tentative "virgin"

Hi Im wanting an ebike but live in hilly sheffield. The usual fears im afraid. New technology and constant change/better tech etc. Have arthritis so could do with help up hills and worried about running out of energy and power with a heavy bike etc. Im a biker(motorbikes) and so have reservations of going slow! Tried a few at the NEC recently. One was cool- actually went about 25mph woo! but not bad for a pushbike! It looked like a m bike a bit too. cant rem. what it was tho- the girls on the stand looked hot tho!!lol

Fancy a DIY (im quite good at it) and have £900 from my last bike sell. Reluctant to part with the cash but a really good set up - that i could sample first on hills might persuade me. Can you help/persuade me to go for it? Cheers. Chip

Have a look here:

http://www.pedelecs.co.uk/forum/electric-bike-reviews/9467-giant-bafang-bpm.html

Also, have a look at Scotty's early posts, where he shows how he built his.

My thoughts today are that the front BPM motor is safer as long as you make some torque arms. It gives much better handling and balance. A 20aH Ping battery on the rear gives you a range up to 60 miles and makes any journey effortless. Total cost would be £500-£600 plus donor bike. There's no bike on the market that'll give you this performance anywhere near that price. Many people like the idea of having a powerful ebike, but I've found that as soon as you go over 1000w, a converted normal bike becomes unmanageable and unenjoyable. This power will give you about 20mph on the flat and climb any hill. Ebikes are not like motorbikes. They have skinny tyres and some of the motor's can make more torque than a motorbike. Remember that these bikes aren't legal.