Simple conversion kit with a small battery (1 hour use time) request

[lovelock]

Hi,

completely new to e bikes and the like but looking to build something for going to and from work.

I only work 4 miles from my house and it will take around 20 minutes by bike. Therefore i am curious as to which battery and conversion kit would be recommended.

I think as its a short journey, I could have a nice and small battery?

Im looking to convert an old racer with 700c wheels, have seen the 8fun mid kits and am interested in using it with a single speed conversion.

Any help or suggestions for a good kit / battery for my requirements? Looking for something fairly fast too, as fast as can be before it becomes too pricey.

Thanks.

 

[George S.]

The type of motor depends on weight and hills. If you were carrying relatively 'normal' weights and not climbing steep hills, the hub motors would work. For low stress duty, Court lists some kits in his reviews. If you want 30 mph speeds, you will need to buy a motor, probably, and a battery.

The dominant kit is the BBS02 and BBSHD mid-drive. Typical DIY stores tend to stock the 8Fun and maybe a hub or two. If you change to the necessary gears, especially the chain ring, these mid-drives will climb anything. But the costs can mount to tame some of the less user friendly aspects of these drives. Karl at electricfatbike.com is the absolute best source for info on anything Bafang. But there's a lot to sort through.

Batteries have come down in price. Mostly this has driven capacity. A lot of people want power and speed, which takes a lot of battery capacity. So if you want speed, a fairly big battery is a good idea, and a battery built for high discharge is essential.

Spending too much seems like overkill for a short commute, but the Bafang drives are capable. The 02 is generally easy to mount (you might have a shop remove the bottom bracket). Right now EM3ev and Luna Cycle seem to be locked in a price war with the BBSHD and their batteries. On the flat the two Bafang drives will get you to 30 mph, at least with the proper chainring for speed. You'd want a 48 volt battery. That's the price of speed. With the price of the HD where it is today, if you want speed, that's something to look at.

Take a long hard look at your bike for speeds like these drives will give you. I'd want hydraulic disks and a very strong frame. Many people want a front suspension fork because the ride can get very jarring. You can always move the parts to another bike.

If you want a simple conversion with decent speed look at the MAC motors and the Golden motors and a 48 volt system.

My thoughts on DIY builds:

https://www.electricbike.com/18-reasons-to-build-a-diy-ebike/

 

[harryS]

I think that the point of a mid drive is to work the motor thru the existing gears. If you go with a single speed , you will have to help the motor on starts and up hills with plenty of leg power. It will also affect top speed. Advantage of single speed is a less complex drive train, but heck, bikes are simple no? I was adjusting derailleurs when I was 12 years old, before I learned algebra.

Will you change out the dropped race bars for flat bars? The brake levers supplied with kits aren't suited for dropped bar brakes. It's important, in my opinion, to have a power cut off, and that's usually built into the brakes. You would want to add a separate e-brake switch to one or both of your brake cables and keep existing levers. Pretty trivial in expense and complexity to some. Daunting to others.

So maybe $550 for the mid-motor, and $400 for a 48V battery. In the USA, look at lunacycle.com for a baseline price. You'll have a relatively powerful bike that is overkill for a daily 8 mile ride. You don't really need a lot of motor or battery to do 4 miles. It probably becomes a 12-15 minute ride with any e-bike, and if you're willing to pedal easy, your battery would likely last several days between charges.

 

[JoePah]

Hi,

completely new to e bikes and the like but looking to build something for going to and from work.

I only work 4 miles from my house and it will take around 20 minutes by bike. Therefore i am curious as to which battery and conversion kit would be recommended.

I think as its a short journey, I could have a nice and small battery?

Im looking to convert an old racer with 700c wheels, have seen the 8fun mid kits and am interested in using it with a single speed conversion.

Any help or suggestions for a good kit / battery for my requirements? Looking for something fairly fast too, as fast as can be before it becomes too pricey.

Thanks.

I have a single speed racer i'm thinking about converting some day. Unless you have very steep hills on your commute, I'd go with a geared hub motor.. They are light and easy to pedal if you run out of juice, and will work perfectly with a single speed.

I converted my road bike to bull bars, and installed tri-brakes on the bar ends. You can just install flat bars and use the supplied brake levers.

I'd buy a 36v11ah or 48v8ah battery pack.. These packs lose around 10% a year in capacity so you want to buy more battery than you need, so you can use it for 5 years or more.

I'd check out Cellman in China or LunaCycle in Ca, Will cost $1000 delivered for a nice 48v system.

http://em3ev.com/store/index.php?route=product/category&path=50

Sondors is also offering a ready to go commuter bike for $700 delivered. Crowdfunding.
All aluminum so it will be a stiff ride.
http://gosondors.com

 

[Jack Tyler]

"Im looking to convert an old racer with 700c wheels..."

A wide span of suggestions, including ones that would give you lots of speed, but based on not much info about your bike. For 20-30 mph speeds, I don't think you'd want tired rim brakes. Are road conditions at those speeds suitable for a hard fork? I'm quite new to the ebike scene as well and one thing I'm learning is that you need to think of an ebike as a 'system' when planning to 'e' and existing 'bike'. Along with Motor+Battery+Accessory kit prices, consider what other upgrades you'll need to do and then weigh that approach with turnkey 'simple & cheap' approaches. If it's not recreational riding but only a 8 mile RT commute you want to accomplish, 'simple & cheap' would seem a viable option. Those choices could include an inexpensive, new ebike such as mentioned above, a Ridekick, or a Shareroller.

 

[flymeaway]

I only work 4 miles from my house and it will take around 20 minutes by bike

At 20 MPH you'd be there in 12 minutes. If all you want is a commuter bike I'd look on the used market or call Crazy Lenny. I agree with Jack on the rim brakes, and Harry on the single speed issue. For not much more then the cost of a mid-drive conversion you can buy a good ebike.

Court J.

Crazy Lenny Demos and Used http://www.crazylennysebikes.com

 

[Llcjay]

I have shimano rim brakes on 3 bikes and ride 20-22 mph. They work great.

You can buy brand new shimano 105 calipers for $60 a pair on eBay. They are dual spring compression and work very well

 

[Nirmala]

The ShareRoller is another option and it would also allow you to put the motor on any other bikes you might own or buy in the future. They have just opened up another round of pre-orders at about a 30% discount from retail that will ship in June. You can learn more on their indiegogo page at: http://igg.me/at/shareroller/x/12713097