gunner65

First off I have researched till my eyes bleed. So thanks in advance for any help.

Here is my situation

I can only commute twice a week due to circumstances not allowing me enough time the other three days each week. I have a hard tailed mountain bike with 26" wheels and I am hoping to add the other three days of commuting by increasing my speed/less time to work etc. 15 mile round trip gentle rolling hills and I plan to pedal all the way.

I first and foremost care more for quality and longevity than money savings but I do want to save anywhere I can. I am an electrical engineer and quite a mechanic on the side so the building and or fabricating is not an issue.

I am looking at front wheel gear driven hubs (that is what I have settled on) I have looked into the ezee and amped kits so far. Can anyone tell me any plus one kit has over the other? Or another brand I should look at?

Batteries I want lithium do not want SLA. Now everything I read at first pointed at the Ling LifePo4 then I read on amped bike that the LifePo4 are very delicate and do not get much of a lifespan and they recommend phyllion is this true?

Looking into buying RC batteries and making my own packs but looks like by the time I buy enough packs and a fancy charger for them they are no cheaper than the Lings? Am I missing something with the RC batteries? They also seem to require more attention with charging and balancing.

If I am not on the right track feel free to redirect I do not mind research but with the ebike conversions there seems to be a ton of that Chinese salesmanship that sometimes makes the facts hard to find.

jethro56 

Like you I was going to go with a front geared hub motor. On another forum (where the big dogs run) They talked me out of converting an Shimano aluminum front suspension fork. The cast dropouts break instead of spreading if you have an axle spinout. Since I didn't want to go flying over the handlebars at 25 miles an hour I went with a rear Direct drive kit.Corolois force tends to fatigue the cast severly.
The Ezee kit is well thought of but the debate on which is better centers around the Crystalyte 5304 and the Nine Continets 2807 (5304 heavy torquey 2807 lighter more efficent).
Batteries... https://www.pingbattery.com/servlet/StoreFront is the value for the money supplier for LifePO4 chemistry.

https://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/s...dProduct=16207 is where the LIPO crowd is buying.

LifePO4 long lasting low discharge/recharge rate.Cheaper battery chargers somewhat plug and forget.
LIPO newer chemistry cheaper high discharge/high charge rate.
Expensive Chargers if done safely more knowlege required. Thought to not have as much life but learning more all the time.
Not recomended to Noobs.

Suppliers... www.ebikes.ca www.e-bikekit.com

Sangesf

I sell (and have been using for over a year on a front hub) 36v 250-500w motor kits that come with everything you would need....
Brake levers, throttle (thumb or twist), controller, headlight/horn/key lock (that mount on handlebars and when key is removed, it cuts power to the battery/motor) and a 36v 15ah battery..
The 36v/15ah combo costs $600 and goes 18-20mph for 18-20miles NO pedaling.. or if you want to upgrade to a 36v 20ah battery that will be ~$100 more.
Both batteries are LiFePo4 and come with BMS and 5amp charger.
Shipping IS INCLUDED! (within the USA) and takes about a week to get.

gunner65

Thanks my pan was to switch to a rigid chromo fork so that should not matter. This also allows the bike to easily convert back.

morph999 

I went with a crystalyte 5303 with 48v20AH THundersky lifepo4. My Thundersky's still work fine after a a year and a half. Only 600 miles on it, though because I'm more of a recreational rider.

The ezee is a very quality kit. Very waterproof. You can't go wrong with that. Only drawback is that at 48v, it will probably only go about 22 mph without pedaling. Are you fine with that? At 36v, it will probably only go about 19 mph. The nine continent 2806 will go about 28 mph at 48v but it's not a geared motor. How come you are so set on the geared motor ? Is it because it freewheels better than the direct drive...so not as much resistance when pedaling? Ok, I can see your point of view. If you plan on pedaling then that might be a good decision actually.

Batteries are always a pain right now with e-biking because it doesn't seem that one battery has everything right now. If you get big capacity then it's bulky ...if you get smaller capacity then you have to deal with less ability to maintain high amperage currents. If you are using this for work and don't mind a bulky lifepo4 battery (it's smaller than SLA), you could go with Thundersky's. If you want something more convenient and stylish and don't need 20AH capacity then you could go with the battery from ebikes.ca that they sell with the ezee kit. https://ebikes.ca

You'll probably get 2 miles for every 1AH and that's without pedaling. If you pedal, plan on getting probably 3 miles for every 1 AH of capacity.

Here's a list of places that I know that you can buy e-bike stuff

ebikes.ca
itselectric.ca
elitepowersolutions.com (that's where I got my thundersky's)
electricrider.com
ampedbikes.com
hightekbikes.com
e-bikekit.com
hobbyking.com (for lipo batteries)

morph999 

Oh, you are only about a 4 hour drive from me. Hey neighbor. I'm in Indianapolis. There's a guy in chicago who sells ebikes too.

dumbass 

Morph........you live. Where have you been? Where is this guy in Chicago selling ebikes? I'm in Chicago area and I'm sure there is someone here selling them. But I was wondering why you were thinking of.

Bob

corkscrew

While I was considering LIFEPO4 batteries, I was going to get mine from here: https://elitepowersolutions.com/products/index.php?cPath=27_29

They offer free shipping in the states when you buy a complete "package" with charger. Along with appearing to be of a better quality (discharge wise) than the pings, you also miss out on the $100+ shipping charge on the ping batteries.

I've since ordered parts for an RC LIPO setup.

dumbass 

I have 4 of the TS 12v packs from Elete Power and they have worked out fine for the most part. Good luck with the lipo. There are times I wish I had gone that way as well. But I'm just not sure I want that type of pack around the house. Although, I do have 1 small lipo pack for my heli. Bob

morph999 

Like I said, my Thundersky's have been fine as well. Been using them a year and a half so far. It depends on what you want, though. I think these Thundersky's probably out last LIPO but they are bigger than LIPO.

morph999 

https://www.chicagoelectricbicycles.com/

Looks like he's got some new motors and models too. He's been on endless-sphere forum before. Not sure if he still is posting on there.

I like this one

HeadwayHQ

Another option for a battery are Headway cells. Cost is a bit more than other LiFePO4 packs/cells, but they are a great cell for LEV battery packs!

Richard60463

If money was not a factor I would probably go with a Pedago electric bike. I like the idea of their being made in the USA.
But we are managing with our Schwinn World GSE's now that we were able to buy a couple of replacement batteries.
Richard & Anne