Where I get most of my ebike parts

[mlt34]

I really don't want to think about how much money I've spent on ebike parts over the last decade... I really hope it's only five figures. But either way, I've bought tons of parts from all over and now have a pretty good set of standard vendors I go to for each of the many different parts and accessories I buy on a regular basis. I wrote up an article that shows where I get almost all the ebike parts I use (everything from motors, batteries, welders, lights, bags, chargers, and lots more) in case it would be helpful for anyone else.

http://www.ebikeschool.com/list-great-inexpensive-electric-bicycle-parts/

If you have anything you've personally used and think I should include, I'd love to hear about it.

 

[macribs]

Sry dude. What you write might be the honest to god truth and your sincere feelings. But your site is littered with commercial links, paid links to alixpress etc.
It really makes you stand out like a click whore rather then a trustworthy source of anything e-bike related. Like those links in your signature. Are those batteries great, well working batteries of high quality? Or are those the ones that pays the most for inbound links?

 

[cal3thousand]

Sry dude. What you write might be the honest to god truth and your sincere feelings. But your site is littered with commercial links, paid links to alixpress etc.
It really makes you stand out like a click whore rather then a trustworthy source of anything e-bike related. Like those links in your signature. Are those batteries great, well working batteries of high quality? Or are those the ones that pays the most for inbound links?

Mac... he can't do this for free buddy. How is he supposed to monetize the time and effort that he puts into distilling this information into one place? It will potentially save the reader hundreds to thousands of dollars in wasted time and bad parts bought. All the information is here on ES, but it's convoluted and filled with background noise.

Checking out the site myself, I only noticed a couple ads. The rest are links to places to buy things that he likely gets no affiliated pay, just the satisfaction of sharing valuable information and possibly increased readership.

If you had half a clue about what Micah brings to the community and why he does it, you wouldn't jump into the assumption that it's completely 'whored out'. I'll subscribe to this thread to wait for the links showing better information with less commercial distractions.

 

[macribs]

Checking out the site myself, I only noticed a couple ads. The rest are links to places to buy things that he likely gets no affiliated pay, just the satisfaction of sharing valuable information and possibly increased readership.

I will explain further, but first thing first. I know OP is a long time member and I don't doubt his knowledge of e-bike related stuff. He has insightful posts on the forum and seem like a stand up guy. My comments was not about him as a person but as him as an editor of his site. See the difference?

Browse his site and look for s.click.aliexpress.com, you might not see then right away...what makes the site fall into trickster category.

s.click.aliexpress.com. That is paid links. Ads. Then OP "camouflage" those "spam links" as actual product he has been using "for years". You might not think what he is doing is whoring out but that what his site looks like to me. I was not dissing him, I was frankly telling him to do better.

Does that kind of ads help e-biking in general? I don't think so, I think that site is too commerce the way it stands now and as a result site look like a schancky, dirty street whore.

We all know OP did not invent this kind of ads, and their is certainly one much more known site in the same category we all know and love that site is also about making money. But not solely about the money. If you stand behind a product the way OP's site does today, it makes you look like a dirty, filthy girl.

s.click.aliexpress = spam for most of the world and how can you trust someone that recommends you to spend big money on parts when it is so clear that their recommendation is based on "highest bidder link"?

If you still don't understand what I am saying look at OP's signature. Hover over those links. And pay attention in bottom left corner of your screen. Then browse his site....
Do those links scream trustworthy to you?

 

[WoodlandHills]

I keep getting a broken link on my iPad.......

 

[friendly1uk]

Sry dude. What you write might be the honest to god truth and your sincere feelings. But your site is littered with commercial links, paid links to alixpress etc.
It really makes you stand out like a click whore rather then a trustworthy source of anything e-bike related. Like those links in your signature. Are those batteries great, well working batteries of high quality? Or are those the ones that pays the most for inbound links?

I see your point. Anything that could possibly come from them, does so, with a link that pays him.
Knowing this meant I couldn't get to the bottom of the page. It was actually sickening. I don't trust that the links are well researched at all. It's just ali express every single time. They can't be the best for everything surely? Where was the bpm or the mac, bmsbattery or green bike kit. Cutes or Hobby king.

 

[cal3thousand]

Checking out the site myself, I only noticed a couple ads. The rest are links to places to buy things that he likely gets no affiliated pay, just the satisfaction of sharing valuable information and possibly increased readership.

I will explain further, but first thing first. I know OP is a long time member and I don't doubt his knowledge of e-bike related stuff. He has insightful posts on the forum and seem like a stand up guy. My comments was not about him as a person but as him as an editor of his site. See the difference?

Browse his site and look for s.click.aliexpress.com, you might not see then right away...what makes the site fall into trickster category.

s.click.aliexpress.com. That is paid links. Ads. Then OP "camouflage" those "spam links" as actual product he has been using "for years". You might not think what he is doing is whoring out but that what his site looks like to me. I was not dissing him, I was frankly telling him to do better.

Does that kind of ads help e-biking in general? I don't think so, I think that site is too commerce the way it stands now and as a result site look like a schancky, dirty street whore.

We all know OP did not invent this kind of ads, and their is certainly one much more known site in the same category we all know and love that site is also about making money. But not solely about the money. If you stand behind a product the way OP's site does today, it makes you look like a dirty, filthy girl.

s.click.aliexpress = spam for most of the world and how can you trust someone that recommends you to spend big money on parts when it is so clear that their recommendation is based on "highest bidder link"?

If you still don't understand what I am saying look at OP's signature. Hover over those links. And pay attention in bottom left corner of your screen. Then browse his site....
Do those links scream trustworthy to you?

You're right about the s.click.aliexpress.com links. Those are referral links. But, you say 'big money'. All those Aliexpress items are low priced items that could and likely would cost the potential reader of his website more (in time and money) to buy elsewhere, so what's the deal if he makes a few pennies to keep his site running and food on his plate?

The more expensive items that he recommends (motors and batteries) are non referral links to highly ES-respected vendors (Ebikes.Ca, EM3EV, Kinaye) where he could have linked to paying referral alternatives that were not as reliable. I'm very well versed in Aliexpress items, but I still want recommendations from others that have tried them. And until another alternative, that doesn't use referral links to keep the lights on, is put up on this site, I will continue to approve of it.

 

[macribs]

But how would you know if OP really has tried those aliexpress items he links to? The fact that those links are paid referrals counteract all and any trust to his claims.
I am well aware of prices for those items, but most of us know shopping from alix can be a challenge. And how many have ended up with knock off batteries?

If the link was not a money making link it would be easier to trust his claims. As it stands it screams "blogg spam".


Anyway. I don't really care that much to continue debating this issue. But I spoke my mind and I stand by that. The fact that it is a well respected ES member promoting the site kind of made the whole thing taste a little bitter. Noobs will likely eat the hook, line and sinker without even thinking twice if they find the site browsing ES. And that was the reason I reacted so strongly.

What people do on their own time I don't care about, a fool and his money will separate soon enough anyway. Using ES to promote such site is what got me fired up in the first place.

 

[cal3thousand]

But how would you know if OP really has tried those aliexpress items he links to? The fact that those links are paid referrals counteract all and any trust to his claims.
I am well aware of prices for those items, but most of us know shopping from alix can be a challenge. And how many have ended up with knock off batteries?

If the link was not a money making link it would be easier to trust his claims. As it stands it screams "blogg spam".


Anyway. I don't really care that much to continue debating this issue. But I spoke my mind and I stand by that. The fact that it is a well respected ES member promoting the site kind of made the whole thing taste a little bitter. Noobs will likely eat the hook, line and sinker without even thinking twice if they find the site browsing ES. And that was the reason I reacted so strongly.

What people do on their own time I don't care about, a fool and his money will separate soon enough anyway. Using ES to promote such site is what got me fired up in the first place.

I personally know, because I've seen the work he does with his tools and seen some of these things in action. He's very active on the ES Facebook community. It would be one thing if he were just spamming ES, but it's hosted on his own site that lives with his own reputation. It takes time and money to find the best and most reliable Aliexpress shops since there is so much noise from bad sellers. At first, when I heard about his ebike 'book', I was apprehensive about his intentions, but having seen him over time, I know where he's coming from. It's from a genuine desire to help others.

That said, I can understand your disinclination. Since I happen to have some 'insider' information about the author, I saw it from a different lens. If my reputation is worth anything on ES, I'd like to vouch for Micah as a standup guy.

 

[macribs]

Since I happen to have some 'insider' information about the author, I saw it from a different lens. If my reputation is worth anything on ES, I'd like to vouch for Micah as a standup guy.

Thx for that. I might have jumped the gun here. OK so I will give OP and his site a chance a don't dismiss it just like that.
OP sorry for harsh words, I will let me doubt aside and give your site a chance.

 

[d8veh]

Personally, I don't care whether there's any commercial links or not. That list will help some people, but it misses out on just about all the modern developments in ebike systems. I read it as a very narrow choice for a particular type of ebike. If an uninformed reader would use it as a recommended list, they'd miss out on the good stuff that's now available. Where's the CST motors? Where's all the nice sinewave controllers with LCDs and nice PAS systems? What about all the new crank-drive motors?

 

[mlt34]

Hi MacRibs, I'm sorry you think I'm whoring out. I respect your opinion, but I don't agree with it. I have no paid ads on my site (meaning I don't accept money or free parts in return for promoting something). The parts I review are all parts that I have 100% paid for, and the same goes for the parts in my signature. That list of my favorite parts that I created on my site and posted above has a very short description of each part because it's meant to be a compilation list of all the parts I commonly use. If you do a little more research on my site, you'll see that I have a section for full reviews where I write thousands of words along with posting pictures and videos of the parts I buy, use and review.

My website states in plain wording that some links are affiliate links, and the majority are also Aliexpress because that's where I do most of my small parts shopping due to their good Escrow system of keeping your payment from the vendor until you confirm you received the parts and they are genuine. You might consider it spam, but from my perspective I'm just trying to share the parts that I've personally used and found to be the best price for good quality parts.

You should also know that what I make via sharing links to the parts I've tried isn't a huge amount of money. For example: I recommend a soldering iron because I've found it's worked great over the last 18 months - not because I'll make a few cents if someone buys it. Another example: I've written some quite detailed reviews for $2 LED strips and $3 loud motorcycle horns which are both awesome additions to ebikes and yet earn me only pennies if someone chooses to buy those parts via my link. But those few cents do add up and usually help pay my $12.99 per month hosting fees so I can provide all this free info.

The only thing I've ever charged for is my book I wrote and video course I produced, but that's because it was thousands of hours of work to produce. I still provide almost all of my material for free, including detailed how-to guides on making batteries like this one: http://www.ebikeschool.com/how-to-build-a-diy-electric-bicycle-lithium-battery-from-18650-cells/

Or video reviews of parts that I buy like this one: [youtube]GDZashTUG0k[/youtube]

Or detailed how to posts on ES, such as how to add a cycle analyst connector to any controller: https://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=62809

Ask people that have bought parts from me in the "For Sale" section - I give fair prices and usually toss in a few free parts like meters, throttles, etc when I have them on hand.

On multiple occasions I've seen ES users searching for a part and ended up sending them a free piece of large diameter battery heat shrink or odd sized hubmotor washer simply because I had extra and it was a shame for them to pay a crazy price for a single unit. It cost me the price of a stamp and a few cents or bucks that I paid for the part a while back, but helps them out.

The point is that I try to do my best to be a good guy and provide lots of free and more importantly helpful ebike content, and during that process I try to make enough back to support my ability to keep doing that. If that bothers you then I understand that. But hopefully you can at least see it from the other side was well.

 

[dogman dan]

Nice job Micah, your list of recommended vendors really is the top of the crop.

The click that counted,, is the one where you made us look at your site. It's all about the SEO baby.

 

[davec]

thanks for posting this- very useful
i can still remember how my 1st ebike was a headache built out of low quality chinese parts but after doing research and switching to better vendors/parts the problem went away
i've used many of the vendors noted in the article and their products have not let me down so far.

 

[oatnet]

I'll continue to post my content on E:S to pay forward the knowledge I got from here when I started, instead of directing traffic away to my own personal site which is not searchable from E:S. This is an ad-free open source community that I would never attempt to monetize in any way, and it doesn't cost $12.99 a month to host knowledge here.

 

[mlt34]

I'll continue to post my content on E:S to pay forward the knowledge I got from here when I started, instead of directing traffic away to my own personal site which is not searchable from E:S.

That's great, the more people posting on ES, the better! I have often written out long how-to posts on ES like this one https://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=62809 but the feedback I got is that many people found them hard to follow as the threads became crowded and off topic. Imagine being a noob and trying to learn about the difference between different types of ebike motors when every third post is a quote tree of arguments about some random and tangential remark. That's partly why I built my site as something geared more toward beginner and intermediate ebike builders who get more out of detailed articles than trying to wade through sprawling threads and post histories. Heck, even I feel like I'm spelunking when I'm searching through the CAv3 thread sometimes.

Either way, I try to post helpful ebike information in many places including on Endless Sphere, on my ebike site, on Endless Sphere Facebook, on the Reddit ebike forum, on Instructables, on youtube, etc etc. I've even had my work featured in places like Popular Science, Men's Fitness and Wired. You might object to posting ebike information outside of ES, but I see it as the best way to reach a wider audience. Different mediums are better suited to different audiences, and I try to do my best to put the right information in the places so that it will be most useful. At the end of the day I'm just donating my time and trying to do something useful with it.