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First build, need help choosing adequate kit from Aliexpress

Gadjan

New here
Joined
Oct 7, 2025
Messages
4
Location
Belgrade, Serbia / Germany
Hello guys, I am very happy to find this place, lots of knowledge and information. I am reading ebike forums for quite some time and this one is the best so I registered. Since march this year I am new to ebike world but I plan to learn. My English is not very good so sorry in advance for mistakes.

I need some decent but relatively cheap 52v kit 1000w or more, for food delivery job, hilly terrain. And sometimes I use it to commute 70 miles on flat road, or when I ride my road bike to be able to take my girlfriend with me on some long rides with hills and mountains which would be impossible for her without ebike. So range is much more important than speed.
My first ebike was stolen recently :/ it was 27.5" mtb with some cheap chinese advertised "1000w" rear direct drive hub, maybe it was even realistic 500w rated not sure, and some 26 amp controller don't know which brand, probably JN (bunch of wires with SM connectors in a bag) and S830 display. And 48v 29ah 1400wh battery, Samsung 32E cells. I don't have experience with anything else, but it was great for me, near silent, had a lot of range at my usual speed 10-15-20 mph and enough of torque for every hill. But I pedal and shift a lot, to extend the range and it's a habit, I was avid road cyclist and racer.
Now I would like something similar, or a little better and faster if possible without compromising efficiency and range at low and moderate speeds.
So, first and important question would be, is it true that 1500w motor eat more battery than 1000w at same speed 10-20 mph? I received conflicting info from ebike builders. I would love a little bit more top speed when I need it, but not If I get less range at my usual speed.

I bought new donor bike, 27.5" mtb, 135mm rear hub. Although big city, Belgrade has only a few people making battery packs and ebikes. As battery is most important I plan to buy biggest available here (downtube format, polly case) although expensive (800 eur). It is made of 98 cells LG M58T, 52v 40.5 Ah 2100 that's how he advertise it. Realistically it's probably a little less than that? Use JBD bluetooth BMS. And he offers them with 30 40 and even 50 amp BMS continuous. But he said to me that 30 amp controller is maximum that is safe for some MXUS 1000w DD motor he sells. Is it true? It is well enough for me, but I was thinking it would be nice to have a little more power when it's needed (rarely and for a short time) if the battery is already capable for more.

I would like to save some money (and learn), buy kit on aliexpress and install it myself if it is possible and easy enough. No pas, throttle only. Can somebody recommend me some decent kit or motor/wheel and controller, display separately? I have a lot of experience with bike mechanic and maintaince, I have all the tools and know how to build wheels (although I prefer to buy complete wheel and avoid hassle with spoke length). But I have no experience with ebikes, so many different connectors, controllers, displays and protocols. I cannot buy Grin RH212 or Leafbike stuff, I need it delivered to Germany.

I know I would like controller with waterproof connectors, with support for headlight/horn like I had. And some newer color display, if they now have more (useful) features than my old S830. And I would love cassette freehub, to be able to use 11 or 12t cogs and pedal at top speed, extending range and relieve strain and heat off battery/controller. But I am told chinese freehubs don't last in rain, and when they need to be replaced you need to open whole motor. So if that's true then I would need to stick with 13-28 threaded freewheel.
Here are just some examples I was looking, but I am baffled, as I read more it gets worse... Even if I read for a month now, it's impossible to figure it all out on my own witbout asking for advice. I am scared to order something and to find a mistake later, that it does not fit or I cannot install it. So many little details...

 
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Now I would like something similar, or a little better and faster if possible without compromising efficiency and range at low and moderate speeds.
welcome to the forum!
What is your normal usecase? Climbing hills? Commuting at high speed without hills, real mountain biking? Are there legal issues that have to be considered in your country? What is the weight of you and your bike....

Don't be blinded by Watts or Amps. Other features like torquesensor vs. simple speed or power levels are much more important for the riding experience.
If you want to keep a simple PAS control, the Kuntengs are quite popular. All this very cheap controllers with S866 like displays is buying a pig in a poke, as you never will now, which firmware you get and how the controller will behave.
 
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Main purpose would be food delivery job (lots of short hills), working every day 6-8, sometimes even 10-12 hours and more than 70 miles per day. So range is most important. I will use 52v 40 Ah battery. It needs to be direct drive, at least 1000w to be able to overcome short hills easily. Robust, durable and low maintenance is the key for this job. And I do not force it, i ride efficiently, mostly 15-20 mph, sometimes more for a short bursts. And I pedal all the time. Only occasionally I use it for a long flat commute @25mph with pedalling of course. A little bit more top speed would be nice but it's not paramount.
This was my previous bike, which was stolen. Here, almost everyone are using the same setup, mtb with cheapest chinese rear dd hub advertised as 1000w, that S830 display and the biggest battery they can afford or frame can take. We are all using throttle only, I don't want pedal assist sensor. And there is no legal issues yet, you can make whatever you want. Some guys are using 2-3 kw but they swap batteries every two hours...
I would like like to have a little bit more power and top speed than my previous bike, I linked some 1500-2000w kits from aliexpress at my first post, but the guy who makes batteries says 1500w motor will have less range than 1000w motor, even at my usual 15-20 mph riding speed.
 

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I would like like to have a little bit more power and top speed
For higher speed you better choose a battery with higher voltage.

1500w motor will have less range than 1000w
That's nonsense. The efficiency of the motors will be quite the same. Of course, if you are riding faster, you will need more power, so the consumption will increase, the range will decrease. But this has nothing to do with the motor power. Riding 20 mph with a 1000W motor will need the same power from the battery as riding 20 mph with a 1500W motor.

We are all using throttle only, I don't want pedal assist sensor
Why do you want a (coloured) display then?
With throttle only, a simple switch will be sufficient. And will make the bike less attractive for thieves ;)
 
I have limited choice of batteries and most selling here are 48v. This is the best one I can get, 52v 40Ah so I need to choose the rest of the kit according to it. Only offer here is some MXUS 1000w hub and 30A controller, and the price is twice as high as aliexpress kits. My previous 48v 1000w 26A bike had top speed ~43 km/h ~27 mph and that was enough for me, for most cases except tailwind. I was just thinking that it's good to have a little bit more power/speed if it's possible, as battery is already capable for more amps. But it's not most important.

About display, of course I need it, it's usefull. To set power levels 1-5, and it shows voltage and curent, distance, speed... Had usb port for charging.
I just don't know which display/controller combo I can choose and to be easy to install, plug and play. Also there is so many different stuff but no info how it works and what it offers. I suppose and I hope newer more exprensive displays are more advanced with more features. That old S830 was pretty basic. It even didn't had clock for example, to be able to see time of day on a glance.
I saw on youtube some have usb c port and 1000 mA output instead of 500 mA. And NFC support so you can turn it on/off with NFC tag and the bike is unrideable without it. Good safety feature. And probably some more stuff. Not that important but is's nice to have more features. My bike is not just working mule but like a car to me, I don't drive I go everywhere on a bike, and use it for everything. Work, comute and travel long distances... And regarding safety, besides lock I plan to use two gps tags android one and air tag, motion alarm and a secret kill switch to disable throttle.

What about links I posted, is there some good choice or should I look something else?
 
To set power levels 1-5
If you use the throttle, there is no power level. The throttle gives the full power range always, normally. If not, you had a strange controller before?!

What about links I posted, is there some good choice or should I look something else?
As said before, the Kuntengs are a good choice for your low level needs.
To be honest, I would buy such dead cheap 20inch fat bike for your usecase...
It's cheaper than buying the single components
 
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I had some basic controller, probably this one
All bikes here are like that, thousands of them. S830 display and thumb throttle only, no pedal assist, no brake sensor or that levers included in kits which I don't know what are they for. Display says PAS 1-5 but that has nothing to do with pedals. We set up power level 1-5, usually 3 or 4 and that determines max speed at full throttle (~32 or ~40 km/h). I want it like that, like I had.
Levels 4 or 5 eats battery faster because it reacts with a lot more amps for a small input on a throttle. And there is huge number of start/stop in the city during the day, lots of deliveries and trafic lights. That's why I mostly ride at level 3, 25-30 km/h which I found most efficient, and I pedal. That's the only way to have 100+ km range on a single charge. So huge battery and custom build is needed.
But I don't know which motor or kit to buy, and it's hard to find shipping from european warehouse, only they have quick delivery to Germany. There are some Varstrom, CSC, ESOULBIKE... I cannot find MXUS.
 
Those DD kits have changed in the US due to new taxes. I have no idea on EU pricing but I think most the no name cheaper motors are all the same . I would get the best deal on a hub with or without a controller and then get a controller that does what I want.
 
This is a old thread but AliExpress is having really good sales.I came across a vender "Green energy global" very good reviews.I would recommend a 48 volt 500 watt geared hub motor.I have a one that goes 35 mph and has great torque.Gearded motor has no resistance when you don't use it unlike direct drive motor
 
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