Electric bike thread
I am looking to buy one or a conversion kit.
What do you guys think of this?
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/PEDAL-ASSIST-ELECTRIC-BIKE-36V-9Ah-250W-MOTOR-SHIMANO-GEARS-PAS-MTB-BICYCLE-WHT-/111772204476?hash=item1a06247dbc:g:ToAAAOSwuTxV97bs
Ya, sure. Looks OK for a thousand bucks. They will have made harsh compromises to get the price down that far, do not expect the forks, drivetrain, etc to last or perform. For a modest (250w) amount of power I think front wheel drive makes way more sense; enhances traction and stability, simplifies maintenance and design. Front light is nice but a real cut-off reflector light would be more polite and you need something on the back too. Big li-ion battery represents a big part of the total price here, they work great but don't last long. Can you get replacements that will fit in the special downtube?
At this price and power, you're better off converting your existing bike with an electric kit. Front Wheel drive with torque sensor will give you an all wheel drive bike great for loose stuff.
Get a cheap front motor hub from eBay, a downtube battery that attaches to the bottle bosses from aliexpress, and torque sensor, cycle analyst and controller from ebikes.ca
It'll set you back 1000$, but you'll know the kit is quality and the bike is quality (or you can later migrate the kit to a better bike)
>>901596
>polite
>e-bike user
pick one
>>901592
Lazy cunt
>>901643
You'll get your office clothes mucky regardless, can't you change at work?
>>901631
hola my lycra wearing roadie amigo. kill yourself already.
I need an electric bike to get to work in office clothes without breaking a sweat because there are no shower facilities.
Also here is my road bike that destroys yours.
>>901646
hola my lycra wearing roadie amigo. kill yourself already.
I need an electric bike to get to work in office clothes without breaking a sweat because there are no shower facilities.
Also here is my road bike that destroys yours.
>>901648
hahahaha fuck you man it was a good troll. fucked up with the stupid picture
>>901652
Sure m8
>>901648
>>901646
>>901643
>same pic
>same text
>bars
>saddle
>reflectors
jesus christ
>>901610
This.
>>901646
Why have a e-bike that is not also a city bike? You're all worried about sweating in your office duds, but no fenders because 'muh grams'? Unless you are actually climbing mountains with it you might as well go full dutch. Or better yet just get a scooter, you know that's what you really want!
>lol dui bar
>>901648
Looks both fast and comfy
>>901801
It's probably neither
>>901879
ya rly
>>901592
It's not a completely terrible bike, especially for the price. Most ready built electric bikes I see on Ebay (on the UK site at least as that's where I am) at that price are a lot worse (threaded stem, rim brakes, completely worthless suspension forks, basically garbage sub $200 bikes with an electric kit slapped on).
The things that would concern me are the built in battery, although it looks nice and tidy it's small (similar capacity to a bottle battery) and when it dies it's going to be more hassle and likely more expensive to replace. Secondly unless you're only riding on relatively flat terrain and are quite light 250w may not be enough, it's going to suck for climbing hills and going off road.
>>901885
I think the sloping saddle makes you pedal faster and those bars are rotated up for a more comfy upright position
>>901908
>the sloping saddle makes you pedal faster
That's ridiculous. It just moves your body weight forward.
>those bars are rotated up for a more comfy upright position
A slight upwards rotation is a good way to make a drop bar setup comfier, but that specific one is just ridiculous.
can i get arrested for using a electric assist bicycle on the sidewalk even if i am careful not to impede or impact with other pedestrians?
the law is not clear in your country or mine on this matter and what justifications/rulings have you guys heard around your local areas?
>>903160
Here at least riding a bike on the sidewalk is illegal and riding a motorized vehicle on the sidewalk is double illegal, so e-bikes on the sidewalk is triple illegal.
Riding an ebike on the road is also a legal grey area, since as motorized vehicles they teeeechnically need a license to operate but no existing license covers them and no one really gives enough of a shit to make one.
>>903160
Arrested or not, you'd be a dick to do that.
they are really big here in israel
they are pretty good and are bad in rainy weather
they cost 3000-5000 shekels.
This thread got me looking around.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/48v-1500w-26-Front-Wheel-Ebike-Conversion-Kit-Sine-Wave-Controller-LCD3-/331722714032
Would this be a good idea to order to be slapped on an old 90's mtb to cruise around town with little to no effort? Does someone have experience with these kits?
If I could get a battery for cheap (build it myself and burn to death), 500 euros for a mad fast electric bike doesn't sound that bad. How about the weatherproofing on the units, I'd have to guess not too good? Building an enclosure for the electronics won't be hard when necessary, and I already have good ideas as of what would be an appropriate cover for the batteries.
>>903226
I wouldn't want to put 1500W through the front wheel for three reasons, limited traction, bad handling (due to both the weight and FWD sucks), and I wouldn't trust the fork to not snap. Also that's a lot of amps that controller will be pulling from the battery.
I had one like this for several years and it served me well; go for it!
-You might notice the conspicuous absence of mass anywhere in the listing... They don't even want to say how heavy it is because they if they do they think nobody will buy it and they are ashamed. Say hello to your new 60lb bike and think "chrome-molly forks"
-Snug the wheel nuts up super-tight every time, or you'll be looking for some new forks.
-The controller looks ugly with all those dozens of wires sticking out. Pedal sensor, brake sensor, key switch, wheel sensor, obesity sensor, and display head are all total wastes of time. Simple power is all you need this thing to do. Don't bother shopping around; they are all like this. Just open the case and snip off the extraneous wires inside.
-'DIY and burn to death' Li-Po batteries are an excellent idea, if you can find them cheap and understand how to manage them. In colder weather I find Ni-Cad or good 'ol lead is a viable option.
-Weather proofing I never had a problem with. YMMV.
>>903175
Sidewalks make a lot more sense in many situations, where it is dangerous to yourself and others to impede traffic on the road.
I ride my 4kW ebike on sidewalks all the time in my city. Quite slowly if there's any people around... during my commutes the sidewalks are empty and they can be ridden quickly. They also often transition directly into multi-use pathways here.
>>903266
how wide are they? I hate to ride on the side walk. I have a fred friend that hates the road and rides his carbon road bike on the sidewalk at max speed like a fucking moron. cars coming out the drive though or pedestrians coming out will result in a nice crash. Also lots of shitty construction goin on so you get rocks and shit that might throw you off. Really depends on the sidewalk.
>>903282
Mostly 3-4 feet I would guess with some being wider... and most of them have an even wider grass area between it and the road for riding around pedestrians.
Only if you have a long view ahead without blind spots should you be going very fast. You can go fast safely in a lot of cases where there isn't any blind spots, and you are constantly scanning. Always slow down, sometimes wayy down on blind areas.
Assume people will be trying to hit you with their cars, or assume a pedestrian could come around narrow corner areas... don't want to get yourself or anyone else injured, not cool.
My ebike does about 50kph with some headwind and heavy knobby tires, but I still don't want to ride on road with a 70+kph speed limit... so sidewalks it is.
