kit questions?

[bones774]

I'm new here and have not made my first purchase, been biking and wrenching since the 60's. I was originally looking to buy complete bike but looking at kits, seems pretty cool way to go. I have collections of old Chicago Schwinns and Japan made Schwinns(Giant), do these make good donor bikes? what should I be looking for?
thanks

 

[harryS]

Do you like riding those bikes? If they are coaster brake, maybe you can start with a small front motor kit on steel forks, and see how you like it with some power. The battery, if you buy a good one, will be the major expense but you can re-use it on the next kit.

You'll hear a lot of advice to go with modern hydraulic disk brakes, but how fast will you be riding? You do want and need to stop, but if you've been wrenching with bikes, you know about it.

 

[bones774]

Do you like riding those bikes? If they are coaster brake, maybe you can start with a small front motor kit on steel forks, and see how you like it with some power. The battery, if you buy a good one, will be the major expense but you can re-use it on the next kit.

You'll hear a lot of advice to go with modern hydraulic disk brakes, but how fast will you be riding? You do want and need to stop, but if you've been wrenching with bikes, you know about it.

One of them is a coaster brake, wouldn't think of using that one. I have a wide assortment and I do like the upper scale ones. As much as collectors like Chicago Schwinns I think one of my best is a Japan Schwinn from Giant. I'd actually think 2x before donating it. I was just thinking about frame strength and geometry. Rear hub or mid drive would be cool on 80's Schwinn(I think). I love vintage!
As I think about it I might have a real nice coaster frame, very solid, maybe that with a front drive hub could be a quick, simple and fun project.

 

[indianajo]

I converted a 90's steel frame huffy cruiser. Adapting the PAS pickup to the 1 piece crank took some work, but otherwise it was fine. Strong steel front forks are fine for front hub motor. Mine was a 1300 w ebikeling geared hub. I didn't like the PAS, too fast level 1 & accelerated too fast, and I didn't like the display, inaccurate & fogged up. But I liked the hub motor & throttle. Battery didn't last long enough for the rim brakes to cause a problem.
Rim brakes deteriorate badly in the rain. I viewed them as a big fraud after my Bendix 2 speed coaster brake hub was stolen. Never had any trouble stopping with a coaster brake. Ran into a car that ran a 4 way stop, after I stopped, with rim brakes on a rainy day. Austrian 3 speed bike. Now disk brakes are available. They are much better in the rain. I like the cable pull ones fine, but I have 5" handles, not the 3 1/2" handles tektro ships to make you wish you had bought hydraulic. I adjust pads about every 1000 miles, takes 2 minutes front, 7 minutes back because the pannier has to come off.
I like the Mac12 geared hub motor I installed 6/20 better than the ebikeling that I wore out @ ~4500 miles. Cost about 3 times as much. Less watts, nearly the same torque. More efficient, my battery use went down about 20%.
Don't forget torque arms. I make them out of bed frame rails, filing out the oblong hole in about an hour. I make clamps out of box fan metal, much stronger than hose clamps. I double nut the motor, so it won't loosen.

 

[bones774]

I've been looking into it further and estimate a min cost of $800, probably much more with accessories added up. The Espin Flow/Sport models were sold for $950, free ship on black friday, so unless it's a project for true enjoyment I'm starting not to see any benefit.
I thought it would be quick and cheap,
thanks all

 

[tomjasz]

My trek pure 3 speed with coaster brake and front hand brake has a 1000W front motor regen braking is available but I've found the coaster and rim brakes are adequate up to 25MPH.

 

[harryS]

You're right. I've built a few bikes and know the buy-vs-build is tilted toward buy. The last ebike I bought was $779, a real cheapo, but I would have spent $750 alone for a fat tire motor, wheel, controller and battery.

However, my first ebike was under $500 to build, $219 for the drive train and $280 for the battery all mounted on an old 1992 steel mountain bike. Pretty basic, only 3 speed PAS plus a throttle, 22 mph, 36V 10AH battery good for 30+ miles. Did that in 2015. At the time, there were no really decent budget ebikes. I continued to do DIY because it was fun, and the incremental costs were easy to cover. Basically a $200 motor and re-use an existing battery or maybe get a new one.

About three years ago, I could see that for someone starting from ground zero, one could buy a useable ebke for what it costs to DIY. I still do it though.

 

[BigMatt]

You're right. I've built a few bikes and know the buy-vs-build is tilted toward buy. The last ebike I bought was $779, a real cheapo, but I would have spent $750 alone for a fat tire motor, wheel, controller and battery.

However, my first ebike was under $500 to build, $219 for the drive train and $280 for the battery all mounted on an old 1992 steel mountain bike. Pretty basic, only 3 speed PAS plus a throttle, 22 mph, 36V 10AH battery good for 30+ miles. Did that in 2015. At the time, there were no really decent budget ebikes. I continued to do DIY because it was fun, and the incremental costs were easy to cover. Basically a $200 motor and re-use an existing battery or maybe get a new one.

About three years ago, I could see that for someone starting from ground zero, one could buy a useable ebke for what it costs to DIY. I still do it though.

Hi Harry,

Long time no speak. Just to add to the build v buy concept, I think if you need a bike to fold (throw in the trunk or keep in a closet), the efficacy of buying over building makes sense as building a folding ebike could be challenging. I’ve thought about building a custom folding ebike, but very few have disk brakes and pretty much your only battery placement option would be rear rack. The other issue is if you want more than 750 watts or 28 MPH. It’s hard to buy those off the shelf.

I’ve had a lot of fun custom-building several ebikes. I just updated my dual motor (1,200 Watt front and back wheel) fat bike I’ve named “Weapons Grade.” This is my winter bike.
Today I just finished a project where I used a junction box to fit two (3x5x10 inch) 20-AMP hour batteries (in parallel) on the down tube in such a way that they don’t interfere with pedaling. This bike also is wired to add another 40 AMP hours to the rear bag and 20 AMP hours in the front in the event I want 200 plus miles on a charge. That’s way too heavy to do that for everyday use, but could be fun for a cross country type of ride.

P.S. - I’ve had luck with all of the ebikeling kits on Amazon I’ve used (1,200 watt 700c, 1,500 watt 700c, 1,200 Watt front and rear 26x4 fat kits, 1,200 watt rear 26 in tire kits). Ebikeling has 500 and 750 watt kits as well.

 

[Jacob87]

what electric bike do you recommend, guys?

 

[BigMatt]

what electric bike do you recommend, guys?

What’s the use case? City commute, off-road, portability (folding), distance, etc.?

Build vs buy? Are you mechanically inclined? If you’re not capable of building, repairing or servicing your own ebike, you probably should buy from your closest e-bike shop.

 

[harryS]

Hi Matt, stay safe on that winter bike!

 

[rustydusty]

These can be built on a budget. I've got less than $1,000 tied up in my build, including the cost of the bike. 48v 1000w front hub motor and battery, 0-30mph in less than 10 seconds (of course I don't drive it at that speed...) It has the "old school" look I wanted, and is perfect for cruising the paved trails on the island where I live.

I probably have 4 hours labor in the build including assembling the bike, I don't think any special skills are needed, everything is pretty much "plug and play".

 

[EMGX]

I have a well used Schwinn Sierra that I bought new in '85 or '86 that I might try with a 48v 500w rear geared hub motor - just because. This one isn't mine but mine looks the same. I wore the rear hub bearing races out so it could use a new rear wheel anyway. Short version of a long story is that I got a new 48v 15ah battery for free (not counting the significant time and aggravation dealing with Amazon over a shipment error on their part). So the only direct cost would be a $300 kit. For no good reason I sort of love this bike but live in such a hilly area that I hardly ever ride it. I wouldn't be counting on being able to ride it up some of the steepest hills here without burning the motor out but at least I could use the throttle a little while walking the bike so I don't have to push an unpowered bike as well as trudge up the steepest stuff on foot. If I buy the motor kit I would also try it on a cruiser type tandem that my wife and I have.

 

[Al P]

I converted my 2000 Mongoose CX3 hybrid MTB to a front hub motor drive about five years ago. Installation was fairly easy. I love riding this bike and have put on about 4000 miles. With front suspension fork and a Shock Stop seat post it's comfortable. It has rim brakes which have not been a problem, even when slowing down on steep hills. Although I don't ride mountain trails, I do ride some steep Adirondack Mountain roads. With 21 speeds they are never a problem. The best part is the weight. With battery removed it's about 35 lbs., which makes it easy to lift onto the rack for drive-to-ride trips.

 

[EMGX]

I converted my 2000 Mongoose CX3 hybrid MTB to a front hub motor drive about five years ago. Installation was fairly easy. I love riding this bike and have put on about 4000 miles. With front suspension fork and a Shock Stop seat post it's comfortable. It has rim brakes which have not been a problem, even when slowing down on steep hills. Although I don't ride mountain trails, I do ride some steep Adirondack Mountain roads. With 21 speeds they are never a problem. The best part is the weight. With battery removed it's about 35 lbs., which makes it easy to lift onto the rack for drive-to-ride trips.
View attachment 77078

What motor wattage/voltage/brand (and reduction gearing, if you know) do you have? This is the type of terrain I ride, very hilly. I'm looking forward to testing the 500w/48v/1:4.5/"ricetoo" geared rear wheel setup that I ordered for the Schwinn Sierra. Should have it on the bike by this weekend if delivery is on time. Bike in the picture below has a 250w nominal/500w peak Yamaha mid drive and it can get from sea level to the top of anything in the picture (except Mt Hood).

 

[Al P]

The motor is an 8Fun (Bafang) 500/750w, 36v that was part of the Leeds kit. I don't think a 250w motor would have been able to climb the hills with the ease of the one I have. I don't know the gear ratios but I can shift it way, way down. I never have to shift below 14th gear, and I do that only occasionally to take the strain off the motor. I additionally use the throttle on certain hills for a speed boost.

 

[john peck]

I'm new here and have not made my first purchase, been biking and wrenching since the 60's. I was originally looking to buy complete bike but looking at kits, seems pretty cool way to go. I have collections of old Chicago Schwinns and Japan made Schwinns(Giant), do these make good donor bikes? what should I be looking for?
thanks

i bought a very reasonable kit from Calibike when damaged spoke bores made my $2700 bike´s
rear wheel became unrideable. In my case, all I had to do was plug the wheel/motor into the
existent bike, but the rest of the kit didn´t seem a difficult install, color coded & there are numerous
build videos online. It didn´t come with a battery or motor-cut off brake levers. The wheel was far
superior to the one it replaced, much stronger spokes. Cali also has reasonable batteries &
package deals. You could probably save $500 against the purchase of a decent $1200 entry level
ebike, But if you can afford $1200 to $1500, I´d buy a bike. Spending more than that on a 1st ebike
might not be suitable for a novice e-rider. It´s a learning process. Ya wouldn´t wanna screw up
a 5K bike. You know your own riding style, limitations, etc. Research carefully. EBR reviews are
a good place to look. Be wary of anything under a grand, though there maybe something there?
P,S, that calibike motor still works great; the $2700 bike is now a parts bike.

 

[john peck]

These can be built on a budget. I've got less than $1,000 tied up in my build, including the cost of the bike. 48v 1000w front hub motor and battery, 0-30mph in less than 10 seconds (of course I don't drive it at that speed...) It has the "old school" look I wanted, and is perfect for cruising the paved trails on the island where I live.View attachment 76990 I probably have 4 hours labor in the build including assembling the bike, I don't think any special skills are needed, everything is pretty much "plug and play".

Nice looking build, very clean, How do you like the front hub motor. Have you ridden rear or mid drives?
In terms of maintenance this looks like the way to go, Much easier to change a tire than a rear hub,.
Whose kit? I have 4 48v batteries. No cadence sensor?

 

[john peck]

I have a well used Schwinn Sierra that I bought new in '85 or '86 that I might try with a 48v 500w rear geared hub motor


View attachment 77046

Looks like a good candidate, I´ve never ridden a front hub, but I can tell from much experience, a rear hub
makes for a labor intensive tire repair. I like Rusty dusty´s set up a lot, but then I´ve never done a front hub.

 

[indianajo]

I like my front hub motor, a Mac12. I had a DD 1000 W rear hub, chewed up a lot of wh on the hills I ride. Was difficult to get over the step out of the garage. don't ride a front hub power on wet rocks, slick steel, wet wood bridge decks, etc. The rear tire still wears out more often than the front, even though the front is powered. I don't even have to unplug the motor to change the front tire. Just turn the bike upside down.