Frankencycle Australia - Ebike n Small EV mechanic n 'shop

[winkinatcha]

Hiya

Like my sig says, I run an e-bike centric business... been at it for about 18 months, 6 months with fully registered business name and all legit n stuff.

Love it, love the challenges, never run a small business before so there's a lot of ground to cover there... but purty much every day I get to work on e-bikes, repairs, conversions, upgrades, special projects and am thankful for my life... every day.

I amat the stage now where, without formal advertising, I have my work cut out, fully occupied with stuff to do, and the business is capable of paying its own bills and a little bit more.

Over the last 18 months i've been really flexible with my business plan, started off with wanting to purely sell kits, and built a couple of demo bikes to help sell the kits, thinking that was it.

E-bike servicing is woefully underprovided here in Melbourne, at least from my perspective, and now forms a big part of my day to day... I've had jobs and enquiries from as Far as WA and QLD, 'cos people can't find any other e-bike mechanics out there. I also do on average 1.5 conversions (from bicycle to e-bike) a week.

I've invested somewhere around 50k into my workshop, a fair amount in tools but a hella lot in stock, ranging from high end components through to too many vintage secondhand bikes bought on e-bay ( )

I've bought quite a few rigs and parts from ES members, a bunch of differnt vehicles on e-bay and have experienced most of the "standard" commercial e-bikes out there from a servicing perspective, and even rebuilt a few and sold em on.

It's also been amazing the number of people who have donated me bikes or dead EVs and other stuff...

Anyways... maybe the pride before the fall thing, but I beleive that Frankencycle the Business should be able to keep running for a whiles, and I reckon I am far from saturating the market with the stuff i do.

And, yeah, I got some dreams of bigger facilities, small machine shop, electronics lab and testing facilities out the whim wham, All in the fruition of time.

Meanwhiles, I've picked up a few bits of knowledge, a boatload of hands on experience, and am far from short of work, though my prices need to rise and a few other things need beating into shape to get this business at a level that I want.

BUT.. I reckon I could start all over again with about 1/3 to 1/2 the initial investment, possibly even as little as 10k, depending on available facilities and cost. And be able to operate BETTER than I do now, with equivalent or better cashflow n work.

I do beleive someone else could set up here in Melbourne and be self supporting within 6 months.

Just floating the idea out there if anyone is interested in either co-building another e-bike workshop, investing in same, or interested in setting themselves up, doing what I do... it's not rocket science...

In the meanwhile, I'm a gonna try (again) to see if i can keep an active thread going.. this time more about the work n stuff I do as a (self-proclaimed) e-bike mechanic n workshop runner.

Joe

 

[jonescg]

I love a good news story like this Joe

Fantastic to hear things are ticking along nicely. I often get asked to fix the odd e-bike because there is no (or little) follow-up service. Its not a bad place to be.

Keep up the great work mate!

Chris

 

[winkinatcha]

Hey champ! great ta meetcha so bloody long ago! And thanks for the letter too

Joe

 

[winkinatcha]

Finished this conversion, Shogun Metro GL, this day.



Will be used as a regular commutor by restaraunt owning Customer (M).

Originally I lent M a vintage Mixte conversion I have as a shopbike/demonstrator, to give the dude a bit of a feel for electric bikes and suss out whether he wanted one ('course I was purty sure that once he'd played with the Mixte conversion, he'd be hooked )

he was.. the Mixte was a bit small and not quite comfortable 'nuff, so hauled out the Shogun, a practically new condition (still had the original clean grease showing on all the bolts from assembly.) that I'd bought for a couple of hundred bucks form a friend who had ridden it maybe 40km from new.

Points to note about this build.

Battery is a locally made LiCo block, 36v Nominal, 18 ah, in a custom battery mount made from a particularly strong aluminium bottle holder combined with a modified bike lock holding bracket (on the top tube). Permanent mount for charging on bike.

Bog standard 6 fet kit controller, and mini geared hubmotor combo, Nominal 36v 250w (max 15Amp), speed limiter (external) disconnected, pedelec sensor connected...Controller located between rack stays near seat.

Standard thumb throttle with Battery indicator lights n Controls off button... No e-brakes.

Phase wires and power wires using Anderson connectors

Custom switch box with 20A switch and fuse. (battery also has own seperate fuse)

Dude wanted Panniers... they are empty. (not carrying batteries)

Sold for $950.. I suspect the Last sub $1000 conversions, unless I get sex or illicit substances as part of the deal (M not really my type, plus the whole homo thing doesn't float my boat )

Joe

 

[winkinatcha]

..

 

[jonescg]

Looking good joe! Got a close-up of the pack?

 

[Hillhater]

..Battery is a locally made LiCo block, 36v Nominal, 18 ah,

Wow ! that is really small for a 36v , 18Ahr pack.
10S.. ??P and what is its C rating ?
How much does it weigh ?
Cost ?

 

[winkinatcha]

Re the battery, it's locally made using panasonic LiCo cells sourced from medical equipment (I beleive defribulators but am unsure)... The cells are cycled out of the equipment on a regular basis, based on conservative shelf-life figures. The supplier checks individual cells and matches based on Internal Resistance, and provides Block batteries of equivalent voltages as LiFe packs (The LiCo cells have the same voltage range as LiFe).
Taken face value from the supplier, the cells are capable of 5c but his capacity calculations are based on 2c.

I beleive his figures are pretty close and valid when used on a low powered (300-750w) machine.

Weight wise, I am not too sure for this iteration, heavier than standard LiFe I'd be guessing and would guess that battery weighs about 4kg.

Joe

PS... wasn't trying to boost this thread with the ".." post... trying to get a bunch of text from a blog post on here, and was having hassles with links...

 

[winkinatcha]

Mini geared hubmotors.
Posted on November 26, 2013

This is from my Blog at: http://frankencycle.me/2013/11/26/mini-geared-hubmotors/

Thanks to my mate Shane, at Motion Dynamics, I was introduced to mini geared hubmotors, and specifically hubmotors laced into 700c wheels.

Previously, all my builds and build experience had been with Direct Drive motors, and the DD hubmotors I use are strong enough to take 2kw with ease and so are Pretty robust (read Heavy), weighing in around the 10kg mark.

With this weight, my builds based around DD hubmotors are engineered towards being strong and robust themselves, cap[able of sustained 40+Km/h speeds, and weighing in around the 25 to 30 kg mark.

The mini hubmotors I have been building with recently are about half the weight of my DD motor stock.

Their small diameter opens up standard bicycle options for brakes and gearing, meaning they fit well into a 700c based wheel and fit within the dropouts of 27″ vintage and 700c modern road based bicycles.

As the basis for a road oriented, light weight electric bicycle, they are the ants pants.

My main proving and testing build, The Engineers Special, is based on a vintage (1970s -1980s) chromolly diamond frame.

Fitted with a fast wind (Nominal 24v) minigeared hubmotor, laced into a 700c rim, I am running 48v 10ah batteries with a 10ah controller. In this configuration, With a 52 tooth Chainring, I happily cruise on Melbournes bicycle infrastructure as well as being able to mix with traffic where necessary, and can take the bike up to close to 60km/h on the flat… me going like a bat out of hell on the pedals, and getting motor assist through to 50km/h.

Personally, my happy speed is around 35km/h, roundabout where a fit commuter cyclist can happily cruise at on a pedal only quality roadbike.

Even with unfixable knee injuries from motorcycling, and not being particularly fit, I find if I don’t want to be passed by other cyclists, pushing reasonably hard on the pedals whilst under full throttle keeps me ahead of just about anyone except the fittest of Lycras.

When I’m on my own, I tend to use the throttle in bursts, taking me up to a speed of 30+ km/h, fairly easily maintained on pedal only power, mixed with less than 200 watts from the motor.

The Engineer’s special has clocked over 600km in weather fair and foul, mostly on road or cycle way infrastructure, with occasional sojourns into less demanding off road… I’ve taken it flat out along Ballarat road for 5km or so at 40+ km/h, and done many a 30km run. my average range from my 10Ah pack is 40km… I have almost drained it after hammering for 20km, pushing to go as fast as I could no matter what. On another range testing ride, by being conservative and maintaning my speed around 30km/h, with reasonable pedal input I’ve managed a 60km round trip, still very much assisted by the motor.

The lightweight hubmotor, and the build’s road oriented base bike are, I beleive, key factors in enabling me and the bike to perform with confidence at these speeds and ranges.

I have also built a couple of bikes based on 20″ folder frames, using mini geared hub motors laced into 20″ rims.

Research into the geared mini hubmotors suggests they can take up to 20 amps of sustained current, without failure due to overheating.

I have used the 20″ wheels running 36v through a 20 amp controller, and Absolutely hammered one of them, doing a 20 km ride as fast as I could from Caulfield east to preston, majority without peddling.

The motor performed fine, though was definately hot by the end of the run, nevertheless consistant service post the hammering convinced me to build a similar version for a customer of retirement age.

The customer’s bike is performing solidly and even with his customised 8kg battery, the bike is still light enough for him to easily wheel it around and manouvre it in tight places without strain or vexation.

In Their standard kit form, the hubmotors come in either 24v or 36v versions and are paired with 15Amp controllers, designed to enable the wheel to reach top speeds 25km/h at 250w, enabling the wheels to be the basis for a legally compliant e-bike that is light weight, easy to operate, and capable of maintaining the top speeds that a reasonably fit cyclist will experience using human power alone.

Their light weight is a huge plus, with the torque provided by the internal gearing enabling efficient use of lower electrical power motors in e-bike applications.

The key is that these motors are not designed for huge physical punishment nor to take high current and 2kw plus power… though robust, they will fail in harsh offroad conditions and have been known to break internaly when used for jumping. The Nylon gears have been known to melt when the motor overheats in high power conditions at 35 amps of current.

If you are more oriented towards off road, or High-powered electric bikes, Geared hubmotors are outgunned by Direct Drive or other solutions such as mid mount.

In road or smooth surface cycling oriented builds, I beleive these hubmotors are the biz, and open up great solutions where weight and ridability is a significant factor.

The more builds I make, and the greater the variation in my customer base becomes, the more I am convinced that one size does not fit all, and that electric bike solutions can be found in as great a variation as can be found in bicycles themselves.Death to the “universal” e-bike!!!

The technology and the willingness of DIYers and commercial enterprises alike to “see what this technology can do” provides options for different types of riders like never before, and those options are acheivable without breaking the bank.

----Deleted due to "sales-Pitchyness" For ES viewers

Mini geared hubmotors… they’re awesome

Joe

 

[winkinatcha]

N here's a link with Pics of the Engineers special... it now has a rack blus panniers, and has done around 600km with the current 24v wind Mini, a De-shunted controller( shunt mod to REDUCE/Halve the current of a nominal 20ah controller) and 12S*10ah battery consisting of 4 6s*5ah Hobby King RC Lipo.


http://frankencycle.me/gallery/engineers-special/

Joe

 

[dingoEsride]

Sold for $950.

That seems a very reasonable price all up, did that include the panniers? I know that by being cheap will get customers in but there has to be enough profit to keep the business running and pay your living costs, there is a fine line between good profit and slow business so maybe more sales at less $ is the key,
popularity is rising so keep at it, best of luck anyway Joe, it is the future in personnel transport

 

[winkinatcha]

DingoEsride you speak the truth mate, conversions are now a minimum of $1000, but I do feel justified in waiting 'til I have a good few builds under my belt before I charge expert prices.. In this particular case, the customer is a friend of the family and will probably be an excellent promoter/referrer (restaraunter), AND this is one of those lucky builds where standard input costs, such as the base bike for sub $200 helped make for more margin.

But yeah.. the point about less work for more $ is absolutely valid and am still trying to find the perfect price point... where I am not worked off my feet, have a fairly steady income, and can purchase replacement stock for that used in builds.


Joe

 

[winkinatcha]

Well gosh darnit, I had a minor stack on Sunday arvo, minimal loss of skin but a bit of an ungraceful whack to the Lefthand side of my aging bod...meaning a bit of bruising which generally takes a couple of days to work its way out. A bit limiting as far as what I can do in the workshop and does make me a bit grumpy and slow.

Plot twist, though.... whack to the tarmac seems to have jolted my back int0 a place it should be and I have not felt so limber in freaking yonks

Work is lining up and I currently have two conversions in the queue:
Build One - 26" road oriented cycling commuter

cycleing oriented commutor, based on an existing custom built well fitted 26" flat bar roadie.

For that I will be going with a similar drive train to my Engineer's special, with a nominal 24v wheel being fed 48v, 10-15 Amps Max, which should push through to 45+ km/hr.

Battery Tech will be using RC LiPo, as the cyclist has competence and experience with this battery chemistry, a REALLY important factor, to the extent I will not sell or supply these batteries to someone without experience... Blah blah blah.

This build is for a tall bloke, (6'3", I think...) so is going to have the added advantage of being pushed hard by me during the build, cos I'm physically within tolerance of the frame size

I'll be going for an 8speed freewheel for this build and will need to dish the rear wheel motor to ensure the wheel is centred in the frame.

Note though, that after close to 1000 km on the Engineer's special, I am beginning to think that 5 gears is more than adequate, even for daily cyclist that is used to 18...
Build 2 - Road oriented 700c cycling commuter

The second build in the queue is to be another cycling commuter based build, this time probably on a reid Osprey. As per the previous build, orientation for this bike will be for higher speed, road based commuter and will have basically the same electric drive train, only this time laced into a 700c wheel.

In the meantime I have an upcoming "service visit" to fix a blokes throttle, a Meeting with the school I was involved with in the RACV challenge, The fitting of a very delayed battery to a customer's brand new imported from china e-bike, C0mpletion of a FrankenTrike Delta Trike Utility EV (electric vehicle), that I basically want to use as my Ute, Oh I also should be working on a customer's dream 50km/hr capable dual suspension Awesome daily Usage Black Giant...

Jeebers, I got a Lotta stuff to do...

Nice

Joe

 

[Willow]

I've a day job, that is well payed.... but I'm starting to really hate being here. Totally over it.

for the past 6 years I've had ambitions of an e-bike/motorbike business. And the time is here to make some serious decsisions.

I have a plan to set-up a shop in Hobart - doing custom bikes, rentals, kits + accessories - and maybe even stocking some of the ES members products. I have a workshop, which needs some work, and have supporting businesses to assist where my tooling lacks.... I also have 2 kids and a mortgage.

Would be great to pop over to Melbourne and check out your setup and have a chat.

I need a change. I gotta do it.

 

[winkinatcha]

Dude!

My last "Job" was a 6 year position, IT Nerd Job Number 1, Technical Writer, Paying more money than I needed... I beleive I know what you mean... I was basically trying to find ways to gracefully leave or GTFO whichever came first, to do just what I'm doing now... I was lucky as all hell to be made redundant so I had a startup fund, and the most graceful exit ever

It's girly-man borderline Psycho-quasi-spiritual, but EVERY effing DAY, My current work makes me happy, even when I hate everyone

I can't say I have the magic Key to running this kinda business, There's a huge untapped market here in Melbs, and as you can see I'm getting consistent work, and not Advertising, apart from my attention seeking shite here and face book, most of the work is via word of mouth...

Bizzarest thing... there's a whole lotta e-bikers or potential e-bikers who don't know ES, AND Baby Boomers... the previous Gen to my Gen X are getting their electrons on ... as are the GenXers now that I think about it....



Mate I'd be rapt if you were to pop over, and see what I've got and what can be done better/similar...

I could be up myself and the apparent viability of this business is not sustainable, BUT I can think of plenty of reasons why this kinda business MAY be one of those surprising no brainers, right place right time... I mean jeebers, If I can muddle through...

Joe

 

[kahnx]

As a happy Frankencycle customer (the 6'3" guy mentioned in the thread above), I thought I'd post some pics of the build Joe did for me:

I re-did the batteries (PVC downpipe, painted black), but otherwise the rest is Joe's work. I'm pretty happy with his service, especially that he was prepared to offer a test ride on his shop bike, and gave good advice, options and recommendations for the build of my bike. Haven't ridden it seriously yet (supposed to be an Xmas pressie, so doing the right thing and keeping it in the shed til then), but a quick dash around the block on delivery (yes, he delivered the bike to me, 20km from his workshop) confirmed that it is on the money.

I'll report back after I get some kms on the clock.

Cheers

Kahnx

 

[winkinatcha]

(Latest Blog Entry)

Jeebers!

I worked all the way up til Christmas building bikes last year, and did a couple of service/repair jobs before new year.

The workload took me a bit by surprise, and I accidentally bought another dozen or so dead push bikes over that time, and once more my workshop became a nightmare.

Not enough space to put everything away in a retrievable manner.

I could hardly move.I pretty much had perfected the art of walking sideways, and on the last two builds, I pirated components off working bikes because they were within reach and saved me bulk time I’d be spending getting the component I needed from the inaccessible shelves.

The tantrums when I mislaid a tool and had to find it were tempestuous.

This Could Not Go On!

So I hid from my customers for the next three weeks to dedicate some time to getting the workshop and surrounds re-organised.

I acheived the major goal of creating a second workstand work area so I could easily work on two bikes at once and in a stretch work on three (one “hoist” for heavy e-bikes, one heavy duty bike stand and one light duty bike stand.)

I’ve made big inroads into keeping components in order as well as setting up relatively hassle free processes for stripping bikes down into components for salvage and rebuild.

I’ve been working through my stock of recovered components and frames, cleaning, repairing, rebuilding, with the intent of both boosting supplies of ready-to-use components on hand in the workshop, and to offer stuff up for sale.

After having the opportuinity to be partially organised last year and having Everything I Needed for a build on hand, I am aiming to spend more time whenever I can building groupsets, so I can just grab the appropriate frame, and then … build a bike, just like that .

In many cases, with the electric bike builds I do, having a wide component choice is a big deal…, I have built e-bikes using a mix of Down Hill, vintage road bike, and BMX components, enabling me to overcome challenges, particularly concerning brakes and gearing, that just about every e-build has

Executive summary:

Better organised
Cant be arsed spelling

The workshop is back open again, officially so since Monday.

Working on a rebuild of Frankencycle MkII for a mate.

Have a road bike conversion (legal speed) booked for Saturday (36v 250w, 700c), another (36v 250w, 700c) for as soon as I can (Cleaning up the base bike as we speak), pending batteries, and have just finished off a pedal only dual suspension cheapy mountain bike rebuild, and a 16″ kids bike rebuild.

It’s 2014, Yo







Joe

 

[Speedracer]

Nice work. It's interesting because I couldn't find any other ebike store when I was looking other than stealth in melbourne.

To give my opinion on this, Being a newbie at this I had a friend suggest the stealth when I had licence issues for a couple of months and I never had thought of an e-bike before... Ebay kits don't really give you the benefit of test rides and before this forum popped up I honestly thought e-bikes were rather lame. Then I rode a stealth bomber and fell in love. It had the potential to bring a smile when unlimited and give me the satisfaction of a dirt bike that I didn't need to trailer to the bush, golf course or bike trails are now really fun and no one gives you a second look, try that on a dirt bike

I was tossing up between building one and buying one. After a thread on here I ended up with the bomber because of 2 reasons, I was concerned that if anything went wrong I would have had to wait a month for replacement parts and two, projects without experience or calculated packages usually spend more time in the garage than they do on the road, I needed to get to work and back.

I think the larger market you are hitting "the commuters" is there but there a smaller almost untapped market of I want the biggest boy toy that goes fast still only has one player, stealth..

I saw with little research you could build a go fast e bike for around $5k (raptor frame, lipo, lyen controller, crystalyte tc80 etc) and probably a lot less if you set up reseller agreements that with little marketing, even down to posters on poles next to bike trails could tap in to a virtually untapped market and create some competition.. Stealth make a great bike but I think they would push a little harder if there was a competive streak chucked in..

Just a thought..

 

[winkinatcha]

Hey Speedracer...

Yeah I reckon for sure you are right in terms of there being a "Market Vertical" out there for higher powered e-bikes.

Stealth are bloody awesome, and so are Hyena Industries. I've had the opp to ride a couple of hi powered bikes on group rides, (even a stealth during the underground e-bike races). Love em.

I've built a few bikes in the 1.5 Kw range and have the gear for 3-5kw, and worked on a couple of 5kw plus machines.

The big challenge with the 5kw plus, and even 2kw "top end" builds, from my perspective, is that there is a quantum leap in terms of cost of componentry that can handle that sort of power.

So even though, yeah I can build you a pretty schmick 1.5-2kw, 50kph, 90 km range Front suspension mountain bike, robust enough for 10s of thousands of kilometres and more with proper maintenance.. all for the princely sum of $2500, Like you've calculated, If I was to do the same with a 3-5kw motor, to do a mid range quality build could easily see a doubling in price.

there's complexity in terms of switching throttle control, and handling when you start upping speed and power, let alone "needing" an appropriate base bike. Batteries harnesses Even the tyres need to bump up a notch, let alone the wheels n rims...blah blah blah.

All that being said, I do intend to build at least one 4kw machine, probably two as I have accumulated purty much all I need of top end gear to get a couple out.

I'm trying to be able to cater, from a mechanic/workshop perspective, for as many types e-bikes n small evs as I can, from hi powered to legal (ish), and in all shapes n sizes, incl. skateboards, scooters, recumbents, trikes, 20", 700c/28", single speed, multispeed, hub n midmounts, roadies and high end down hill Dual suspension yum machines.

At the moment I am getting a lot of traction with light weight 700c road oriented builds, with customers in this category ranging from active cycling retirees looking for a legal lightweight long range boost, to cycling/fitness oriented 30+ year old commuters looking for assistance in the 40km/h to 60km/h range that a geared min hub moter running 500 to 700 watts can provide...


The jobs I'm taking are pretty varied, ranging from rebuilds of commercial bikes around the 5 year old mark, Total new builds, budget oriented builds made from recovered/refurbished components and the occasional but getting more regular, open budget (within reason) ground up customised jobbies...( I Like those )
Along with regular servicing and maintenance of existing customer base, hunting down stuff, and working my way through my apparently endless stock of bikes ...

I'm getting a lot of joy from the large mix of maintenance and specialty help and component supply that's going on with a growing population of active baby boomers, too, and these guys don't quibble over quality versus price issues

Ultimately, my "workshop" orientation, rather than pure builder/seller gets in the way time wise for me to be able to churn out a constant stream of builds for sale.

I kinda like the mix I'm getting between servicing and building... I am getting pretty convinced that a big part of of the continual flow of customers and work is due to there being a lack of e-bike/smallEV oriented workshops, that aren't tied to a specific commercial offering, and can do repairs and upgrades to whatever the customer can bring in the door, as well as customised specific builds..

Variety of income sources really helps me stay afloat too.

So yeah, agree there is a market and probably a sustainable one here in Melbs for "cheaper" ($5k ish) 5kw 60km/h+ reasonable range bikes.

Personally I'm not in a position where I want to pursue it to eclusivity, but I sure as heck know that a couple of my Hi powered customers had to chase me down cos there were limited other options out there and I was... there .

Joe

 

[Rutiger]

Well done, Joe.

I would love to open up a similar shop in Brisbane, but there probably isn't as big a market for it here with about 1/4 the population as in Melbourne.

I really like the flatbar Norco you built for Kahnx, it's very clean. All of the wiring is hidden away and everything is set out so neatly, it just looks fantastic.
Kahnx, you also did a great job with the PVC battery case. I'd love to do something like that for mine, but I need to fit 30Ah of 12S, so it probably won't anywhere as neat.

I also really want a rear mud-guard like that, but I've never seen them for sale anywhere?

Keep up the good work, and best of luck.

 

[Speedracer]

Nice one mate.
In regards to a build, I have another Dh mtb (race line with dnb suspension) floating round and I was thinking of doing a 1 to 2kv build on it for my fiancé since I've lowered the suspension and seat enough for her to ride it comfortably.. I was wondering if you would have some parts lying round for this type of build? I'm not sure that I want to wait for OS parts to arrive as I'd like her to come for a spin on valentines in the grampians.. Happy to do the majority of work myself but may need you to lace up the wheel for me if u have the tools?
Not sure what you liCo batteries are like or if I'll go rc lipo's but ideally for a cost saving perspective it would be good if I could use the stealth charger on it..
What's your thoughts?

 

[winkinatcha]

Thanks Rutiger,
Dude, I see a fair few secondhand e-bikes for sale up queensland way (I Troll E-bay almost everday, looking for e-bikes), wouldn't surprise me if though less population round brisbane, they may be more open to e-bikes and you'd still have a strong market.

Srsly about 1/3 of my income is from servicing repairing n upgrading existing bikes. And I'm willing to bet you'd be hard pressed to find someone wiling to say upgrade the battery for a 6 year old e-bike. Beleive it or not I've had people who WANTED to pay me $30 to fix a rear flat on a rear drive e-bike... The local bike shop was charging over $100 for the same task.

I've been living and breathing e-bike mechaicing stuff most everday for the last 18 mnths, and somethings I make look easy cos I've done them a bazillion times, but all in all I am not that special that I am doing superhuman stuff, yet I KNOW that if I was to stick my head up anymore than what I do now, I'd be swamped with more work than I can handle.

I don't even know what size area I truly "service', but the majority is within 15 kms (and I am 15kms from CBD, though near a big hub railway station....)... I have roamed as many as 50km away in the course of doing business but the longer trips are generally more for purchase rather than sales...

Last three conversions have found me via the internet (IE my Facebook Page and Website)....

there are people in NEED People!!!


HEY SPEEDRACER! looking forward to a chat mate, your timing is pretty good workwise if you want to avail, as next week looks open, and I generally try to block three days into a build. Also equally happ to just sell you the part you need and get you to deal with it

Joe

EDIT:
Rear mudguard is custom cut cheap plastic rear mudguard, cut to sit under and attach to controller at seat post end and using the standard L shaped cheap mudguard bracket as other fastening point.

 

[winkinatcha]

I had resoluted (?) that I would communicate on my blog at least once a week this year, ‘owever, that has not occurred.



I claim crazy busy as the explanation, along with a few challenges that popped up along the way.

In the last two months I have

completed 4 new conversions,
(re)built 4 vintage bikes from scratch (frame + forks + refurbed and new components)
repaired two separate customer electric issues
Rebuilt a Commercial (easyBike) Ebike
Experimented with and tested 20″ setups
Experimented with mid drives
Done around 5 pedal only services
Re-organised my workshop, including settting up another bike stand/working area (I now have two… getting closer to being able to employ someone )
Rented more space next door
purchased a welder (arc) a drill stand and a grinder
Commissioned a graphic artist to design me a logo.

Challenges included

Running into supply and shipping headaches with batteries
keeping an open return policy on bikes and components sold… I have had two returns, one on a vintage bike that just didn’t suit the customer, and one on a refurbished battery that didn’t have the capacity a customer required. These are not big things but certainly opened my eyes to the wisdom of having escrow account style setups so that potential return money is easy to refund.
A spate of very hot weather that kinda slowed me to a crawl for a fortnight (though I did manage to rearrange my sleeping so I could work through the night when it was cooler.)

All in all still reckon I am incredibly lucky to be doing what I am doing…



More updates and guff to come

 

[r3volved]

I'm envious and bookmarking this thread.
I haven't shut the hell up about wanting to be in the ebike business since my first ride

 

[Ykick]

Thanks for sharing your journey wink. Very educational and inspiring. Good luck with your biz!