Newcomer to pedelec,

[Rod Fuller]

What a great Forum. I live in Farnborough N Hampshire and recently clocked up 12 points, hence my interest in pedelecs. I found this site mentioned in one of the sale notices in ebay.

From what I have seen there are external motors, or hub motors either in the front or the rear wheel.
I would prefer a disc brake in the front as this does most work, but having a front hub motor with batteries at the back would give better weight distribution,
My ideal would be a trike with hub motors in each rear wheel.
To be realistic thoughts so far are an off road bike for its strength and looks, .a mountain type bike with sprung rear frame and front forks, frame to contain the batteries in a lockable compartment, disc brakes on both wheels if possible and a rear pannier for shopping etc
The motor a 1000w motor, but in which wheel, ( unless someone can convince me that an external motor is the way to go). The controller is obviously important, I assume that each type of motor has its appropriate controller.
Range is important, about 50 miles total would seem to be desirable.

Any thoughts would be appreciated, love driving miss the car already after 5 days.

 

[KirstinS]

Welcome Rod,

We there are a couple of questions and things to consider here

1) You can get hub drives (front or back) and mid drives (aka chain drives). The chain drive versions tend to be a bit lighter and uses whatever gears your bikes has. So great if you have lots of steep hills to climb and/or are a heavier person

2) 1000w is completley illegal on the road. You may not care about this but i must point it out. Given your current situtation you may well wish to be whiter than white


3) What weight are you? Whats your terrain like ? Will you be doing serious offroading ?

4) Whats your budget


Are you technical/electrical/mechanically minded? You can buy conversion kits or you can go off the peg with warranties


I'll await your responses but I'm guessing you dont need 1000w - there are plenty of legal bikes with enough power for most people. You probrably dont need rear suspension either. Good ones are pricey are only needed for true downhill offroading. Cheap ones just make you bike inefficient IMHO

 

[flecc]

I'll just add to the KirstinS post that the 250 watt legal rating is a nominal figure. The actual maximum power is far greater, typically around 400 to 500 watts with some motors a lot higher. The way in which the EU law is specified allows considerable flexibility in this respect.

There are legal motors which can cope with almost any circumstance.
.

 

[Kudoscycles]

Rod,there is no substitute for going to a good dealer who has a good choice of bikes....the London Electric Bike Company of Hamton Wick is about 25 miles from you,mainly M3,easy if you have a car but I am sure you don't want to be reminded.
If you want a serious off-road bike with rear suspension,the Haibike is good but expensive. LEBC have just taken delivery of the 2015 KTM bikes,hard tail ,Bosch crank drive,good value at £1600.00. They also have the full range of Kudos MTB and commuter e-bikes,the Kudos Tornado is particularly good value at £1095.00,it has the powerful BPM motor.
There are over 40 e-bikes there to test,a nice 4 km test route in Bushy Park,part of Hampton Court Palace,it's a nice day out on a nice day.
Hope that helps
KudosDave

 

[Deleted member 4366]

Sorry to break your dream, but 50 miles with 1000w isn't really going to work. You'd need a massive battery. If you're really good at DIY, you could make it work, but it would be a lot easier if you set your sights a bit lower.

 

[Wander]

I live in Farnborough N Hampshire

To be realistic thoughts so far are an off road bike for its strength and looks, .a mountain type bike with sprung rear frame and front forks, frame to contain the batteries in a lockable compartment, disc brakes on both wheels if possible and a rear pannier for shopping etc

If you are in Farnborough give martin@e-bikeshop.co.uk in Farnham a ring. He doesn't do 1000W monsters however you may be pleasantly surprised with what is on offer.

Top hint, ring him first & make an appointment rather than just rocking up! I know he gets really busy & if you make an appointment he'll devote some considerable time to you & talk you through the range he stocks.

 

[Rod Fuller]

If you are in Farnborough give martin@e-bikeshop.co.uk in Farnham a ring. He doesn't do 1000W monsters however you may be pleasantly surprised with what is on offer.

Top hint, ring him first & make an appointment rather than just rocking up! I know he gets really busy & if you make an appointment he'll devote some considerable time to you & talk you through the range he stocks.

Thank you all for your replies
There seems to be so many options
OK I accept my total range was too high, 20 miles total return would be ok.

I cannot decide which type of motor is best, the hub drives look neat, if in the front wheel does the gyro affect upset steering? If fitted in the rear wheel does this make the back end too heavy with its rear mounted battery pack?
The mid mounted external motors and hence good cooling, driving the chain? Pros & cons? 0ne apparent advantage is driving through bikes gears.
Perhaps I should just buy one, or modify my all sprung mountain bike.
Rod Fuller

 

[Wander]

Everyone has different opinions.

You might be overthinking it though. Once you have ridden an e-bike 90% of your queries will be answered!

What's your budget?

 

[Rod Fuller]

Everyone has different opinions.

You might be overthinking it though. Once you have ridden an e-bike 90% of your queries will be answered!

What's your budget?

Think you are right, as I said before,I should just buy one, budget 350 6to 400..

 

[Kudoscycles]

Rod,am I correct that your budget is £300 to £400?
I think you are going to be disappointed with the spec of bike that you will get on such a low budget. There are some offers around of last years models at about £700-£800 but to get a bike to meet your requirements you are going to spend £1000 upwards,a soft tail Haibike is £2k upwards.
Remember even the cheapest 10 Ah battery is average £200,motor n electrics about £150,it doesn't leave much to build the bike. The cheapest Bosch crank drive motor bike is the KTM ,about £1600.
Even old 24v bikes with old technology motors will be plus £400,they won't meet your range and requirements.
KudosDave

 

[flecc]

Seconding what KudosDave has said, even second hand prices are usually over your budget for what you require. Other than the motor you've asked for the following:

"off road bike for its strength and looks, .a mountain type bike with sprung rear frame and front forks, frame to contain the batteries in a lockable compartment, disc brakes on both wheels if possible and a rear pannier for shopping etc"

The Woosh Zephyr B at £899 plus a carrier attachment for panniers at about £12 is the only one from either of Kudos or Woosh, the main suppliers of moderately priced e-bikes, that mostly meets your specification.

If you drop the idea of having rear suspension and go for a hardtail, the range of choice will be much greater, but still over your budget. The Woosh Scirocco at £585 is as close as I can see that matches what you want but without rear suspension.

With both you'll need to buy the panniers separately.
.

 

[RobF]

Wise words from flecc and Kudos Dave - so they should be, both know an awful lot about ebikes from differing perspectives.

Your budget would just about get you a cheap hub kit and battery which you could fit to your full sus bike.

 

[flapajack]

Think you are right, as I said before,I should just buy one, budget 350 6to 400..

time to start practicing your cycle proficiency again and wait until your point clears up? :

 

[Rod Fuller]

Hi guys
I would not consider buying a bike for £3k to £4k, ridiculous prices!
I am looking at second hand machines, or modifying my mountain bike with front and rear suspension, umpteen gears and a disc bake on the front wheel.
Unfortunately no room between the cross bars for batteries,but these could be located low down in a pannier type arrangement.
Wheel with motor and controller about £200, battery £200 to £300 QED?
Rod.

 

[trex]

you are correct. Woosh sell the BPM kit without battery for £200, including postage. Buy a 36V 10AH battery on ebay / Kudos for £200 and you've got yourself a useable e-bike.

 

[Rod Fuller]

One last question, I hope! germaladen are offering several hub motor kits,, they all look very similar. If I chose a 1000W rear hub is it obvious it is greater than 250W, and how many forum members are using 250 plus?

 

[Wicky]

http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=66212

This is what a 1500w looks like but as already mentioned a 1000w would be illegal to use on the road (esp without a licence!), plus have a more limited range compared to a more law abiding 250w equipped bike.

One last question, I hope! germaladen are offering several hub motor kits,, they all look very similar. If I chose a 1000W rear hub is it obvious it is greater than 250W, and how many forum members are using 250 plus?

 

[Alan Quay]

One last question, I hope! germaladen are offering several hub motor kits,, they all look very similar. If I chose a 1000W rear hub is it obvious it is greater than 250W, and how many forum members are using 250 plus?

Most of these 1000w hub drives are direct (not geared) and large.

One of the best rear hub drives is the Bafang BPM, or CST. Both come in 500w format, and have plenty enough torque for steep hills and heavy loads. You'll need a big battery (15-20ah) in order to supply the 20-30a that the motor requires.

If you want lots of power you need to up the budget I'm afraid. £600 is closer to the mark.

 

[trex]

those 1000/1500W motors are direct drive, perfect for longevity and silent running but no match for BPM for climbing hills. Plus, they are heavy and consume a lot of battery.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

To clear up one point, you can't really put a motor of more than 350W in the front wheel unless you have strong steel forks. The 1000W motors still require big batteries if you want to go 20 miles. You will find out that big batteries are difficult to fit. You don't want one on a rear rack if you have a heavy 1000w DD motor in the back wheel. The cheapest 500w geared motor kits with a battery would set you back about £600 and would give you a cruising speed of about 20 mph. You can get a more powerful MAC kit from Em3ev.com, but you'd be looking at £1000.or more

If you want front and rear suspension, a BBS02 mid drive kit would be a good choice, but again you need a big battery if you want to sustain a high speed, and there's been lots of controller failures from people that ran theirs to the maximum. Also, you get horrible crunching gear changes, which soon becomes annoying.

Everything has an upside and a downside. You have to find your own way through the maze. There's no ideal solution either. They all work, but not always how you want.