Newbie wants an e-bike

[YoSamES]

The EZEE- kits at ebikes.ca look great. In a perfect world, I'd like to find something between that and the $249 ebay kit, say $500 plus battery. But what I see in that range seems to be just the $249 ebay kit components, but at higher prices.

 

[DAND214]

Here is a lookalike from Cell_man links
A 10t in a 26" wheel will give you 20+ on 36v.

Shipping adds up but this is a great product as well as a super supplier.

His batteries are top shelf but that is why they cost more than the ??? on Ebay.

Look around the site.

Been there done that=FUN.

Dan

 

[FeralDog]

Have you seen the other kit link for the Crystalyte / 9C Kits @ ebikes.ca ?
This link ---> http://ebikes.ca/store/store_nc.php may suite your budget better (or see the ebikes.ca Sale items).

Tried shopping for the bike yet?
I do strongly recommend a set of gears for a beach cruiser because you never know when you need them. Gears can make a ride home easier (especially if you have an unexpected electrical fault).:wink:
Front and rear brakes are preferred on cruisers, and those often come with the Shimano 7 speed geared versions.

Huffy Cranbrook ... Schwinn Clairmont ... Kent Del Rio ... are bigbox store starters good for your "weekender journeys".
Micargi Rovers/Pantera ... or the Firmstrong Chief ... for local bike stores and internets' shopping ... then Felt Heritage ...and the Electra Cruiser 7D ... brands move up a bit up in price.
{Electra Townie Go ! is interesting ,but IMHO expensive} That is just a few cruiser bicycles of mention, there are many more.

Your battery choices are the same dilemma as we all share . 36V 15Ah is the common vanilla flavor that should suit all your needs (and give a bit of latitude if you upgrade later), pick your battery chemistry from the aforementioned "recommended" suppliers.

{--- Please hesitate to begin the wonderfully long and scary alchemist journey into the magically evil/wonderful/flammable/powerful deep-study world of Hobbyking Lipos ... that HK journey takes you a long step into the abyss for newbies and isn't recommended . I only mention it cause it will surely tempt you for prices $$$, and weight , and power and ... they can be great fun, addictive, and damn dangerous too .... well you can read the tales here on ES for ya' self --- if you dare } ...

 

[YoSamES]

Thanks Dan. That is what I have in mind. I guess most rear wheel kits are going to be for geared setups. And that's fine, I just didn't think I'd need them, but I'll go with the flow. I'll have to find a bike.

I ordered an e-Moto Ridge 4.5 demo model with new battery for my wife, for $450 shipped on ebay. It's an entry level, 24v/250w. Supposed to be only 47 lbs with battery. I'll be interested to ride it too, it will be my first ebike ride. The weather ought to be good and cold by the time it gets here.

edit: Thanks FeralDog too. I feel like I am seeing some good options.

 

[wesnewell]

The EZEE- kits at ebikes.ca look great. In a perfect world, I'd like to find something between that and the $249 ebay kit, say $500 plus battery. But what I see in that range seems to be just the $249 ebay kit components, but at higher prices.

Yep, large volume sellers can sell the kits cheaper. I've got almost 3 years and over 10,000 miles on my 48V 1000W kit I bought off ebay for $276 shipped to my door in a week. And that's running it at almost twice the voltage for the last 18 months, and 75V before that. There's product, and then there's hype.

 

[dogman dan]

http://www.e-bikekit.com/shop/products/Electric_Bike_Conversion_Kit_System_REAR_Direct_Drive_Li_ion_Lithium_Ion_Battery-152-24.html

I just got to test that kit, using my own battery. It has some really nice features. Really water resistant plugs, slim controller, dashboard that gives you 5 assistance levels, Spare throttle comes with the kit, the wheel is not dished like the cheap ebay kits so it's a good strong wheel build.

The full review here. http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=53528

And the company has a great reputation for customer service. Jasons motor kit has come a long way from when he started, and the kit was close to identical with the cheap ebay kits still sold.

No shipping from china, or dealing with ebay. Put it on a beach cruiser with 7 speed rear shifter, and V brakes if your back is OK. I favor good quality full suspension because my back is toast. If you want a single speed cruiser, then consider a front hub. Bear in mind, you can't pedal those single speed cruisers much past 10 mph. So get gears if you would like to pedal lightly at 20 mph. Pedaling is good, the light exercise great for the heart and the clotting in your legs. You won't have to shift a 7 speed just put it in 7th and leave it there forever, but you will want the higher ratio to be available.

This is just ONE very good dealer out there. Grin and EM3ev just to name a two more have what you need. Any typical bike kit with 400w will do your expectations on a perfect day. I recommended one with 800w when run on 36v, because when the wind blows 400w is not enough. And you live where the wind blows.

There is nothing all that wrong with the cheap Ebay kit. But if you do choose a bike with disk brakes, you definitely want the more modern motor design. I would favor the less fancy EM3ev dd motor kit over the ebay ones. For the disk mount, and stronger wheel with no spoke dish. This is the main difference between the cheaper ebay kits and the lower priced versions that look identical. The better kits don't cost that much more, but have a better motor design without the dished rear wheel.

The added value of the much more expensive kit from E-bikekit is the dashboard, waterproofing, quality wheel build, newer motor design, and most important and costly, Customer Service not located in China. Same thing applies to the kits from Grin.

If you ARE really looking for a basic kit at a good price, but with the more recent motor design, this is it right here. A bit more because of shipping, but not that much more.
http://em3ev.com/store/index.php?route=product/product&path=36&product_id=54

Any of the kits I linked to, would run very nice on a 36v 15 ah pingbattery. Another vendor I recommend highly. Another guy called ping's batteries 1/2 c rate cells. He's dead wrong, they are 3c rate cells, and I recommend buying a size that will allow max rate of 1.5c in real world use. 15 ah is perfect for that. It's not a big heavy size. That dude just doesn't know pings. I do, having rode them for 10,000 happy miles.

EM3ev dd kit and 36v 15 ah ping, about a thou. You should see 5-10,000 miles from it, with nothing but some spoke care, tires, and brake pads.

 

[wesnewell]

Last I heard Ping was using 2C cells. 1/2C rates meant either 1C or 2C cells, not one half C. Sorry for the confusion. However life cycles are based on a less than (<) 1C charge discharge rate. If he's using 3C cells now, it's news to me.

 

[YoSamES]

Just a little update. I had bought the entry level e-Moto Ridge 4.5 "city bike" sight unseen for the wife, and I was going to build something for me. Turns out it fits me a lot better than her, so I'm going to use it as my entry into ebiking. We just bought a bike that fits her, a 2011 Trek Pure Lowstep 3-speed, and I'm going to kit it into an ebike for her.

I have narrowed down my kit shopping and will continue asking here. Or should I start a new thread?

Stock photo:

 

[YoSamES]

I'll get started here, and if I should start a new thread, I'll do that and move this info to it.

OK, this will be a geared front hubmotor, low powered for a cautious baby boomer woman. Max assist of 15 MPH will be plenty.
Poster Mike Fitzpatrick (iirc) had one of these but not a 3-speed. He did a front hub and kept the stock brakes. I've PM'd him but he's not out there so far. He seemed very happy with his build until he put it back to stock and moved the kit to another bike.

The forks are steel. I'd use a torque arm. I do want to retain the stock brake.

It has a 3 speed twist shift now, so there has to be some adaptation for the throttle. I could either move the shifter to the left side and let it work backwards, or install a trigger shifter, or try to make a trigger throttle work instead. I have researched and found people who have successfully used a $20 Sturmey Archer shifter on this Shimano Nexus system. I think that might be better than a trigger throttle, due to the twist shifter housing being in the way. Comments?

I've ruled out the more expensive kits since we are just getting our feet wet. I definitely see the value in buying from someone who can hold my hand. With that in mind, I am looking at the 350w Mac kit from Paul/Cellman/em3ee.com.
http://em3ev.com/store/index.php?route=product/product&path=36&product_id=56
The bike's rim is an Alex "ETRTO 559x20". Tire size is 26x2.125. Anyone know which rim to choose with the kit? My best guess is the DM24 CNC.

Motor winding choices are 14T and 16T. Given the goal of not very fast, I'm guessing the 16T is a better choice?

As an alternate, I'm considering a kit in the classifieds being sold by Ypedal. I know he's a VIP here, so I don't expect or want any negative comments about the kit, but I would like to know if you think it would fit my particular situation. Here is the listing:
http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=55292
I've done my homework on the sensorless thing, and I think that part would be fine. Pedaling to start out is a good thing IMO. I do see the pedal magnet ring has been altered, but I'm thinking I can deal with it. So would this fit my needs? Especially, would it be okay with my tire size and brake?

I'll leave batteries for another time. So given the two kit choices above, how do they compare for my needs? Rim quality, motor quality, sensored vs sensorless, controller quality, whatever. Thanks.

 

[torker]

Nice. I think you are heading in the right direction. Keeping the speed down for a bike with no susp. is good. Cellman has the down tube water bottle bracket battery for like $ 308.00 I think. You would be perfect if it will fit.

 

[d8veh]

I think Ypedal's kit would be a good match for that bike. You can fit a thumb throttle on either side, or the half-twist throttle can be fitted on the left side. It'll work backwards, but you soon get used to it.

 

[YoSamES]

Turns out that Ypedal's kit is already sold, although he is going to list something similar.

 

[dogman dan]

I agree, the mac would just end up weighing more than you need for that use, 15 mph max.

A smaller motor would be all she needs, like Ypedal sells, or the smaller motor from E-bikekit.

Again, I think the E-bike kit would be worth it to you, she'll like the 5 speed choices on the dashboard, if she wants to limit speed. This gives you that 15 mph limit, but also the ability to go faster later if she chooses to.

Great choice of bike for a front hub.

 

[YoSamES]

Thanks. I started a separate discussion about fitting a battery, but it has turned into motor discussions too. My apologies. I'll take advice from either place, though!
I'll check out the ebikekit page but I recall they were above my budget by quite a bit.
I did not realize that Ypedal was also a vendor. I just found his website.

 

[YoSamES]

Well, I ordered a Ypedal kit.

It is light, affordable, and idiot-resistant. And comes with tech support.


I kept trying to find something to buy from China for maximum cheapness, but the inscrutable storefront websites and unknown but big shipping costs created a shortage of warm fuzzies. As several of you said, there is value added in buying from someone who has sorted it out and can help after the sale.
Thanks for all the advice!