@deacon
95 % of world production of batteries is in China - never mind what sticker on it says.
NiMH batteries will perform exactly like you've imagined , but without balance electronics they will NOT last as they should. If you look around, you'll find that NiMH are mostly used for cameras , laptops and similar (accept of TESLA Roadster , but that technology is quite complicated to deal with in this thread) ...Those gadgets are very frugal with electricity (low currents mostly) and bike WILL pull high current - that's what kills batteries.
Charging NiMH is a bit different , because chargers for those have certain sequence - they do not charge flat out with same current all the time while they are plugged in; there is a initial charge (for a period of time) , then a pause , then most of charging cycle up to approximately 90% of capacity(with temperature and internal resistance monitoring) , pause again , then (slowly) topping off until full charge . It could be done with "ordinary" charger , but that shortens working life of batteries.
Mind you , I'm not electrical engineer , this stuff I've picked up in last tree years or researching , cause I'm very interested in E vehicles. And I do understand that you want to experiment , so continue with it and post your findings. Someone will use that knowledge for sure.
@fasteddy
If the number of cycles for your battery pack is true - you've bought a pack for life (figurative speech - I'm not trying to anticipate any restriction on length of your life). If you charge them once a day (and there will be days when it snows - since you are from Canada) you can calculate how many years (theoretically) you can use them. However , it's a bit pricey (from where I'm sitting) and I hope that you'll use that bike in every opportunity you can (in good health). I'm familiar with ebike.ca and my choice for e biking would be more like EVcomponents , Hobbycity or something like that. Folks who like e transportation are (in wast majority) very kind and helpful and open minded.
@BossCat (tom)
It looks nice , but I personally prefer hub motors (like crystalyte or 9continent) .
I have seen batteries more expensive than a new car (e.g. VW Golf) - that was for car conversion.
http://www.evcomponents.com/SearchResults.asp?Cat=28