Sell Insight to buy E-Bike?

[vskid3]

In case anyone was wondering, the ebike is still doing fine. Only problem is I haven't ridden it to work (or much at all) since February. We moved into a fifth wheel the beginning of March, and while work is about the same distance away, the routes to get there are basically a no go for a bike. The one route that may work adds a few miles, so it could only be done once a day unless I built a quicker charger and/or take a charger to work.
My original motor is still at 600 miles. I haven't swapped the rims yet and I don't see me doing that any time soon. My wife's bike is just shy of 1000 miles. CST Cyclops tires are still doing great, I'll definitely go with them again.

[vskid3]

I'm back in the saddle! After thinking for months that my commute route choices were much longer and/or potentially dangerous, I finally decided to just try it. My new route is only about a mile longer each way than from where I used to live. Hopefully the Prius is going to be almost as neglected as my truck!

My wife's bike broke 1000 miles today! Only issue is the squeaky chain that I need to lube. I have some parts coming that should improve my commute dramatically, should have them within a week.

[veloman]

I'm glad you found an acceptable route. Even the smallest changes can make a difference. Like taking a cut through to avoid a busy intersection.
One of the great things about an ebike is you don't care too much if it's a little longer distance. Often times I wished I had a longer commute while on my ebike, it can be so enjoyable.

[vskid3]

Another late update. The goodies I was waiting on last time were a Cycle Satiator charger so I could charge faster than 2A (without using sketchy, cheap power supplies that would threaten to burn my house down) and a bag that slides onto the rear rack to hold the battery. I also swapped the ebike kit from my wife's bike to mine because after not riding for a while, I realized how terribly her bigger bike fit me.

You can imagine my disappointment when I ride the bike and it scares the crap out of me with how unstable it is. The rear hub motor plus the battery on the rear rack make it very easy to get it wobbling at speed. I think it's worse than my original setup with the same configuration because this rack and/or bag don't hold the battery as securely. Now I'm just going to go back to the battery in a backpack. I'm getting a smaller assault pack style backpack that has a main pocket just bigger than the battery. My other backpack is much larger and I had to have the battery inside of a larger box to keep it from just laying in the very bottom of the bag. Smaller bag should be much easier to tighten up to keep everything moving with me, be easier to store at home and work, and have more usable storage.

Hopefully I'll be back to riding next week, just in time to have to put the bar mitts back on. Current dream is a full suspension frame built for an ebike like this. Massive battery storage inside the frame will swallow even my big battery. Only issue is the $500 for the frame balloons to $1500 easy to deck it out, and that's even using my existing battery and motor kit. We'll see what my commute ends up like after I move next year.

[sendler]

$500 is a really great price for a nice frame like that. Maybe you can find a good used fork on ebay.

[veloman]

You can usually find old full suspension bikes on craigslist for less than $300. A lot of the older ones have substantial space in the main triangle. I have a '96 Specialized FSR Ground Control which has the same triangle space as a road bike. 2.5" rear travel.
Check this thread: https://endless-sphere.com/forums/vi...2056&hilit=fsr

The EM3EV frame is pretty cool though.

[vskid3]

Don't tempt me, guys. :P I've spent enough on ebike stuff, I need to make do with what I have and put many more miles on it before I can seriously start looking at major upgrades.

Craigslist in my area consists of used Walmart bikes being sold for $100 and carbon frame full suspension bikes for several grand. Very little in between or much cheaper than new. I'm also short, and it would take a big frame to hold my battery in the triangle.

I could probably scavenge almost all the components to outfit the EM3EV frame from my bike except for the rear shock, but I would like to still have a normal bike if my ebike was that crazy.

[Grant-53]

I am building a bike using the Next frame from Walmart and better wheels. You may want to try front low rider rack and panniers on the front wheel at some point.

[sendler]

The Genesis V2100 for $150 seems to be the popular starting point for a cheap ebike build on endless-sphere right now.
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26" Genesis V2100 Men's Mountain Bike with Full Suspension, Available in 4 Colors - Walmart.com
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[vskid3]

I feel like the V2100 wouldn't be much cheaper to outfit than the EM3EV frame. A lot of guys put a different swingarm on them and the fork is just a Walmart level fork. It looks like the triangle wouldn't fit my battery because of the rear shock. It's also pretty tall for me. Would be a pretty good bike to start with, though, plenty of upgradability while being cheap to start with.

I got this backpack for the battery. Main pocket seems like it was made for my battery and the other pockets are quite spacious. Ebike felt great to ride with the battery in this bag. I still have to work on getting the straps adjusted just right, but it feels much more secured to me than my other backpack. I'm going to cover the controller in the triangle with coroplast tomorrow to make it a little more stealthy/less bomb-looking, then I'll post some pics of the bike and bag.