Chalo said:
motomech said:
Honestly, w/ a budget of $600, you would be better off looking at a "Spooky" conversion. That is, a gas engine conversion kit that can be had for less than $200.
That's even less reliable than a horrible cheap motor and used laptop batteries. Not to mention noisy, smelly, and toxic.
As someone who actually rides an Ebike every day in a major city, I know more about gas powered bicycles than I ever wanted to. I share the bike lanes w/ them and they out number me at least 10 to 1. At nite we shoot the breeze in frt. of the local 7-Eleven and the fact is, even the cheapest Chinese 2-stroke kits are reliable. The biggest prob. they have is chains falling off.
Yes, they are smokey and noisey, but if one wants quiet and clean, the next level($350)will buy a Chinese 4-stroke kit at the cost of more money and reduced speed.
If reliability is paramount, there are quality kits that feature engines by Tanaka, Robin and Honda, basicly portable genset power-plants. Engines hardly get more reliable than these.
I'm not trying to swing anyone's interest from Ebikes to gas-powered bikes, I'm just saying that for anyone w/ a limited hard budget that needs reliable transpo, there is another option.
Yes, an Ebike can be built for $600 or less, I just built one for less than $600(not including the bike);
But I used on-sale LiPoly from Hobby King and a budget charger and I wouldn't recommend LiPoly to many folks.
Even the least expensive direct drive kit, once a few necessary items are added, like torque arms, is going to be at least $200, leaving $400 for a shipped battery and charger.
And I'm not seeing any packs listed on this thread, that don't require assembly that fall into that range.
Note: I just checked Luna, the least expensive battery with a reasonable capacity would be the 48V 10 Ah. Add their medium charger(The 3A is a joke)and shipping and one is at $480. Still, it would seem to be the best option for a budget build. This would make $680 about rock-bottom for a decent build I.M.O.