Electric Bike Conversion Kit or Electric Bike?

sunama said:
Very intersting thread.
I ride a motorbike and have ridden bicycles pretty much all my life.
But electric bicycles could be a nice compromise between the 2.
The beauty of an electric bike is that you don't need a license or insurance. You buy the machine and ride it.
Living in London means that I never hit super high speeds due to the amount of traffic.
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The other advantage is that if you have a motorbike or scooter you have to keep in traffic but with a cycle you can take shortcuts everywhere.
A co-worker reckons their average speed to work is 10.5mph according to the car computer but my average is a whopping 14mph because I never stop.
 
Conanius said:
I'm interested in this idea, but concerned about range.

Are there any that can do 35-40 miles between charges ?
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Yep, should be easy enough. Probably need 1000 watt/hour battery to be on the safe side if you want a powerful 1000w motor. So about 30 amp hour at 48v. Battery pack will cost between £300-450 and will weigh about 10kg. I think there's plenty of off the shelf e bikes that can do that sort of range, I am aiming for 60 miles per charge myself :) Really depends on the size of the motor, how much you pedal, etc.
 
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Rich43 said:
Then I plug four of them into a parallel charging board for a 40 amp charge rate (10A*4batts = 40A).
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Do you do that every charge? Must get tiresome?

I just bulk charge using a modded Meanwell power supply - can't remember the last time the pack needed balancing.


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Rich43 said:
Here's my 40mph bike:
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I have to ask what is with the halogen headlamp? It's very ugly and un-aerodynamic don't you think? :p You can get 1000 lumen led torches that run off a single 18650 battery, they are much smaller and lighter and use a lot less power.
 
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Energize said:
I have to ask what is with the halogen headlamp? It's very ugly and un-aerodynamic don't you think? :p You can get 1000 lumen led torches that run off a single 18650 battery, they are much smaller and lighter and use a lot less power.
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It produces very bright, good quality light, with a nice 30 degree beam angle. I will probably test some led alternatives at a later date, until then I got this to turn nighttime into daytime :) I run it off a 5ah 4 cell, so I get a good 2 hours out of it. Doubles up as a hand warmer for cold weather, as it gets rather hot.

My holder accepts standard MR16 bulbs and there are quite a few LED MR16 bulbs on ebay that I need to test out.

amigafan2003 said:
Do you do that every charge? Must get tiresome?

I just bulk charge using a modded Meanwell power supply - can't remember the last time the pack needed balancing.

<snip>
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Yep, doesn't bother me that much. I noticed on your HXT 4mm harness that it terminates to a funny looking connector that definitely isn't a HXT 4mm :P What is that?
 
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Obviously you can remove the battery if you aren't wanting to use the electric motor, but does the motor and other bits make the bike harder work (resistance and weight).

Basically I'm looking at getting a bike but don't always want to lug the batteries around if I know I'm not going to use it, but would be nice to have the option.
 
Glaucus said:
Obviously you can remove the battery if you aren't wanting to use the electric motor, but does the motor and other bits make the bike harder work (resistance and weight).

Basically I'm looking at getting a bike but don't always want to lug the batteries around if I know I'm not going to use it, but would be nice to have the option.
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I believe the Cyclotricity Stealth is one of the lightest electric bikes you can buy at 19kg but I'm not sure if that is with the battery.
I must admit that when you turn off the electric you know you are cycling something heavier than my other two bikes.

Of course you could buy a very light bike and put something like the Cyclotricity kit on it.
 
Glaucus said:
Basically I'm looking at getting a bike but don't always want to lug the batteries around if I know I'm not going to use it, but would be nice to have the option.
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Just have two bikes - one electric assist and one unpowered - best of both worlds.

I'm about to electrify this:-

IMAG00951_zps7b6c98c6.jpg


with this:-

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/48v-...r-eletric-bicycles-conversion/1259714010.html

Unsure about what I'm going to do with the batteries atm - backpack, big under saddle bag or build a custom enclosure in the triangle - erring on the side of a custom enclosure tbh.
 
amigafan2003 said:
Just have two bikes - one electric assist and one unpowered - best of both worlds.

I'm about to electrify this:-

IMAG00951_zps7b6c98c6.jpg


with this:-

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/48v-...r-eletric-bicycles-conversion/1259714010.html

Unsure about what I'm going to do with the batteries atm - backpack, big under saddle bag or build a custom enclosure in the triangle - erring on the side of a custom enclosure tbh.
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Let me know how you get on, and if you would like some solid advice regarding safety, wiring, gadgets etc add me on Skype (see sig below).

I have been through the whole trial and error learning process already, I went with a hub motor instead of mid-drive though.
I accept that mid drive is better for a pure off-road ebike (especially when you got a full susser), but for just general going to shops and back and some light gravel tracks, a hub motor is quite a bit more reliable.
Pretty much all the electrical bits are very similar though.

There are a number of unexpected ways you can make a big bang, these electric bike batteries pack a huge punch. A short doesn't just makes something get hot, it literally explodes the connector and melts the plastic and metal. I learnt this the hard way and I have burnt my finger before a bit (if I had my finger a bit more further forward, it would be a trip to hospital!) :(
 
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Rich43 said:
I accept that mid drive is better for a pure off-road ebike (especially when you got a full susser), but for just general going to shops and back and some light gravel tracks, a hub motor is quite a bit more reliable.
Pretty much all the electrical bits are very similar though.
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Heh with the roads around here, a hub motor can't even climb the hills.
 
I'm very interested in this.

My route is 17.4KM (10.5 miles) it's not on the flat though

Currently in traffic this would take 55-60 minutes minimum to get there.

I can nearly get there 100% off road (via a forest).

only trouble is I take my 8 year old to school but would love it if he could get one of these bikes too.

Do they exist for kids? I suppose the bike is smaller and considering he's only 30KG the battery wouldn't need to be as strong either?
 
jas72 said:
I'm very interested in this.

My route is 17.4KM (10.5 miles) it's not on the flat though

Currently in traffic this would take 55-60 minutes minimum to get there.

I can nearly get there 100% off road (via a forest).

only trouble is I take my 8 year old to school but would love it if he could get one of these bikes too.

Do they exist for kids? I suppose the bike is smaller and considering he's only 30KG the battery wouldn't need to be as strong either?
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Min age for electric assist is 14 yrs so you only get full size leccy bikes. Of course, you could buy a kit and convert a normal bike - you can even get kits with 20" wheels.
 
pitchfork said:
Get a motorbike, petrol is always better.

All the fun without being a cyclist.
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And then get stuck in the traffic that everybody else is in while me an my bike can go wherever we want.
I beat a work colleague to and from work every day by 10 minutes over a 5 mile commute.
I get to work refreshed with a smile on my face while she gets in moaning every morning about traffic this and parking that.

And that's without mentioning putting the fat back on.
 
Dimple said:
And then get stuck in the traffic that everybody else is in while me an my bike can go wherever we want.
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No you can't, motorbikes can filter in the same way a bicycle can, bicyles are not above going through red lights or obeying the highway code.

Anywhere you can legally go on a bicycle you get go on a motorbike.

Dimple said:
I beat a work colleague to and from work every day by 10 minutes over a 5 mile commute. I get to work refreshed with a smile on my face while she gets in moaning every morning about traffic this and parking that.
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You get into work and need a shower and probably need a change of underpants after nearly being killed by a bus/ lorry you mean? ;)
 
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how much £ would i be looking at to spend to convert an existing bike to electric ? something simple , eg battery , throttle , hub motor ? and what would you buy ? im pretty good mechanically so fitting is not much of a worry

work is 8.5 miles each way , very slight downhill on the way there (which can be pedalled easily without breaking sweat to be fair) but very slight uphill on the way back which is nightmare if youve had a bad shift of manual 'graft' or its windy(its coastal). there would be nowhere at work for me to charge.

noticed the batteries are the biggest cost. what sort of lifespan do you get out of them ?
 
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