Electric Bikes - so many ebikes, please help!

I hope someone can advise this newbie on which bikes are best for the money!

Beginning this school year I will need to travel to 2 buildings for my teaching position. They are only 2.5 miles apart (including a long low hill: 2% grade for 1 mile) and I will be given 15 minutes to get to the 2nd school. I live 2 blocks from the first school & do NOT want to buy some old beater car to get me across this little podunk town. So... I figured an ebike might be a good option for my out-of-shape middle-aged enviro-conscious self.

I need to get to the 2nd school in time so I'm thinking power is more important than range, nothing less than a 350w motor & 36v10a Li type battery I guess. It needs to be reliable, even in the cold & wet of SE Pennsylvania, and do at least 20 mph while I pedal. The cruiser types seem best for the teacher-commuter but I could compromise...

Would higher end stuff like the ecobike "elegance" at $1600 or the pedego cruiser at $1500 really be better than lower end stuff like an r martin or izip at $800? Seems the mid-range is something like a liberty or cycle9 for around $1300. I know there are $3000 ebikes out there, not an option, though I really don't want a hunk of junk that I can't trust. If this works out, someday I'd like to build my own- maybe as a class project!

Any advice at all would be appreciated!
Thanks!

BionX + your favourite choice of bike, if you want a reliable ride.:thumb:

Most of the bikes you've mentioned will do the same speed (15-20mph without pedaling) and all will easily get you the 5 mile (or 10 mile there and back?) range you're looking for. Even though some IZIP's are cheaper, I think you'd be surprised how well they holdup and how much torque they provide - which is especially helpful on hills. Of course, IZIP has some upper-end bikes that cost close to $2000. But if you're considering a cruiser style bike, the IZIP Via Lento (http://www.eco-wheelz.com/catalog/izip-via-lento-electric-bike-p-225.php) has been very popular in our shop:

http://www.eco-wheelz.com/catalog/izip-via-lento-electric-bike-p-225.php

Obviously, lead acid bikes are heavier than Li-Ion, but they're much more affordable. Word is, Currie (IZIP) is coming out with a Li-Ion upgrade for these bikes within the next year, but not sure when.

No experience with the Ecobike line, but they're pretty common Chinese imports. X-Treme Scooters offers similar models - and so do a bunch of other companies. They have the Li-Ion going for them, but not sure about all the other components.

But your best option, as I'm sure many forum members may suggest, is a conversion kit to convert your own bike. This way, you can buy the perfect cruiser bike (or any bike you choose) and install all the right components to give you exactly what you're looking for. There's lots out there! Crystalyte has a great reputation. And Nine Continents (E-BikeKit, Amped, etc.) are also highly recommended.

I'm looking for a conversion kit recommendation. I'm pretty much set on one of the kits from eBay since they seem to be the cheapest. Has anyone here recently bought a kit from eBay and had a good experience? Please share the seller name and any other specifics about the purchase that you were pleased or unhappy with.

Based on many of comments I've seen on eBay, the majority of purchasers seem to be happy with their kits. Also, I've noticed that there are several resellers on the internet that seem to just be middle men for the Chinese exports. All this seems to muddy the water for consumers that just want to make a solid purchase without getting ripped off. I want a well matched kit so that nothing burns out, something fast (will assist me over 20mph on flats), and something that will last.

For the battery, I'll probably go the ping route, since they seem to have a good reputation - They're a little more, but if it's quality, then I'll do it. My only question is how to decide if I should get a 10ah or 20ah. My plan is to just match the voltage of the kit to the voltage of the battery, but then the amp-hour rating kind of confuses me, especially when several of the eBay sellers recommend slightly different batteries.

I hope this post represents a lot of frustrated consumers out there. I still don't understand why this process has to be so involved and require so much research. There's got to be a company out there that can bridge this gap - Cheap and match what the consumer wants; motor kit & battery all on same site. 1) What terrain do you ride? 2) How fast you want to go? 3) How far do you need to go? 4) What is your combined bike and rider weight? 4) What is your budget? 5) Result: Here's something in your price range and a matched motor / battery combo. Have a nice day.

For daily transportation like you speak of any brushless and gearless kit will do at 36v. You want 500ish watts in your kit. Avoid all regen controler kits as they are super bad with reliability. It is VERY important you avoid ALL geared kits. They dont last. The entire point of a new hub motor is less moving parts. I have a 2 year old kit from a china ebayer that has over 1500 miles on it using a Trek 7100 hybrid. I can hit 32mph easy at 48v/1000w with my lifepod4 20ah battery for over 25 miles without pedaling. For a working commuter you only need 36v and 350w at minimum. A 10ah lifepod4 battery is a must for max recharge and you dont have to worry about memory, heat or recharging the battyery every time you get off the bike.

Chain drive kits are a big hassle both with the police and noise. They are messy, heavy, require more maitaining and have a habbit of picking up all sorts of junk on the road.

I searched all over looked at many companies, and figured a hub motor the best, I had limited funds, so had to go lead acid.
Crystalyte from a solar power company on the internet, I got for like $450 including shipping. Got a 17AH lead acid 36V set up.

Ran my crystalyte for 5 months now, thru rain, I'm suprised the controller held up thru the water it got from the rain I've been thru.

Gets me 2 hrs of riding with little effort in pedalling and 4 hours to charge it back up, that's lead acid for you.

Cons:
1) The charger ain't worth crap lucky I know all about them ez fix for me, charger blew out soon after got kit.
2) Lead Acid batteries ain't worth crap either combined with a crappy charger what almost killed the battery set. Charger didn't auto cut off because the three 12V batteries became unequal, causing untold harm to the weakest one.
3) Wished now I had gotten a thumb controlled throttle, the twist throttle does make my hand fall asleep after about 30 min.

Pros:
1) One heck of a hub motor the 408 crystalyte.
2) Stood up to alot of punishment, rain and pot holes galore.
3) Easy to change the tire and innertube

Thought I'd jump on this thread, as I'm in pretty much the same boat. It's a huge investment, and so I'm proceeding slowly and gathering as much information as possible. I've read plenty of threads completely demonstrating that "cheaper" hub motors are not just inexpensive, but cheaply made. I'm looking for high quality, and I'm saving money for something that's going to last. From what I can tell, I'm going to be spending at least $1500. Can you please recommend some options, based on the following:
-15 mile round trip
-some slight hills, but nothing too severe
-cold and weather resistant (will ride regular road bike to work in early fall, late spring; looking for late fall - winter - spring transport)
-fairly light weight
-25-30 mph (regularly pedal at 17-19mph on the way to work, 20-23mph on the way home; don't want to get too sweaty on the way there)
-weight is no concern. have access to an elevator at work, will store inside.

What would you buy with up to $2000?? It'll be mounted on a Trek Multitrack 720 (about 10 year old hybrid, 700x35 tires, 7 speed rear).
What's the difference between battery options? I see a difference in price of $115 from Ping between a 48v15ah and 48v20ah. What's the difference? Is it worth the price change? What's the best battery choice for a 1000w motor? 600w motor?
Should I look into sites that offer the entire kit, or buy parts here and there? If the second, how can I be sure they'll work together?
Thanks!

ps- anybody near Rochester NY willing to let me try their bike?

For daily transportation like you speak of any brushless and gearless kit will do at 36v. You want 500ish watts in your kit. Avoid all regen controler kits as they are super bad with reliability. It is VERY important you avoid ALL geared kits. They dont last. The entire point of a new hub motor is less moving parts. I have a 2 year old kit from a china ebayer that has over 1500 miles on it using a Trek 7100 hybrid. I can hit 32mph easy at 48v/1000w with my lifepod4 20ah battery for over 25 miles without pedaling. For a working commuter you only need 36v and 350w at minimum. A 10ah lifepod4 battery is a must for max recharge and you dont have to worry about memory, heat or recharging the battyery every time you get off the bike.

Chain drive kits are a big hassle both with the police and noise. They are messy, heavy, require more maitaining and have a habbit of picking up all sorts of junk on the road.
Jersey, did you see the weblink I gave you about our brushless & geared motor? There are both comments and reviews on fusinmotors wheel kits, those are objective comments & reviews which should be helpful.

I'm posting info I gave to GB in am email for the benefit of the community...

My GT All Terra Timberline was a piece of cake to convert with an AmpedBikes.com kit.
I reviewed the Amped Kit last year in a thread called "are these kits any good"
http://www.bikeforums.net/showpost.php?p=6723054&postcount=96
I posted several updates in that thread as I rode the bike to work daily.

The only thing I had to do to the bike itself was grind about a millimeter off the inside of the front fork dropout. The axle from the motor was just a hair larger diameter than the dropout would allow. I also followed the guide from Amped on installation and took two washers and notcheded them to go on the outside of the GT forks; This allow the hub nuts to tighten down properly WITHOUT having to grind off the little retaining nibs at the bottom of the GT forks.

Other than that the most trouble I had, as with any e-bike, is mounting batteries on the rack.

OH! and the brake levers that come with the OLD Amped kit are garbage. Do not try to recable your brake levers to use them. I put them on ONLY because they have a motor cut off switch built into them. I mounted them WAY inside the existing shifter and brake lever assembly were I could reach them if I actually needed them. I almost needed them once, My throttle shattered and while waiting for the replacement, I was fiddling around to see if I could salvage them, and jambed the throttle in an on position. If that had happened while riding, I would have needed the cutoff switch to stop the motor.

That being said the new Ampedbike kits have a power switch right on the throttle/power meter assembly; so the brake levers really aren't necessary at all.

I can top out my GT at 25mph with full throttle and pedaling. ~20-22mph with just throttle. I can maintain 15mph up a 10% grade at full throttle. I can maintain 10mph on a 20% grade with just full throttle.

I am using junk recycled SLA batteries so these specs are very LOW end theory. I am confident that your results will be significantly better.

Ping Batteries are the current favorite LiFePo chemistry batteries, though a lot of people pan them because they are made in China. I have heard NOTHING but good reviews of them. Ampedbikes sells complete kits and battery pack options.


I invite you to join the Ampedbikes.com forum as well. You will find and extremely helpful group of people there with lots of information.
Links: http://ampedbikes.com/buynow.html
http://www.ampedbikes.com/forum/

My little demo video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLttweTBHLI
I'll be posting a longer video in a few weeks giving a much better idea of the actual commute. This one was just fun with my kids and a couple cameras. :>