Seeking opinions on my ebike project ideas (noob)

klundry

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I'm mulling starting an ebike build as I have done often in the past. But now I have not motorized 2 wheel vehicle anymore so I think I will actually get around to it this time.

I don't want a slapped together bicycle looking contraption. I want a pretty board track style ebike. Where I live/ride is mostly flat. I'm looking for a top speed around 20-30mph. I would like at least 20 miles of range. $2k is my max budget, prefer to stay well under that if possible.

I'm not sure what motor kit I should be looking at. I don't need impressive acceleration but I want to be able to ride it like a moped. Twist and go and not have to pedal. It looks like hub motors are more economical and pretty powerful. Mid drives seem more versatile and have other benefits like using whatever gearing you want.

I'm currently between the Sportsman Flyer and the Ruff Porucho frame. Considering a 1000W hub motor or BBS02.

Any advice or suggestions based on your experiences?
 
Go to www.Leafbike.com or www.Leafmotor.com and buy their 1500W direct drive rear kit with 4 Turns in the motor and display unit.

Then buy your battery from www.em3ev.com say 60V or 72V and 20Ah.

Or go to http://www.cyclone-tw.com/ and buy their 3000W mid drive, if you are in stop and go traffic or have hills to climb. Then buy a Cycle Analyst from www.ebikes.ca
 
From all that I have read up on the BBS02 it will, Not , get you the speed you want for any reasonable amount of distance.

From personal experience , while sitting at a table on the side of a bike path one day a couple of e-bikes zoomed past, I quickly got on my bike and tried to catch up with them to see what bikes they were, It was not until the parking lot where I finally caught up with them as they were loading the bikes up into their truck, turned out to be a couple of Sportsman Flyers, ridden by the owner of Sportsman Flyer and his wife. The bikes look great and alot of attention to detail goes into those bikes .

Those bikes look even better up close in person than they do in the pictures. I would guess you would be very happy with one ,from all that I saw that day.
 
ScooterMan101, that's pretty neat! Did you get to talk to them? Do you know what kind of motors they had on them?

So, would you recommend going with a hub motor for my needs?
 
klundry,

It has been quite a while since I saw them and they were in a hurry to get going so I am not sure if I asked if they had a DD or Geared Rear Hub .
I forgot what voltage also. In any case from the performance I saw what ever the configuration it works well, I did not hear much noise when they passed some but very little and they can get up to speed so no small weak motors on them.

Yes a rear hub will work for you, in fact the experts in DIY E-Bike conversions say that for 80% of us a Hub motor is better.
I have 1,600 miles on my Mac hub motor now and the chain and gears are in very good condition, you can not say that with a mid-drive .
I even fixed a rear flat once by just turning the bike upside down and just removing one side of the tire, then finding and patching the hole in the tube and putting it back again all without removing the wheel off the bike.
Only on one flat did I have to take the tire off and that was only because it was on my Road E-Bike with thin light weight tires and even then only because the screw that I ran over went all the way up through both sides of the tube so I hitched a ride home with it in the back of a truck.

There are many advantages of a Rear Hub Motor for anyone who lives in a Flat area or even a hilly area where the hills are not too steep.
Someday I will have a mid-drive but , Only , because I live right next to Mountains with steep gradients going up them . But there are a few Rear Hubs that will do even that, however for them I would have to spend about the same $ and they would go up a few Mph slower, so will try a mid-drive someday. I am waiting on the newer mid-drives that are in development right now.
 
For the twist and go riding you want, go with a 1000w 48v rear hub motor kit. Pair it with a suitable bike, meaning ideally a 7-14- or 21 speed. The motor will come with a 7 speed gear on it. It can work with an 8 speed, but any more than that is a problem.

After riding nearly everything, I have started to really recommend at least the first ebike, for street, to be a 7 speed beach cruiser with two rim brakes. no coaster brake cruisers. Can be cheap steel, or a nice electra townie with 21 speeds. But a slightly longer wheelbase rides street real nice, on cushy balloon tires, and the frame has tons of room for your battery box. FWIW, that sportsman has only a coaster brake. You need to at least get it with rim brakes, or your bike will have no brakes at all. Don't set your heart on a pretty frame right off too, cuz every thief in town will notice your pretty bike.

MTB's great too, but really, try a cruiser for street. Its design goes back to when roads were not paved, and they got it right.
 
Thanks for the advice dogman dan and ScooterMan101!

I'm not too concerned about gearing. Actually, I want just a single speed. This will be an in town bike with a battery that gives me the range to get around town for a bit and back home without pedaling being necessary is the plan. If I get stuck out with a dead battery occasionally with a single speed, oh well. Not a big deal. I prefer the simplicity and look of not having a derailer.

The Sportsman frame is awesome but I've decided against spending that kind of money on the frame. Right now I'm considering going with a Worksman Newsboy frame that they have in the ratrodbikes store and I'll get the wheels and other parts separately.

This might be a question for a separate thread but are there any wheel building services with more rim selection that will build hub motor wheels? Or will I have to build my own or find a bike shop locally that will do it?
 
From the Ruff Cycles web site:

"PORUCHO - Toot-f***ing-Toot...imagine yourself as a young storm trooper swaggering that thing at walking pace down Hollywood Boulevard with a fine female spread legged on roller skates over the back wheel grabing firmly with both hands to your oiled up trapezius muscles or bent over trying to hold on to your doughy hips...the Porucho is the ultimate weapon for pulling chicks.

One of a kind oldstyle bicycle frame. Oldschool with a lot of potential for new ideas. A glance in its past, shows it’s origin – the boardtracker."

I think you should get the Porucho.
 
I believe the bicycles with the rear IGH have a shorter rear dropout because the one I have is that case. I couldnt even fit a regular motor back there without spread the dropouts (more then it should)
 
I would love a Porucho, they look sweet! They are pretty expensive though and I think the Worksman gets me close enough to that look I'm going for and saves me quite a bit of cash.

markz, what bike do you have?
 
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