Making an electric bicycle (looking for advice)

[elhigh]

I know it's running on dead dinosaurs, but there's lots of bike engines, too. The upside of them is most deliver over 150mpg. Some are also terrifyingly fast: over 40mph with the right gearing.

Also try Googling "Dave's Insane-a-cycle", a homebuilt jobbie that breaks 50mph with an Etek motor. It destroys about two chains a year, if the writer is to be believed, and I think he is.

[NoCO2]

Yea, 40+ mph on a bike is a bit scary. I have the road bike I do because I used to do distance cycling in high school and on one of my routes there was a hill that could propel me to speeds approaching 45mph if I helped out gravity in my highest gear ratio.

P.S. thanks for fixing the link for me, I was wondering what was going on. Also, it appears you have to be a wholesaler to get it right from wildernessenergy so I did a google search and found an online retailer. Is there any real advantage for the brushless versus brushed motors? I know that the brushes have to be replaced occasionally, but considering I know how to replace electric motor brushes from my experience with RC cars I can't justify the price difference unless there is a performance increase. The replacement brushes are only like $10.

[Lazarus]

Originally Posted by NoCO2

Also, it appears you have to be a wholesaler to get it right from wildernessenergy so I did a google search and found an online retailer. Is there any real advantage for the brushless versus brushed motors? I know that the brushes have to be replaced occasionally, but considering I know how to replace electric motor brushes from my experience with RC cars I can't justify the price difference unless there is a performance increase. The replacement brushes are only like $10.

If you shop around online you can find a deal. My understanding is that the brushed motor provides more torque and not as much speed but the range is reduced. But for a five mile commute it probably won't matter. Putting this setup on a road bike fork you need to be careful and not break the fork with the torque the motor provides. You also need 10 mm spacing on the fork and most newer bikes are 9mm. I only engage the motor once up to speed which also lengthen the usable distance.

When you look for these kits check the controller and batteries. Some come with a 36 amp controller and 12v 7amh batteries. Some kits have 50 amp and 12v 12amh batterries which means more speed and more range.

[NoCO2]

I was looking at the 40amp version of the kit with the 36v battery pack. I think I'll probably go with the brushed model because I don't have a problem replacing brushes occasionally and I didn't know it needed 10mm...that will cause some problems, I may need to hit up the local thrift store for a good used mountain bike and convert it to have road tires or something.

[bennelson]

I used an electric bike kit from Golden Motor.

Have been pretty happy with it. I think it was a little cheaper when I bought mine.

In a lot of states, electric bikes are supposed to go no faster than 20 MPH under their own power. So a lot of manufacturers design them to go that speed.

My cheap frame didn't have any suspension on it. Pretty scary when I would get it over 30 mph going downhill.

People also didn't expect me to be going that fast on a granny-cycle. Cars would pull out right in front of me all the time.

That's a big part of what led to me doing the electric motorcycle - suspension and street cred.

Electric bikes are fun - definately do it!

[NoCO2]

Awesome site bennelson! I just bookmarked it. I like that they have a rear wheel version and that their 500W version is as much as the 400W version at the other site. I'm going to keep looking to see if I can't do better then that, but the rear wheel kit is really what I want, I hate those front mounted motors.

[NoCO2]

Ok, just some quick questions.

I'm looking at that most recent site, the goldenmotor.com site. Here are my questions:

What is "pedelec" option I see that I can get?
What is the difference between their "standard controller" and their "Regen Braking Controller"?

[MetroMPG]

Pedelec requires the rider to be pedaling in order for the controller to send the juice to the motor.

I don't know the details of Golden's approach, but some e-bikes (BionX comes to mind) actually measure rider effort (strain gauges?) and motor output changes in tandem (nice pun!) with the rider.

Regen causes the motor to act as a generator under braking, which puts some electrical energy back into the battery when slowing down. Since bike riders in general don't use their brakes nearly as much as hybrid car drivers do, I'd question spending more to get an e-bike with regen.

[NoCO2]

ok cool, that more or less helps me there. the regen would be good if a lot was downhill but here it's pretty flat so i don't see it giving any real advantages.

[Ryland]

I have a motor from Electric Rider choosing the Phoenix Cruser, and am extreamly happy with it, it's beefy, and gives a solid push when you hit the throttle, the person who owns the insane a cycle apparently works for electric rider, a friend has the same phoenix motor on a cat trike and is able to pull a bob trailer full of produce up hills at 25mph, we both have the 36v DeWalt lithium battery packs, best price I found was on Ebay for around $100 each new, but the price is slowly droping, and they have a warenty.
I've talked to other people who bought motors from goldenmotor.com and liked them, untill they rode other electric bikes.
I also used to own a ZAP electric bike kit... still own it in fact for 14 years, it still works, 12mph for about 10 miles, everything still works it just needs a new battery, I might be willing to sell it.