Hello and thanks in advance for sharing your knowledge. I am building a bike to ride to town and back, a 30 mile round-trip. There is approximately a 1000 foot elevation difference. That is my home is a thousand feet higher than town. The road is paved all the way. It is down hill all but 3/4 of a mile on the way to town. The climb on the way home is steady and mostly I can ride it middle ring low but there is a 4 mile stretch that is a low gear grind. I am a life long cyclist and rebuild ( and occasionally sell) bikes as a hobby. I have several frames trek/ Diamond back/ Motiv/Shimano. I want to build a bike that will take me home in a reasonable amount of time. I can ride it in an hour to hour and a half depending on bike , weather, and my own energy level. I am looking at Bafang mid drive (which will only fit on my non suspended frames ) vs. Voilamart rear hub. Thinking to buy battery from Luna appropriate to what ever motor I get. I am thinking 750w or 1000w . I would do appreciate any help you can give me picking motor type and brand, controller type and brand. Any heads up on problems to look for as well as good sources . I am 100 miles from any bike shop and 150 from ebike shops so Internet shopping is how I have to do it. I would like to keep it under $1000, and $800 would be better.
First build, component suggestions
- Thread starter jr81212
- Start date
Dewey
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Arlington, Virginia
To go 30 miles up hill you're going to need to calculate how large a battery you need in terms of watts per mile. I have a 36v BBS01 which is less powerful than a 48v BBS02 so deferring to the figures reported here of between 23-29wpm on a 48v bbs02 going up hill a typical 48v 13.5ah pack = 648wh would drain in between 22-28 miles. To be sure your mileage may vary, but I'd go with the biggest battery you can afford. California Ebike sell a jumbo shark 48v 17ah pack = 817wh which would get you between 28-35 miles using the power consumption reported above. California ebike would bundle that battery in with a BBS02 kit for about $1100 plus shipping so you might want to consider paying slightly more to guarantee you can go as far as you need - I'd budget extra in case you find you want to buy a smaller chainring, gearsensor, brake switches, and installation tools. If you absolutely have to keep it under $800 you could take a chance on a Chinese seller like pswpower, but I preferred dealing with Doug and Tom at California ebike who keep a good stock of bafang spares and offer domestic shipping and no BS good customer service.
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harryS
Well-Known Member
The BBS02 at Lunacycle.com is $450, but out of stock. It's about the same price on ebay and amazon from unknown vendors. I'm fine with Luna, but others differ. You probably have enough tools and chain rings laying around that you won't need to screw around with accessory chain rings or tools. I believe that if you know how to shift, you don't need a $40 gear sensor. Anyway, around $500 for the motor, and that leaves the rest for battery.
I bought a BBS02 750W kit from Luna in 2016. There are no long hills to test it where I live, but it puts out 500+ watts easy. If you can manage the last 4 miles already, with 3 times your power, this motor will easily make the climb under pedal assist. As an experienced rider, I trust you'll be going up in a climbing gear, and won't be making the novice mistake of not shifting and burning up the motor,
I don't know if you'd like a Voilamart direct drive. They climb because they're big, but not as well as geared motors. THey're heavy. Might not coast as well as you like bcause of magnets dragging, The BBS02 will feel like a regular, but heavier bike when unpowered. I found that out when I took mine to a 25 mile organized ride. intending to shake it down, That sure worked well. Bike wouldn't run (bad battery connector) so I pedaled all of it,
I would guess that a 48V 14Ah pack (600 WH derated) would do your 30 mile commute. It's downhill going in. You have about 4 miles of climb. So 30 WH/mile for 4 miles is 120 WH. Leaves you almost 500 WH. That's got to be good for 25 miles, especially if 15 are downhill. It will get worse when it's cold. Save the battery for coming home then.
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I bought a BBS02 750W kit from Luna in 2016. There are no long hills to test it where I live, but it puts out 500+ watts easy. If you can manage the last 4 miles already, with 3 times your power, this motor will easily make the climb under pedal assist. As an experienced rider, I trust you'll be going up in a climbing gear, and won't be making the novice mistake of not shifting and burning up the motor,
I don't know if you'd like a Voilamart direct drive. They climb because they're big, but not as well as geared motors. THey're heavy. Might not coast as well as you like bcause of magnets dragging, The BBS02 will feel like a regular, but heavier bike when unpowered. I found that out when I took mine to a 25 mile organized ride. intending to shake it down, That sure worked well. Bike wouldn't run (bad battery connector) so I pedaled all of it,
I would guess that a 48V 14Ah pack (600 WH derated) would do your 30 mile commute. It's downhill going in. You have about 4 miles of climb. So 30 WH/mile for 4 miles is 120 WH. Leaves you almost 500 WH. That's got to be good for 25 miles, especially if 15 are downhill. It will get worse when it's cold. Save the battery for coming home then.
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BBSO2 or BBSHD seems to be the way to go , with a 17ah battery. I understand the benefit of a reliable vendor verses a random eBay or Amazon dealer. I am willing to up my budget some. Can any of you recommend vendors with reliable product and customer support? Also what controller would be appropriate and why? Thanks again for sharing your knowledge and opinions.
Dewey
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Arlington, Virginia
With bafang mid-drives the controller is enclosed within the motor housing, it is a replaceable part, the controller settings can be changed by purchasing a USB cable and downloading software to a laptop. For bafang mid-drives and batteries I've had good service from both California ebike and Luna Cycle, for hub motors I've had good service from Clean Republic/Hill Topper and Electric Bike Technologies/E-BikeKit. TheReddit ebikes wiki also lists kit vendors but it's by no means a complete list of trustworthy retailers so ask around here on this forum, on the Endless Sphere forum, on the Reddit ebikes forum, Better Business Bureau, Yelp, Google Reviews, etc.
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tomjasz
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Minnesnowta
I do support for a BBSxx dealer so it would be unethical for me to make recommendations.
You don't have a choice in controllers with BBS02 or BBSHD.
tomjasz
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Minnesnowta
The BBSHD is faster and more forgiving. But the BBS02 is a great motor for someone who rides their eBike using the full range of gears. I rode BBSHD bikes for two years but went back to BBS01 and 02. I didn’t need the speed of the HD. I also didn’t like clown pedaling. But if you want a mid drive capable of riding like a moped, no shifting on the flats and a fairly high top speed, bbshd rocks.
Call or email your reseller and discuss with them.
Bafang prefers we use 48v batteries. 52v give an extra kick for the first few volts, but soon drop to 48v performance.
I’d rather invest in more Ah for more mileage.
My BBSHD ran 33mph with a 52v, but in a few volts would run at the peak of my 48v. 48v peaked at 31mph.
If you’re riding in a relatively flat city a mid drive might not be the best choice. But I found the low centered location, and triangle mounted battery make for a more balanced feeling bike.
As always, YMMV.
Call or email your reseller and discuss with them.
Bafang prefers we use 48v batteries. 52v give an extra kick for the first few volts, but soon drop to 48v performance.
I’d rather invest in more Ah for more mileage.
My BBSHD ran 33mph with a 52v, but in a few volts would run at the peak of my 48v. 48v peaked at 31mph.
If you’re riding in a relatively flat city a mid drive might not be the best choice. But I found the low centered location, and triangle mounted battery make for a more balanced feeling bike.
As always, YMMV.
J.R.
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Piedmont Highlands
I've owned a Stanley tread insert tool for about 20 years. Well worth having. I think theirs was called threadsert, at the time, most are called rivnut. It's almost like a rivet gun, slightly heavier. You can get them on Amazon, Ebay or Harbor Freight. Buy quality inserts though and do a couple practice ones to get a feel for it, because it's not hard to strip out the threads. For any weight carrying capacity use stainless steel inserts. Aluminum inserts can be used for less demanding applications.
Here is a very modest set. Not sure of it's quality though.
https://www.harborfreight.com/45-piece-threaded-insert-riveter-kit-1210.html
harryS
Well-Known Member
Unless it is steel, I wouldn't recommend drilling a frame for anchors, especially if it has help to support a 8-10 pound battery. The reason being that alumimun can crack at the drilled holes. However, what you describe are called rivnuts, and if the holes are deburred and clean, the rivnut is supposed to contain the stress.
Metric rivnuts from Amazon.
And you might want the tool. Someone once told me it could be done with s bolt and wrench, but wouldn;t it be cool to own the tool? I used to feel that way.
Rivnut gun plus some rivnuts.
For a round down tube, hose clamps fastened to the bottle of the cradle is how I have done this,
Metric rivnuts from Amazon.
And you might want the tool. Someone once told me it could be done with s bolt and wrench, but wouldn;t it be cool to own the tool? I used to feel that way.
Rivnut gun plus some rivnuts.
For a round down tube, hose clamps fastened to the bottle of the cradle is how I have done this,
tomjasz
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Minnesnowta
For a round down tube, hose clamps fastened to the bottle of the cradle is how I have done this,
Nice idea! I've been wrapping my clamps with heavy heat shrink tubing.
Dewey
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Arlington, Virginia
On my old bike I wrapped a cut piece of old inner tube around the down tube and clamped over that
tomjasz
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Minnesnowta
Once again Bafang screwed their customers and arbitrarily changed the frmware. They've never like the idea of 52V (58.6V) batteries. They think thats to close to the maximum V of the controller components.
Go to endless_sphere.com There is a thread on flashing firmware.
Where did you buy your motor?
I got a programming cable from Doug at California ebike and instructions. Tom referred me to Endless Sphere post and l got it going. The test ride was a blast , planning a longer shakedown ride for later today. Thanks to all for their advice .
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