Very New At This

[chixter]

Hello all.

I began riding bikes for recreation over a year ago, after a very long hiatus. I currently own a Schwinn Third Ave Hybrid steel frame and recently purchased a Trek Ex Caliber 7 hardtail as I enjoy off road riding more. I live in a beach area at the Jersey shore and with the warm weather comes a lot of inattentive drivers. My terrain is pretty much flat but with often strong winds. Inland, there are some long hills of about 3-4% grade. While I enjoy pedaling, I'm in my late 50's and not in very good shape for long biking. I weigh about 220 at 6'. I've also smoked a very long time. I have been thinking about a BBSO2 as something that can assist me in the hard spots. I don't want to ride my bikes like a moped, just a bit of assist on the long grades, etc. so I don't get so winded. I have been thinking about putting the 750W on the Schwinn and if it proves out, then putting it on my Trek for off road use. Nothing crazy here, just fire roads, bike trails in Wharton State Forest, moderate hills and single tracks. I like the idea of a mid motor vs a hub motor. For those of you who use this off road, how do you clean your bike? Is putting this motor on a cheap Schwinn a good or bad choice? Is this kit worth the substantial investment?

 

[flymeaway]

Is this kit worth the substantial investment?

Perhaps before you buy the kit you should find a dealer and ride a few ebikes? I believe if you were to ask the bikers who've installed these kits they'd say yes, but most already have ebikes, or have ridden them. For what it's worth I've done 3 BBS02 conversions, the most recent a 48v 750W BBS02 and it's a fantastic, and inexpensive, piece of engineering. After 4,000+ miles on the 3 bikes I've converted my opinion is they are as good as advertised, if a mid-drive conversion is what you want.

Would I put the kit on a cheap Schwinn bike....not if I intended to then take it off and put it on another bike, I'd put it on the bike I intended to use.

Court J.

As far as cleaning the bike, you can pretty much hose down the motor. The only place I'd be careful with water is the 5 button interface and display on the handlebars.

 

[chixter]

Thanks for the reply, Court. I'm pretty much sold on the mid-drive because of the C.G. advantages I have read. Plus, many of my off road trails have patches of sand where much torque is required to keep momentum. As far as putting it on the hybrid bike which is primarily paved road or bike path, my only reasoning there is I'm hesitant to modify a new $1,000 bike before proving the system out on a cheaper bike. Ebikes are not very poplar around here, there are a few LBS that sell completed bikes most are in the $2500 and up price range. A shop in the northern part of Ocean County has ebikes exceeding 4k, much more than I would ever consider spending for a bike. You are correct about installing it on the bike one intends to use the most though. I will give this more consideration. I've got some correspondence with some of the recommended dealers going on.

 

[chixter]

Frame geometry may exclude this bike. I've made cardboard templates of bottle mount batteries and triangular frame bags. They won't fit in this frame. I dont want anything like a rack behind the seat with a 10lb battery on it. Any ideas?

 

[RoyL]

thats a very steep slope on that crossbar, you may be limited there in size and more importantly aH on what you can get in there.

this seems a decent frame battery if it would fit http://www.alibaba.com/product-deta...0243184649.html?spm=a2700.7724838.35.1.kgylwT

as CourtJ says the 48v 750w is the one to go for if like me you have lots of hills around you.

 

[chixter]

Hi Roy. This is what is so good about these forums. One member here Jz1276 seemed to have a similar problem on a Diamondback. His solution was to mount a cylindrical pack on top of the crossbar. (Photo below). There is more than one way to skin a cat indeed. I don't have many big hills around, quite contrary mostly flat. But....I have 18 miles of paved road along the ocean that is beautiful riding (once the tourists go home). One may find themselves pedaling back into a 15 mph headwind. This bike is for that and taking it on trips where the terrain may be a little more challenging.