racinghy

I had thoughts about going gas until I read the laws a big closer and realized the laws are a bit more complicated than I thought so I've decided to give electric a try. A couple of guys referred me over to this section and told me you all have some advice. I'm looking at going to and from school this fall, which is about 13-14 miles plus to work so I'd be going about 30 miles a day, twice a week. I need some insight since I have about $800 to spend. I saw a bike on line that says it gets about 18 to 30 miles on a charge but the site was very shady. I looked at BikeBerry and saw they have a front wheel kit and batteries that go for a total of $800. Anyone have any suggestions or anywhere else they got theirs for similar prices? Thanks!


Sincerely,


The most clueless person on earth


PS, no license YET but PA state laws would not require to have a license if I put an electric motor on my bike.

Dunbar

Range is highly dependent on speed. Cruising at 20mph uses 1/3 as much power as cruising at 28mph. For a ~14 mile commute (each way) I would want a 28mph capable bike. To cruise at 28mph is going to use 30-35 watts per mile. That's going to mean you'll want a 500Wh battery and you'd be recharging it at work/school. Otherwise you'd need 1kWh battery to make it on one charge. Slow down to 20mph and you could probably do round trip on 500wH. I consider hydraulic disc brakes mandatory at 28mph so include that in your budget if you agree. They aren't that expensive unless you want the brake levers with built-in motor inhibitors. Can you do that for $800? Maybe but I sort of doubt it. The main advantage to DIY is that you can build the bike exactly to your needs and upgrading to a better motor/battery isn't prohibitively expensive like you see on the complete e-bikes.

BruceMetras

With that budget, might consider an inexpensive 49cc Vespa like scooter with seat, floorboard and auto trans .. in PA, you would only need to pass the written test (as an under 50cc motor driven cycle) without taking a driving test .. and $9/yr registration ..

I have one, and it gets 113mpg regularly.. has great under seat storage (easily holds a m/c helmet), and cruises along at 35 to 40+mph .. it would be easier to secure on a campus than an expensive e-bike and would still enjoy parking in the bike zones .. I also have 4 e-bikes that would easily do 30 miles/day @ 20mph without recharging during the day, but if I were going to duplicate what you describe on a 'week in week out' basis, I'd opt for a scooter..

InTheRain

$800? My advice is save it for something else. If you're as inexperienced as you sound, you'll just be unhappy that you spent $800 on something that you're just sure to have problems with... unless you really enjoy problem solving and you don't get frustrated by it. You'll have better luck with an $800 car than you'll have with an $800 e-bike.

2old

Direct drive motors, while heavy, only have one moving part (except bearings/bushings) and have been reported to provide thousands of miles of good performance. Look at xcerries on ebay (put 36V 500w into your browser). The kit should be about $200 delivered. Add $600 for a 36V, 20 a/h battery (Luna Cycle) and you should squeeze out 30 miles at 20 mph. Not necessarily a better solution, just another consideration.

tattoogunman

I would say shop around for something used then unless you already have a donor bike to put a kit on. I ended up buying a manufactured bike (iZip Zuma) rather than build one myself because by time I priced out quality parts and decent bikes, I was at a price point where I could get a pre-made bike (*now I must put a note here that there were a variety of bikes on clearance in my area when I got mine and they were all 50% or more off MSRP. So that is not something that everyone is going to have a chance at).

Your range is going to be determined by the size/type of your battery, motor power, and more importantly, on how you ride yours. As an example - my bike has three pedal assist (PAS) modes and I only use PAS 1. In PAS 1 mode, I'm still doing the vast majority of the pedaling and I'm only burning up one bar of battery capacity (out of five) after 20 miles - so I know my bike probably has something like a 40 mile (or more) total range on a full charge. I should also add that the vast majority of my riding is on flat surfaces, that will also have an impact.

If you are not in a hurry, you can always do the crowdfunded thing and get something like a Sondors as they start at $499. However, you then have to pay $250 for shipping and if you want to be able to control the pedal assist modes, you have to buy the $100 add on computer - that still keeps you around your price range. However, you will have to wait for the bike due to their manufacturing practices, you won't get it fast. They are also turning up pretty regularly on Craigslist, even if people are asking ridiculously high prices for them (i.e. trying to get the second purchaser to recoup them their shipping costs and what not).

There are also a few other companies that make bikes for under $800 (Xtreme for example), but I don't have any real experience with them and I haven't really heard anything good or bad about them - but they have models that sell for around $725.

Honestly, for the distances you are talking about, a standard pedal bike would be fine. I have gotten into the habit of leaving the motor turned off on mine until my body starts to hurt (I have had multiple injuries in my life and using a normal bike doesn't work) and then switch it on to help me get home. I'm a born again college student in my 40's and I'm going to be biking to school this semester as well. It's only about 20 miles round trip and having test rode my route a few times now, it would be just as easily done on a standard pedal bike that can be had for a fraction of the cost. Again, I opted for an electric as a result of having a broken body

So all that said - shop used, shop sales if you can find them, and consider some of the cheap crowdfunded bikes. The one thing that I absolutely do NOT worry about when it comes to these things is speed - that's an argument I only see brought up when it comes to electric bikes. I stay off the main roads, so trying to keep up with cars or traffic is a non issue for me.