Originally Posted by
ridelikeaturtle
Cool, that lines up with what I was roughly expecting, I think it would take 3-4 times the budget to get an equivalent manufacturer's e-bike, which seems to be what you found out / experienced.
I went for a motor at the very expensive end of the spectrum. My goal wasn't really cost-savings, but rather to re-purpose a high-quality steel drop-bar mountain-bike into an e-bike that was as good as my wife's Cannondale/Bosch e-bike.
We got her bike discounted at US$3700 (at REI).
Link to the bike at a European vendor.
A more financially sensible approach would be to use a Bafang BBS02 or similar motor; kits go for around US$500 (w/o battery) and they have a very solid track record.
2old is extremely knowledgeable about this stuff, so if you want advice ...