Newbie looking to build a electric bike

[oeglend]

Hello!

New guy here, found this forum by random after googling for electric bikes. And got rather impressed by the builds around this forum.

In the last few days i've been looking all around your forum for information regarding the commute bike i'm looking to build.
In abit over a month i'm starting in a new job and my commute to that job will be about 10km's (6.2miles). Most of the road is flat with no hills, but theres usually alot of wind.
Theres also some issues with rain, as I live in a part of Norway with quite alot of rainy days. Some waterproofing is needed.

I have not decided on which bike i'm going to chose so i'm quite open minded and open for suggestions, however i'm interested mainly in bikes with dual disc brake system and dual suspension.

Example:
http://www.fellia.com/Bikes/Adult_Bikes/Mountain_Bikes/Front_Suspension_Hardtails/Muddyfox_Turmoil/
or
http://www.fellia.com/Bikes/Adult_Bikes/Mountain_Bikes/Dual_Suspension/Silverfox_Serpent/
Very open for suggestions on this.

As for the kit, the hyena-industries neuron R kit seems to be in the league of power i'd like to have.
Would also like som input on this, i've red som good things about hyena-industries.

I also considered the Ultramotor A2B metro for a while, but it seems abit slow for my taste.
Also it makes me feel alot better to have done it myself!

 

[torker]

Welcome to the forum. It looks like the Serpent has a lot more suspension travel. If you could find a high quality used bike you might get more for your money. Not sure about shipping costs but you can get a nine continent hub kit for less money here. 9c hubs also have about the best axle seals I think. Make sure you search for Dogmans and others posts about axle fitment of hubs. Front hubs should be mounted in steel forks or fitted very carefully in alum. and use torque arms. These motors have a lot of power and you don't want to break a front fork

Have fun, you will have an EV grin and be hooked :lol: Again welcome! You have very good english btw

 

[dnmun]

do you wanna go fast on a throttle or follow the law?

for the rain, i like the way the axle to hub joint has rubber seals on the 9Continents that E-bikekit.com sells and you should try to use 48V at a minimum if you wanna go even just a little faster than the law allows there.

 

[oeglend]

I'm not very good at following speed limits on anything, so law isnt any concern of mine.
Law here says max 250w and it needs to be pedal assist, and thats not what I want.

I'd like a bike that i'm able to pull around 30mph on the flats.

Also considering getting myself a trike, they seem so fun! Money isnt a big issue, my budget is at 2000-2500 USD

As I understand having disc brakes can cause some problems mounting the kit? Enlighten me if i'm totally wrong here.

The ideal solution for me would be to keep up with 50CC scooters thats limited to 45km/h here in Norway, not really a must. but would be fun.
Still got untill the 15 Jun to decide as that should be the day I order all the parts. May order the bike first to get measurements of everyhing. I also have access to a workshop where I can do welding etc.

The 9c kits seems rather nice, I see the rear hubs atleast supports disc brakes. but i'd like to get atleast a 48v battery for that.

 

[dogman dan]

I agree with all the above comments. A 9 continent rear hub can accept a screw on disk adapter. 27 mph at 48v. Though I know squat about waterproofing, three things a newb should know about wet.

1 Avoid throttles that have a battery level led. When wet, they can short across and cause a stuck on full throttle condition. Most kits now avoid those throttles, but some still have em.

2 Sometimes a wet hall sensor wire plug can short out, or fail to connect causing a problem. Sensorless controllers have no halls wires, so they have just one less thing to be waterproofed. The 5v halls wires can have more problems than the 36-72v phase wires that power the motor.

3 Be carefull about how you build a waterproof box for your controller. It needs to breathe to cool, make it so water stays out mostly, and air flows in and out.

Should you be interested in #2, Lyens sells a sensorless controller that would be great for you if you plan on serious hauling ass. 45 amps at 72v vs the stock controller of 22 amps at 36 or 48. So starting out with the stock stuff, and upgrading to sensorless could work for your EV grin fix as well as a wet halls fix.
A good 48v 22 amp sensorless controller is sold at High Tech bikes.

 

[dogman dan]

You'll hit 30 mph at 48v with pedaling in a 48 front 11 rear gear ratio.

For the battery, depends on what your plans are. A good no fuss 48v solution for the 22 amp stock controllers is a 48v 15 ah pingbattery from pingbattery.com

But if you feel like having a bike that goes 40+ mph on one of the Lyens controllers, then start looking at Turnigy or Zippy lipo batteries at Hobby King. Much more complicated, a few risks with fires if you make mistakes with em, but potential to have motorcycle speeds. I'm just breaking into lipo, and learned a lot by reading the lipo threads in the battery section. Read my noob threads first, and then dive into the long ones.

 

[moostrodamus]

For waterproofing connectors I use Silicon tape, I have been caught in quite a few downpours and never had any trouble with connectors. Also a pedal first controller is a good idea, no hall sensor to get wet and stop the bike from going...

You can 10 Foot Roll of Silicone Tape, for sealing connectors against water at ebikes.ca on this page http://ebikes.ca/store/store_connectors.php

Maybe you can find it in a local hardware store too.

I bought my 9 Continent motor there. I got a 2806 motor that does about 33 mph. with a 48v 20 ah ping battery and 30ah controller

Have fun!

Moos

 

[dogman dan]

Bound to get confusing at first so...

9 continent motors are good ones, but Ebikekits 9x7 and Ebikes-ca's 2807 are basicly the same speed winding motors. A motor's winding count combined with the voltage pretty much determines the motors top speed in a given wheel size. So a 2807 motor is slightly slower than a 2806. But a 2807 will climb a hill better without overheating than a 2806. So if the hills are not extreme, get a 2806, and have an easy 30 mph at 48v.

 

[Hyena]

the hyena-industries neuron R kit seems to be in the league of power i'd like to have.
Would also like som input on this, i've red som good things about hyena-industries.

A wise choice my friend, I hear the guy is outstanding to deal with :lol:
Nah I'm not going to try and sell you anything, I'm not a big sales or business man, I'm just helping people get into ebikes.

Can you recharge your battery at work ? Either way a 10ah 48v pack would get your 20km return commute (I typically use 6ah on my 15km commute and that's with a few hills) For a few bucks extra I'd get the 12ah battery to give you that extra range incase you need it. When you're used to travelling along at 30 mph there's nothing worse than running out of battery and having to pedal

Waterproofing isn't a huge issue, as others have said a bit of silicon around where the wires leave the axle and mount your controller and wires somewhere sensible and you shouldn't have any problems. A piece of old inner tube slipped over the connectors and cable tied tightly at each end is probably all the insulation from the elements you need.

I agree with other comments about the 9C, it seems to have a good reputation although I don't think they're too readily available outside the US. I like the GM hubs, I've gotten some great performance out of them and they're more available world wide but I think they're both much of a muchness. Given you're in Norway and the local laws there I'm guessing there won't be too many if any high powered ebike suppliers so I guess you'll have to import from elsewhere anyway. With the budget you have you can set yourself up quite a nice ebike though, even with the high shipping costs you'll have to pay.

I like the look of the serpent bike you're looking at with the triple clamp forks but there's no room in the frame to mount the batteries there if that was a consideration. Given the shape of the frame on the other one you might be pushing it to get a 48v lifepo4 battery in there anyway. A rear rack is probably the easier way to go, and is easily removed for charging and theft deterrant.

 

[AussieJester]

the hyena-industries neuron R kit seems to be in the league of power i'd like to have.
Would also like som input on this, i've red som good things about hyena-industries.

A wise choice my friend, I hear the guy is outstanding to deal with :lol:
Nah I'm not going to try and sell you anything, I'm not a big sales or business man, I'm just helping people get into ebikes.

Have heard the same, rumours abound he can also cut you a deal on some nice evening wear for the girlfriend/wifey

KiM

p.s welcome to ES....

 

[dogman dan]

Re the bikes, both are nice, but fairly cheap entry level stuff. Niether one seems to cost what one good quality fork runs. So pick the one that fits the battery in the frame, I'd say. The rear shock will be cheap, but it will be lots better than hardtail when running hard on the street. One bonus, is that these bikes often have steel rear swingarms, so a rear hub won't be hard to install right.

But you might want to increase the budget some, perhaps finding a really good suspension bike used rather than an adequate one new. Nothing wrong though, with something cheap while you look for the dream bike.

 

[oeglend]

Just bought a used bike.

Went for a DBS A'mok bike, shimano deore gear/brakes 27gears
New price for this bike was around $ 2400 USD, I bought it for $ 400.
Titan frame, oil shocks. Should be alot better than the new ones I looked at.
The bike weight is about 5kgs, abit unsure on the weight, but can lift it with two fingers

Should be possible to build into a rear hub motor on this one?

Edit: That seat is really unconfortable, going to my local bikeshop tomorrow for a proper cruiser seat, may look weird but atleast i'll sit good!

 

[torker]

Ok Looks nice. Now you will have to build around the bike No problem. Going to have to come up with a way to carry batteries. Another fellow in Europe uses a nice hardside backpack of some sort. Maybe someone will chime in on that. You should start by measuring the width of the rear dropouts and then you can make sure what motors will fit too.

 

[Hyena]

Titan frame, oil shocks. Should be alot better than the new ones I looked at.
The bike weight is about 5kgs, abit unsure on the weight, but can lift it with two fingers
Should be possible to build into a rear hub motor on this one?

I'd be surprised if it was less than 10kg but it's good that you're happy with the weight. That'll all go out the window once you start bolting big motors and batteries on it but a light platform to start with is always good and it certainly looks a better bike than the others you were looking at.
It will be fine for fitting the sort of motor you want, just make sure you use torque arms