My First E-Bike Build

Mannhouse51

Mannhouse51

New Member
Well after months of reading I think I'm convinced that electric is the way to go for me. I like my china girl bike....but after 3 years of puttering with it, I'm ready for something new. So I have everything ordered. The bike I'm going to use is a Trek 800 sport. Kinda funny , I bought this bike at a thrift store for $25.00 7 or 8 years ago for my wife. It needed alittle work but nothing too bad. Got it up and running and she couldn't get on it...LOL. She didnt like the mens frame. So I put it in the pole barn and there it has sat for years now. So I pulled it out...hosed it off , blew up the tires (it's gonna need some new ones) and took it for a ride. What a nice riding bike ! It has a sticker on it that says made of cro moly. It's fairly light and should be strong too. I ordered a generic 24V500Watt front hub motor kit. Also 2 12v10.5ah sla batteries. The batteries are just to get me going. Then we'll upgrade. So far the bike was $25.00. The hub kit was $265.00 shipped. The batteries were $45.60 shipped. Total so far $335.60.(The cheap bike helped ALOT..LOL).My Goal is to get 10-12mph and a 6-8 mile range. Then I can recharge at work. And I weigh 170 so it's not haulin too much, except the extra 18 lbs from the batteries..LOL. Batteries arrived yesterday...still waiting for the hub kit to arrive.
 

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welcome to the ebike world. i think you are really going to enjoy it. i know i love mine. the bike looks comfortable and should make a nice ride
 
Got home from work today and there was a big box...Woo Hoo ! The Trek forks have a safety on the ends to keep the front wheel from falling off so I modified the washers from the hub kit to accomodate. Front wheel will have a hard time coming off now...LOL...which is a good thing
 

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Here's a pic of the front wheel on with modified washers. Also my nightmare wiring..LOL...I'll clean it up after we see if it works
 

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And here is the some what finished bike. Top speed on flat road with no wind was 16.7 mph. Way more than I expected ! Acceleration ...well all I have to say is I'm WAY impressed ! This thing cruises. I plugged in the charger after I rode around a couple miles. The battery gauge was still showing green on the throttle...I want to make sure the included charger works. I'm so impressed with this thing !!!Almost no noise...smooth as silk...WOW. It's all about the e bikes for me from now on.
 

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nice job manhouse! good looking electric motorized bicycle. the first time I rode my electric bike I knew my gas days were over. it a completely new experience.
 
Thanks Paul. I plugged it in and about a half hour later the charger status light went from red to green...so I guess the charger works. I just got home from a 6 mile ride. I pretty much gave it a very minimum of throttle..and peddaled alot , got home and batteries still had lots of power in them. I guess the secret is to pedal along when starting out, and help out on hills. I felt the hub when I was done and it was actually cool..LOL, pretty neat. The controller and batteries were cool too. Checked the hub nuts, they were tight. Wow..nothing moved , nothing broke , my hands arent numb. I'm sold..LOL Hey wait...I did'nt burn any gasoline ! Can you tell I'm excited ?
 
ya it will take you a while to get used to not having to work on it after every ride. i have over 4,000 miles on mine and all i do is charge it up and go. from what i understand is yes help pedal to start and help it up the hills for better milage. with mine going up a hill when i pedal its like pedaling down hill. very little resistance at all. i have to admit i very seldom pedal though lol. you have every reason to be excited. you did a heck of a job and enjoying it and that is what motorized bicycles are about
 
So I put a new back tire on..just went with a 26x1.5 to match the front tire that came with the kit , thought it might be too narrow , but seems to work ok. Went for a 10.4 mile ride last night..still had battery left , but I was peddaling most of the time to assist.
 
I'm thinking about an ebike build, and was wondering where you bought your components?

I sent an email but perhaps you didn't receive it.

Thanks,
Otto...
 
Well that was pretty slick and easy, wasn't it? I have one of the early days 36V. golden motor front pancake motors which I am thinking would make a nice hybrid trike using a ladies 63 Schwinn American deluxe with a China girl engine as well. Use them together on steep hills, just electric in stealth mode and kick in the gas engine for longer runs out in the country. Have to figure out how to make up the trike rear end for it. You guys inspire!
SB
 
10 miles is good range for a pair of SLA bricks. Pedalling along is a much more cost effective way of extending range than buying the lipo batteries.
 
So I've put 100 miles on the bike so far with NO problems . Man I love riding this bike. Rode it to work today which is a 16 mile round trip. 8 miles one way works out nicely..I charged it at work and it's ready to go again..LOL...gosh this is simple.
 
The roads on my way to work (11 miles each way) are 2 fast and dangerous for riding my gas bike. I may get a 24v e-kit similar to yours so I can commute on the sidewalk. I don't mind pedalling, but it is nice to cool off during the last two miles on motor power alone.
 
My road bike (250w hub in rear) has 700c (read 27") x I think 1.75 or 1.5"
These run at 85psi, my chain drive 26" bike has 26x2.0" at 65psi.
On either bike the diff between rated pressure and say 80% is huge,
range drops and harder to pedal.
The 'electric ride' tires (26x2.0) have a smooth strip with a sip grove zigzag in the
center, about 2/3 of an inch. The idea is that most times you are riding on that and have
least resistance. The 27" bike is WAY easier to pedal btw. 54lbs vs 70 narrower tires
and higher pressure. Also I think crank arms are about 5mm longer.
Anyway, I would have recommended against front drive.
My chain drive bike has a 40ah LiFEpo4 24v pack from china ($479 with 5a charger and 45A BMS) I have yet to range test but have run 33mi inc. some serious hills and it was going strong.
 
n3glv said:
My road bike (250w hub in rear) has 700c (read 27") x I think 1.75 or 1.5"
These run at 85psi, my chain drive 26" bike has 26x2.0" at 65psi.
On either bike the diff between rated pressure and say 80% is huge,
range drops and harder to pedal.
The 'electric ride' tires (26x2.0) have a smooth strip with a sip grove zigzag in the
center, about 2/3 of an inch. The idea is that most times you are riding on that and have
least resistance. The 27" bike is WAY easier to pedal btw. 54lbs vs 70 narrower tires
and higher pressure. Also I think crank arms are about 5mm longer.
Anyway, I would have recommended against front drive.
My chain drive bike has a 40ah LiFEpo4 24v pack from china ($479 with 5a charger and 45A BMS) I have yet to range test but have run 33mi inc. some serious hills and it was going strong.
Click to expand...

Do you have a link to where you bought your LIFEpo4.

Thanks...Rick
 
http://myworld.ebay.com/all-lifepo4/&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2754
http://stores.ebay.com/alllifepo4
Here is sold listing
http://www.ebay.com/itm/321115591757?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649
My only beef is that he shipped the cube shaped vs the flat shaped pack.
He _did_ send 5a aluminum charger instead of plastic 6A
and upgraded the BMS to 45A, although there are no markings on either batt or bms.
He says they are 18650 cells, 23mm x 65mm 12 Parallel 8 series to make 24v @ 39.3A
Also they are "5c" so in theory it will do 500% 40A for a few seconds.
 
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