angled in for an upright position. But I will be taking it around some singletrack with a real mtb seat and a few cockpit changes!


Thanks for the help all!

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Perfect! enjoy!

I encourage you to research FALCO.
Listed number ONE in the best ebike kits in REVIEWS subforum.
Cannot beat 5year warranty.

miro13car said:

I encourage you to research FALCO.
Listed number ONE in the best ebike kits in REVIEWS subforum.
Cannot beat 5year warranty.

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Looks like the build is done!

I rode a bike with a Crystalyte 5305 front hub and 29 inch wheels in the very hilly streets of Seattle when I weighed around 400 pounds. It barely got warm, ever. Use a big enough hub, appropriate motor wind, and modest power from the controller, and there will be no problem with the motor.

If be more concerned about how much wheel strength you'll lose by switching to a rear hub motor, and how your shifting will suffer if you don't trade out other components.

A hub motor e-bike isn't as pleasant a machine as a pedal bike. If you like your bike the way it is, you may be disappointed when its weight doubles and its stability diminishes. I'd consider getting a cheap and simple bike, like a steel single speed MTB, and doing the electric conversion on it.