I have an Hebb Electroglide 500. I need a new battery and will cost $700. What are your thoughts on replacing the motor and battery with a Hilltopper kit for $500? It will be a similar setup with a front hub motor (250 watt versus 350) and new battery but they are lighter and come with a warranty. The Hebb bike is decent with rear hub shifter but not sure about overall quality of the bike as all reviews talk about electric components and don't really focus on frame, brakes, shifter, etc. Or is it better to buy a nice Trek or Specialized used hybrid and convert that? Pros and cons?
Upgrade or Buy New ebike
- Thread starter Skiparee
- Start date
indianajo
Well-Known Member
I'm all for finding alternative sources for a bike battery costing $700. The question is, is the uniqueness of the Hess battery due to an internal computer in the battery which makes it irreplaceable, or due to a proprietary connector, which could be cut off the harness on the motor end and replaced? Suitable new connectors include the andrsn sold at partsexpress.com and the Dorman bullet crimp connectors sold at auto supplies. Do more wires run from the battery to the controller and display than the two power wires? If so the controller is trash and maybe the motor.
Hilltopper has been around the US internet a few years, so maybe his product and warrenty are valuable. Last time I checked him he was charging $850 for his 250 W motor + battery.
I'll share two places selling garbage as batteries. btrbattery of amazon.com was selling warrenty returns IMHO. It lasted 7 miles from a full charge and only 1 of 14 stacks was connected via the BMS board. Amazon got my money back. [email protected] sold via e-bay lasted 13 miles off full charge and was unable to deliver over 14 V to 15 ohms, which means it failed it's 50 A max current specification. I ate that $316 charge as I didn't figure I had been defrauded until after 30 days from purchase. I thought probably my motor or controller was bad, which may still be true. As I can't test that motor+controller until I get my new luna battery out to my summer camp where that bike is, I won't divulge who that 1000W geared motor/controller came from. But it was very powerful, I just I never got over 13 miles before system failure.
If you like your frame and components, don't replace. If you don't like them, upgrade the whole bike from a local dealer. Buying kits is a bit of a **** shoot, only the luna battery I've bought has proved so far to be good. If you're in Canada, consider grin tech, if you're in hong kong, consider em3ev. I personally prefer to give my credit card number to vendors who have to answer to the FBI if my credit number gets spread around the world for people to hit my account. That leaves out grin & em3ev who otherwise have good reputations. Whole bikes seem to have decent warrentys, and if you buy from a local dealer you can get it fixed. If you buy a bike over the internet, if you want to make a warrenty return you have to box up the whole bike again, and as you are not a certified hazardous battery shipper, you can not ship it.
Hilltopper has been around the US internet a few years, so maybe his product and warrenty are valuable. Last time I checked him he was charging $850 for his 250 W motor + battery.
I'll share two places selling garbage as batteries. btrbattery of amazon.com was selling warrenty returns IMHO. It lasted 7 miles from a full charge and only 1 of 14 stacks was connected via the BMS board. Amazon got my money back. [email protected] sold via e-bay lasted 13 miles off full charge and was unable to deliver over 14 V to 15 ohms, which means it failed it's 50 A max current specification. I ate that $316 charge as I didn't figure I had been defrauded until after 30 days from purchase. I thought probably my motor or controller was bad, which may still be true. As I can't test that motor+controller until I get my new luna battery out to my summer camp where that bike is, I won't divulge who that 1000W geared motor/controller came from. But it was very powerful, I just I never got over 13 miles before system failure.
If you like your frame and components, don't replace. If you don't like them, upgrade the whole bike from a local dealer. Buying kits is a bit of a **** shoot, only the luna battery I've bought has proved so far to be good. If you're in Canada, consider grin tech, if you're in hong kong, consider em3ev. I personally prefer to give my credit card number to vendors who have to answer to the FBI if my credit number gets spread around the world for people to hit my account. That leaves out grin & em3ev who otherwise have good reputations. Whole bikes seem to have decent warrentys, and if you buy from a local dealer you can get it fixed. If you buy a bike over the internet, if you want to make a warrenty return you have to box up the whole bike again, and as you are not a certified hazardous battery shipper, you can not ship it.
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