New Build Advice

Hi everybody I've been trolling around the forum for the past two week learning and trying to figure out some of the info about e-bikes but I'm still finding myself unable to pull the trigger and was hoping I could get some advice. I have no prior knowledge of bikes but I tend to learn quickly enough, having taught myself to build computers a number of years ago. I'm based out of Seattle WA and I started biking in the past month as I don't have much time or motivation to get exercise otherwise due to hospital hours >12H. I live at the top of a very steep hill, about 250 feet high with a grade that I'm estimating about 10-15% for about .4 miles. So going to work is easy, I just ride my brakes down the hill then its flat the rest of the way to work. Getting back, however means that I hop off and walk it up the hill, which is just enough motivation to not want to do this every day. My total round trip distance is not bad, about 10 miles in total. My goal of converting to an e-bike is to make my life easy enough that I can stop driving my car almost entirely and really feel comfortable about biking everywhere. I initially was thinking of a hilltopper system based on the advertised ease of assembly but since I have an aluminum fork I wasn't willing to do a front mount due to the risks, even with a low watt motor and torque arms. Based on the climb I need to do, I'm thinking I need a geared motor rather than direct drive. So I've pretty much decided I want either a geared rear hub motor or a mid drive like the 8fun BBSO1/BBSO2. I wanted as stealthy of a kit as possible as I'll be locked outside for >12 hours every day. I'll be locking up pretty securely but I don't want to invest so much into the system that its crazy expensive to replace. This also means I want a battery and controller that I can easily disconnect from the bike and carry with me inside. I also am not particularly interested in messing with homebrew batteries, totally not worth the risk for me. I'd like the safest, lightest chemistry. I was hoping to keep this project in the $400-600 range for just a small kit to give me a boost, but the more I read the more I keep upgrading my "requirements." It looks like I may need to spend ~1000 including shipping to get this done. I'm actually almost annoyed enough to consider buying a pre-made solution from one of the several e-bike dealers in down (something with a bosch or panasonic mid drive built in) like this:

http://www.electricbikeseattle.com/products/sev-french-e-bike-ultimate

Bike: 2004 aluminum mountain bike with aluminum manitou fork with a broken seal on the right.
Distance: 10 miles round trip
Elevation: 0.4 mile climb up a 10-15% grade hill, otherwise fairly flat
Weight: 80kg + bike
Budget: Lower the better. Ideally <$700, will maybe spend up to $1200 shipped. I'll pay what I need to for reliability though, not into false economy.
Other concerns: Moisture resistance. Would ideally like a kit that can survive the rainy weather here and allow me to bike to work in the rain.
Bike safety: As long as I can take my battery and controller with me I think I'm ok locking the rest outside, but if it gets more expensive there are private bike lockers that can be rented.
Breaks: Rim brakes for now, but may want to upgrade to disk breaks once I wear out my current pads.
Stealth: To keep stealthy I'd like to consider only having pedal assist vs finding a way to easily remove the LCD screen.
Water resistance: Needs to be able to survive biking all conditions
Top Speed: Don't really care. 15mph more than enough. Will plan on mostly pedaling.

I'm thinking of pulling the trigger by Wednesday and thinking of getting a kit from em3ev.com, either the highest torque MAC kit vs the bafang BBS02. An american seller would be nice but they all seem to be substantially more expensive. Do you guys think that for my needs that the BBS01 kit would actually be sufficient for my needs? I think I would save $100-200 over the BBS02 models. If I'm paying a few hundred for shipping anyways though from China maybe I should just spring for the BBS02? What do you guys think about the 36V 500 watt BBS02 kit? There a 12.3 Ah vs 16.5 Ah frame pack that would go with that. How far do you think I could go with either of those if I pedal too? If this is enough power to get up my hill, maybe thats a good compromise instead of going for the full 750 watt setup. How water resistant are these kits? Any other recommendations?

Thanks for the thoughts!

Welcome to ES!
I'm a big fan of MAC hub motors but in your case I think you would be better with the BBS02 750 with a triangle pack. As big as you can afford. But that's my opinion.

Your gonna have another week before you can order from China It's their New Year.

I'm sure there will be many checking in to help you decide what you need.
Your trip isn't that long, it's the hill that worries me.

Dan

Though your hill is steep, it's likely you can still climb it pretty easy with nearly any USA power level hubmotor. 20-30 amps controller plenty. 36v 15 ah battery enough to go both ways slow, but since the hill will be when your battery is empty, charging at work would be great. 48v 10 ah will work too.

Nothing wrong with the EM3ev idea, but even the cheapest 800w-1000w direct drive kit on amazon will do er. The hill is only a half mile, so it won't kill you to pedal hard that far. Getting a quality battery still a good plan. Bolt your controller on securely, and it will stay on the bike. Whole bike disappear always more likely. For some stealth, a rear gear motor is ideal, but a thief looking for electric stuff to steal will surely spot anything.

Sometimes the best approach to keeping your bike is the ugly bike trick. You could be best off to put your motor on a cheap 7 speed steel beach cruiser, then paint it funky and make it look rusty. Or give your bike the same treatment. Paint, throw dirt on the wet paint, paint some more. Or bury it in stickers.

At the moment, it's Chinese new year, so bear that in mind when you order this week.

Thanks for the advice guys, I think I'll steer towards the higher power side just in case. Dogman I was looking at the ebikekit.com GRD5RH, the geared 500-1000 watt hubmotor. If I pair this with an EM3ev frame pack that is 48V, 11ah, and limited by the BMS to 20 amp of continuous discharge would that be possible since the website says you need at least 22 amp continuous? Is that hard and fixed? If not would it be ill advised?

I'm in Seattle also and just bought an eZee rear hub motor and em3ev battery frame pack from Henry at Lion Tails cycles. Good guy, advice and reasonable prices. I also have a steep hill and heavy cargo bike and the e assist has made it a non-issue.

You could just buy a used ebike on Craigslist and then buy a new battery.. Just a thought.

Get a 30 amps bms for the GRD5RH EBK kit. That's what is on the batteries we sell for it.

No worries about Chinese new year on the kit, but we may run out of rear motors soon, because of Chinese new year. The battery will be delayed some I'm sure. But the holiday will be over soon anyway. Possibly done by the time you make up your mind.