requirements for selecting a bike to convert? (to an ebike)

[dogman dan]

Once you get into good suspension forks on bikes, they will be alloy. I had to do quite a bit of very carefull filing to get my motor to fit alloy forks. The fit on alloy forks is very very fussy. It's really easy to mess up if you don't really know what you are doing. I found it was needed to file both the dropouts and the motor axle to fit mine so the fork didn't bind. You need the c washers, homemade or from ebikes-ca and two torque arms. The experience I had from many other ebikes gave me the confidence to attempt alloy forks. If you get it wrong, new forks may be $300 or more!

To fit a motor, you are looking for suspension forks with the dropouts on the inner edge of the tube. Ones with the dropouts centered on the tube may not fit.

 

[callagga]

Any links you know of Dogman re doing this?

 

[auraslip]

What are the options for mounting batteries to the frame? There must be some?

 

[StevenR]

I bought a Motobecane hardtail at bikesdirect.com for my 5303 rear disk motor. I would like steel but it is probably out of the question as getting the complete bike and just mounting the motor is way cheaper and easier than building it up. Here's a $399 disk brake frame of similiar qualityhttp://www.bikesdirect.com/products/dawes/hay1200.htm. If I find a neat frame I can swap most of the parts - bikesdirect has titanium pretty cheap. I priced the parts online and they are more than the whole bike. This is working just fine at 750 miles or so on Schwalbe Ice-Spiker Pros run soft and dinged the rear wheel but will go to Schwalbe 26x2.35's at 32 psi as soon as the ice danger is gone (another 2 weeks?). I am on a hardtail because of the battery mount issue - I put 48V20aH Pingv3 in a ToPeak bag on the rack.

I also have a 5303 front rim brake wheel on an old soft steel 1980's Bianchi with no suspension except Schwalbe 26x2.35 tires run at 32 psi. The combination of soft frame and soft tires makes this a pretty nice ride but it has a tendency to get a speed wobble under high power if the 1" headset is at all loose. It has 3500 miles and is still ticking.

I just bought a 9C 5 turn on a 26" wheel with a disk and am looking at this http://bikesdirect.com/products/windsor/windsor_ghost6900.htm at the $499 price point. Again, it is probably cheaper to buy this bike just for the parts and then look on ebay for a "better" frame if you are so moved. The extra $100 gets you the suspension fork. I have seen a bunch of frames on ebay in the $100-200 range that look like good candidates. I usually just need to hang 1000wh (48V20aH) but am interested in more at times. I'm not sure where I would put even the Pingv3 on this frame but I would do something - cellman's A123m1-20aH cells in a 1500aH 72V20aH 1S pack would be SWEET and mountable in a behind the seat pack - I'm leary of the cantelievered mount.