No 100% electric bikes?

[mr. hamster]

I love this site and finally made an account.

Anyways, I want to build a 100% electric bike (no pedaling) but I don't see any bikes converted to all-electric. most of the ones I see are hybrid-pedal/electric.

Could somebody explain why they are all hybrid? Is it a legality issue, or is it for torque? Thanks in advance!

 

[ddk]

legal

and

increased range

 

[liveforphysics]

In most places, if you don't have working pedals, you need insurance and registration and lighting and turn-signals and can't ride on bicycle paths and are restricted to all the roads and laws of a motorcycle.

AKA, for most places it's extremely dumb not to have pedals. You can simply choose not to pedal if you don't want.

 

[inkeeper77]

In most states a 100% electric bike is a moped, and needs registration and insurance. leaving pedals makes it a normal bike. Also, a lot of people here like to tweak and run everything at maximum performance- pedals are a good failsafe if something breaks! (As well as for when range needs to be extended)

EDIT: As the above posters said... (apparently I am a slow typist)

 

[oldpiper]

AND (sometimes most importantly) to fool the Lycras into thinking that you are *really in shape* as you pass them by, going uphill, pedaling almost effortlessly.

Cameron

 

[mr. hamster]

Thanks for the responses!

I pretty much just want to make a toy, nothing street legal.

Also, what motor should I use? (under $100)

I'm leaning towards a 700w 24v motor, with 3, 12 volt lead acid batteries (20aH).
http://www.monsterscooterparts.com/24-volt-650-watt-motor-currie.html
Does this setup seem decent? I really don't want to use a hub-motor, as they seem very expensive.


TL;DR: What mid-motor setup would be ideal for a non-street-legal toy?

 

[rojitor]

Welcome to the forum. It's a legal issue in my case, as soon as you get in the middle of hard traffic with steep hills i know you will love to have pedals besides using 24v i think you will have to pedal a lot.

 

[MadRhino]

Here's a toy bike under 100$ that you don't need to pedal. :wink:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JO1ci48Q9IU

 

[E-racer]

mine has no pedals. In Georgia 50cc scooters and mopeds do not require registration :-D

 

[NeilP]

Here's a toy bike under 100$ that you don't need to pedal. :wink:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JO1ci48Q9IU

Go to their web site..have you seen the voltage that thing is running !!! . all powered from a 7.2 or 7.4 v battery..that is some step up in voltage

http://www.duratrax.com/vehicles/motorcycles/dtxd02-dx450/index.html

Comes with a 3800kV brushless motor,

 

[dogman dan]

At that watt level, you may want pedals. 1 hp sounds like a lot, but a big hill can still stop you, or at least slow you a lot. Pedaling when stuck on a steep hill may prevent a melted motor. And then there is the ol, pedaled home because something broke, or I ran the battery down.

That is not to say I don't have several much more powerful bikes that have pedals, but I sure don't use em. Till I break down.

 

[Samd]

If you are going offroad, from a kinematics perspective, being able to shift one foot lower than the other when dodging obstacles may give you an agility advantage over having fixed footpegs. You don't have to pedal, but they may turn out to be handy for another reason..

 

[SamTexas]

mine has no pedals. In Georgia 50cc scooters and mopeds do not require registration :-D

Are you legally allowed on bicycle paths?

 

[lazarus2405]

And then there is the ol, pedaled home because something broke, or I ran the battery down.

Agreed. These are projects. Many of us are never "done", but constantly tweaking. As such, homemade ebikes aren't strictly as reliable as, say, a car. Pedals give you a redundant drivetrain, so that you aren't stranded when you underestimated how windy it was, or fried a motor, or your throttle shorted, or your controller just blinks an indecipherable error code, or... The list goes on. The peace of mind is worth it.

 

[SamTexas]

If you are going offroad, from a kinematics perspective, being able to shift one foot lower than the other when dodging obstacles may give you an agility advantage over having fixed footpegs. You don't have to pedal, but they may turn out to be handy for another reason..

That's a very good point. But it does not have to be exclusively offroad. I remove the chain on my dual-motor ebike and the feeling was truly weird. So pedals/chain/freewheel are good things to have whether you use them or not.

 

[el_walto]

Thanks for the responses!

I pretty much just want to make a toy, nothing street legal.

Also, what motor should I use? (under $100)

I'm leaning towards a 700w 24v motor, with 3, 12 volt lead acid batteries (20aH).
http://www.monsterscooterparts.com/24-volt-650-watt-motor-currie.html
Does this setup seem decent? I really don't want to use a hub-motor, as they seem very expensive.


TL;DR: What mid-motor setup would be ideal for a non-street-legal toy?

What do you want this toy to do? If you don't have 600$ plus bike to spend, you probably will not be very impressed with what you end up with.

 

[mr. hamster]

Thanks for the responses!

I pretty much just want to make a toy, nothing street legal.

Also, what motor should I use? (under $100)

I'm leaning towards a 700w 24v motor, with 3, 12 volt lead acid batteries (20aH).
http://www.monsterscooterparts.com/24-volt-650-watt-motor-currie.html
Does this setup seem decent? I really don't want to use a hub-motor, as they seem very expensive.


TL;DR: What mid-motor setup would be ideal for a non-street-legal toy?

What do you want this toy to do? If you don't have 600$ plus bike to spend, you probably will not be very impressed with what you end up with.

I want to hit at least 15mph with 40 minutes of runtime.

 

[dogman dan]

That's pretty modest expectations, so not to unrealistic on that budget at all. Runtime will equal how much budget for batteries. A really cheap and small set of sla's might get you only 20 min of runtime, while a 4-500 buck lithium battery would go an hour easily.

Again, if you have climbing steep hills in mind, it's not going to cut it. As the motor slows down going up a hill, it makes heat instead of motion. At some point for each motor and gearing, the motor just smokes itself. So gear it nice and low if you need to climb hills without pedaling to help it.

 

[shock]

Just remove the bottom bracket and put a straight bar in there to make pegs if you really don't want pedals. Everyone keeps the pedals because there are a lot more reasons to have them rather than delete them.

 

[ZOMGVTEK]

I pulled my chain after the rear derailer decided to smash into the spokes at 40. This is about the only picture I have of it without a chain.

However, I don't see why its extremely desirable to have no way to pedal. I'm running a single speed setup on my next build. I never plan on using it, but it will be there anyways.

 

[Ykick]

Have you considered a stand up scooter or kickbike? I enjoy em and in many states they hold a unique legal status. In fact, without pedals and with a deck to stand on, CA DMV allows higher motor power than electric bicycles for riders with a valid drivers license or learner permit. Some jurisdictions allow them sidewalks too and since your feet often touch the ground, they also imply a pedestrian legal status.

Gotta get over the dork factor but if you wish to play with eBike components in a simple and fun platform check out a couple I've put together:

http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=17535&hilit=+Kick+stand

 

[E-racer]

mine has no pedals. In Georgia 50cc scooters and mopeds do not require registration :-D

Are you legally allowed on bicycle paths?

We don't really have bicycle path infrastructure. Most of our sidewalks are in pretty awful condition or nonexistent. I've worked in the 50cc scooter business and the bicycle business. If you want to ride an E-Bike in Atlanta or Marietta Georgia your much better off to build something street able.