8+ months of research, 100s of hours, know what I need & want but can't find it

[AvalancheRun]

Give it up man this jackass is stroking for response.
It got me too.
I'm out of hea.

It’s well past time you were banned. Almost every day you contribute pure negativity.

 

[TWadeJ]

Omega

Experience an elevated riding experience with the Omega electric bike. Built with top-of-the-line components, including a powerful mid-drive motor and fully automatic shifting. Find out why people love the Omega. Shop now!

evelo.com

 

[kevinmccune]

Try a Specialized A Vado?

wondered when you would chime in,your riding style and experience would make your advice most appropriate,i get the impression that the universal problem is at play here as well( money),if her range wasnt that great i would recommend a "camel" style step through, believe it or not an ecotric"peacedove would check a lot of boxes for her,disadvantages abound,however it is a dutch style semi cargo bike,one disadvantage would be weight and low quality components,range( always range) weight is subjective,due to her diminutive stature any bike will fast approach a fair percentage of her body weight,i was pleasantly surprised at how much difference even a cheap rear suspension bike felt on the ride department,perhaps she could consider a light weight bike booster? expectations,expectations- lower the requirement a bit suddenly a whole new galaxy of options exist,trial and error is probably going to be her champion( i am out of vados,perhaps i need some more) anyway good luck to her on her quest for her"grail".

 

[kevinmccune]

I like to be able to flat foot sometimes while stopped. I had one of those semi-recumbent style ebikes (E-Lux Malibu GT) and while I could flat foot at a stop I started to really hate the longer wheelbase. Combined with the front shock forks and the suspension post it was horrible over bumps as well, again, because of the length. I might try a button activated dropper post on my next ebike. Drop at a stop and press the button to raise while standing during take-off.

Speaking of semi-bent recumbent bikes, the most comfortable bicycle I ever owned was a Rans Fusion. It did pretty much everything well except climb. I sold it when I moved to PA and still miss that analog bicycle sometimes. Fast, easy on my wrist, never any butt pain. I replaced it with a normal road bike and could do a century before my wrist would start hurting so I never hunted down another Rans. Note I was MUCH younger in those days!

ah! youth is wasted on the young.

 

[kevinmccune]

I've liked yogurt in the past and intend to try it again, now that sour cream tastes so good.

My sister and her husband have considered themselves organic farmers about 45 years. Mostly, they like the holier-than-thou pose, but it's also for a tax break. The market for organic food will let them sell just enough to have their land taxed at the farm rate.

A few years ago they asked me to milk their goats for five days while they were away. After the first day, I realized my arms had been exposed to poison ivy. Washing is normally adequate. After the second day, it was worse. I washed again. The fourth day I finally realized why it kept getting worse. Just before leaving, they'd opened a pasture covered with poison ivy. They'd lie on the oozing stems and get their undersides covered with the invisible oil. Skin oil is a barrier, so if you wash, you will be more vulnerable if exposed the next day.

They knew enough about milking goats and poison ivy that it couldn't have been an oversight. It's the kind of trick they find amusing.

By the fifth day, the swelling was so bad that I couldn't close my fingers on a spoon to eat. One neighbor said it was the worst case of poison ivy he'd ever seen. I needed Benadryl but could not drive to a store or make a purchase. Another neighbor said he was driving to a nearby store on an errand. I asked him to get some Benadryl so I could use my hands. He was always asking my help and always acted like a nice guy, but he refused as if it were perfectly respectable. Often, being nice is role playing. My need didn't register because he really didn't care.

Somebody else got the Benadryl. I managed to get two capsules out, pick up a cup, and turn on the tap. The antihistamine made a big difference.

I haven't drunk any goat milk since.

yep nice is an act for some people,it reminds me of the shallow Christians that do good just to avoid hell. i am an "urushiol" veteran when young i would catch that stuff so bad( blood blisters,no sleep) if i was lucky i got to see the ocal"sawbones" and get the cortisone,deltasone and aristacourt treatment( by the seventh day felt much better)(hit that stuff with hot water-what a rush!) finally started being proactive, avoid if possible,wash with cold water and laundry detergent,the one thing that actually seemed to dry up mild cases on me was "afterbite"( the kind with ammonia and mink oil) finally after the afterbite was unavailable just started using household ammonia,the one antihistamine(not available these days) that seemed to work best was"dimetane" ( no medical advice offered here!) one time my face swelled up so much looked like i had the mumps. the medical establishment sez" you"immune" people do not get smug,one day you will stroll through a patch of poison ivy kicking plants and end up in the hospital.if you ever wonder why the armored japanese warriors were so fierce,it probably had to do with the incredible dermatitis some contracted when wearing the "japaned" armor( treated with urushiol oil)

 

[BurroBabe]

wondered when you would chime in,your riding style and experience would make your advice most appropriate,i get the impression that the universal problem is at play here as well( money),if her range wasnt that great i would recommend a "camel" style step through, believe it or not an ecotric"peacedove would check a lot of boxes for her,disadvantages abound,however it is a dutch style semi cargo bike,one disadvantage would be weight and low quality components,range( always range) weight is subjective,due to her diminutive stature any bike will fast approach a fair percentage of her body weight,i was pleasantly surprised at how much difference even a cheap rear suspension bike felt on the ride department,perhaps she could consider a light weight bike booster? expectations,expectations- lower the requirement a bit suddenly a whole new galaxy of options exist,trial and error is probably going to be her champion( i am out of vados,perhaps i need some more) anyway good luck to her on her quest for her"grail".

Kevin, I'm a bit confused. By "her" do you mean me? I think it sounds like it. Please clarify what you mean by "camel it". and what a "light weight bike booster" is. Since Mike V's reply suggesting adding a motor to a bike I already have I've really been trying to figure out if I could add the motor he suggests to my Trek 200 hybrid. (post with a question above somewhere regarding this). I just need to figure out if the grip shifters could be changed out to a short throw trigger shifters for the 3 x 7 altus derailleurs. So far, no one has helped me on that except for a suggestion about a possible electronic shifter ? I've been talking about that with my engineer son (who questions the reliability of a Chinese motor), and I would have to find someone to put the bike together, no shops nearby and the only traveling bike mechanic has never worked on electric .

I didn't think I was looking for a "grail", just a bike with shifters that my hands can use and a weight that's reasonable, ie. not too far above 50#. My Trek 520 meets those needs with bar-end shifters but has really narrow tires, the Trek 200 just needs different shifters.

 

[BurroBabe]

yep nice is an act for some people,it reminds me of the shallow Christians that do good just to avoid hell. i am an "urushiol" veteran when young i would catch that stuff so bad( blood blisters,no sleep) if i was lucky i got to see the ocal"sawbones" and get the cortisone,deltasone and aristacourt treatment( by the seventh day felt much better)(hit that stuff with hot water-what a rush!) finally started being proactive, avoid if possible,wash with cold water and laundry detergent,the one thing that actually seemed to dry up mild cases on me was "afterbite"( the kind with ammonia and mink oil) finally after the afterbite was unavailable just started using household ammonia,the one antihistamine(not available these days) that seemed to work best was"dimetane" ( no medical advice offered here!) one time my face swelled up so much looked like i had the mumps. the medical establishment sez" you"immune" people do not get smug,one day you will stroll through a patch of poison ivy kicking plants and end up in the hospital.if you ever wonder why the armored japanese warriors were so fierce,it probably had to do with the incredible dermatitis some contracted when wearing the "japaned" armor( treated with urushiol oil)

BTW, I learned from similar episodes, and now an allergic dermatitis to Mugwort that is even worse, that Technu, the original, applied after exposure as instructed, will remove the oils from your skin and prevent (if done soon enough) or significantly lessen, the reaction. I swear by it. Some call it pricey but one bottle lasts me a whole season and I use it often. Even if you do break out it still helps lessen the reaction. Get it!

 

[indianajo]

I've been talking about that with my engineer son (who questions the reliability of a Chinese motor), and I would have to find someone to put the bike together, no shops nearby and the only traveling bike mechanic has never worked on electric .

All the bike motors are Chinese even bosch. Mahle is swiss but at 250 watts is fairly useless. Mahle quit selling conversion kits in 2018, mahle now comes only with bikes. I got 4500 miles out of a 1300 w ebikeling geared hub (gears wore out), burned the wire harness off a Mac in the rain due to the pins being too close together on an ASI controller, and found 36 v 350 w bafangs were too small to lift 330 lb up 12% grades (burnt the winding by over-volting). Have replaced the harness on the Mac12t and am using it again. Don't every buy an ASI controller except for desert racing. ASI came in a kit with the Mac12t from luna. The first ebikeling controller lasted 4 year before erroring out, the 2nd 500 watt controller was fine for the 350 w bafang but errored on the 1000 w bafang, and am now on a 2nd 1000 w controller from ebay. I've been through 4 throttles and 3 PAS pickups. I keep spares in the garage so I am not immobile when something fails. I bought the bodaboda bike in the avatar unpowered, then added ebikeling kit with lunabike battery 10000 miles & 5 years ago. 25 mph wind in my face can make my 27 mile commute take 6 hours without power. Best motor for carrying cargo on hills is mac12t 48 v but you have to buy them from alibaba now, no US vendor will stock them. 2.5 mm spokes that fit motors have to come from china now too, I buy them from ebay. Used to you could buy a good motor in a wheel built up. Now it is bafang bafang bafang bafang, no matter that 10 winding motors are great for top speed but wimpy climbing hills with groceries. ]
I built my battery mount and controller mount out of aluminum angle from home depot. I put the controller under the seat for rain resistance, with the wires pointed down. Use SS machine screws with elastic stop nuts that will not back off. (mcmaster.com or grainger).
BTW use a 3 or 4" torque arm on the MAC, they are torquey and can spin out and tear the harness off without. I made mine out of 4" of bed frame rail sawed flat, with a loop of box fan sheet metal to tether it to the fork. The odd shape for the axle is two 5/16" holes connected together with a nicholson triangle file. Don't put a front hub motor in an aluminum, carbon fiber, or suspension front fork.
I have my motor in the front to not over load the rear which carries the groceries, tools, water, spares. Front motor not useful in grass over 6% grade, but I ride in grass rarely, mainly to fix my tractor when stuck out in the field. Took a chunk of concrete to throw in the sinkhole 2 weeks ago, tire slipped on the upgrade coming back so won't do that again.

 

[Taylor57]

I am a 66 year old vertically challenged man, (5'6") and have several ebikes and the one I probably enjoy riding the most is my Ride 1 Up Gravelster. It is 35lbs with battery and I can lift it on and off my bike rack with ease. Belt drive is quiet and I cruise comfortable in PAS 2 anywhere. It only has one gear and I like that. If I need to go up a hill, I may bump up to PAS 3-5. I get tired of lifting my 60 and 70 lb ebikes up onto the rack.

 

[m@Robertson]

A couple of observations from a cargo biker and someone who builds ebikes in general frame-up, who also has a lifelong cycling background:

1. Suspension forks on cargo bikes are generally considered undesirable. The reason is the weight on the bike when loaded. You get both compression at rest, and some instability with the extra weight. Spending a bundle on finding just the right suspension fork can eliminate the issue (for me it was a Wren Inverted) but generally its a whole lot easier to find alternatives to a suspension fork. In particular I make good use of the Kinekt suspension stem, with the upgrades of a super heavy spring (so you can never bottom it) and their bumper upgrade. Couple that to bars that position my wrists at a more natural angle, shod with thick silicone grips (Wolftooth Fat Paw in particular) and the improvement is dramatic (I have issues with severe wrist pain after getting hit by a car a few years ago). Next, throw in a wide rim with the biggest tire you can fit. A 20" Stranger Crux XL has a 35mm internal width and with the right fork, can easily fit a 20x3.0 tire inflated to only 20 psi. That feels like riding on a pillow compared to a 2.0" tire and because of the increased air volume, 20 psi is sufficient both for ride comfort and cargo loads on dirt.

Speaking of which, a 2.40" Maxxis Minion will, thanks to its relatively supple casing and knobs, be a really REALLY good cargo tire and get you through quite a range of terrain, including pavement, comfortably. Just keep it aired to 45 psi and not the 65 its rated up to.

2. I know the outsider's view on the reliability of Chinese products is understandably jaundiced, but bear in mind the Chinese ebike market is literally an order of magnitude larger than the rest of the world combined. Further, Chinese bike riders tend to be utility oriented, and lower income, so they prize economy and reliability. What you end up with from Chinese motor manufacturers tends to be not-sexy but also highly reliable and long-lived. Effective blunt instruments, if you will. I would not extend that rosy assessment to anything else used in the domestic Chinese bicycle/ebike market.

@BurroBabe Your physical requirements coupled to your cycling needs are, to all intents and purposes, forcing you into a 20" platform ... whether you're ready to give in and agree to this yet or not. You are just not going to find a motorized 700C touring bike with a Blackburn rack in the back and low riders up front. Even if you try building it. (speaking of which, you could do that with an older touring bike frame and a BBS02 motor, where you dial the amps back on that '02 to account for lesser frame strength). Your range requirements coupled to your terrain are putting you right at the outside edge of what is do-able on a production bike, without carrying a spare battery along (bearing in mind EVERYONE who sells ebikes is lying like a rug when it comes to range estimates).

Something has to give here. Really, more than one something I think because to get the range you need you'll have to cave on the light weight requirement and use a nice big brick of a battery. My Bullitt has a 35ah pack built into a box under the cargo floor and that gets me into the kind of range you are asking for (I am assuming mostly downhill one way but uphill on the other, so you really don't need a full powered 70 mile range).

 

[Stefan Mikes]

All the bike motors are Chinese even bosch.

Wrong.

Bosch motors are made in Hungary, and Bosch batteries are made in Poland.
Brose/Specialized motors are made in Germany.
Mahle/Specialized motors are made in Germany.
Yamaha/Giant motors are made in Japan.
Fazua and TQ motors are made in Germany.

Why do you spread false information?

 

[BikerG]

In general, bikes with suspension forks have taller stack heights, so that’s something the OP needs to consider if having standover clearance issues.

 

[m@Robertson]

In general, bikes with suspension forks have taller stack heights, so that’s something the OP needs to consider if having standover clearance issues.

Plus suspension forks tend to have a longer axle-to-crown for a double whammy on that score. Although if a step thru frame is in play, standover might never be an issue.

 

[indianajo]

Wind runs my pulse up about double what weight does, and I cross 70 hills on my weekly commute. September 2017 before power, I fought a 25 mph wind on 30 miles back to town, and it took me 5.7 hours at 120-168 bpm pulse. Exhausting. I added on a motor & battery that winter.
With electricity, outbound Friday I fought 25 mph in my face the 27 miles. It is an ebike: I burned 53.2 to 47.5 v on that leg. Only half the distance was unpowered. Back Sunday was 7 mph in my face, only used 53.9 to 51.5 v. About 80% unpowered.
I keep the weight low on my bike, which means weight does not matter much to me. Tools and supplies to handle 95% of unfortunate circumstances weigh about 20 lb, are carried on the footrest of my bike, 14" above the road. At age 73, 67" tall wth 28" inseam and 158 lb (this week) I am no giant and no Paul Bunyan. I do not take the bike for rides on my non-existant motor vehicle, so the 94 lb the combo weighs light does not strike me as unweildy. It is important to me that weight is balanced front to back, carried low. With the front basket mounts built into the frame, the 9 lb battery is mounted up front, and the 8 lb motor is on the front wheel too. When I had a 12 lb DD motor on the back, the weight on the rear waggled me around too much. Hard to control from the handlebars when pushing into the garage or maneuvering around to line up with the lock structure - power poles, gas meters, or shopping cart racks. One advantage of weight carried low, when the wind gusts to 35 mph from the side, I am not as likely to be blown over. Just because the wind is up does not mean I do not need to go buy groceries, visit my physician, or whatever my errand is.
BTW I rode steel 26" wheel bikes of 60 and 75 lb when I was age 11, 48" tall and weighed ~70 lb. Mother's 1946 Firestone safety bike was heavy, but had great gyroscopic stability. She was 63" and 125 lb, probably lighter when she bought it. My 1961 Joske's cruiser was the lighter bike. I did not have to climb hills in Houston.

 

[kevinmccune]

Kevin, I'm a bit confused. By "her" do you mean me? I think it sounds like it. Please clarify what you mean by "camel it". and what a "light weight bike booster" is. Since Mike V's reply suggesting adding a motor to a bike I already have I've really been trying to figure out if I could add the motor he suggests to my Trek 200 hybrid. (post with a question above somewhere regarding this). I just need to figure out if the grip shifters could be changed out to a short throw trigger shifters for the 3 x 7 altus derailleurs. So far, no one has helped me on that except for a suggestion about a possible electronic shifter ? I've been talking about that with my engineer son (who questions the reliability of a Chinese motor), and I would have to find someone to put the bike together, no shops nearby and the only traveling bike mechanic has never worked on electric .

I didn't think I was looking for a "grail", just a bike with shifters that my hands can use and a weight that's reasonable, ie. not too far above 50#. My Trek 520 meets those needs with bar-end shifters but has really narrow tires, the Trek 200 just needs different shifters.

most all of us seek a "grail" one time or the other in our lives,the young often seek "rainbows",the elderly purpose and justification-the lightweight system would be a " quirol" a very good bike mechanic could probably modify the shifters to your liking( maybe you need a trike with a cvt? camel refers to the swooping style of city type step thru bikes,i never did like v style step thru always seemed cramped my left leg suffers a paralysis that ebbs and flows(somedays a bit better,somedays worse,got tired of getting tangled up with the top bar and face planting. we are all mortal creatures and like the apostle paul we need to find the contentment in any situation. i would hope a nice bike builder like some that dwell here would take you under their wing and create a solution for your woes as the gov't person said[ we are here to help] i wouldnt question the reliability of good chinese motors "ebikes ca" can certainly set you up with a motor that would keep on ticking.

 

[kevinmccune]

A couple of observations from a cargo biker and someone who builds ebikes in general frame-up, who also has a lifelong cycling background:

1. Suspension forks on cargo bikes are generally considered undesirable. The reason is the weight on the bike when loaded. You get both compression at rest, and some instability with the extra weight. Spending a bundle on finding just the right suspension fork can eliminate the issue (for me it was a Wren Inverted) but generally its a whole lot easier to find alternatives to a suspension fork. In particular I make good use of the Kinekt suspension stem, with the upgrades of a super heavy spring (so you can never bottom it) and their bumper upgrade. Couple that to bars that position my wrists at a more natural angle, shod with thick silicone grips (Wolftooth Fat Paw in particular) and the improvement is dramatic (I have issues with severe wrist pain after getting hit by a car a few years ago). Next, throw in a wide rim with the biggest tire you can fit. A 20" Stranger Crux XL has a 35mm internal width and with the right fork, can easily fit a 20x3.0 tire inflated to only 20 psi. That feels like riding on a pillow compared to a 2.0" tire and because of the increased air volume, 20 psi is sufficient both for ride comfort and cargo loads on dirt.

View attachment 175813

Speaking of which, a 2.40" Maxxis Minion will, thanks to its relatively supple casing and knobs, be a really REALLY good cargo tire and get you through quite a range of terrain, including pavement, comfortably. Just keep it aired to 45 psi and not the 65 its rated up to.

View attachment 175815

2. I know the outsider's view on the reliability of Chinese products is understandably jaundiced, but bear in mind the Chinese ebike market is literally an order of magnitude larger than the rest of the world combined. Further, Chinese bike riders tend to be utility oriented, and lower income, so they prize economy and reliability. What you end up with from Chinese manufacturers tends to be not-sexy but also highly reliable and long-lived. Effective blunt instruments, if you will. I would not extend that rosy assessment to anything else used in the domestic Chinese bicycle/ebike market.

@BurroBabe Your physical requirements coupled to your cycling needs are, to all intents and purposes, forcing you into a 20" platform ... whether you're ready to give in and agree to this yet or not. You are just not going to find a motorized 700C touring bike with a Blackburn rack in the back and low riders up front. Even if you try building it. (speaking of which, you could do that with an older touring bike frame and a BBS02 motor, where you dial the amps back on that '02 to account for lesser frame strength). Your range requirements coupled to your terrain are putting you right at the outside edge of what is do-able on a production bike, without carrying a spare battery along (bearing in mind EVERYONE who sells ebikes is lying like a rug when it comes to range estimates).

Something has to give here. Really, more than one something I think because to get the range you need you'll have to cave on the light weight requirement and use a nice big brick of a battery. My Bullitt has a 35ah pack built into a box under the cargo floor and that gets me into the kind of range you are asking for (I am assuming mostly downhill one way but uphill on the other, so you really don't need a full powered 70 mile range).

experience leads! this guy has been there and done that,his advice with some others is golden,the divers range of suggestion will surely do some good!

 

[kevinmccune]

BTW, I learned from similar episodes, and now an allergic dermatitis to Mugwort that is even worse, that Technu, the original, applied after exposure as instructed, will remove the oils from your skin and prevent (if done soon enough) or significantly lessen, the reaction. I swear by it. Some call it pricey but one bottle lasts me a whole season and I use it often. Even if you do break out it still helps lessen the reaction. Get it!

good always looking for things that really work,thanks.

 

[m@Robertson]

This may be totally not what @BurroBabe wants to hear, but her needs and requirements are far enough outside of the norm that manufacturers cater to that I would pick a bicycle she likes that does what she wants, and convert it to an ebike. Bearing in mind that the weight requirement is likely to still go out the window thanks to the need for range, which in turn will crank up the weight.

My daily driver's battery weighs more than my entire road bike, which with its magnesium-alloy 59cm frame weighs in just a hair under 20 lbs.

Not saying you have to go so big on the battery just making an amusing (to me at least) observation.

I'm going to have to admit I didn't pore over the entire saga of this thread. Hopefully I've skimmed it closely enough to not commit too many mortal sins in the following recommendation. Maybe there's somewhere to go here with a conversion, because for a manufactured ebike... you can forget it I think. A conversion is going to get you VERY close to your desired result out of the gate with the motor and battery coming in after the fact very nicely if you do the bike right.

So starting off, it seems what is desired is a gravel bike that can do duty as a touring bike, with panniers. Since a suspension fork is desired, I'll write off the front rack and panniers (which served me very well I might add before I went to dedicated cargo builds, but lets walk before we fly). Next we need something that is very nearly unheard of in the ebike world: A frame sized for the smaller rider. This will get us out of the 20" wheel size, ideally.

Surly bikes are built with really strong chromoly frames, and quality components. I have a BBSHD-powered Big Fat Dummy which I use for bikepacking, but thats obviously an insane choice not on the menu here. What Surly DOES have that is smack in the ballpark is the Grappler.

Surly Grappler | Drop Bar Bikepacking Bike | Drop Bar Mountain Bike

Grappler is the drop bar mountain bike and bikepacking bike purpose built for loading up and hitting the most agressive bikepacking trails.

surlybikes.com

A dedicated drop-bar trail bike with 27.5" wheels and 2.5" tires. And a frame that is sized down to XS which is suited to riders whose height starts ad about 4'7". The size SM is rated for 5'0". Standover is 2.2 to 2.5 feet. So we've come up with a bike that actually fits the rider (something ebike manufacturers as a general rule don't do) and have thus bypassed the circus-clown-bike wheel size. Check the frame geometry for stuff like reach, but for my money, you should always expect to change stem length and maybe even swap the seatpost to deal with a different (or zero) setback.

The Grappler uses the inexpensive Microshift Advent X drivetrain, which is extremely reliable and has an 11-48T hardened steel rear cluster, which will be really important when it comes to working in the motor. I use Advent X on my own Bullitt hill climbing cargo bike where I am dealing with 500 lbs of total system weight and hills as steep as 16%. So if it can handle that and shift smoothly it sure can handle this lighter duty. The frame has M5 bosses upper and lower so you can mount a serious rack on it (an Axiom Streamliner rated for 50 kg would be my choice), and do panniers of any sort without issue. The front fork is a standard Surly with barnacles everywhere so you can also mount a front rack (I use a Blackburn Outpost on Surly forks), but I expect that fork is going to be expendable in favor of a suspension fork, sadly. The WTB rims used have a 40mm internal width which will let you easily handle a 3.0" tire (the bike comes with 2.5's which might be plenty for you).

For something a little closer to a road-tourer (and a little less happy with washboard) there's the Surly Disc Trucker. For a flat bar version of the Grappler, there's the Bridge Club, although neither of those have drivetrains I would trust with the next step: Adding a mid drive motor.

Again assuming the Grappler is the choice, my personal pick would be a Bafang BBSHD, which you would then adjust to turn it into an ideal cyclists' configuration. I wrote that up here and using all of the settings I list in that article, you would adjust the one setting noted in that article to ramp the overall pedal assist output up or down. My minimum setting feeds a maximum of about 450w peak to the motor so its quite tame, which in turn extends range by quite a bit. I suspect you would pick something in the middle, or go all out and just use the lower PAS levels, which is what I do in hills.

BBSHD Programming For The Pedaling Cyclist (2023 Update)

Explore enhanced BBSHD programming for pedal assist settings that don't let the bike run away from you, and throttle settings gentle on the drivetrain.

talesontwowheels.com

You could also skimp a little and use a BBS02, which is cheaper and less robust. For a bike I want to depend on, I would always choose the BBSHD. Its a trooper and you can't break it. Not so with a BBS02 which can be fried if you beat on it too hard (which you are very unlikely to do but still...). Dialed back the BBSHD will be operating at 20-50% of its capacity which just means it will never stress itself and last forever.

Since these bikes all have triangles without shocks in them - and they are actual triangles - I would pick the battery from USA-manufacturer Bicycle Motor Works after I have acquired the frame and know the dimensions. An in-triangle battery bag would hold it (do NOT put it on the back rack). Triangle size on an XS frame may make it a lot smarter to pick a Small size instead, or even a step up from that to Medium if you can get away with it. Check the frame geometry charts to see about that.

As for a suspension fork... well like I said before I would personally go for a suspension stem from Kinekt first, and keep the fork as-is at least to start. But the axle-to-crown on the Grappler is 420mm. Surly says thats the max height for a suspension fork, but I think you can fudge that a little. I'll leave fork choice to you.

If you don't convert a proper, quality bike yourself I think the list of compromises and things you find undesirable will be a lot longer.

How To Build An Ebike From Scratch: Assembly Day 1

The first day of assembly is laid out here item by item. By end of day we’ll have a roller we can sit on and push around, not a box of parts we have to carry.

talesontwowheels.com

 

[sc00ter]

If SWYTCH didn't have the "Pay us and we'll build it when enough orders are placed" model I would suggest one of those kits. I would love one for my wife's Rat Fink chopper bike, just for a bit of assist on windy days or slightly longer rides. She can keep her dream bike (yes, she LOVES this monster bike) and have a bit of assistance when needed.

 

[kevinmccune]

its a funny thing,i caught a viva folder on sale last year for my daughters bd last year,it cost a bit less than$600,it was what i call a "camel style" 48 volt very strong rear motor 7spd,pretty light small 20 inch tires only disadvantage was 8 ah seatpost battery( easily upgraded),i have found out if one wishes to add a bit of pedaling the battery size can shrink