Buying an electric bike.

[Maluka]

Hey Guys,

I'm new to this web site and this is my first post but any way...

I'm putting together an electric bike in about 2 weeks, long story short I lost my licence for 5 months and i need something to get around on for that time but I also want something that I can use once I get my licence back so here is what I'm thinking of putting together, tell me what u’s think.

e-Lation electric bike conversion kit with the NiMH battery's

Dahon Cadenza Folding Bike

The reason I'm going for a folding bike is so I can pack it in the car and take it wherever I want quickly (30sec folding time), I know that the motor might not quite bolt on just right cos it close to where it folds but i have access to a metal work shop so I can always modify the mounting a bit to get it on.

Also I was looking at the A123 battery's but from what I have read on this web site it might not work out quite right once you put the battery management systems on it.

Also open to other options (new or 2nd hand), need to be able to ride 25km and back with only 2-4 hours charge time inbetween (I realise this is pushing it abit and I will probibly need to buy a 2nd battery pack), I weigh about 90kg (before you call me fat I'll let you know I'm 6'8" ) and I'm trying to spend under $2000, I live in Australia so shipping cost is a factor and I need to bike to look cool as it is for getting to my girl friends house and back.

Looking forward to your comments

 

[redalpha3]

Hey Guys,
Also open to other options (new or 2nd hand), need to be able to ride 25km and back with only 2-4 hours charge time inbetween

Hi Maluka. welcome to the forum. I'm sure you will lets of feedback from the others on the forum but I am happy to give you my two-penn'orth. I have a Dahon Speed TR folding cycle converted to use a Heinzmann Electric Kit using NiMh. On its own the Dahon is a reasonable machine, though if I was a big lad of 6'8" (I'm 5' 6") I would really be uncomfortable. The Heinzmann kit is high quality and efficient but add it to the Dahon and you have the bike from hell! Heavy and damned near impossible to fold due to the weight. On the plus side it will do the 25km required and it will recharge in just over two hours! It looks cool too, sort of, but has a maximum assisted speed of 11 and a half mph due to the 20" wheels. I have no experience with the electric motors you mention and some of the others will be able to help you out there, but I wouldn't recommend that anyone goes down the route of converting a Dahon machine, as I did!

Edit: Oops! Just looked at the Dahon Cadenza. You can safely ignore the above!! Sorry mate!

 

[coops]

Hi Maluka & welcome

I know very little about the kit you propose, so can't really comment on that, the bike looks nice though - hard to believe its a folder! (and I thought a folder might limit your choices...) looks cool too, though its go no wires, motors, batteries etc. on it yet...

Recently its been said here that only a hub motor is really needed for speeds up to say 25km/h and the benefits of a transmission drive are small, if any, so I don't know if that might influence your decision.

The real problem to me of kitting out a bike is where & how to mount the batteries - they're a bit high up on the elation kit, could affect handling? However, unless your motor draws excessive power or is rather inefficient, 25km on 36v 10Ah battery is no trouble, though in hilly terrain you'll need to calculate your range & motor choice with more care . I get a good 33-50km on a sub 3 hour charge with my 36V 9Ah ezee Torq & NiMH battery in fairly flat terrain (I weigh more than you btw!), in hills you could get as little as 25km even with pedalling on a Torq - other bikes better for steep hills will give more range for the same battery, even up to twice that (50km) with pedalling .

Hope thats useful, just ask if you need more information

Stuart.

 

[aaannndddyyy]

Hi Maluka
I have been in a similar situation with a 6 month ban (speeding) just finished end of June , that’s the main reason I moved to eclectic bikes, I put a hienzmann front hub kit on my mountain bike with a 36v 8amp nihm battery which charges in 2 hours, two batteries can be fitted to the rear rack and can be removed with a key quit easily, the motor is 250w which goes at 276 rpm on a 26 inch wheel works out at 14 mph with plenty of toque for the hills 25 km is within the range of one battery as long as you are willing to peddle a little, no hills to speak of where I live, managed to get the bike and kit S\H the bike from ebay and the Kit from this site (Pedeelecs) Total price $500. New price $2600.
Andy

 

[Maluka]

Hey guys,
Thanks for your feed back, in Australia we're restrited to 200watts on the engin other wise it's classed as a motorbike and has to be registered, which is out of the question.

I like the Dahon Cadenza because it looks just like a regular bike and being tall it shouldn't be uncomfortable to ride like some of the other folding bikes would but would the electric engin put any extra strain on the bike folding joints that it wasn't designed for?

But I like the e-Lation system because it take advantage of all the gears on the bike so its got good accelleration and good top speed compared to the hub motors which only have 1 gear (correct me if I'm wrong)

I'm also thinking of making up my own battery pack as the one that comes with the kit maybe too long for the folding frame so I was going to make a more compaced one now i'm pretty sure i could do it as i'm a computer technision and have an understanding of how all the wiring works and done a little bit of wiring when I've had to but I've never actually made some thing from scratch before it's just that there's that little voice saying what if you stuff somthing up, so my question is, is it really that hard to make your own battery pack? and are there any advanages in doing it your self or should i just buy one already done up. Also what parts would I need to make a compleat battery pack?

Also what would be the ideal position for the battery? (I'm guessing lower is better) I was thinking the bar going from the gears to the seat or the bar that goes from the gears to the front forks.

Oh and what type of battery is best? The NiMH looks to be the safe bet but are there any advantages in having LiIon or any other, and if i'm building my own battery pack is it worth looking into the a123 battery's as they apper to be leaps ahead of anything else yet still not at a bad price ($129.00 US for 6x AA size battery's) I know theres been a discussion on the accuacy of there technial claims but that electric bike of there's looked pretty impressive.

Sorry for the rammbleings i'm just trying to get everything down, as all this reaserch I've been doing has only been in the last 4 day's just trying to sort the truth from the exagerations and trying to get a solution on the road as soon as possable.

 

[ITSPETEINIT]

I like the Dahon Cadenza because it looks just like a regular bike and being tall it shouldn't be uncomfortable to ride like some of the other folding bikes would but would the electric engin put any extra strain on the bike folding joints that it wasn't designed for?

But I like the e-Lation system because it take advantage of all the gears on the bike so its got good accelleration and good top speed compared to the hub motors which only have 1 gear (correct me if I'm wrong)

To any one out there (on the Forum).
Is this right? An e-bike whose motor drives thru the gear train?
I'm seriously interested, subject to other considerations.
Peter

 

[coops]

Hi Pete,

The kit has been briefly mentioned here before in the new designs thread, if that helps; somewhere else too I think, in more detail but can't locate it right now will post if I track it down .

The point I made about hub motors being as good as motors that drive through gears for limited bike speeds is made from here on .

Stuart.