Electric Bikes - Are these hub kits any good? $285 shipped brushless

found these
http://www.ampedbikes.com

Seems to be a good deal for USA.
But you have to provide you own battery.

Looks like the GoldenMotor.com kit. You might want to check that site out. I have no idea whether they are any good or not. I'm curious also.

thanx.. Still looking for more information

I ordered one. I'll let you all know how it goes. I read that they are pretty much the same as higher end Crystalytes..

Thx for all the info here guys!

Did you get your kit up and going yet. Curious as to what you think about it.

i thought about this too
once you get a battery shipped to you, it ain't too far from a $500 Crystalyte
so it seems the pricing is similar to most places
at times, a suitable NiMH would go for around $200+

Hi.. The reason I did not buy the crystalyte is because the $500 model is not brushless..

Brushless motors are about 30% more efficient than brushed motors giving me 30% more milage. For the exact same brushless 26" kit I bought from ampedbikes for $299 it would cost $1000 or more from Crystalyte for the same setup.

So heres the scoop.. I recieved my kit on Friday I installed it that night it took an hour longer than the 20 minutes the website claims but I havent been able to stay off of it since! It does around 27 mph and pulls me up hills like a billygoat!

So I paid total of $340 for the 36v 500W kit then I bought lithium batteries from fox batteries another $350. I couldnt be happier! This is the most fun I have had in ages. The lithium batteries give me a range with slight pedaling of about 50 miles I havent tried to see how far I could go without pedaling at all but I would imagine about 25-30 miles, the lithium batteries are very efficient.

I would post pictures but I dont know how

Anyways thanks for the forum:)

Great if you could post photos of your ebike.

For posting photo files:
1) Click "Manage Attachment"
2) An small window pops up. Choose your photo file from your own computer.
3) Click "Upload" and it is done.

BikeFreaks,

Please tell about Fox Batteries. Where? How?

Hi.. The reason I did not buy the crystalyte is because the $500 model is not brushless..

Brushless motors are about 30% more efficient than brushed motors giving me 30% more milage. For the exact same brushless 26" kit I bought from ampedbikes for $299 it would cost $1000 or more from Crystalyte for the same setup.

So heres the scoop.. I recieved my kit on Friday I installed it that night it took an hour longer than the 20 minutes the website claims but I havent been able to stay off of it since! It does around 27 mph and pulls me up hills like a billygoat!

So I paid total of $340 for the 36v 500W kit then I bought lithium batteries from fox batteries another $350. I couldnt be happier! This is the most fun I have had in ages. The lithium batteries give me a range with slight pedaling of about 50 miles I havent tried to see how far I could go without pedaling at all but I would imagine about 25-30 miles, the lithium batteries are very efficient.

I would post pictures but I dont know how

Anyways thanks for the forum:)
You went Li-Ion for <$700?
Crystalyte NiMH is already $1000!
Could you imagine Crystalyte Li-Ion?! Easily Double $700!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

w00t!

Yeah I did alot of research before buying. I already knew about Brushless VS Brushed motors. But I talked to an old timer that has been dealing with these kits for a long time and he said they were all made in the same town in China, I dont know if this is true or not but all the designs are the same all the way down to the speed controller.

Anyways this is where I found the batteries.
Foxx LiFePo4 36v10a Pak w/Cheetah charger & BMS SHIPPED $362.00
http://www.atenenergy.biz/Foxx%20Specs.htm
Have to contact them, you can also order the 36V 20ah but they are $674 ea shipped w charger.
So far the batteries are great! Incredibly light supposedly they are as good as Sealed Lead Acid 20Ah because of the BMS (battery management system).

I will get some pics in the morning.. Dont expect to see a super cycle or anything lol I just threw it on an old Mtn Bike

Yeah I did alot of research before buying. I already knew about Brushless VS Brushed motors. But I talked to an old timer that has been dealing with these kits for a long time and he said they were all made in the same town in China, I dont know if this is true or not but all the designs are the same all the way down to the speed controller.

Anyways this is where I found the batteries.
Foxx LiFePo4 36v10a Pak w/Cheetah charger & BMS SHIPPED $362.00
http://www.atenenergy.biz/Foxx%20Specs.htm
Have to contact them, you can also order the 36V 20ah but they are $674 ea shipped w charger.
So far the batteries are great! Incredibly light supposedly they are as good as Sealed Lead Acid 20Ah because of the BMS (battery management system).

I will get some pics in the morning.. Dont expect to see a super cycle or anything lol I just threw it on an old Mtn Bike

That sounds like a good deal for those batteries, BMS and charger. Have you got them already? 'Hope the guy asking about 36v 10Ah lithium sees that link...

How good is this for weather? Rain Storms? Snow?
And is it bad to connect, and disconnect the battery from the bike daily? As in a commute situation, where I would take the battery with me? Thanks!

Is there a power on/off switch on the controller?

Also, is there a second on/off emergency switch on the handlebar? What would happen when you hit it? Does it cause an electric discharge that locks the hub? :eek:

Is it a pedal start?

ha no its weatherproof, I havent taken it swimming but I did wash it lol.

Yes I take it into work to charge the pack everyday it has a plug so it doesnt wear out or anything.

Yes it starts as soon as you twist the throttle and no nothing locks up.

sorry I did not reply sooner. I have been riding home from work, then riding til dark and coming home tired, but seeing alot of new places and having more fun than I have had in years.

Its wierd how a simple thing like this can change your whole outlook on things.

ha no its weatherproof, I havent taken it swimming but I did wash it lol.

Yes I take it into work to charge the pack everyday it has a plug so it doesnt wear out or anything.

Yes it starts as soon as you twist the throttle and no nothing locks up.

sorry I did not reply sooner. I have been riding home from work, then riding til dark and coming home tired, but seeing alot of new places and having more fun than I have had in years.

Its wierd how a simple thing like this can change your whole outlook on things.

You have me grinning ear to ear here - just pleased to see how happy you are with the kit. Fifty miles is an excellent range. I wonder if I could get hold of these things here in the UK? Sounds like you're having outstanding fun for a moderate amount of money.

bikefreaks...

i think it's great that you came up with that combination of battery and motor.

I live 16 miles from where I work and I am hoping to buy a motor and batteries to make the trip, rather than going on pedal power the whole way (which I don't feel up to doing every day) or driving. I want to buy the foxx batteries and the goldenmotor.com kit. We will see how it turns out for me.

The listed price on ampedbikes.com is now $340 after shipping, not $285.

Dunno if he still reads bf.net but bikefreaks, can you tell me how long it took before you got your fox batteries from Aten Energy? Thanks!

Yeah I did alot of research before buying. I already knew about Brushless VS Brushed motors. But I talked to an old timer that has been dealing with these kits for a long time and he said they were all made in the same town in China, I dont know if this is true or not but all the designs are the same all the way down to the speed controller.

yes, i also have one of these kits, the hub is a different color but all other components in the kit are identical to the one you bought. i got it local (New Zealand) for $NZ500 ($US370) including 36v SLA pack and it goes great. I do find the rim a bit low in quality, but hey..........

I am seriously considering this GoldenMotor.com kit. I've been researching electric bikes for a few days now and have a few questions here.

It says 500W 36Volt Motor. 500W seems like a decent number to me. If I would match this up with a 48 Volt battery pack, would this get me to 35mph or so and would the motor and controller handle it? The controller says it is intelligent..
Would it have good range? Also, would the lithium batteries from atenenergy.biz plug right into the controler, nothing else needed? I'm beginning to think this is the right kit for me.

Awesome! What kind of quality is the rim/spokes? It is interesting...all of these things come from China but I cannot buy any of them here :( I can only buy a 350 watt/48 volt motor, nothing faster and the quality of these things is questionable. I need to find a place where I can buy "export quality" for these things. Would you mind sharing the name of the city where it is made?

On the goldenmotor.com forums, some people are reporting serious quality problems with goldenmotor.com's motors (ones that were shipped outside of Asia).

See the forum, http://www.goldenmotor.com/SMF

Yup, that's where buying from ampedbikes.com has it's advantages. Being in the US you get your stuff a lot faster then if it's shipped from China (goldenmotor.com), and if something's wrong you get better/faster service.

Can I get a welcome wave? :)

I'm amazed at all the postings I see about people's frustrations in communicating with Golden Motors. I think GM's English is very poor, but mainly they don't want to step on their distributors toes. Ampedbikes looks like a good guy to buy from. Another way to buy these kits is to go to golden motors home page and click on their Distributors Link. They have 5 around the world. In fact, it seems like their Canadian distributor has an incredible price - so good I'm gonna buy two. $179 plus 40 shipping !! I'm not affiliated with anyone, just been researching ebikes for 2 months now, gas, electric, hub, complete bike, too many damn choices! but after the great reviews above I know which way I'm going for my first one. thanks bikefreaks !

Holy smokes, the canadian distributor for golden is selling at $209 CAD, shipped? If only I had gotten such a deal!



Can I get a welcome wave?

No. I can't find a "wave" icon, this will have to do. :beer: welcome!



Also, would the lithium batteries from atenenergy.biz plug right into the controler, nothing else needed?
My guess is they wouldn't. My battery (which i bought from Yesa (http://www.yesa.com.cn) through ebay) didn't come with a connector for the battery wires, just a negative and positive wire ready to be crimped/soldered into a connector. I suspect that if you buy your batteries and motor from separate suppliers they usually will not come with matching connectors already attached, because there doesn't seem to be any standard connector type for these sorts of batteries.

I emailed the Canadian dealer for goldenmotor asking a few questions. However they told me that they do not ship to the US. This is too bad, there prices are outstanding.
Has anyone else bought this motor? and if so where?

thx jim.....

Me and my friend have a goldenmotor kit bought from a distributor. They work very well.

I'm looking at getting the AmpedBike electric conversion set, I don't know if BikeFreak is still checking this site, I didn't catch how many batteries he purchased from Fox Batteries and I'm wondering how long they project the batteries will hold a charge?(how often they'll need to be replaced/recycled) I'm so so so ready to bike electrically! the only thing preventing me from biking everywhere is the fact that it wears me out and gets me down.

PS Can I get a wave? New to the site :) any Minnesota Bikers here?

Oh also I found these at Batteries Plus... any thoughts on if they'd be good at least as a "starter" battery pack?
http://www.batteriesplus.com/p-30294-power-sonic-12v-12ah-agm-battery-with-250-terminal.aspx

I don't think I'll be carrying mine up and down the stairs too much.. Hmm but I'd be worried to leave my bike on my school campus chained up with batteries on the back, maybe I'll bring my bike to the classroom lol. so how many of the big heavy batteries(the batteries plus ones) would I need? I'm not sure how to do any of this, I actually thought for some reason that the brushless motor from ampedbikes.com was for the front tire... could I put it in front? I sound like such a noob jeez

I don't think I'll be carrying mine up and down the stairs too much.. Hmm but I'd be worried to leave my bike on my school campus chained up with batteries on the back, maybe I'll bring my bike to the classroom lol. so how many of the big heavy batteries(the batteries plus ones) would I need? I'm not sure how to do any of this, I actually thought for some reason that the brushless motor from ampedbikes.com was for the front tire... could I put it in front? I sound like such a noob jeez

I personally found that SLA is the best option if you just want to leave it on your bike. My old pack was so massively heavy that the one time someone apparently *did* try to cart it away, they took it off the bike and got about 3 feet with it before giving up. Anyone with half a brain will realize that a bundle of lead isn't a hot thieving prospect, its well, a bundle of lead.

ohhh okay gosh I need to read more, lol I'm not used to reading so many threads, you've got the canadian motorhub right karma?... I thought you had the ampedbikes one (even though they're similar)... I was confused because the ampedbikes kit is for the front tire(your pics show a rear mounted hub). I'm glad you guys are patient and understand my confusion. So clamp them down in the back, 3 cells, replace rear rim... oh yeah and save up some money! lol the only thing standing in my way, along with 25degree temps,
**little off topic but hey, karma you live in Canada right? I'm in Minnesota so it's cold here too, do you just bundle up extra warm when you ride during winter? gloves, face mask etc? any tips or tricks for braving the cold?

Ya... I made the same mistake as well. Rear hub is much better IMHO..

Why do you think the rear is better? I've never been on a bike front or rear powered so I'm open to all opinions.

Why do you think the rear is better? I've never been on a bike front or rear powered so I'm open to all opinions.

With a rear hub you have the benefit of using your gears as well to ramp up your speed. With a front hub and a steep incline or sandy surface your front tire is asier to break loose. Just some of what I have read. I've never been on a bike front or rear powered either. I'm new to this concept as well and just starting to research it so I am also open to any other ideas as well... Also you can set the degree of assist with the BionX because it monitors the stress and kicks in as needed. I'm not sure how that would work with a front hub. :)

those bionx electic bike kits look really cool! For me they are out of the question though because I can't afford a kit of $1000+ and those kits are expensive. As a starving college kid I'll probably have to go with a less expensive front mounted hub from ampedbikes.com, oh well, I'm pretty agile on a bike so breaking loose may not be as much of an issue... who knows lol. the sooner I save up the sooner I'll fill you in on what I get.. How soon till you take the plunge in to electric biking? Hope to join you soon! I saw all the snowy cars in my neighborhood today and I thought, "Wouldn't it be great if we all had electric bikes?" Imagine! we'd all be healthier, happier, richer(cars are expensive!), and our environment would be healthier too! shucks I'm ranting.

I've installed both my "FRONT" hub motor and battery pack and been testing them for about 2 weeks.

After a few reconfigurations i have it set perfect for me. I used a lunch box cooler, the one with the plastic liner. In the front of the cooler is a small zipper pouch, this is where i installed the controller. I was worried about heat disapation so i unzip it when i travel, but found when i forgot to do this i found that it wasn't even warm.

The batteries are from a dealer on fleebay in China. I have to say that he is extremly professional and replied to my endless emails quickly ( i will be using him again soon). They are 36V 10ah lifepo4 and weigh in at 7.5lbs. I had some SLA's but i will never go back to them. I wired in a regular electric wall on/off switch and an automotive 30amp fuse (which i blew the first time when i wired it backwards). I unplug my battery pack (that looks like a bomb by the way) and put it in my backpack that also holds my real lunch and catch the train.

I also have a cyclometer and it shows i average 21mph no pedaling on a flat surface. My commute is 3 miles in morning to load it on the metro bus. Then my way home i do 13 miles. Now after a few charges and discharges i never use over 33% of charge.

I was trying to build an Ebike that doesn't look like an Ebike. Take a look at the attachment and let me know what u think. I just want to blend in with all the other bikes, that is till there is a strong head wind and i blow past them!:eek:

jim...................

His name is "Ping", email address - pingping227@hotmail.com

Here is an active link for one of his auctions - http://cgi.ebay.com/36V-18AH-Electric-Scooter-E-Bike-Li-Fe-LiFePO4-Battery_W0QQitemZ220190247604QQihZ012QQcategoryZ75210QQcmdZViewItem

I see that the prices are rising due to the excellent feedback he is getting. I sent him an email asking for the size and shape for the pack and to also make it a Buy Now.

jim....

good find Jim124!!! I think I'll go with a LiFePO4 battery when I get my bike set up... where do you live? How often do you charge??

I live down in South Florida. So there isn't too much snow to contend with :)

I only charge once a day. I plug it in at around 8:00 pm, it charges for a couple of hours hard, then it trickle charges the rest of the night till i unplug it at4:30-5:00. There is no way that i'll go back to lead, these are way better than sliced bread.

I contemplating picking up another hub motor kit and battery pack so as to make a backup bike. Still alot cheaper than buying another car for the house.

How about 10 people pr so get together and commit to buying the kits and packs so as to get a bulk rate discount?

jim..........

Lucky Floridian! That's a brilliant idea getting a group discount. I want my friend to get one but he wants a little Scooter thing Honda makes it gets like 120mpg but using any gas still sucks. I'll work on convincing him. and I have some more hippie friends (like me) who enjoy exercise and being kind to our environment so they should be willing thanks for all the input everyone :)

I have just fitted a Goldenmotor 36v 500W rear with regen. Here are my observations, for what they're worth.

1) Ditch the tyre (it's a shocker) - probably the rim too although with a bit of tweaking mine is acceptable.
2) Check your wiring carefully - whoever lashes up the cables doesn't worry too much about convention so I used voltmeter to check the inputs/outputs first. Everything was OK, but there was a lot of transposition of +ive and -ve going on (although it always balanced out).
3) The hub pulls like a train :)
4) 3 x 12V lead acids and a hub on the back wheel makes for some interesting bike handling when your not sat on it.
5) Not sure about the regen. It brakes fine, but sometimes that is a pain - if you are trying to signal a right turn without slowing for example. I think I would have preferred a freewheel.
6) The regen limits your top speed.
7) The hub size fits 130mm forks with no problem.
8) First trip - 16 km (10 miles) + hills - Full power all the way and still juice left when I got home.
9) err...
10) That's it.

Happy to answer any queries.

I think the best deal on the net is to check out the refurbished wilderness energy models. I got the 600watt brushless hub w/extended battery pack from werelectrified for $329 +$20 shipping works great. There is a link to it on www.ebikehub.com (http://www.ebikehub.com) (check under bike kits)

there is no heatzinc past on the bar the mossfets are screwed to and the heat willnot transfer to the case. easy fix take the side screws out slide the board out add heat zinc compound slap it back together. it will prolong the life of your investment.[/SIZE]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlM06GYv69o

cheers

Thanks for that - I'm having a look at it today. I have also made a battery carrier from two reusable shopping bags and suspended the 3 sla from the cross bar with velcro straps - it has made a big difference to the handling and feel (especially when walking it about) at a total cost of $2. The bags even have 'Green and environmentally friendly' stamped on them so I can feel holier than thou:D

edit: checked - mine and had zinc paste on the heat sink and proper support posts ~ sounds like yours was made on a Friday afternoon :)

His name is "Ping", email address - pingping227@hotmail.com

Here is an active link for one of his auctions - http://cgi.ebay.com/36V-18AH-Electric-Scooter-E-Bike-Li-Fe-LiFePO4-Battery_W0QQitemZ220190247604QQihZ012QQcategoryZ75210QQcmdZViewItem

I see that the prices are rising due to the excellent feedback he is getting. I sent him an email asking for the size and shape for the pack and to also make it a Buy Now.

jim....

I noticed his site says SLA chargers may be used to charge LiFePO4 batteries. Any problems with that, particularly as dangerous as it is to overcharge LiFePO4 batteries ?

Anyone know if the other other way around also works for 2 way interchangeability - SLA battery on LiFePO4 charger?

Thx Karma, i really appreciate the hard work u put into these instructions.
I'm going to be doing them this weekend.

OTW, my LifePO4 pack from Ping is still going strong. In fact i emailed him with specs on my trolling motor to see what it would take to get 12V and around 50-60AH.

jim.........

no the bms should protect from overcharging. but if its not the right charger you could damage the bms voiding your warranty. it needs to be a 3 way charger.

What does bms stand for?

no the bms should protect from overcharging. but if its not the right charger you could damage the bms voiding your warranty. it needs to be a 3 way charger.

So are you suggesting Ping has unduly thrown caution to the wind charging lithium poly batteries with SLA chargers?