Going Electric ! Help me choose the right bike !

[h_rad]

Hi how are you all ?

I have had some doubts about the right bike for my first e bike conversion . I currently have a Giant XTC 2 hardtrail http://i.imgur.com/FFbJqmk.jpg which has been my road friend for the past 2 years ( riding to work and school )

A few days ago I went to Giant bike store here in Toronto and the guy over there suggested me this bike http://goo.gl/GRd5fD because I told him about my my back problems ( I have skoliosis ) and he said the frame is designed for ppl with back problems . I did a test run and it was the lightest bike I have ever ridden .

Now the problem is I am not sure about the bike not having a front suspension because Toronto has the worst pavements and I don't feel safe passing those potholes without a suspension at high speed when converted into E-bike.
Also I would have to sell my current bike to be able to get half of what this one cost so that's another thing to consider .

The guy at the store also told me that I am supposed to ride on a XL bike frame ( what I have right now is L ) which would reduce my back pain in long ride . my height : 187cm .

my question is despite the pros and cons,and the extra costs would you get this bike for your first e bike conversion project ? Will I be able to ride this bike on off roads ? ( not hardcore trails ) Or should I just forget about this bike and go with a new front suspension bike like this http://goo.gl/3aJ33V , or just stick to my current bike ? ( the suspension doesn't really perform well now )

Thank you so much !

 

[knut7]

I'm fairly new to the ebike scene, so I'll let others comment on the conversion. Judging by the photo of your XTC, I'm not sure a bigger bike will solve anything. You don't have that much seat post exposed. But it's not easy for me to say anything for certain as I don't have much info. If your torso and arms are quite long compared to your body height then a frame with more Reach (bigger frame) could be correct. Also I can't really see how a skinny tire road/cx-ish bike would do your back any good. People around here with back problems tend to embrace full suspension bikes, they take the spike of the road feedback.

I'm about 6cm shorter than you, with 87cm inseam (leg lenght) which is fairly long compared to my height, and I ride a size M Giant XTC (18"). You could always ad another 10mm of stem length to increase the Reach, a new stem can be quite cheap and worth a try if you suspect you need a bigger bike. Wider tires will provide more comfort as long as tire pressure isn't too high, that could be good for your back. If I had a medical issue with my back I'd definitely spend some $ on bike fitting done by someone with a good reputation, not by some random person in a shop

 

[h_rad]

I'm fairly new to the ebike scene, so I'll let others comment on the conversion. Judging by the photo of your XTC, I'm not sure a bigger bike will solve anything. You don't have that much seat post exposed. But it's not easy for me to say anything for certain as I don't have much info. If your torso and arms are quite long compared to your body height then a frame with more Reach (bigger frame) could be correct. Also I can't really see how a skinny tire road/cx-ish bike would do your back any good. People around here with back problems tend to embrace full suspension bikes, they take the spike of the road feedback.

I'm about 6cm shorter than you, with 87cm inseam (leg lenght) which is fairly long compared to my height, and I ride a size M Giant XTC (18"). You could always ad another 10mm of stem length to increase the Reach, a new stem can be quite cheap and worth a try if you suspect you need a bigger bike. Wider tires will provide more comfort as long as tire pressure isn't too high, that could be good for your back. If I had a medical issue with my back I'd definitely spend some $ on bike fitting done by someone with a good reputation, not by some random person in a shop

Hey Knut , yes my torso and arms are long compared to my height . the frame on the Anyroad bike had a much longer reach and it was surprisingly comfortable.
I always wanted to get a full suspension but the good ones aren't cheap and fitting the battery inside the central frame would be another issue .
my back problem is not that serious , it just tend to hurt on longer rides which i'm sure happens to a lot of people . But I will look into adding a longer stem and see how that would work out for me and maybe I wouldn't have to pay for a new bike. but the Anyroad bike was soooo light ! I could lift the bike with a finger and I'm thinking a e bike conversion kit with the battery will weigh around 15 Kilos or less and adding that extra weight to my current bike , lifting it and taking it on train/bus would be a disaster cause I am not a fit guy

Anyway thank you for your advices , I'll look for a longer stem .

 

[r3volved]

Are you planning to peddle much?
The draw back of dual suspension on the road is the peddle bob. When you're getting up good speed, reaction time is far less and you can really jar your back on an unexpected pothole. Electrified, you didn't have to worry about power loss with peddle bob.

I'm close by in Kitchener and our pot holes are sooooo brutal this year. Finding a full suspension frame is top of my priorities right now. I've had days of riding that has put me out of commission for weeks just from lower back pain.

 

[h_rad]

Are you planning to peddle much?
The draw back of dual suspension on the road is the peddle bob. When you're getting up good speed, reaction time is far less and you can really jar your back on an unexpected pothole. Electrified, you didn't have to worry about power loss with peddle bob.

I'm close by in Kitchener and our pot holes are sooooo brutal this year. Finding a full suspension frame is top of my priorities right now. I've had days of riding that has put me out of commission for weeks just from lower back pain.

Hey Revolved , Yes I am planning to pedal , I am getting a mid drive kit just for that .
I cant get a FS unless used , and these used bikes in kijiji/craiglists are over priced and most of them were not taken care of properly and you will end up spending half of the bike's worth money on repairs . But what you said is true .

Also I haven't found a full suspension build with the battery fitting in the central frame and that matters to me , have you thought about that or you have your battery installed on a rack ?

 

[r3volved]

I'll just reconfigure my battery as needed to suit whatever I find. Right now I have two packs on either side of the triangle for now until I get a better frame. I've been eyeballing Kijiji for months and have seen a couple nice bikes on there. I personally don't mind a fix up. Nearly everything is going to get replaced or modified anyway.

I just need something a bit more rugged than what I have and it needs to soak up rough terrain...cause sadly our nice roads ARE rough terrain (specially at the curb side)

 

[h_rad]

I'll just reconfigure my battery as needed to suit whatever I find. Right now I have two packs on either side of the triangle for now until I get a better frame. I've been eyeballing Kijiji for months and have seen a couple nice bikes on there. I personally don't mind a fix up. Nearly everything is going to get replaced or modified anyway.

I just need something a bit more rugged than what I have and it needs to soak up rough terrain...cause sadly our nice roads ARE rough terrain (specially at the curb side)

Oh I see , can I see your build ? I've seen 1-2 nice FS ones too but they never replied so I guess they were sold .
Ye I don't feel safe at all riding near the curb side with a car chasing my butt or passing me at high speed , what if i hit a pothole hard and fall down and a car ran over me at high speed?

 

[motomech]

You are not searching very hard. There are lot's of FS MX bike builds here that have battery space. Search key words; full suspension, triangle, triangle bag, etc.
Click on my first link.

 

[wesnewell]

For conversion I wouldn't buy a bike unless it had steel dropouts. Either of those cost more than my converted bike with almost 12K miles on it.

 

[dogman dan]

Sounds like you just need to make whatever bike you choose fit you. This can be done with any frame, but it might involve finding a longer seatpost, riser handlebars, or whatever it is you need. Of course, the right frame size makes that easier to do with the stock seat and so forth, but you could just get a different frame size in a bike just like what you have. That is, a regular hardtail MTB with front shocks.

Personally, I can't leave straight bars on an MTB bike, I have to have some sweep to ride 60-80 miles in one day. Straight bars are not for long miles, they are for short blasts on narrow trails. You might find all you need is new handlebars on your current bike. Try some BMX bars and see if a more upright riding position helps your back. Get that seat the right height, and carry most of your weight on the pedals rather than your ass. It will help

Guy in the store though, will gladly sell you a new bike, one less suitable for motorizing than what you have now.

The giant you have would benefit from a better front fork too. Re the back, I have crushed disks, so I do require FS, and preferably pretty good FS. Another thing that helps many with the road is a longtail. Even without suspension, getting your ass out from right over the back wheel helps a lot.

I think you can upgrade your shock, handlebars, and seatpost for 1/3 of the cost of a new bike. And that includes trying about 3 different bars.

 

[TheBeastie]

Hi how are you all ?

I have had some doubts about the right bike for my first e bike conversion . I currently have a Giant XTC 2 hardtrail http://i.imgur.com/FFbJqmk.jpg which has been my road friend for the past 2 years ( riding to work and school )

A few days ago I went to Giant bike store here in Toronto and the guy over there suggested me this bike http://goo.gl/GRd5fD because I told him about my my back problems ( I have skoliosis ) and he said the frame is designed for ppl with back problems . I did a test run and it was the lightest bike I have ever ridden .

Thank you so much !

I would suggest if you like Giant bikes is check out there Roam series, they almost look like they were deliberately meant for ebike conversion.
There in the X-Road section which are there dual use bikes.
http://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-ca/bikes/model/roam.2/17634/73462/#overview
Good things about this bike is the Large triangle frame space, also has 48T crank so you can keep up pedaling under high speed which isn't an option you get on most mountain bikes.
Also unlike a lot of frames if you look carefully at the bike in the store you will see as Gaint web site put it plus plenty of frame clearance for off-road tires, so you can put bigger tires on or if your hub motor isn't perfectly center you get more leeway against the tyres hitting the frame.
Still I would consider it mainly for motors that support cassette like Bafang or Xofo so I can keep all original components on the bike. I did buy this bike but along with some other outside factors got angry with how long it was taking the store to get one with my preferred frame size and canceled it.

 

[r3volved]

That was from a while ago, but still same configuration for battery. It would all fit in the triangle if I actually stripped the cells down...I just don't want to reconfigure again with a new bike.

As dogman mentioned, there's a ton of things that later your riding geometry. I've pretty much tried them all and only thing left is the frame. I usually end up hovering my butt about an inch off the seat at higher speeds, and new saddle has helped a lot with minor bumps. I'm short too so this frame is slightly too big for me as it's super tough to find a suitable size.

 

[Drunkskunk]

Stick with the frame you have for now, and see if you can make it comfortable. It may indeed be too small for you, but use it to figure out what size you need before you replace it. Do that before you start your conversion, and you may save your self a few thousand.

From the pic, it looks like your seat is fairly far forward on the seat rails, and that you have a ~90mm stem on the bars. a longer stem and sliding the seat back may improve the ride.

I don't know about the other bike being designed for people with back problems. that sounds like creative marketing on the part of the salesman. Or loads of Bullshi... fertilizer. Either way, a light weight road bike makes a bad ebike. The frame wouldn't likely be strong enough. A mountain bike is the way to go.

 

[spinningmagnets]

r3volved, I highly recommend you try a Thudbuster or Suntour-NCX suspension seat-post http://www.electricbike.com/suspension-seat-posts/

The embedded endless-sphere seach feature is weak. To search endless-sphere, open a new tab, in that tab go to Google, and then type in

"site:endless-sphere.com enter search term here"

The search results will be better, and they will all be only from our ES website.

 

[r3volved]

I've looked into them but my bike now is already too big and the most comfortable saddle position is at it's lowest point. Finding a used 16" frame is harder than finding Sasquatch.

 

[h_rad]

You are not searching very hard. There are lot's of FS MX bike builds here that have battery space. Search key words; full suspension, triangle, triangle bag, etc.
Click on my first link.

Believe me I do , it took me 3 months to find this bike that I have right now . Most of these sellers here have crappy bikes that been eating dust in the garage for the past 5-10 months .Was wondering if there are any online websites for used bikes that would ship to Canada.

 

[h_rad]

For conversion I wouldn't buy a bike unless it had steel dropouts. Either of those cost more than my converted bike with almost 12K miles on it.

Yeah I just realized if I wanted to buy either of those , I would end up spending $2700-3000 plus the conversion kit and the shipping costs etc .

 

[dogman dan]

Yet another really good reason to just buy what ever that one you have needs to fit you much better. If you have long legs and move that saddle up high, you will be in a pretty uncomfortable position, and you aren't racing, so why ride like that? Riser bars can be only ten bucks.

Get up and running with what you have now, then consider a different bike much later. The one you have will be fine once it fits you.

 

[h_rad]

Sounds like you just need to make whatever bike you choose fit you. This can be done with any frame, but it might involve finding a longer seatpost, riser handlebars, or whatever it is you need. Of course, the right frame size makes that easier to do with the stock seat and so forth, but you could just get a different frame size in a bike just like what you have. That is, a regular hardtail MTB with front shocks.

Personally, I can't leave straight bars on an MTB bike, I have to have some sweep to ride 60-80 miles in one day. Straight bars are not for long miles, they are for short blasts on narrow trails. You might find all you need is new handlebars on your current bike. Try some BMX bars and see if a more upright riding position helps your back. Get that seat the right height, and carry most of your weight on the pedals rather than your ass. It will help

Guy in the store though, will gladly sell you a new bike, one less suitable for motorizing than what you have now.

The giant you have would benefit from a better front fork too. Re the back, I have crushed disks, so I do require FS, and preferably pretty good FS. Another thing that helps many with the road is a longtail. Even without suspension, getting your ass out from right over the back wheel helps a lot.

I think you can upgrade your shock, handlebars, and seatpost for 1/3 of the cost of a new bike. And that includes trying about 3 different bars.

Hey Dogman , I guess you are right , I should get a higher handlebar stem because I have to lean too much in order to reach the handlebars in a comfortable position .

my current bike's handlebar is not fully straight , it drops a little at the middle .

Yes I've thinking about getting a new fork because its not functioning well and the repair cost would be around $100 . Can I install a longer fork on my 26 bike ? is more than 100mm travel necessary ? I will be riding on trails as well so .

I did a research and ended up finding these suspension seatposts that had so many good reviews , like this one http://goo.gl/WCExdB for a reasonable price . Would any of these help ?

Well I'm glad I posted here because the guy at the store had no idea about ebikes so thank you .

 

[h_rad]

I would suggest if you like Giant bikes is check out there Roam series, they almost look like they were deliberately meant for ebike conversion.
There in the X-Road section which are there dual use bikes.
http://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-ca/bikes/model/roam.2/17634/73462/#overview
Good things about this bike is the Large triangle frame space, also has 48T crank so you can keep up pedaling under high speed which isn't an option you get on most mountain bikes.
Also unlike a lot of frames if you look carefully at the bike in the store you will see as Gaint web site put it plus plenty of frame clearance for off-road tires, so you can put bigger tires on or if your hub motor isn't perfectly center you get more leeway against the tyres hitting the frame.
Still I would consider it mainly for motors that support cassette like Bafang or Xofo so I can keep all original components on the bike. I did buy this bike but along with some other outside factors got angry with how long it was taking the store to get one with my preferred frame size and canceled it.

To be honest that wouldn't be such a upgrade for me except well that the bike would be new and I have plenty of space in the triangle frame on my current bike . I am getting a 48V 500W Bafang mid drive kit so I am not worrying about the wheels
oh that sucks , so you never got to try the bike with your conversion kit .

 

[h_rad]

That was from a while ago, but still same configuration for battery. It would all fit in the triangle if I actually stripped the cells down...I just don't want to reconfigure again with a new bike.

As dogman mentioned, there's a ton of things that later your riding geometry. I've pretty much tried them all and only thing left is the frame. I usually end up hovering my butt about an inch off the seat at higher speeds, and new saddle has helped a lot with minor bumps. I'm short too so this frame is slightly too big for me as it's super tough to find a suitable size.

Sweet ride ! not stealthy tho ! you sure need a frame with larger triangle space . that is exactly what I do at high speeds ! I actually had a stupid dream that I hovered off the seat so much that I fell down on my rear wheel with my ass and my skin got off ) so a new seat here we come ! thanks man !
yes finding a suitable frame here is tough . good luck !

 

[h_rad]

Stick with the frame you have for now, and see if you can make it comfortable. It may indeed be too small for you, but use it to figure out what size you need before you replace it. Do that before you start your conversion, and you may save your self a few thousand.

From the pic, it looks like your seat is fairly far forward on the seat rails, and that you have a ~90mm stem on the bars. a longer stem and sliding the seat back may improve the ride.

I don't know about the other bike being designed for people with back problems. that sounds like creative marketing on the part of the salesman. Or loads of Bullshi... fertilizer. Either way, a light weight road bike makes a bad ebike. The frame wouldn't likely be strong enough. A mountain bike is the way to go.

Yes I will and oh money is tight right now so thank you .

Yes the seat is forward on the seat rails , I tried to adjust it but the stupid screw is stuck so I gave up a long time ago but that is another thing to consider .

well the guy at the end said forget about e bikes and sell your current one and buy these two so you would be able to ride in road and off road as well and that's when I realized he is just trying to take advantage of my back problem and just sell me the bikes so you are right.
but I had no idea about the weight , neither did the guy at the store . so thank you so much !

 

[h_rad]

Yet another really good reason to just buy what ever that one you have needs to fit you much better. If you have long legs and move that saddle up high, you will be in a pretty uncomfortable position, and you aren't racing, so why ride like that? Riser bars can be only ten bucks.

Get up and running with what you have now, then consider a different bike much later. The one you have will be fine once it fits you.

Fair enough thank you mate .

 

[r3volved]

The battery originally came as one big rectangle block 48v 15ah and I split it and fixed to bike after a season of battery backpacking (backpacking was super hard on back). I just split it into two rectangle blocks for now so I can have an empty backpack to actually use for things...measured it out and it would fit in my triangle (even though it's oddly shaped) if I tore it down more and moved controller below the downtube.
It works well on the street and actually gives me nice spots to hug with my knees...however, I strongly suggest against this jimmy rig style if you're catching air at all.

Definitely not stealthy, but I've yet to encounter any harassment.