Help with deciding on E bike

Hi all

I've been pouring over the many options available in E-Biking. I'm a bit lost and would love to get some help and pointers from the community to clarify.

A little background: I don't have any bike currently. I'm tall (6'6'') and about 270 lbs. I'm looking to get a e-bike for commuting in NYC. I want to actively pedal the bike and am mostly looking for pedal assistance so uphill seems like flat area etc. As I'm unsure how much I'll use the bike, I'm not looking to spend much more than $1500. If I use it a lot I might upgrade in a year or two.

After looking at pure EBikes to retrofitting regular bikes from folding to hybrids and from 250w hub motors to 750w mid drive, I have these questions:

• Buying a regular bike and retrofitting it is the most flexible and price efficient. If I want to change bikes/electric kit later I just swap that etc. Is this right?
• Although I would love to get a folding bike for easier transport in the train, I'm too heavy for folding bikes unless getting custom ones (from Bike Friday for example which are too expensive for me IMO). Do you know of an affordable folding bike that has max rider weight 250-300lbs?
• Is Bafang BBS02 mid-drive motor a good choice?
• How does the controller of these bikes work? If I have a 750W Bafang BBS02, and want to use it only for pedal assist and not use the full wattage, is it as efficient as a comparable 250W motor?
• I've come to the conclusion (if I don't hear objections!) to retrofit the Trek 7.2 FX with Bafang BBS02, how does that sound? (http://www.trekbikes.com/us/en/bikes/road/fitness/fx/7_2_fx/)

Thank you in advance for any help!
Gudbergur

gudbergur said:

Is Bafang BBS02 mid-drive motor a good choice?

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Hope so as I am about to pull the trigger on one That said giving your desire to pedal this was the first option that came to mind for me.

[*] I've come to the conclusion (if I don't hear objections!) to retrofit the Trek 7.2 FX with Bafang BBS02, how does that sound? (http://www.trekbikes.com/us/en/bikes/road/fitness/fx/7_2_fx/)[/list]

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Flat bar bikes are generally a nice bike and this is much better frame than most of the "e-bikes" I have seen so I would consider that a good choice. In fact my first bike was a flat bar, a Giant CRX 1 so a good choice to starting out . My only concern is the drive train components are down on the Shimano spec chart but then they can easily upgraded down the track if you so wish.

Andrew

Hey! Great thanks. What battery do you plan on getting? Also, do you plan on getting Bafang from Lectric Cycles or AliExpress?

gudbergur said:

Hey! Great thanks. What battery do you plan on getting? Also, do you plan on getting Bafang from Lectric Cycles or AliExpress?

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I am in Australia so the cost ex USA cannot be justified. I have had good dealings with Paul (Cell-man) at EM3EV so I am getting my kit from him. Maybe a little pricey but I am happy to pay for some support if needed. The price at Lectric Cycles or from Chris at Long Island Electric Bicycles might be comparable with local support thrown in.

Going with EM3EV I am getting the 36V 350W motor with their 36V Samsung Frame Mounted Pack (10.25-16.5Ah) but I have a long commute, 42 km each way.



Andrew

Though I'm quite the "hubmotor guy" Those look like a real good choice to me. That gets you assist in any gear. I have a primitive old bb drive bike, and find it took some getting used to. Shifting can be real harsh if you have full power on the motor when you shift. But with some practice, it became quite natural.

The main pitfall I have found with my bb drive, is being tempted to run too high a gear, which like hubmotors can lead to making heat with the motor instead of forward motion. That is when both hubbies or bb drive gets inefficient.

Add one more tool to the list, a Cycleanalyst. Riding with a wattmeter will greatly help you learn when you are riding inefficient, and when you are not. Since you can't feel the motor like you feel your legs, you need a wattmeter to tell you when power is spiking more than usual.

It can be a cheaper wattmeter, like the blue ones on ebay that sell for less than 20 bucks. But if you can afford a CA, you won't regret getting one.

Great, thanks for the feedback guys. I have now come a whole circle and sort of decided to get a eProdigy Logan (http://www.eprodigybikes.com/products.aspx).

For USD$2000 I get a package comparable to what I would get with a custom pckage for $2050 - Trek 7.2 FX ($550) + Bafang BBS02 ($750 from LectricCycle) + AllCell battery (About $700 from LectricCycle), BUT an added bonus of a torque sensor for pedal assist (and of course it all being put together for me and supported by eProdigy).

Although the custom package with Bafang BBS02 is tempting, I don't know how good their pedal assist is without a torque sensor. Any thoughts on this?

gudbergur said:

Great, thanks for the feedback guys. I have now come a whole circle and sort of decided to get a eProdigy Logan (http://www.eprodigybikes.com/products.aspx).

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My only niggle would be the battery but that really depends on the distance of your ride, hills etc. You might want to plug your ride into a stimulator such as the one at http://www.electricbikerange.info/Electric_bike_range.html to see how it looks. Actually I have two: suspension fork. They add weight and they add inefficiencies for road riding and really on the road you don't need them unless you are jumping kerbs or something. There is a reason "cyclists' don't use them as a rule on road bikes as for example per the Trek you where looking at

Andrew

Ah those are both very good points, thanks That calculator is an immense help, I've been trying to figure out how big of a battery I need And I totally switched my mind again now and gone back to the retrofitted Trek Decisions, decisions...

Only one solution really, sell your soul to the ebike addiction, and about the 6th bike you build you get pretty close to what you want. And then, only because now you have 6 ebikes, each one really good at one thing. You'll like them all, along the way, but hopefully like each version more and more. Sometimes you have to ride some, just to find out what you want and like best.

The upside is, you can run a bunch of bikes on one battery investment.

Sometimes the biggest deal is finding the right bike for your body. You are a big boy, so you won't be happy with the cheap child size bikes at walmart, the ones we call bike shaped objects. I bet off the rack ebikes fit you for shit.

Prepare to get hooked, and spend some money. It might be your best approach to worry more about the bike than the motor at this point. Your first try can be a really cheap kit, with a better than cheap battery.

Aushiker said:

gudbergur said:

The price at Lectric Cycles or from Chris at Long Island Electric Bicycles might be comparable with local support thrown in.

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No 36V 350W at one and backordered at the other. Add limited battery choices and EM3ev wins my consideration

I'm 6'4" and 225 and a to small a frame is arkward. Check the mac kits and a 50v battery @ em3ev. or justin at ebike.ca in Canada, great support.

The eProdigy Logan I purchased is treating me well. Now if it would just warm up! The Logan is not a small bike. I've never been as tall as you and doubt I ever will be lol, but at six feet tall, the bike is as large as I would ever want it to be. I will say, consider a Brooks saddle no matter what you get! wow, I am a believer. Purchased the B72 model, the one with the loop ring spring suspension, in my opinion it is better than a suspension post. There are other models with more suspension, great addition to a bike.

29 inch wheels and a large frame. eProdigy provides great customer care. Whatever you decide to get, happy wheeling!

Hey Andrew,

Do not take this charger, it is incompatible with the battery you choose.
"Charger is not included, please select a suitable 10S Li Ion type Charger, 42V, 2.5A"
You need to choose one of those slow chargers

gudbergur said:

Great, thanks for the feedback guys. I have now come a whole circle and sort of decided to get a eProdigy Logan (http://www.eprodigybikes.com/products.aspx).

For USD$2000 I get a package comparable to what I would get with a custom pckage for $2050 - Trek 7.2 FX ($550) + Bafang BBS02 ($750 from LectricCycle) + AllCell battery (About $700 from LectricCycle), BUT an added bonus of a torque sensor for pedal assist (and of course it all being put together for me and supported by eProdigy).

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You won't regret purchasing an eProdigy. I have put more miles on an eProdigy than probably anyone else in the world and I have nothing but praise for it. I believe it is the cheapest ready-made mid drive e-bike you can get. There is a thread dealing with it on endless sphere when it used to be called Epik Whistler. Bill

zanedog said:

The eProdigy Logan I purchased is treating me well. Now if it would just warm up! The Logan is not a small bike. I've never been as tall as you and doubt I ever will be lol, but at six feet tall, the bike is as large as I would ever want it to be. I will say, consider a Brooks saddle no matter what you get! wow, I am a believer. Purchased the B72 model, the one with the loop ring spring suspension, in my opinion it is better than a suspension post. There are other models with more suspension, great addition to a bike.

29 inch wheels and a large frame. eProdigy provides great customer care. Whatever you decide to get, happy wheeling!

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The Logan has 28 inch wheels. Bill

[/quote]
The Logan has 28 inch wheels. Bill[/quote]

700c rims on the Logan. Tires are labelled 47-622, 700x45c, 28 x 1 5/8 x 1 3/4.
It seems that a 29 inch tire uses the same rim diameter, just a larger tire.
Bicycle tire sizing is confusing.
http://sheldonbrown.com/tire-sizing.html
I did a rollout on my tire, tried to be as accurate as I could and found it was 88.1 inches which gives a diameter of 28 inches. You are correct.

Took a glance at that E prodigy website. That is a very good price for an ebike with built in bb motor, without it being the very loud type previously available for a decent price.

I can see why you just chose that. The economics of it differs though, if the person already has a very nice bike.

The Logan has 28 inch wheels. Bill[/quote]

700c rims on the Logan. Tires are labelled 47-622, 700x45c, 28 x 1 5/8 x 1 3/4.
It seems that a 29 inch tire uses the same rim diameter, just a larger tire.
Bicycle tire sizing is confusing.
http://sheldonbrown.com/tire-sizing.html
I did a rollout on my tire, tried to be as accurate as I could and found it was 88.1 inches which gives a diameter of 28 inches. You are correct.[/quote]

Yes, tire sizes are confusing. I wish manufacturers would stop complicating things. I think they deliberately want to confuse us so that we will be easier to manipulate. Bill

eProdigy looks like a pretty decent machine for the price... But I could find zero info on how powerful the BB motor is.

Anyone know?

Although, for the OP, riding in New York, and even with a lower power motor running thru that gear set, I am confident e eProdigy is powerful enough.

As far as torque sensing... The Bafang doesn't have it...and I feel it would be a notable albeit minor improvement.

The best torque sensing pre-built I have risen was the Neo Carbon... A bike that had a real effortless feel to its PAS...nod, most importantly, offered excellent off the mark torque for a hub motor.

To the OP...you owe it to yourself to test ride one before buying. For a New York City machine, the most important feature you need is that off the line power to get the bike moving after you have to bring it to a stop. Some pre-built bikes really don't kick in power until you have the, moving already...others are wound to give you high torque at the start.

The only fault I find with the eProdigy is the derailleur rear... In city traffic you frequently are forced to brake hard, or full stop... And you can't downshift when the bike isn't moving to make it easy to restart.
I would consider reserving some money to replace the rear derailuer/cassette with an internally geared hub.

For an ebike, the NuVinci shows the best ability to take shift under load.... And would give you a continuously variable transmission to fine tune the perfect gear ratio for any conditions.

sculptingman said:

eProdigy looks like a pretty decent machine for the price... But I could find zero info on how powerful the BB motor is.

Anyone know?

Although, for the OP, riding in New York, and even with a lower power motor running thru that gear set, I am confident e eProdigy is powerful enough.




The only fault I find with the eProdigy is the derailleur rear... In city traffic you frequently are forced to brake hard, or full stop... And you can't downshift when the bike isn't moving to make it easy to restart.
I would consider reserving some money to replace the rear derailuer/cassette with an internally geared hub.

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The 350 watt motor has 40 Nm of torque. Being stuck in high gear at a stop is the only time I resort to using the throttle. I have tested the nu vinci and I prefer my rapid fire derailleur shifters. I could not get used to the long twist travel needed to shift gear ratios.