Walking Hank the Pug, saw an interesting build going on...

[PapaSoldTheHarley]

Walking Hank the "Pug" got down to the middle of the next block the neighbor had his garage door open. He has a bicycle in a vise/clamp setup about two feet of the grounded he is there sitting on one of those roll around mechanic's stool...
I figure this guy is a serious bicycle repair type (whatever the heck that is).
But he was building something else. I said hello, don't know the guy real well, just to say hi. Didn't want walk up the driveway cause Hank is liable to pee on his project rather than just look at it.
Long story short he is putting together his "E-bike" (a kit he bought online). He said it's slow going as he has to adapt stuff to get through each step. Going to be interesting to see if he finishes it, how she performs. I did ask if cost a lot, he only said way too much

[BettinANDlosing]

Those are AWESOME. I've looked at doing one on my MTN bike, make a mini dirt bike of sorts. All different types of configurations you can go with, front hub motor, rear hub motor, DUAL HUB MOTORS for 2wd!!!!!! The batteries are where it gets expensive, they can easily go for $800-$1000 or more. At our shop we sell a few production e-bikes, not the kits, and they are a little more tame because they have to be restricted to under 20mph to be still a bicycle and not a motor driven cycle. There are people that build their own kit ones that top 50+mph and can cruise for 30-40 miles on a charge. I have a feeling they are going to be HUGE in the future, once the price of the Lithium Ion battery goes down.

[PapaSoldTheHarley]

Those are AWESOME. I've looked at doing one on my MTN bike, make a mini dirt bike of sorts. All different types of configurations you can go with, front hub motor, rear hub motor, DUAL HUB MOTORS for 2wd!!!!!! The batteries are where it gets expensive, they can easily go for $800-$1000 or more. At our shop we sell a few production e-bikes, not the kits, and they are a little more tame because they have to be restricted to under 20mph to be still a bicycle and not a motor driven cycle. There are people that build their own kit ones that top 50+mph and can cruise for 30-40 miles on a charge. I have a feeling they are going to be HUGE in the future, once the price of the Lithium Ion battery goes down.

Well, he had both wheels off and the pedals were off (the arms the pedals attach to were off as well). he had two boxes, one good size and the other about the size of a full size helmet. We'll see what he puts together. If I had a bigger garage I would have a lot more toys!

[TroutBum]

Haven't seen the kits, but several bicycle shops I went to had eBikes. All were over $1,500, but way less than many of the mountain and touring bikes that filled the shops. I was told they can cruise upwards of 25 mph.

[PapaSoldTheHarley]

Haven't seen the kits, but several bicycle shops I went to had eBikes. All were over $1,500, but way less than many of the mountain and touring bikes that filled the shops. I was told they can cruise upwards of 25 mph.

My dealer (where I bought the scooters) sells high end bicycle of all types and the E-Biikes (as well as scooters). The guys that own the place told me they sell more electric bikes than anything else... They have them set up where they can go as fast as 28 mph with you pedaling to help. Dealer mentioned the range it was huge (I think he said 70 or 80 miles). We both have nice Raleigh bicycles (wife and I)... Maybe I take a look at throwing a kit on them?

[BettinANDlosing]

My dealer (where I bought the scooters) sells high end bicycle of all types and the E-Biikes (as well as scooters). The guys that own the place told me they sell more electric bikes than anything else... They have them set up where they can go as fast as 28 mph with you pedaling to help. Dealer mentioned the range it was huge (I think he said 70 or 80 miles). We both have nice Raleigh bicycles (wife and I)... Maybe I take a look at throwing a kit on them?

Careful about where you ride them, there is the chance of getting a ticket if you are traveling faster than 20mph in the bike lane, that is a FEDERAL law. But chances are it would have to be a pretty lame police officer to give you a ticket for that. I think the kits are better than the production bikes, if you know a little about DIY projects. The production bikes have good components but on a pretty cheap (most cases Chinese) frame. If you choose your bike, a high quality bike, then choose your eBike components you will end up with a much better bike. If I had the money, like I said, I would have an awesome 1000w 80v 50mph "dirt bike" that can pop the front wheel up going any speed. But my build would be upwards of $2000 with a Specialized MTN bike that cost $8k new. A little extravagant but would be super kickass.

[PapaSoldTheHarley]

Careful about where you ride them, there is the chance of getting a ticket if you are traveling faster than 20mph in the bike lane, that is a FEDERAL law. But chances are it would have to be a pretty lame police officer to give you a ticket for that. I think the kits are better than the production bikes, if you know a little about DIY projects. The production bikes have good components but on a pretty cheap (most cases Chinese) frame. If you choose your bike, a high quality bike, then choose your eBike components you will end up with a much better bike. If I had the money, like I said, I would have an awesome 1000w 80v 50mph "dirt bike" that can pop the front wheel up going any speed. But my build would be upwards of $2000 with a Specialized MTN bike that cost $8k new. A little extravagant but would be super kickass.

After seeing the build going on I start looking online (I am terrible that way), the front wheel hub, the rear wheel hub the mid position, free wheel, pedal assist, throttle only, twist, thumb, friction drive, and on and on... It would take 20 hours of study to narrow the purchase "Path"...

[BettinANDlosing]

Haha yeah there are tons of configurations. Depends on if you want it to feel like a motorcycle, or an assisted bicycle. The pedal assist comes on and senses your pedal strength, I prefer a twist grip motorcycle feel. Front hub is balanced, and the weight stays even with the motor in the front and battery in the back, but needs a strong front fork if you get over 250w motor. Rear hub is what I like, for wheelie and again to get more of a motorcycle feel. Never tried a center mount but see the potential, possibility to change gearing unlike the hub motors. You want to keep the voltage to no less than 40v, otherwise it's not very powerful uphill. Ideally 50v+ but they start to get expensive. The more power also means you need to choose a strong enough bike frame.

[PapaSoldTheHarley]

Haha yeah there are tons of configurations. Depends on if you want it to feel like a motorcycle, or an assisted bicycle. The pedal assist comes on and senses your pedal strength, I prefer a twist grip motorcycle feel. Front hub is balanced, and the weight stays even with the motor in the front and battery in the back, but needs a strong front fork if you get over 250w motor. Rear hub is what I like, for wheelie and again to get more of a motorcycle feel. Never tried a center mount but see the potential, possibility to change gearing unlike the hub motors. You want to keep the voltage to no less than 40v, otherwise it's not very powerful uphill. Ideally 50v+ but they start to get expensive. The more power also means you need to choose a strong enough bike frame.

A regular Raleigh Cruiser strong enough? Bought it last year from a family owned bike shop (they said theirs is a better quality than what the Company sells to the big box vendors)?
Not too many hills near where we live ; maybe 25 miles away (in Brooksville). Front wheel hub motor would let me keep the use of the gears on the rear wheel? I think 25 or so mph would be plenty of speed... The dealer carries a lot of them (where I bought my scooters) and I will be seeing him Wed. for the GTI first service. Maybe I will get a test ride

[BettinANDlosing]

A regular Raleigh Cruiser strong enough? Bought it last year from a family owned bike shop (they said theirs is a better quality than what the Company sells to the big box vendors)?
Not too many hills near where we live ; maybe 25 miles away (in Brooksville). Front wheel hub motor would let me keep the use of the gears on the rear wheel? I think 25 or so mph would be plenty of speed... The dealer carries a lot of them (where I bought my scooters) and I will be seeing him Wed. for the GTI first service. Maybe I will get a test ride

I'm sure it's strong enough, the cruisers are built tough. Front hub motor is easiest to setup, like you said with the gears etc.

[PapaSoldTheHarley]

Update... Saw the fellow that bought the E-Bike kit again (working in his garage). Asked how's it going and was met with a grunt of sort. Then he followed with "it's garbage, nothing fits, sorry I bought the *@#% thing"...
Not a good start. I would be betting the vendor is getting an earful (or at least some nasty email). I believe he said it came from California. By the way, it seemed to be a mid-drive system. The guy wasn't in the mood to elaborate, but it looked like he never got very far into the install.
Scary really (the dollars these things can go for). The guy has some mechanical experience; he's got that nifty rolling mechanic's stool and a real nice red tool chest with all the draws

[BettinANDlosing]

Haha that's too bad

[PapaSoldTheHarley]

Final update... Saw the guy with the eBike conversion kit (he was doing some yard work). I asked him how his electric bike build was going, his reply, "It's gone! I shipped the crap back to them"... Evidently it wasn't easy to do. He said he called and threatened suit and all sorts of things. Finally he got someone in the company to agree to take the kit back (shipped at his cost and the refund to be minus a 20% restocking fee)... The whole exercise probably cost him $400 to $500.

Feel bad for the guy. I don't think I would be buying one of these online real soon...