Electric Bikes - Kits vs. Factory Build

I've never really considered a factory built bike because the reasonably priced ones look like such junkers, or so weird looking you'd be spotted 1.6 kms away.

I'm considering a new bike and I'll probably be starting with a Kona comfort with front shocks and disc brakes. That will be about $700. I'm adding a rear hub with a NiMh 36V battery for around another $700.

That's more than $1500 after I add the custom paint job. I've learned from experience to shop quality not price. Am I paying too much?

I'm a real fan of the old name brand (trek, giant, etc) rigid mountain bikes that sell used for about $100. Use fat tires and you don't need suspension, these things are about as reliable as any bike you can buy. I converted a bike like those ones (except I received it with broken brakes, for free).

I paid about $700 for my motor-kit and LiFePO4 battery. I could have gone cheaper than $700, but it's probably worth it to invest in a good battery and efficient motor if it's for a 35 mile RT daily commute. If you want a bare bones e-bike setup you can probably get hubmotor-kit+batteries for $400-$500 and still have something good... but at that price you might be just as well off with a $300 schwinn/wal-mart Ebike (which, fair warning, may need all its nuts/bolts/cables checked over.) Nothing at the $300-$500 (new) price range will be great for steep hills, long distances, or high top speed.

If you want to spend the money, $1500 for an e-bike is reasonable but you can make an awfully nice setup for $800-$1000.

nope thats around what mine is worth. hopefully this week i can order my new rear hubmotor kit. i just got the ok from the old lady ;)


but i am sticking the the izip frame do to it has the black Transportation sticker on it. making it a legal ebike in ontario

i have had a look at alot of kits and factory made bikes and my next one i will just buy a good motor and build the thing myself as not many of the factory ones or kits one seem good enough to me,they all seem to have something missing,i personally think you could biuld one cheaper and much better yourself and make the thing to fit on any bike.

You are typically much better off. I was looking at the Ezee Cadence today just out of boredom, the typical price I found for it was about $1800 with their lithium power supply. Now, I know that Ezee's drivetrain is supposed to be fairly good, but after looking at the bicycle itself, it was appalling actually.

$1800 price tag, and the component mix reads out with a great deal of "unnamed" parts, and parts that don't hold any respect like "zoom" (which are commonly put on dept. store deals for $200). At least you get a Shimano Nexus, an AheadSet and some Tektro to go with your junk.. But the rest is still junk.

When you're talking about a "kona comfort", which model are you referring to? The closest one I found that fits that description is the Dew FS, but it looks neigh incompatible with a Crystalyte motor. Too bad, because the component spec on the Dew kicks the Ezee into the ground without contest.

currie should loosen up abit and make their motors interchangable to other bikes,they may not realise but that will be a better selling point and they will make more money just look at what happened to apple computers when they went the odd one out remember?