Off road I'm happy with lower power, and rarely, if ever have PAS at greater than setting "3" (of nine) since I enjoy the exercise part (three times a week my wife and I ride MTB). However, it's nice to have more power on an errand bike in order to keep up with local traffic, make lights and get through short stretches of congestion rapidly. Surprisingly, even though the bike weighs 50 or so pounds, it'a a joy to ride and pedals efficiently without the motor.

agreed, my previous bike had trouble maintaining 25 mph in light wind or pulling a trailer. my current bike (1500w) can handle it easy, even maintaing 30 mph against those. luckily, i dont usually have so far to go, so i can ride 30 mph usually, but if i need to i can slow down to extend range. its good to have options...

If you're going 30mph are you riding in traffic? Most urban areas restrict pathways/lanes to 20mph. I would not want someone zinging past me in a bike lane going 30 mph. Not sure I'd be open to riding in traffic going 30mph, though, because drivers will assume you are slower than that and turn in front of you thinking they have plenty of time. 30mph is moped speed. You should take the space of an auto on the road - seems like there should be some easily and quickly identifiable system to let cars know you're basically a slow 2 wheeled car instead of a bike (or class limited e-bike).

Yeah, that is a problem. I'm going about 5-10mph faster than they think I am (at 25mph). Most of the roads I ride have a speed limit of 25mph.

Its always funny when I'm riding dusk/dawn commute with a flashing LED on the front (white), and people pull over for me thinking I'm some kind of emergency vehicle.

Yep always need to travel a speed safe for the conditions. My ebike easily cruises closer to 40 mph when I need it to. Don't do that on mixed used trails, too many dogs and kids. The motor can make you a safer rider since not as big a deal to come to a near stop if conditions warrant.

With that said I've had guys on the same trails pass my ebike on their electric skateboards like I was standing still. Those things seem insane to me, one acorn and they are airborne.

oh, yeah, definitely. i used to have a slower ebike and rode next to traffic and got doored. luckily i was ok, but i said screw the law, im doing whats safe for ME. which is to get a faster ebike that can ride IN traffic. the limit around here is 25, although depending on the street people often go 30+, so its good to be able to keep up with that if needed. theres one street that goes up to a 35 limit. i didnt realize the first time i rode it, but was just keeping up with everyone, then i looked down and saw my speed. im definitely very wary of people pulling out in front of me assuming im slower, though, and almost always assume they will until i see otherwise.

a way to identify ebikes as faster then normal bikes would be good.



yeah, those things are insane. way too easy to take a spill with those teeny tiny wheels.

Not to derail the thread, but last night my wife and I were ascending a local dirt fire road that rises about 2000' in 8 miles on our MTB's, so average 5%, I guess. Along came a guy on an electric skateboard and passed us (believe me we were creeping on this part of the ascent, but still?).

Never a dull moment. I was once hiking in Switzerland, literally crawling up parts of the trail (loose scree) when I was passed by someone riding a mountain bike down the thing. Unforgettable.

My first foray into e-bikes six years ago was a Dillinger 36V, 350w front hub system. The battery was toast after a year, but they replaced it. My daughter wanted an e-cruiser to tool around Las Vegas (when the Strip closed down she rode it there), so repurposed the kit from an errand/MTB to a cruiser for her.

I think they are called motorcycles and they don't have much more luck than we do.

I think the smaller size of bikes and motorcycles make it harder to judge both their distance and speed.

In most places, foks are used to seeing motorcycles/motorscooters and know they are faster than bikes. They already ride in the center of lanes. But with e-bikes, the appearance is now nearly identical to traditional bikes from a driver's perspective (not knowing to look for hubs or batteries, etc.) and the expected speed difference is a lot - cyclists at an average of maybe 14-15 mph compared to an e-bike at 20+mph.

Motorscooter/cycle riders don't lean to put a foot down, they sit lower, so that makes it fairly easy to identify. But cyclists of both varieties, electric and non, do lean to put a foot down. Not a distinguishing factor. I'd be good with some kind of unique mandatory light on the front of e-bikes. I think the most dangerous part is folks turning left in front of you when on an e-bike as you get there much faster - I've learned to accelerate more slowly if cars appear to want to turn left.

imo, car drivers respect motorcycles far more than bikes, which many feel shouldnt be on the road in the first place. ive been honked at numerous times in situations where i feel if i were a car or motorcycle they wouldnt be honking but would just wait patiently. in that regard, i think that an obvious way of showing "hey, im not a regular bike" would be a good thing.

(although in other ways i prefer looking like a bike. )


and, as linberl mentioned, theres the expected speed difference.

Maybe its just me, but I'm glad I don't live in Europe with all the ebike regulations.
Having a non licensed ebike that is speed limited to 15mph (powered) on the road kinda defeats the purpose. My first build was kinda like that, and I found that it had almost infinite range because I never went slow enough to use the motor.

It's not a matter of knowing what type of vehicle it is, it is a matter of properly being able to estimate the speed and distance. Cars can travel all sorts of speeds and still be a "car". Miss judge the actual speed or distance when you pull out and a problem exists.

I bring up motorcycles because they get pulled out on all the time. Like you said I think most drivers don't want to hit anyone, I know I don't, but I can tell you first hand there have been times where I've been surprised how quickly bikes have closed on me. I'm not sure if that is because I misjudged the speed or the distance, just know it seems different with bikes, my guess because they are smaller.

For my DIY, I wanted a light, practical, city bike, that was a stealth hidden electric. I also like old stuff so I wanted an actual old bike, not an old "style" bike.

I used a 1978 Raleigh steel frame, paired with a rear hub motor, and modern 700c deep alloy wheels, with 28mm tires. The battery and electrics are in a 1970s pannier bag with the original 6v lights run via voltage converter.

The electric hub came off a wrecked ebike and was originally made to run on 36v @7 amps, so made around 250w. I've smashed that up to 48v @13 amps, so it's now around 620w. This is good for 40kph, which is as fast as I can pedal anyways as its a single speed sprocket.

Originally when I did the conversion I ran a 36v 10ah (360wh) battery which gave me 50km range @22kph. My new battery is 48v 13ah (624wh) so now have a range of almost 90km. Original weight of the bike was 20kg, now its 27kg.




​​​​​​

Nice job making it stealth and hiding the wires. I've been tempted to shorten the wires at times, but haven't attempted yet, so hide them too.

What motor is that?

Revel Propulsion, a small company in OR. Think I started a thread on the system. Not the best example of wire hiding since it was so easy.

Edit: just checked and there is one that was almost universally ignored, which surprised me because it seemed as though BF members were more bicycle-oriented than Endless Sphere, and it had a lot of responses there.It's designed for individuals who like to pedal IMO.

Running it single speed, eh?

Can't remember for sure, but it was either three (11-17-28) spaced for eight-speed or a 11-34 nine-speed cassette.

Our trikes with 750 watt Tongsheng TSDZ2s. Mine is the yellow Catrike, the Blue ICE is my wife's.

Before we had the trikes we had bicycles with Tongshengs.

Is anyone here that is using the CYC X2 mid drive? Just wondering. Be Well, Bluesfrog.

Great thread this one!
I am currently working on a cruiser E-bike based on a 1970 Mobylette moped, with e-parts source from Ali-Express in kit form. This will sport a rear hub motor.

Next in line is a vintage german three speed which I aim to fit a smaller front motor.

Finally, though this will perhaps be built first is a cargo trailer with hub motor for lugging shopping home up our track.

I have big plans, and zero experience of e-bikes, so wish me luck!
—-more to come from this forum noob!

I can agree with you there, I am in Europe, and harder still, in Spain. The e-bike laws limit 250W output - 25km/h!

The upside is that we live in a rural, low police area, so using a higher output stealth e-bike usually creates few problems with the law. Just must be careful not to have an accident!

These are also the reasons that I would only consider a custom build. (Possible, beacause I can and like to get my hands dirty!)