Ebikeling 1200w rear wheel kit from Amazon

[mhk]

I've explored a bunch of different conversion options and, after considering converting a single speed with a Bafang mid-drive, I've decided to add gears and go with a kit off Amazon. My bike (Kona Smoke) has 135mm rear hub spacing, and I'm a little concerned that the Ebikeling is spec'd at 132mm. I'm assuming that it comes with a spacer for mtb spacing, and 130mm road dropouts are expected to stretch a couple mm? I have inquired with the company but have yet to hear back, but I'm asking bc it would be nice to have the option of swapping the kit out on a road bike.

There are so many battery options, and I've searched on this forum enough to be dangerous, but what is the min/max power battery to optimally drive this motor? I'm 6'4" 210 lbs, bike weighs 22 lbs without the conversion kit or battery, and I'll be carrying about 10 lbs of gear. 20 miles of hilly work commuting + errands daily.

 

[AHicks]

I wouldn't be concerned about the drop out spacing. As close as you are, that will be easy to deal with.

As far as a battery, 20+ mile commute, hills, expected weight/load, they spell out the need for a pretty good sized battery, like 19-20ah to me. Here, it's way better to be safe than sorry. If the battery is too small, you've made a very expensive mistake. If it's too big, it's more of an "oops!", a couple extra pounds of weight. Not one that's going to cost 500 to fix.

I'm assuming this conversion is going to be a rear hub, but you don't mention gear drive or direct drive. With the hills and load you mention, I'd suggest a gear drive, as long as you aren't looking for speeds over 20-25mph.

 

[indianajo]

If the motor is too thin, you add washers. If you make the washers fit the oblong shaft and lodge on the round part, you've made thrust washers that will keep the bike frame from pushing in on the motor covers. The LY 48v 1000 DD motor I bought elsewhere, there was no thrust support inside the motor.
ebikeling is one of the reliable sellers on the internet. I suggest you buy the battery from him. The only other US based source I trust is Lunacycle.
If your frame is steel, you can push in and out on the dropout. So if axle is a little fat, you can use wedges to force it in. If Aluminum, this flexing might cause it to fracture. If you use wedges or a crowbar to force a fat axle in, you have to carry one in your tube replacement kit.
Over 30 miles & 77 hills at ~300 lb gross (50 lb supplies, 75 lb bike racks battery motor, 5 lb tools 160 lb me) I use about 70% of a 17 AH battery. That is at average 9 mph. The geared hub is more efficient, the 1000 W DD hub drive could handle it but used 90% of the battery, cutting out for minimum voltage on the last hill.

 

[BigMatt]

Here’s a bike I just built with the 26” fat tire Ebikeling (1200 W) kit.

I converted a Saigula Fat Tire with:
1) 1200 Watt Ebikling kit ($375) on Amazon.
2) 48v (50 AMP continuous discharge) 20 Ah battery ($277) from AliExpress. (Only 10 days from China to Chicago). So far so good on quality and expectations. There’s some 10ah 48 v (30 continuous discharge) for $77 I ordered as added capacity for longer rides. Not going to mess with diodes. Will just change when necessary.)
3) Rear rack (~$25) on Amazon
4) Rear rack bag (~$50) on Amazon mounted tightly (Including battery inside) using zip ties.

Totally unnecessary, but I did a few other things like adding a 60t chainring ($50) and longer crank arms on Amazon. I’m enjoying the 60t, I but may swap it for a 48t in my parts bin. I did a few other totally unnecessary but fun upgrades (eg, Rear disk brake caliper upgrade, grips, grip shifter, motion alarm, etc.)

I also converted a 700c/29er Mongoose mountain bike a few weeks back (With a similar rear rack bag setup) using a similar 700c Ebikeling 1200 Watt kit, and it works great.

The Ebiking kits are great. I went with the LED and twist throttles. Both bikes get to the 28-30 MPH range at full throttle (no pedaling) with flat ground. A little pedaling (on the 60t ring can push into the 30s pretty east). The fat tire bike handles ~30 MPH range much better than the 700c/29er bike.

(As an aside, I do not have a death wish so normal course riding will be maybe 20-25 max unless I’m out in the country or something).

 

[harryS]

LIke it, but the $77 batteries scare me. Keep them in fire proof storage.

 

[AHicks]

Meant only as a heads up, I would caution that this old man (I'm 6"2"), had a terrible time getting a leg over a bag like that on a 29'er. Been there! Battery (and bag) was moved to a custom built shelf (using angle alum. installed using rivnuts) inside the triangle shortly after. From then on it was an awesome bike!

 

[BigMatt]

Meant only as a heads up, I would caution that this old man (I'm 6"2"), had a terrible time getting a leg over a bag like that on a 29'er. Been there! Battery (and bag) was moved to a custom built shelf (using angle alum. installed using rivnuts) inside the triangle shortly after. From then on it was an awesome bike!

I know what you mean. It’s not bad for me yet, but it’s a hurdle.

 

[BigMatt]

LIke it, but the $77 batteries scare me. Keep them in fire proof storage.

Yeah, my stingy gene and self preservation instincts had a debate about that. The $77 (10 Ah) batteries are not the every day batteries. They’re only for when I need to get more than ~30-50 miles (assuming the $277 48v/20AH gets me that far), which is probably about never.

I have irrational range anxiety. I never let my car get below 1/4 tank either.

1 or 2 of the 10 Ah will fit in the rear rack (20 AH zip ties in) for long trips, but I don’t want that extra weight every day.

If I stop responding to posts here, you will know I blowed up.

 

[BigMatt]

Meant only as a heads up, I would caution that this old man (I'm 6"2"), had a terrible time getting a leg over a bag like that on a 29'er. Been there! Battery (and bag) was moved to a custom built shelf (using angle alum. installed using rivnuts) inside the triangle shortly after. From then on it was an awesome bike!

Here’s the Mongoose Impasse Build.

I think I’m going to move this kit/battery/build (and the air fork) to a 700c Trek Verve Disk 1.

The rear suspension forced me to an (innovative) Hule rack that works fine, but feels a little rickety.

 

[AHicks]

A couple shots of the Schwinn 29'er, AFTER moving the bag. In the end, I decided a 29'er was too much for me, and went with a 26" bike that's worked out way better for me.

 

[BigMatt]

A couple shots of the Schwinn 29'er, AFTER moving the bag. In the end, I decided a 29'er was too much for me, and went with a 26" bike that's worked out way better for me.

Here’s what became of the 700c Kit on the mongoose bike. I moved (along with the air fork) to 700c Trek Verve Disk 1. Man, the Trek Verve rides nice.

 

[AHicks]

Air fork likely a big improvement!

 

[BigMatt]

A couple shots of the Schwinn 29'er, AFTER moving the bag. In the end, I decided a 29'er was too much for me, and went with a 26" bike that's worked out way better for me.

Nice!

Is that battery bag and rack (between your knees) a custom job you rigged together yourself or something you can buy?

Also, do you have enough room to pedal without your knees rubbing it?

I would imagine it would nice to get the weight of the battery centered a bit too (versus out in rear) in terms balancing the bike and steadying the ride.

 

[AHicks]

The rack is custom, fabbed from hardware store aluminum stock, pop rivetted together where necessary, and mounted on brackets that used the water bottle mounts for supporting the battery. 2 extra "nutserts" were installed in the frame for extra support. More support and stability came from the bag's location which was right up against the top bar of the bike's frame. Visible in the pic are 3 tabs that held the battery on the rack. Those 3 tabs could be loosened and dropped down to allow the battery to slide out.

The bag I lucked out on. It was from Amazon and was designed to be velcroed to a rear rack, and happened to be a near exact fit for the battery I chose. It came originally with a sheet vinyl insert to hold it's shape. That needed to be removed for a near exact fit.

Rubbing on my legs or feet was never an issue, though I was a little concerned prior to riding it the first time.

 

[BigMatt]

All,

I’m seeking feedback or comments about an all wheel drive (front and back motor wheel hub) EBike configuration.

I have the 1200W (Ebikeling) kit rear wheel install already on my 26 inch fat bike set up with left grip twist throttle and PAS. I get decent but not great acceleration/torque (bike and I are heavy) and a reasonable but not great ~26 MPH top speed. 26 MPH is more than enough 90% of the time, but there are moments I wouldn’t mind having a temporary turbo that gets me a little boost.

I’m going to install a 1200 W front wheel motor as well using a right thumb throttle for an all wheel drive. Think of the front as a “turbo” for acceleration, hills, or open road speed maximum. The rear that has the PAS is where the brake lever motor cutoffs will stay. It will be remain “all-the-time” main source of power.

The rear has a 48v 20 AH battery. The front will have a smaller 48v 10 AH battery (with the assumption the rear will get at least twice the work as the more sporadically used front (acceleration and periodic 5th gear).

There will be two batteries, two controllers, two motors. (All batteries and controllers in rear rack trunk bag.) Only the rear wheel will have PAS and connections to the brake lever cutoffs. The front will use the more basic/smaller LED display as it’s only for battery measurement and throttle while the rear (LCD) will stay the main display/trip computer. Anybody else try this type of configuration? If so, any pitfalls I’m missing or other thoughts?

For example, I was thinking it might make sense to hook up one brake power cutoff lever to one hub and the second lever to the other hub (front brake to front hub and rear brake to rear hub), but to me the notion of cutting PAS power on braking is more important (for safety) than cutting thumb throttle-only power.

 

[harryS]

Did exactly what you propose, Big Matt. However, my setup was for snow, not for riding to work. I'm glad I don't have to do either.

Front motor was an ebikeling geared motor that I laced into a rim. Rear motor is a bafang geared motor I bought with the wheel already on it. Used only throttle for the front, and put it om the right side. I later turned it around to have it next to the grips. In the pic, it's in quite a ways.

In snow, I'd throttle up the front to get rolling, and PAS would kick in on the rear when I started pedalling.

I took it apart after one season. I caught bronchitis in Februrary and had it thru April.

 

[BigMatt]

Did exactly what you propose, Big Matt. However, my setup was for snow, not for riding to work. I'm glad I don't have to do either.

Front motor was an ebikeling geared motor that I laced into a rim. Rear motor is a bafang geared motor I bought with the wheel already on it. Used only throttle for the front, and put it om the right side. I later turned it around to have it next to the grips. In the pic, it's in quite a ways.

In snow, I'd throttle up the front to get rolling, and PAS would kick in on the rear when I started pedalling.

I took it apart after one season. I caught bronchitis in Februrary and had it thru April.

View attachment 41872 View attachment 41874

Thanks, Harry. I realized during the first Chicago snowfall, they plow the snow from the streets into the bike lanes... Glad I have a couple of snow bikes!

It appears the brake levers can be merged. I may tinker with getting the PAS (and maybe) throttles connected to both controllers.

 

[BigMatt]

Did exactly what you propose, Big Matt. However, my setup was for snow, not for riding to work. I'm glad I don't have to do either.

Front motor was an ebikeling geared motor that I laced into a rim. Rear motor is a bafang geared motor I bought with the wheel already on it. Used only throttle for the front, and put it om the right side. I later turned it around to have it next to the grips. In the pic, it's in quite a ways.

In snow, I'd throttle up the front to get rolling, and PAS would kick in on the rear when I started pedalling.

I took it apart after one season. I caught bronchitis in Februrary and had it thru April.

View attachment 41872 View attachment 41874

Harry,

Just curious, but what was your reason for scrapping? Bronchitis caused by riding in the snow (making a high cost build a waste of $ and parts), or was it that the 2 motor build was not effective for the added traction (in slippery conditions) you were seeking, or that acceleration or top speed enhancements weren’t realized? Or, something else?

By the way, I finally optimized my winter riding gear (namely the right gloves that work at legit cold-cold, snowmobile helmet w/ goggles after realizing the fogging issue with a regular motorcycle helmet, face-guards, etc.) that have made at least a 15 minute ride at 0 degrees F completely and easily tolerable.

My first attempt at zero degrees F with suboptimal gear for the conditions rendered me freezing cold and with very foggy vision. That’s a dangerous condition in (rush hour) Chicago winter conditions. Just envision an old school Frogger video game performed in real life except on a sheet of ice...

I also learned that zero Fahrenheit day that your fat tires ought be closer to 5 than 17 PSI... I pulled a hammy trying to keep myself vertical in a slow motion 3 MPH wipeout on a sheet of black ice... That 17 PSI problem went away at ~5 PSI.

 

[AHicks]

As adventuresome as I am, it wouldn't take me too many adventures like that to learn that I need to find something else to do in conditions like that.....

 

[harryS]

Getting sick, and maybe getting hurt riding alone in the snow. Headlines saying old fart found frozen in the ice, just two miles from home after he slid into the creek.