Looking for bike info in my price range

[Risky Rob]

Oh! I know exactly what that's like.

I built my ebike conversion on a budget, with a 1500W AW hub motor kit from Amazon. I am very pleased with the result. I am a fair mechanic, and already had almost all the tools.

 

[n00b]

I built my ebike conversion on a budget, with a 1500W AW hub motor kit from Amazon. I am very pleased with the result. I am a fair mechanic, and already had almost all the tools.

Okay. I got all the tools.
I can't replace mosfets, no tools for that.
Well, yeah I can, by buying a whole new deal.
I do know dudes that can do things to circuit boards, though.

 

[n00b]

What is your actual budget? From your description, it sounded like just enough for a good battery.

I had my last motorcycle accident at 70mph when I was a couple of years younger than you. Dislocated both shoulders and got pretty banged up, but I was functional a week later, except for the physical therapy. My ebike crash last year, at a third that speed, took me about 7 months to get back on the bike, and a collar bone that will never heal. Maybe you're still a fast healer, but each year turns into slower healing.

I still advise upgrading the battery on your existing bike, unless your budget allows for a kit, plus a good battery.

My last motorcycle accident was @74 mph slaloming cones on a bridge that were not spaced evenly (so I found)
I got up to 74 doing it, and 1 sucked up between the front wheel and frame.
As I was flying in the air for quite some time, I saw my bike do a flip, land on the wheels, and gently fall over.
Then it was time to meet the pavement, and that hurt, and I slid, and said "Ow!", and I slid, and then I slid some more, and stopped right at the feet of a Highway Patrol.
If not for a nice Bell helmet, or the Grace of God I would have been seriously messed up. Could have been launched into the railing and flipped into the water, because it was a bridge. No, I went straight. And slid straight.
The trooper had me call a friend and he took me to the hospital.
Painful 3 days. Bike wasn't even messed up. I got it later that night with a friend and my truck.
Also a nice person in a jacked-up 4x4 stopped traffic behind when they saw what happened to me.
Me and the Trooper got out the way so traffic could continue.
No broken bones. A lot of road rash.

 

[amberwolf]

. Actually very common on this cheap bikes , the gears are all plastic.

For geared hubmotors, this is nearly universally true regardless of motor price point.

For middrives, this is also nearly universally true.

Metal gears complicate lubrication vs noise abatement, and/or casing / bearing design, etc., and also provide no "mechanical fuse" for something to fail cheaply when the system is stressed beyond it's abiltiy to survive. Better a cheap plastic gear than an expensive motor winding, etc.

 

[Ebikejoe]

He seems to have a functional lower capacity battery. My thought is that, being short on cash, a second charged battery might double his range. Of course, a new double capacity battery is the more elegant solution, but would be more expensive.

Yes that’s what I mean, I want a second battery for the one I’m riding but I also want to upgrade to a better bike, but may hold off if I get second battery , but now I’m thinking of a kit , just gotta get all info on them next mounth of so when I know exactly how much I’ll have to spend

 

[Ebikejoe]

My last motorcycle accident was @74 mph slaloming cones on a bridge that were not spaced evenly (so I found)
I got up to 74 doing it, and 1 sucked up between the front wheel and frame.
As I was flying in the air for quite some time, I saw my bike do a flip, land on the wheels, and gently fall over.
Then it was time to meet the pavement, and that hurt, and I slid, and said "Ow!", and I slid, and then I slid some more, and stopped right at the feet of a Highway Patrol.
If not for a nice Bell helmet, or the Grace of God I would have been seriously messed up. Could have been launched into the railing and flipped into the water, because it was a bridge. No, I went straight. And slid straight.
The trooper had me call a friend and he took me to the hospital.
Painful 3 days. Bike wasn't even messed up. I got it later that night with a friend and my truck.
Also a nice person in a jacked-up 4x4 stopped traffic behind when they saw what happened to me.
Me and the Trooper got out the way so traffic could continue.
No broken bones. A lot of road rash.

Glad you ok!! I have no intention of going near 74 mph!!! ‍‍‍‍

 

[Ebikejoe]

So you answered the last two. What don’t you understand about the rest?

“To get solid advice on parts to buy, you must provide the following info.
Desired max speed on level ground. mph or kph
Desired max range at what cruising speed. mph or kph
Preferred bike wheel size, or wheel size of bike you want to convert. Most common kits are for 26" wheels.
Brake type of motor wheel. Disc or not.
Rider weight.
Terrain. Exp: mostly flat, some short hills under 20% grade, I want to climb mountains, etc., etc.
Budget.”

Well the bike is 26’ wheel— I’ll ride at 20-30 mph——- I’m 177#’s sometimes I like light trails/- would like to go 80-100 miles or as close as I can — my town is hilly—- it has brake pads so I guess that’s disc
So I was thinking , for a good kit and good battery can I do it for $500-$550 or is that to cheap and would I just be better off getting premade??
Like I said I need to wait till nov to get up to my buddy’s farm in ny Catskills to make some bucks that after doctor appointments

 

[E-HP]

Well the bike is 26’ wheel— I’ll ride at 20-30 mph——- I’m 177#’s sometimes I like light trails/- would like to go 80-100 miles or as close as I can — my town is hilly—- it has brake pads so I guess that’s disc
So I was thinking , for a good kit and good battery can I do it for $500-$550 or is that to cheap and would I just be better off getting premade??
Like I said I need to wait till nov to get up to my buddy’s farm in ny Catskills to make some bucks that after doctor appointments

Thanks for the info. To go 30mph, you need around 1200W. To go 30mph for 100 miles, using a 48V battery, you'd need 88Ah. The battery alone would cost 4 times your total budget and probably won't fit on your bike. You need to tame your range and/or speed expectations, but even with that, I expect you still won't be able to get close on $550.

For the kit, since you're burning out geared motors on the hills, you may need to go with a direct drive hub, with statorade for cooling, so you can keep the temps down. Are you hills greater than a 10% grade and sustained, or more like gentle rolling hills? Can you post a google maps link to a typical hilly streets where you ride?

This is an example. I assume no pedaling, and used 220lb total weight, but the huge battery will add a lot more to that. At 20mph, you could do 100mile on half the battery (44Ah):

Motor Simulator - Web Tools - Resources

Our ebike motor simulator allows you to easily simulate the different performance characteristics of different ebike setups - with a wide selection of hub motors modeled, and the ability to add custom batteries and controllers and set a wide variety of vehicle parameters you'll be able to see...

ebikes.ca

 

[ZeroEm]

Well the bike is 26’ wheel— I’ll ride at 20-30 mph——- I’m 177#’s sometimes I like light trails/- would like to go 80-100 miles or as close as I can — my town is hilly—- it has brake pads so I guess that’s disc
So I was thinking , for a good kit and good battery can I do it for $500-$550 or is that to cheap and would I just be better off getting premade??
Like I said I need to wait till nov to get up to my buddy’s farm in ny Catskills to make some bucks that after doctor appointments

There is no magic with E-bikes. The magic number is 20 mph. above it your pushing air and spending money.

 

[n00b]

Glad you ok!! I have no intention of going near 74 mph!!! ‍‍‍‍

That wasn't even my scariest thing. I was only going 35 when that happened.
I'm going 35 up a side/yet kinda main road and this Cavalier pulls slap out in front of me.
If I had hit the brakes and hit it, would have gone right through the back window into the front seat.
I jerked it to the right, slid past them on the back brake in the grass and there's a phone pole
guy wire coming up quick, jerked it back into the road in front of them and hit the throttle.
They never even knew.
That bike did 138, and I coulda played with the gears.
After that, I kinda lost interest. Ebikes have a little bit of that acceleration but don't go as fast and
it's kinda the same thrill but not as dangerous.
Same rules apply: Assume they don't see you.

 

[n00b]

There is no magic with E-bikes. The magic number is 20 mph. above it your pushing air and spending money.

For regular stuff, if it rides like a bike, I'd say 20 mph and 20 miles with a 20Ah battery. Give or take a little where you can.

 

[ZeroEm]

Talking about getting distance out of a battery. You can ride as fast as you want. A few threads bout setting up a bike for the speed you want to ride, wheel size, motor winding and such.

 

[offGridDownUnder]

Are you planning on carrying the extra battery on your rides? A single, larger capacity battery, is probably the best upgrade in your situation

I second this opinion.

Two batteries means running one down, then the other, swapping them in between. This does not save weight and means recharging both before the next ride. If you don't need them both for the ride, then you didn't need two batteries.

One equivalent larger battery means charging one battery per ride cycle - much less hassle. It also means that for any smaller trips, you are using less of the battery's cycle, which translates into longer lifespan in some cases.

Batteries made with cells made by the big foundries (Sony, Samsung, Panasonic, LG - and some others, chime in here people) are very safe and almost never catch on fire as long as:

• Don't smack it.
• Don't heat it.
• Don't overcharge it.
• Don't run it down too far.
• Don't charge it when it's cold - bring it in inside and let it warm up.

In general, name brand cells from a maker you can trust not to lie about this, keep the charge above 20% of the total capacity (which a quality maker will quote conservatively), charge it to 100% once or twice a month (so the BMS "battery management system" can balance the cells), but if you can, charge it only to 80-85% of it's total capacity most of the time - this can triple the lifespan of the battery, which is the most expensive part usually.

I hope you can re-use your existing motor.

Most bicycle maintenance is obvious, you can do it, you can save money, and you can take good care of your ride. There are a few tricks:

• Chains don't stretch - but everyone uses that word. Chains wear. This matters because a worn chain is longer, and that means it does not seat well on the sprockets and, in fact, begins to pound and gouge the sprockets. Get a chain measuring tool (they are really simple) and replace the chain before you also need to replace the sprockets.
• When putting a wheel back that uses nuts on the axle, start by making small turns on one side, then the other, then the first, and so on. That means no larger than a 1/4 turn, probably less. My mechanic teacher called this 'nipipng' because what you are trying to do is make sure both sides 'bite' the frame before you turn either much. If you just turn one side all the way down you can actually rotate the axle without noticing it and partly unscrew the bearing nut on the other side - and you won't realize it. Bicycle hubs used to have locknuts to prevent this, but many don't now for reasons I do not understand.

 

[offGridDownUnder]

but may hold off if I get second battery

Carry your charger with you?

 

[Ebikejoe]

Carry your charger with you?

I do sometimes but it takes a long time to charge. I’ve used it while riding around just for a few bars to get home