building my first e bike

[mrfeelgooddrag26]

here are the parts i want to use i know its all ebay stuff and its not quality from like ebikes.com or whatever but its cheap enough that i dont care .
http://www.ebay.com/itm/36V500W-26-Front-Wheel-Electric-Bicycle-Motor-Kit-E-Bike-Cycling-Hub-Conversion-/370807665408?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5655dbf300

then i want to run either 3 of these http://www.ebay.com/itm/Max-Life-Battery-12V-22AH-SLA-Sealed-Lead-Acid-Battery-Replaces-ZEUS-PC22-12-/251293546630?pt=US_Rechargeable_Batteries&hash=item3a82433886 or 3 12 ah battery from the same seller my question is is it ok to run 22 ah batterys on the kit that i bought ???

and its most likley going to be built on this bicycle from walmart http://www.walmart.com/ip/Kent-La-Jolla-26-Men-s-Cruiser-Bike/17206784

ive never built an ebike before so i dont really know what i can and cannot do my main question is about the batterys and depending on what i can use about how far would the batterys be capable of going on full charge?

 

[mrfeelgooddrag26]

here are the parts i want to use i know its all ebay stuff and its not quality from like ebikes.com or whatever but its cheap enough that i dont care .
http://www.ebay.com/itm/36V500W-26-Fron ... 5655dbf300

then i want to run either 3 of these http://www.ebay.com/itm/Max-Life-Batter ... 3a82433886 or 3 12 ah battery from the same seller my question is is it ok to run 22 ah batterys on the kit that i bought ???

and its most likley going to be built on this bicycle from walmart http://www.walmart.com/ip/Kent-La-Jolla ... e/17206784

ive never built an ebike before so i dont really know what i can and cannot do my main question is about the batterys and depending on what i can use about how far would the batterys be capable of going on full charge?

 

[DAND214]

This isn't a joke is it? none of the links work or are removed.
If this is a real post then rethink what you are after since most don't care for Ebay or Wallyworld bikes.

Dan

 

[Chalo]

My advice is to start with a bike that you are happy riding without power. Ride it long enough to get the bugs worked out-- because especially with a department store junk bike, there will be multiple issues nobody has bothered to address.

After you have your bike to where it is comfortable, reliable, and efficient with pedal power alone, then do the conversion. That way you won't be wrestling with all its problems at one time, and you'll have a better chance of taking care of everything that needs attention.

 

[mrfeelgooddrag26]

dont be hating on walmart bikes all my bicycles are walmart bikes i love them there easy and cheap to maintain i acctually work on bicycles as a hobby so i know how to fix bicycles theres not much to it i has a trek 7300 ride it all the time but i still enjoy cheap ass walmart bikes until you have riden a 80 dollar special cruiser bike 1500 miles in a year you dont have the right to say walmart bikes are junk and yes i rode my last walmart bike 1500 miles in a year and yes i still have it i ride everyday aleast 20-25 miles going to work coming home stoping at the store riding to the libaray riding to the bike shop ect ect ect my walmart bikes and my trek see alot of miles dont say something is junk until you have pushed it past its limits that just makes you look like a noob >_> and i buy walmart bikes all the time at yard sales and thrift stores for 5 or 10 dollars you throw maybe 20 bucks at them and get them ridable you can sell them easy for 50 bucks each on craigslist i even bought bikes that just needed adjustments for 5 bucks and sold for 50 walmart bikes are not as bad as everybody says and you guys where alot of help not only did you not awnser the question about the batterys and the motor working toghter you had to go completly off topic and rag on walmart bikes ----------------

 

[footloose]

Dude not since Molly Blooms soliloquy in Joyce's "Ulysses" have I seen such masterful use of endless run on sentence sans punctuation which is a useless bourgeois affectation that only serves to add needless clarity to stream of conscience gibberish. So hey! But you've topped Joyce an otherwise highly regarded some say outstanding author in the English language because in a million years Joyce couldn't have come up with -----------------------

 

[mushymelon]

dont be hating on walmart bikes all my bicycles are walmart bikes i love them there easy and cheap to maintain i acctually work on bicycles as a hobby so i know how to fix bicycles theres not much to it i has a trek 7300 ride it all the time but i still enjoy cheap ass walmart bikes until you have riden a 80 dollar special cruiser bike 1500 miles in a year you dont have the right to say walmart bikes are junk and yes i rode my last walmart bike 1500 miles in a year and yes i still have it i ride everyday aleast 20-25 miles going to work coming home stoping at the store riding to the libaray riding to the bike shop ect ect ect my walmart bikes and my trek see alot of miles dont say something is junk until you have pushed it past its limits that just makes you look like a noob >_> and i buy walmart bikes all the time at yard sales and thrift stores for 5 or 10 dollars you throw maybe 20 bucks at them and get them ridable you can sell them easy for 50 bucks each on craigslist i even bought bikes that just needed adjustments for 5 bucks and sold for 50 walmart bikes are not as bad as everybody says and you guys where alot of help not only did you not awnser the question about the batterys and the motor working toghter you had to go completly off topic and rag on walmart bikes you guys -------------- >_>

HOW THE HELL CAN WE HELP YOU IF THE LINKS TO YOUR ITEMS DONT WORK!

 

[Chalo]

you dont have the right to say walmart bikes are junk [...] dont say something is junk until you have pushed it past its limits that just makes you look like a noob

I have worked as a mechanic in bike shops since 1992. I have serviced thousands of bikes and at least hundreds of department store bicycle-shaped objects. I don't speak out of ignorance about this stuff.

A BSO can't really be fixed, only contained and temporarily stabilized. It never has a single problem, but an avalanche of problems waiting to be unleashed in the course of trying to fix just one of them. Why do you think so many shops won't work on them? It's not because they don't like to make money for working on bikes; it's because working on those turds is such an ordeal that it's almost impossible to profit by it. So even if you are the not-quite-child, not-quite-adult "one size" that department store bikes are intended to fit, they'll still never turn out to be a decent ride.

A Trek 7300 is only a so-so bike, and is seriously hampered by its awful suspension fork and seatpost. But if you can't distinguish the difference between it and a BSO, you have even bigger problems than your writing and spelling skills.

 

[Samd]

I took an angle grinder to a BSO recently and was pleasantly surprised. Quality welds in the aluminium front, near as 4mm thick walls. So I bought the last dozen from the importer for cut and shut jobs. Rear swing arm is 4130 Crmo with nice dropouts.

I put all the bolt-ons in the bin and bought cheap and cheerful forks, steering gear and hydro brakes. And some nice aftermarket cranks. I'm really happy.

Being a bike mechanic and offering a view on BSO's is one thing, but putting one under the knife with a Mech Eng degree and an upfront willingness to swap out components is another.

 

[lbz5mc12]

Okay, for one thing those batteries are going to weigh about 15 lbs each so you're looking at a battery pack that's going to weigh around 45-50 lbs. The 12Ah batteries will be around 7 lbs each and be a lot easier to place on the bike. I'm not sure if the rear carrier that comes with the kit will even fit on the back of that bike because of how high the rear wheel seems to be in relation to the seat post clamp. I've had the same front kit but at 800W so I know how the carrier attaches. The front fork on the bike should be okay as long as it's made out of steel but I'd say get a torque arm for the front fork because those forks don't look super strong. It says it has an excellent braking system on it, the bike, but I don't see any brakes so I'm thinking it has a coaster brake. Battery placement on that bike is going to be an issue. Have you tried checking out your local bike shop for an inexpensive bike? A cruiser style bike from a bike shop is going to be a lot better then one from Walmart especially with the added weight of batteries and a kit.

As to the batteries you're going to need a wire harness for them. Your best bet is to go with the 12Ah batteries because you can buy a prefab harness that just attaches directly to the tabs on the batteries. Also when the 12Ah pack is assembled it'll fit in the bag which is provided with the kit. If the carrier does fit on the back of that bike, buy a couple of strong bungee cords. The little Velcro straps on the bag are crap and rip off of the bag super easy.

This is a good site for the wiring harness e-bikekit.com. Another option is to go to Home Depot and buy a few feet of black and red stranded copper wire, some tab connectors, butt splices, a crimping tool, and then figure out what kind of connectors you want to use for connecting to the charger.

As to the wheel and the front forks, there are a few places you can get torque arms and I'm hoping someone else chimes in because I only know of a couple of them.

 

[ken1645]

dont be hating on walmart bikes all my bicycles are walmart bikes i love them there easy and cheap to maintain i acctually work on bicycles as a hobby so i know how to fix bicycles theres not much to it i has a trek 7300 ride it all the time but i still enjoy cheap ass walmart bikes until you have riden a 80 dollar special cruiser bike 1500 miles in a year you dont have the right to say walmart bikes are junk and yes i rode my last walmart bike 1500 miles in a year and yes i still have it i ride everyday aleast 20-25 miles going to work coming home stoping at the store riding to the libaray riding to the bike shop ect ect ect my walmart bikes and my trek see alot of miles dont say something is junk until you have pushed it past its limits that just makes you look like a noob >_> and i buy walmart bikes all the time at yard sales and thrift stores for 5 or 10 dollars you throw maybe 20 bucks at them and get them ridable you can sell them easy for 50 bucks each on craigslist i even bought bikes that just needed adjustments for 5 bucks and sold for 50 walmart bikes are not as bad as everybody says and you guys where alot of help not only did you not awnser the question about the batterys and the motor working toghter you had to go completly off topic and rag on walmart bikes you guys suck magjor monkey dick >_>

Tips for getting wise sage advice from this forum: don't insult the people you are trying to get information out of (for free!)
Use proper English and punctuation.
Post actual correct links to items you were discussing.

I suppose minimal computer skills are required to accomplish this feat.

 

[dogman dan]

I wouldn't want to carry much more than 3-4 12 ah slas. Any larger would be crazy heavy, unless you have a trike, or a trailer. Going bigger is fine electronicly, just insanely heavy.

My experience with sla's was pretty poor. Going wide open throttle, no more than 6 miles from 3 12v sla's. But you can milk them by going much much slower, and get more. maybe 10 miles, but 8 more likely.

Using for distances that far, I killed em in a month. But if you have a 4-5 mile ride, and don't go fast, you can get very long good use from sla's.

The bike will work fine. Obviously, since it's a rear coaster brake bike, you will have to use a front hub. You will find it perfect for going fairly slow, as you will need to for making that lead go the distance.

If you can, upgrade your bike choice just a bit more. Look at the cruisers with rear gears, and v brakes. The higher gear will allow pedaling along with the motor at a higher speed, and the brakes will be better.

I will be moving this thread to the Ebikes General section.

 

[dogman dan]

Tip two, for all of ya. Don't make me work so hard editing all the quotes, don't pour gas on a fire. Flag it, and we'll remove the offensive posts.

Off to send a stern message to "feel good"

 

[Chalo]

I took an angle grinder to a BSO recently and was pleasantly surprised. [..]I put all the bolt-ons in the bin and bought cheap and cheerful forks, steering gear and hydro brakes. And some nice aftermarket cranks. I'm really happy.

You can acknowledge then, that changing over all the components on a bike that has nothing worth keeping in fact costs more than just buying a workable bike to begin with.

It's not like the frames don't have any problems, either. Why do you think they use such thick material? It's because they use such weak material and/or rudimentary processing and have to make it up with quantity. (That can be a good thing if you are welding on it and don't want to have to do any post-weld heat treatment.) When I have to align dropouts, real bikes usually put up a fight when I go to bend the dropouts straight. BSOs usually don't.

 

[wesnewell]

Motor kit is fine if it suits your requirements. Top speed on 36V will be about 20mph. Bike will work fine. And while the batteries will work too, you should really look to lithium. Lead just doesn't perform well on an ebike with limited space, and the 40lbs of lead won't help either. A 7lb lithium pack would perform better.

 

[mrfeelgooddrag26]

you dont have the right to say walmart bikes are junk [...] dont say something is junk until you have pushed it past its limits that just makes you look like a noob

I have worked as a mechanic in bike shops since 1992. I have serviced thousands of bikes and at least hundreds of department store bicycle-shaped objects. I don't speak out of ignorance about this stuff.

A BSO can't really be fixed, only contained and temporarily stabilized. It never has a single problem, but an avalanche of problems waiting to be unleashed in the course of trying to fix just one of them. Why do you think so many shops won't work on them? It's not because they don't like to make money for working on bikes; it's because working on those turds is such an ordeal that it's almost impossible to profit by it. So even if you are the not-quite-child, not-quite-adult "one size" that department store bikes are intended to fit, they'll still never turn out to be a decent ride.

A Trek 7300 is only a so-so bike, and is seriously hampered by its awful suspension fork and seatpost. But if you can't distinguish the difference between it and a BSO, you have even bigger problems than your writing and spelling skills.

dude i totally agree walmart bikes are one size fits all bicycles but i dont have a problem fixing them of course i do have a full graveyard of bicycle parts from walmart bikes to old road bike treks that im using for parts. and everthing in between. if i had to say really the only problems i ever see with walmart bikes is there cable sets and there stupid grip shifters there grip shifters are so danm finiky after awhile they stop working or the inside just gum up i hate them.
but 15 bucks later i got brand new thumb shifters at my local bike shop with new cables and housings put them on never have a problem. but its a good idea to change out rear derauilers on walmart bikes to they ussally will break after about 300-400 miles on the bike. i like to get nice shimano ones of old treks and use thoose they seem to hold up good.
other than thoose small items i never really have a problem with the bicycles. my last bicycle i built i used a walmart full suspension frame put on a set of 26 x 1 x3/8 rims and tires added drop bars and a trek road bike seat put on a sweet bicycle computer. the thing was bad ass it only weighed 32 pounds it would reach about 27 miles per hour but im not avery good rider so i cant hold 27 for very long. haha a bicycle is olny determined by its owner. if you ride it like a pos it will end up a pos. you ride and do proper tune up's on it it will last just as long as any other bike .

 

[mrfeelgooddrag26]

Okay, for one thing those batteries are going to weigh about 15 lbs each so you're looking at a battery pack that's going to weigh around 45-50 lbs. The 12Ah batteries will be around 7 lbs each and be a lot easier to place on the bike. I'm not sure if the rear carrier that comes with the kit will even fit on the back of that bike because of how high the rear wheel seems to be in relation to the seat post clamp. I've had the same front kit but at 800W so I know how the carrier attaches. The front fork on the bike should be okay as long as it's made out of steel but I'd say get a torque arm for the front fork because those forks don't look super strong. It says it has an excellent braking system on it, the bike, but I don't see any brakes so I'm thinking it has a coaster brake. Battery placement on that bike is going to be an issue. Have you tried checking out your local bike shop for an inexpensive bike? A cruiser style bike from a bike shop is going to be a lot better then one from Walmart especially with the added weight of batteries and a kit.

As to the batteries you're going to need a wire harness for them. Your best bet is to go with the 12Ah batteries because you can buy a prefab harness that just attaches directly to the tabs on the batteries. Also when the 12Ah pack is assembled it'll fit in the bag which is provided with the kit. If the carrier does fit on the back of that bike, buy a couple of strong bungee cords. The little Velcro straps on the bag are crap and rip off of the bag super easy.

thanks for your imput but im sticking with the 85 dollar walmart bike i had over 20 of these i put gas motors on and sold my current gas motor kit is on the exact same bike and has had 2 motors and over 10,000 miles ridin in the last 3 years it a good solid frame as for my battery mounting im getting a heavy duty rear rack from my bike shop

This is a good site for the wiring harness e-bikekit.com. Another option is to go to Home Depot and buy a few feet of black and red stranded copper wire, some tab connectors, butt splices, a crimping tool, and then figure out what kind of connectors you want to use for connecting to the charger.

As to the wheel and the front forks, there are a few places you can get torque arms and I'm hoping someone else chimes in because I only know of a couple of them.

 

[mrfeelgooddrag26]

Tips for getting wise sage advice from this forum: don't insult the people you are trying to get information out of (for free!)
Use proper English and punctuation.
Post actual correct links to items you were discussing.

I suppose minimal computer skills are required to accomplish this feat.[/quote]
not sure why the links didnt work i copied and pasted them staright from my browser i guess they dont let you do that anymore??? cause all three of the links stoped working next time i wont use links since they failed me LOL

 

[mrfeelgooddrag26]

I wouldn't want to carry much more than 3-4 12 ah slas. Any larger would be crazy heavy, unless you have a trike, or a trailer. Going bigger is fine electronicly, just insanely heavy.

My experience with sla's was pretty poor. Going wide open throttle, no more than 6 miles from 3 12v sla's. But you can milk them by going much much slower, and get more. maybe 10 miles, but 8 more likely.

Using for distances that far, I killed em in a month. But if you have a 4-5 mile ride, and don't go fast, you can get very long good use from sla's.

The bike will work fine. Obviously, since it's a rear coaster brake bike, you will have to use a front hub. You will find it perfect for going fairly slow, as you will need to for making that lead go the distance.

If you can, upgrade your bike choice just a bit more. Look at the cruisers with rear gears, and v brakes. The higher gear will allow pedaling along with the motor at a higher speed, and the brakes will be better.

I will be moving this thread to the Ebikes General section.

awesome thanks for your input and acctually bothering to stay on topic! LOL but im probablly still getting that bike because its cheap and im going to build my own front brake system with v brakes or i might swap the forks to dual suspesion so i can use side pulls or cantalever i belive there called? but you see what im getting at haha. im also getting a quality rear rake for the bicycle from my local shop. im probablly going to use the 22 ah baterys and get a battery box from walmart for a 12 volt car battery im thinking it should have enough room for 3 12 volt 22 ah batterys plus enough room for the controller and charger. feel free to comment back with your views on this

 

[mrfeelgooddrag26]

Motor kit is fine if it suits your requirements. Top speed on 36V will be about 20mph. Bike will work fine. And while the batteries will work too, you should really look to lithium. Lead just doesn't perform well on an ebike with limited space, and the 40lbs of lead won't help either. A 7lb lithium pack would perform better.

i totally agree lithium is the way to go but when you dont have 300 to 400 dollars to throw around on batterys and chargers and bsm's it becomes a problem to buy nice componets.

belive me i would love to have a full lithium bicycle but when you dont have the money you dont have it and it would be a problem if i ever needed to sell the bike for quick cash. not alot of people in my town are willing to spend 1000-1200 bucks on a full lithium ebike. on the flip side a lead acid bicycle i could sell and would only take 25 percent lose on. it sucks being poor LOL

 

[lbz5mc12]

How much money do you have set aside for the battery pack. You can get a 36V 10.4Ah lithium ion water bottle battery from bmsbattery.com for less then $300.00 shipped. It comes with a charger. My roommate has one on his bike and it works great with his 450W Currie motor.

 

[mrfeelgooddrag26]

this is one of thoose things where you have just enough to buy the kit and you have to get the cheapest batterys you can afford

 

[amberwolf]

If you really want the cheapest batteries, just to get the stuff running, you could go around to businesses that service those server and commercial UPS systems, or wheelchair/powerchair service centers, and see if they'll sell or give you the old SLA batteries.


They'll suck for usable power vs weight, but they can certainly work if you have no $$ and are willing to deal wiht the weight, and expect no great range from them. (or are willing to carry them on a trailer if you want a lot of range). You'll also need a charging solution, but you may also be able to get a "broken" UPS to slow charge them, or even an old 24V charger (for two SLA in series) from a powerchair service place.


If you look at the older CrazyBike2 posts (see my signature), or the even older Electricle blog (see links in the CB2 thread), there's a fair bit of info on that.



Then when you get tired of carrying around the weight, or fixing the things on the bike that break because of it , you can switch to something more expensive but better suited to your application.

 

[mrfeelgooddrag26]

what im really trying to do is make a bicycle i can ride about 40 miles without recharging it would mostly be used going on flat terrain sidewalk at cruising speed of 15 to 20 mph and it would probablly never get taken 40 miles on a single charge at best i might use 20 miles for a round trip the furthest i ever ride my bike is into tulsa to go to the mall with is about 6 to 7 miles from my house so 7+7 = 14 miles as long as it can do that im happy but id like a range of 40 miles on my battery pack just to be safe. now i did the math and 3 22 ah battery's at 12 volts each is 36 volts so 12 x 22 =264 watt hours 264/20 20 being the minimum usage of watts per mile comes out to about 13.3 miles on thoose batterys but you figure in weight its more like 9 miles on thoose batterys this is if im doing the math right. please correct me if im wrong

 

[Chalo]

now i did the math and 3 22 ah battery's at 12 volts each is 36 volts so 12 x 22 =264 watt hours 264/20 20 being the minimum usage of watts per mile comes out to about 13.3 miles on thoose batterys but you figure in weight its more like 9 miles on thoose batterys

22 amp-hour SLA batteries only contain 22 amp-hours when you discharge them at about 1 amp. Also, that's their entire capacity, and if you discharge them that deeply, you won't get very many cycles out of them at all.

In my experience, SLAs are good for about half their rated capacity in e-bike use. So expect to get about 11Ah out of those 22Ah batteries if you want them to last a couple hundred cycles.