jnoyes said:
This site would be very helpful if there were a section detailing various plans and where to buy the parts. I assume there are posts like this on this site, but I can't find them via a search or browsing. What would be so helpful is if there was something like this:
1: 250 watt build kit
1: parts (with links to buy the parts
2: wiring diagram
3: Specs
2: 500 watt build kit
1: same as above
3: Etc.
Perhaps each section needs to be built out more, but not too much more. Just enough to give a layman the details they need to build a bike or trike successfully.
I will second that suggestion from jnoyes.
I would maybe go a small step further, and make it a decision tree:
1. Use this list for hub motors. (the good, the fair, the junk)
2. Use this list for crank drives. (the good, the fair, the junk)
3. Use this list for mid-drive ebikes. (the good, the fair, the junk)
. . . X. Battery sources here. (the good, the fair, the junk)
. . . XX. Controller types here.
. . . XXX. Throttles (Part Numbers and sources) here.
. . . XXXX. Safety gear and accessories (Part Numbers and sources) here.
In my experience, new guys asking the same questions over and over just annoys the long-time residents, and telling a newbie to "Do a Search!" is
really not helpful to a rider who does not even know what words to search for, in the older posts.
It is far too easy to get lost in the technical details of this hardware. Few new members will want to know about the latest in overpriced unobtanium products and proposals. There is a place for that information, maybe as a sub-forum or heading, but it should not be dominant on an ebike forum. Even there, it should be accepted policy here that nobody mentions any product unless they include real sources and prices. Ordinary people need to know:
1. What works (specific motors, hardware sources, battery pack sources, and prices).
2. What does not work (e.g. some aluminum or suspended forks, on front wheel drives).
3. What that good stuff needs to work (available controllers, throttles, special chargers, et c.).
4. Where to get that stuff.
I believe that the WIKI would be a fine place to put this information, write once and done. Ideally, anybody can edit a WIKI. If you call this approach spoon-feeding, please remember that
nobody came in knowing all the answers here.
If the objective of an ebike forum is to promote ebike building and usage, this simple approach seems to be beneficial.
If there is some other purpose here, please state that purpose, so that people just needing useful ebike information can quickly move on.
My $.02 worth . . .
.