How important is the bicycle when motorizing to you. Do you buy as cheap as you can or get something good?
Money of course is always the main factor but there are pretty much two types of motorized bicycle riders, those that build for themselves and those that just want to buy a good one.
I cater to the latter local crowd, usually by discussing what would be the best bike and power train for their needs but I still make cookie cutter builds for the 'I just want a bike now' guys and these are the 2 low end direct drives I build
The difference in price is ~$50 but the difference in labor is worth another $50 to me.
Both get 2012+ 66cc Skyhawks, SBP front mount, BMX foam grips, and all mounting hardware painted to match or contrast with the bike color.
Also note these are my retail prices not my parts cost prices.
This is my basic Macargi Touch.
The Touch goes together pretty easy except the back sprocket, the bolt that holds the coaster brake arm on is the devil to get off and getting the sprocket centered properly can be time consuming but other than putting a pair of caliper brakes and dual pull lever on pretty easy to build and a solid bike with 3 brakes.
This is the $50 more Macargi Pantera 7S, the $50 difference is only the bike cost.
The difference in how the Pantera goes together and feels to ride however feels like a couple hundred dollars difference to me.
First off it goes together a good hour quicker than the Touck, it has front and rear V brakes which work great with a SBP dual pull brake lever, the 7-speed of course makes it's much easier to start but the best part is the sprocket drops perfect over the hub and centers itself saving big time with that part.
My point is sometimes a little extra money where it counts to start with makes for a much better finished machine be it your own or for someone else and I hope this comparison points out some things you might consider before you build as how hard it goes together will always be how hard it has to come back apart if need be, and better is well, simply better ;-}
Money of course is always the main factor but there are pretty much two types of motorized bicycle riders, those that build for themselves and those that just want to buy a good one.
I cater to the latter local crowd, usually by discussing what would be the best bike and power train for their needs but I still make cookie cutter builds for the 'I just want a bike now' guys and these are the 2 low end direct drives I build
The difference in price is ~$50 but the difference in labor is worth another $50 to me.
Both get 2012+ 66cc Skyhawks, SBP front mount, BMX foam grips, and all mounting hardware painted to match or contrast with the bike color.
Also note these are my retail prices not my parts cost prices.
This is my basic Macargi Touch.
The Touch goes together pretty easy except the back sprocket, the bolt that holds the coaster brake arm on is the devil to get off and getting the sprocket centered properly can be time consuming but other than putting a pair of caliper brakes and dual pull lever on pretty easy to build and a solid bike with 3 brakes.
This is the $50 more Macargi Pantera 7S, the $50 difference is only the bike cost.
The difference in how the Pantera goes together and feels to ride however feels like a couple hundred dollars difference to me.
First off it goes together a good hour quicker than the Touck, it has front and rear V brakes which work great with a SBP dual pull brake lever, the 7-speed of course makes it's much easier to start but the best part is the sprocket drops perfect over the hub and centers itself saving big time with that part.
My point is sometimes a little extra money where it counts to start with makes for a much better finished machine be it your own or for someone else and I hope this comparison points out some things you might consider before you build as how hard it goes together will always be how hard it has to come back apart if need be, and better is well, simply better ;-}
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looks about perfect,but since I will be using 24" wheels those brakes won't be used. The disc cruiser fork I have? Got a halo combat disc wheel for it. I will probably just get rid of the 26" wheels cuz I'm too short for that. Going to look for a pantera now. Thanks KC!
