Is this kit worth the price, and if, how long would it last?

MrSzyma

MrSzyma

100 µW
Joined
May 18, 2017
Messages
7
Hello!

I am thinking about building an e-bike, that I will be able to use to ride around forest tracks and have fun in general.

I have heard many people saying "don't buy those cheap chinese kits of off E-Bay.
Not sure what they mean by "cheap", and if it is about all the kits in general?

I have been looking on this kit (together with the panasonic battery): http://www.ebay.com/itm/5000w-Hub-Motor-OR-Kit-5kW-Electric-Bicycle-E-bike-E-bike-Conversion-/112321997065?var=&hash=item1a26e9a909:m:mzln0maIA6_i-65RLCb9JlQ

Would you guys go for it, or not? If not, do you have any better suggestions for a quite powerful bike?

Also how long do you guys think it would last? Are those "quality" parts, or shitty ones?

Regards
Szymon
 
That kit will probably last a year or two not because it will fail but because you'll want something better. In the meantime it looks more than suitable for some fun forest riding. You will need to MAKE SURE to frequently check / tighten your spokes, because rough riding does not do these chinese wheels any favors. They will last with attention to maintenance though.

The throttles on those things are garbage. Get a Domino. They're way awesome and it's your interface to control not only the motor but your steering so don't use a cheap one.
 
flat tire said:
That kit will probably last a year or two not because it will fail but because you'll want something better. In the meantime it looks more than suitable for some fun forest riding. You will need to MAKE SURE to frequently check / tighten your spokes, because rough riding does not do these chinese wheels any favors. They will last with attention to maintenance though.

The throttles on those things are garbage. Get a Domino. They're way awesome and it's your interface to control not only the motor but your steering so don't use a cheap one.
Click to expand...

Haha. Don't have the money to upgrade in a year or two tho :D. I'll be saving for a car by that time. 16 soon, riding motocross, but that won't work for forests and places like that in Norway :).

So are you saying that those parts will last long? Around how long? 1 year, 2 years, or?
 
The motor is good for high power and the controller can feed it. The wheel building may not be very good and you will probably have to re-lace the wheel soon. The rest of parts supplied are cheap. If you buy a ready built battery from China, it is possible that it will be made with copies instead of genuine cells.

You can buy all that you need separately and pay less for better. A big hub motor with 50mm magnets can be bought direct from the manufacturer (look for QS 205 50H V3 at QS motors). Buy genuine cells from a reputable vendor and build your own battery, or check customers feedback for anyone building it for you to make sure they are genuine. Controller, throttle, switch... can be found in the "for sale" section of the forum.
 
MadRhino said:
The motor is good for high power and the controller can feed it. The wheel building may not be very good and you will probably have to re-lace the wheel soon. The rest of parts supplied are cheap. If you buy a ready built battery from China, it is possible that it will be made with copies instead of genuine cells.

You can buy all that you need separately and pay less for better. A big hub motor with 50mm magnets can be bought direct from the manufacturer (look for QS 205 50H V3 at QS motors). Buy genuine cells from a reputable vendor and build your own battery, or check customers feedback for anyone building it for you to make sure they are genuine. Controller, throttle, switch... can be found in the "for sale" section of the forum.
Click to expand...

Thank you for the answer!

Buying and shipping every part separatly would kill me. I live in Norway :(. Any good kits out there for a reasonable price?
 
When you contact QS motors for a 205, you can ask them for a kit. They sure have many big controllers and make a deal when you buy it with the motor. Trottle and controls are likely to be available too. Batteries are another story. Very difficult to find genuine cells in China. Many of us buying batteries in China do prefer RC Lipo for high power. It is a dangerous chemistry that requires strict monitoring, but it does feed high power with a simple, compact and lightweight battery pack.
 
MrsZyma,

That e-bay kit you link to is not cheap , in fact it is over priced .

For that kind of money you can get a Kit from Grin Technologies, or from Em3ev.com , Luna, etc. I do not know about QS Motors that MadRhino speaks of , but he has plenty of experience with powerful conversions .
and for lighter and less powerful motors , kits from places like BMS Battery.com / Green Bike Kit, etc.

You say you are going to ride off road, I personally would want the lightest geared hub motor for off road.
( lightest weight for the level of power you want )
or
A Mid-Drive
There are a couple of people working on improving mid drives , but do not know when they will have a kit to sell.
See the e-bike non hub motor drives , section here on E.S.
 
http://www.ebay.com/itm/48V-Front-Wheel-Electric-Bicycle-Motor-Conversion-Kit-1000W-E-Bike-Cycling-Hub/221691273393?_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851&_trkparms=aid%3D555018%26algo%3DPL.SIM%26ao%3D2%26asc%3D40130%26meid%3De0a13beac2eb49318d1ecaed9ccc237d%26pid%3D100005%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D6%26mehot%3Dpp%26sd%3D112321997065

That one is the cheap kit you were warned about, 150 bucks.

Hard to say if the one you chose is overpriced or not. ( can't tell if the controller is good or just average) But if the controller blows, you can replace that relatively cheap. The wheel looks to have a stronger rim and spokes than bike wheels. BTW,, that wheel does not fit most bikes. Its 147 mm wide, while bike rear wheels are 135mm. So you can bend out a steel frame, or use a fat bike frame. Cant bend out an aluminum frame that much very well.

But that's a honking big motor, and batteries to run it are NOT CHEAP. Yes, you can buy a 5 ah pack of RC cells pretty cheap, but you won't go far on them if you ride like a motorcycle.

Bet you spend 2 thou USD on it in the end. So you might want to rethink, maybe even do the 150 buck kit, and ride with only 1000w, if you mean to save your cash for that car. Keep the whole thing less expensive. Then you get a longer ride on a battery that costs you 5-700 usd, instead of a really fun 15 min.
 
True. That motor is for performance, and fits a DH frame or an off road style ebike dedicated frame. I would not build with such a powerful motor on a plain hard tail MTB. You can feed those big motors enough power to beat motorcycles, and once you are used to a powerful ebike, riding a heavy gasser is not very interesting anymore. My 2 gas bikes, MX and Trial are both sleeping in a shed for years. If you have only short commute, it is unlikely that you will prefer a car after you sarted doing it with a fast bike. For city commuting especially, nothing can compete having motorcycle power combined to bicycle agility and privileges.

Yet, if you are not a sport type rider, and only plan to save money riding an ebike until you can afford a car, then you are targetting too big with this kind of motor. You could build much cheaper and easier with a more common kit.
 
MadRhino said:
True. That motor is for performance, and fits a DH frame or an off road style ebike dedicated frame. I would not build with such a powerful motor on a plain hard tail MTB. You can feed those big motors enough power to beat motorcycles, and once you are used to a powerful ebike, riding a heavy gasser is not very interesting anymore. My 2 gas bikes, MX and Trial are both sleeping in a shed for years. If you have only short commute, it is unlikely that you will prefer a car after you sarted doing it with a fast bike. For city commuting especially, nothing can compete having motorcycle power combined to bicycle agility and privileges.

Yet, if you are not a sport type rider, and only plan to save money riding an ebike until you can afford a car, then you are targetting too big with this kind of motor. You could build much cheaper and easier with a more common kit.
Click to expand...

Yeah. Wanted a powerful e-bike, as the rules for where you can ride a dirtbike are very strict in Norway. You can't even legally ride on your own land :(. So the only times I can ride is when my dad has time to drive me to a track. Therefore I wanted to build a powerful e-bike to be able to just hop on after school and ride around nearby forests.
 
dogman dan said:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/48V-Front-Wheel-Electric-Bicycle-Motor-Conversion-Kit-1000W-E-Bike-Cycling-Hub/221691273393?_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851&_trkparms=aid%3D555018%26algo%3DPL.SIM%26ao%3D2%26asc%3D40130%26meid%3De0a13beac2eb49318d1ecaed9ccc237d%26pid%3D100005%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D6%26mehot%3Dpp%26sd%3D112321997065

That one is the cheap kit you were warned about, 150 bucks.

Hard to say if the one you chose is overpriced or not. ( can't tell if the controller is good or just average) But if the controller blows, you can replace that relatively cheap. The wheel looks to have a stronger rim and spokes than bike wheels. BTW,, that wheel does not fit most bikes. Its 147 mm wide, while bike rear wheels are 135mm. So you can bend out a steel frame, or use a fat bike frame. Cant bend out an aluminum frame that much very well.

But that's a honking big motor, and batteries to run it are NOT CHEAP. Yes, you can buy a 5 ah pack of RC cells pretty cheap, but you won't go far on them if you ride like a motorcycle.

Bet you spend 2 thou USD on it in the end. So you might want to rethink, maybe even do the 150 buck kit, and ride with only 1000w, if you mean to save your cash for that car. Keep the whole thing less expensive. Then you get a longer ride on a battery that costs you 5-700 usd, instead of a really fun 15 min.
Click to expand...

Thanks for your answer :).
I wanted to build a powerful e-bike, to be able to ride around nearby forests and have fun. as the dirtbike rules are very strict in Norway. You can't even legally ride one on your private land. Therefore I can only ride when my dad has time to drive me to a track.

Would spend the money anyway as I soon will need something to commute with anyway. I am thinking about getting an e-bike or a 125cc A1 motorcycle. So getting an e-bike kit for 2k will still be less than half the price of getting a let's say WR125 here in Norway :).

I wanted to go with a panasonic 18650 cell battery, if buying a kit like that. Do you think that type of battery would be good? Also heard that many chinese sellers sell batteries with knockoff cells, and that you can build your own battery much cheaper. How difficult is it to make your own battery? Do you think that after reading enough and being careful I can spot weld my own battery?
 
throttles from the pictures look like your crappy 3-light types so common on all China brand kits.
And they break, those 3 LEDs are quite useless as indicators of battery charge.
 
Many on ES, have built their own battery with 18650 cells. The cell brands and type are well documented in some threads on the forum. They are safe and long lasting, but do require the assembly of a lot of cells to be able to feed high power.

I use RC lipo because they can feed high power with simple serie of 4 big bricks of 6 prismatic cells, and because they can be charged very fast. Yet, they are not for distracted people. You need to monitor them, manage a safe place to charge and store, and likely buy new ones each year.
 
No need for you to learn how to weld , and to buy a welder made for making you own battery pack,

There are finally better options for a DIY builder of 18650 cells.

Here : https://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=87434


MrSzyma said:
I wanted to go with a panasonic 18650 cell battery, if buying a kit like that. Do you think that type of battery would be good? Also heard that many chinese sellers sell batteries with knockoff cells, and that you can build your own battery much cheaper. How difficult is it to make your own battery? Do you think that after reading enough and being careful I can spot weld my own battery?
Click to expand...
 
Knowing what kind of places you want to ride the e-bike would be helpful in deciding what kind of motor to get. then once that is determined find the Vendor you want to buy from, or a few parts from one Vendor and other parts from a different Vendor.

Saying you are in Norway is like me saying I am in California, more information is needed to get the best type of e-assist for your situation. Here in California ,
There are Flat Areas, Areas with Hills, Areas with Hills that are steep, Areas where there are Mountains, and then there is the Desert, which If I lived there I would be converting a Fat Bike, or Plus Wheel Bike.

So what are the percentages of slopes you want to go up ?

How long are they ? ( Like do you live at the waters edge of a Fjord and want to ride to the top of the surrounding mountains ? )

Which Kind of Hub , or Mid-Drive will be better will depend on what kind of riding you want to do ?

And then because you are in Norway, how many months of the year do you want to ride the e-bike ?

Months of riding on/in the snow ? , then Fat or Plus .

Want to ride without full suspension then Fat or Plus .

Want to ride on streets as well as the Dirt without changing tires , then get tires that are around 42mm-54 mm wide.





MrSzyma said:
Yeah. Wanted a powerful e-bike, as the rules for where you can ride a dirtbike are very strict in Norway. You can't even legally ride on your own land :(. So the only times I can ride is when my dad has time to drive me to a track. Therefore I wanted to build a powerful e-bike to be able to just hop on after school and ride around nearby forests.
Click to expand...
 
miro13car said:
Szyma,
Jak sie masz, nie za zimno w Norwegii?
Ile miesiency na rowerze masz w Norwegii?
Click to expand...

Ooo witam :D!

W Norwegii narazie ciągle pada, ale mieszkam w okolicach Oslo, także zwykle pogoda jest tutaj bardzo podobna do tej w Polsce :).
 
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