Suitability of this bike for an ebike build?

[Longhorngary]

http://austin.craigslist.org/bik/4874386714.html

Bike happens to fit my large body, an XL frame -tektro 160mm mech disc brakes, 8 speed shimano deore derailer looks to be a '08 Giant Yukon, aluminum alloy frame

thinking either 48V 1000W rear hub - maybe a Mac

or BBS02 750W middrive

6'4" 240, 3 mile each way commute, with hills, Maybe 10 miles total per day riding.

Comments are appreciated

 

[Ykick]

Good looking bike. For your mild distances and it's aluminum I'd embrace extreme lightweight small battery pack with either BB or small mini motor Q100CST. Maybe the Xiongda 2 sp but I don't have any experience with that one.

It would kinda be a shame to stuff a big honking DD motor and 20b battery into a nice light frame like that. Some folks need +20 mile have no choice, your 3 miles is very compelling to keep it bike-like.

 

[raktas]

For mid drive like BBS02 your BB must be 68-72mm widh to fit. Also consider to shift a lot more than with rear hub

 

[friendly1uk]

What are your hills like? Sound half mile long as most, but what kind of gradient, and how fast do you want to climb them

 

[Eclectic]

I was going to suggest the Yescomusa (xcceries on eBay) 48V 1000W rear because they had them on sale for <$200 but it looks like they sold out Sorry

http://www.ebay.com/sch/xcceries/m.html?item=371159126161&hash=item566aced091&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2562

 

[Longhorngary]

Not sure of the grade but a fairly aggressive hill, Lycras ride in our neighborhood to train on the hill. I live at the bottom of the hill and would have to ride up going to work. My guess is 400ft. elevation change over maybe 3/4 mile. Not sure how that translate to gradient. Obce at work to travel out for lunch I'd have about a 2 mile hill with a like 400 ft elevation change one direction.

Obviously I have mostly a downhill run on the reverse of both trips.

 

[wesnewell]

http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=66302

 

[Longhorngary]

http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=66302

You quote a thread where I basically followed all the rules already except for maybe budget. I'd like to keep things less than $1500

How about comments on the bike so I can either buy it or pass?

 

[dogman dan]

Bikes fine if you are a tall bloke. But you are. 8)

 

[Drunkskunk]

Looks like a great bike to convert. For Austin I'd go with the BBS02 as a first choice, and the MAC as a second. Austin hills are murder, especially if you live up near 360. I had some fun playing up in that area on my bike last summer, although it took a bit more power than you're looking at to climb some of those hills. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZzAsLGhC7TE

 

[Longhorngary]

Thanks drunk skunk, that's the kind of information I was interest in, and yes I live off 360 and would be riding some of the very same hills.

Now let me see if I can get the bike.

 

[wesnewell]

http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=66302

You quote a thread where I basically followed all the rules already except for maybe budget. I'd like to keep things less than $1500

How about comments on the bike so I can either buy it or pass?

if you like the bike use it. I don't use bikes with aluminum dropouts. But I still don't see the a location filled out or half the other stuff. GIGO.

 

[knighty]

bike looks good


but, how fast do you want to go ? and what are the surfaces like you want to ride over ?

rear suspension makes a big difference... much more conformable riding - especially on an ebike when you can have most of your weight on your ass instead of legs (because you're not pedalling)

 

[Fastest1]

Drunkskunk, nice video. Was that the Bafang 02? What battery?
And surely you meant steepest road in the county, not country. I am quite familiar with the area. Though hilly by Texas standards, there are plenty steeper and longer too.

 

[Drunkskunk]

Actually, I did mean country. Beauford is in the top 30 steepest I think, and Jester is in the top 50? It's been a while since I researched it. The video makes them look flat. Go drive up Beauford sometime, you'll see what I mean.

The motor I was using was a bit more powerful than the BBS02. Around 7 times more. But a through-the-gears style motor like the BBS02 would be more likely to actually handle hills if geared low enough. A normal hub motor would likely just make a loud buzzing noise, then let some smoke out if trying many of that area's hills.

 

[lbeck37]

I've recently done 3 different bikes using a Bafang 36V 500W BBS02 and what most impressed me with the BBS02 was how easy it was to install on each bike and how nice the final product turned out. It's also a nice feeling to realize that I can put the donor bike back to stock just as easily (if I save the BB parts). I actually did that with first bike I converted. I liked how the bike turned out, but I thought of another bike I wanted to try and the system swap was done and the original bike was back to normal in less than an hour!

The cabling with waterproof connectors on the Bafang is nice and the dashboard nicely finishes off the project. I used a down-tube mounted battery (like the one in the Dillenger kit reviewed in Electric Bike Report http://electricbikereport.com/bafang-mid-drive-review-2/) and I like how convenient it is to take the battery on and off and the bikes feel better without the weight (~7#) over the rear wheel. I connected the battery mount to the BBS02 with a Delphi Weatherpack waterproof connector I've used before and am hoping that I have system that can handle rain and splashes without problems.

The performance of the bikes is what I expected (including that everyone that rides them comes back with a smile on their face), the pedal assist works well considering it doesn't monitor how strong you are pedaling, just if you are pedaling at all. With the assist level set in a higher level (6 or higher out of 9) you will sometimes find you have to stop pedaling because the bike just goes faster and faster and you end up passing your friends! Selecting a lower assist level fixes the problem (I'm not sure going too fast is really a problem). Having the rear 7 or 8 gears really makes no hill too steep (so far).

 

[mateusleo]

I like how it has lots of space for battery in the triangle. But, by experience, I always recommend full suspension. Mine is not and sometimes it hurts my back

 

[rider95]

Nice choice plenty of room to put a battery most ppl overlook how important the battery and placement is , if you keep the speed down this frame will be fine but wont work very good for fast single track you need a good duel suspension for that .