The eBike thread

unkel

Hub motors have nylon gears and they wear quite quickly / badly if you put a decent bit of power on the motor. Wouldn't have thought that the 250W that bike comes with would do much damage so quickly, mind. Could well be a more powerful motor was fitted though...

For you guys out there that have a bike out of warranty: it's a pretty easy job to replace the gears yourself, even if you are not particularly handy / good with bikes / DIY. Did it myself a few years ago, got the gears on eBay for €9.99 and - as usual - got my training from Youtube 😁

Andrea B.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118947015#Comment_118947015

Hi. If you get chance could you share the kit you got?

So much choice and great to work off recommendations.

Thanks

getoutadodge

Its a YOSE kit. Bought it thru this guy:

myebike.ie.

Believe his name is Yousif.

He seems to order kits wholesale and then delegates the installation to bike shops... in my case the Aloha shop on Dorset St. I ve had no complaints. Go for the bigger battery i.e. 36 V by 22.5 Amp. There's a rough rule to estimate range:

36 v X 22 amp = 792 divided by 10 = 79

79 kilometers is the approximate range...absent gradients.

I've found this be accurate. I'm now mulling doubling the battery packs and heading😀 to France. 150 k per day on sleepy rural back roads would be a cool way to head south for the winter

I bought the basic bike off the Polish guy in Bolton bikes...again recommended. Make very sure your tyres and breaks are suitable (bombproof) given the much higher stresses and strains!

Even my son is now a convert after sniffing at the concept for ages (lol). U'll get some grief off purist cyclists types and of course taxi hate. I revel in the latter ..Enjoy!!

Good luck!

Andrea B.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119149850#Comment_119149850

Much appreciated.

2 last questions.

Rear wheel drive?

Wattage of motor?

getoutadodge

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119150207#Comment_119150207

Watt equals Volts by Amps

The motor is in the rear wheel connected to a flikr control light activated by the circualar pedal motion

getoutadodge

I used this review before I bought.....

https://youtu.be/P4tfNUnyNLs

Andrea B.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119151062#Comment_119151062

One last q I promise.

Why not go mtb (comfier tyres), as opposed to hybrid bike for conversion?

getoutadodge

https://youtu.be/P4tfNUnyNLs

One last q I promise.

Why not go mtb (comfier tyres), as opposed to hybrid bike for conversion?

Mtb? I presume that's an acronym for mountain bike?

You can choose any bike style u like (new or second hand) etc etc

The conversion kit works for any push bike. Your call.

In hindsight I would have chosen a (ultralight) mountain bike frame given the proven performance of the battery kit...similar to the one in the YT video maybe. Generally though mountain bikes are heavier and wider tyres means more friction i.e. combined greater drain in the battery. Greater weight means lower range. Disk brakes look cool and (more importantly) no doubt are more effective but weightier and more complex...thus more expense .Same applies to a coque systems I noted on some models. For city living I chose a basic urban bike. Plus the fancier the bike the greater interest from thieves. Mine is inconspicuous.

getoutadodge

I notice round town some deliveroos with those massive dirt bike tyre models. Must eat the juice. My priority is maximising range

unkel

Those are fat tyre bikes. Great for comfort and handy for riding up kerbs and through all sorts of terrain with ease. It costs about 5c to fill up the battery of an eBike, nobody cares about the cost, but only of course if they have enough range. If they do big daily miles, perhaps they carry a spare battery

Andrea B.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119154323#Comment_119154323

Cheers for all that. Much appreciated.

the_amazing_raisin

Has anyone any experience with Bafang conversion kits?

I have this mad idea to get a Rad wagon and convert it to from rear drive to a mid drive with more powerful motor at some point down the line

Or I could go totally bonkers and go with dual motors 😂

unkel

Yep if you go back a few pages, you will see that I ended up fitting a Bafang BBS02 mid drive to my mountain bike. Still going strong. Rated at 750W, but up the controller to 30A and use a 52V nominal battery and you will get near 1.8kW out of it when fully charged 😁

the_amazing_raisin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119162209#Comment_119162209

Cheers, will take a look. I think I'll be happy with the 750W, certainly much better than the measly 250W we're allowed in the EU

Black Sheep

I'm just beginning to research e-bikes and I'm somewhat at sea.

I'm not interested in a conversion / adaptor kit, I will probably buy something new. It's for city commuting and nothing else.

At the moment I have a few ideas ... Kuma M1 seems interesting as it's an Irish company and readily available locally to me. I also was looking at the Merida e-speeder 400 ... And Watt Brooklyn...

Briefly I looked at the Van Moof bikes but it seems like they are unavailable right now? Although I gather there's one service centre in Harold's Cross I'm also slightly put off by what I read about the potential hassles if something does go wrong, I kind of like the idea of something that I can bring back to a local shop if need be.

If there is any particular resource that would help me weigh up some of the considerations that anyone can point me towards I'd appreciated, otherwise I'll just read back in this thread.

unkel

If I were to buy a new one and got access to the bike to work scheme (to ease the financial pain considerably), it would be a Van Moof.

eeloe

Just placed an order for the Rad Rhino 6 Plus through the bike to work scheme.

Said 15 days for delivery, lets see how quickly, or slowly i get it? :)

Mousewar

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119172921#Comment_119172921

I'm enjoying my M1 anyway although I've nothing to compare it to. It has 80nm which I think is more than similarly priced bikes. I've beaten a few VanMoofs on my commutes (although admittedly they were unlikely to realise they were racing me...)

And Kuma in Blanch are very happy to fix any issues and it's definitely convenient that they're so near relatively.

eeloe

Ordered the RadPower on the 15th, took my employer a few days to process the payment.

At original order, it said 8-15 days for delivery to Ireland.

As soon as the order is processed i've now been told it's 15-20 working days, maybe longer.

The good weather will be gone by the time i get it i'd say at this stage.

Andrea B.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119162209#Comment_119162209

Hi.

I have searched back and done read reviews.

Could you share the source of your kit and battery?

unkel

It's all in the thread! It's years ago and it's a long thread. I would have to go search it myself too. If you google "Bafang BBS02" on Amazon / eBay / AliExpress, you will find them. The battery is more tricky as I made it up myself out of small cheap hoverboard packs, and I have made packs from the ground up myself in the past too. But you can of course buy them pre-made, usually from the same seller as sells the motor kit.

Andrea B.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119265567#Comment_119265567

Thanks. It was actually battery source that was my main target in terms of value/reliability.

webels

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119265669#Comment_119265669

Try yosepower reliable and most in stock

https://yosepower.com/collections/e-bike-battery

jill_valentine

Hi folks,

I've gotten kind of into the idea of getting a scooter/motorbike style ebike in the Bike to Work scheme - I'm not looking to get anywhere in a hurry, I'd just like to get there comfortable and I like the idea of cruising around on something like it in the unlikely event the weather's ever nice.

The only model like this I see really easily available in Ireland is the Kuma K1. They suggest a range of 60km, though presumably I could carry a spare battery with me to extend it, or for emergencies, given it's not really a practical peddle only option?

https://www.kumabikes.com/products/k1

Anyway, I was wondering if anyone has any experience or insight with them, or has any alternate suggestions in a similar price range? (The extra 50 quid option is cruelly tempting but presumably the Bike to Work side would put the kibosh on it even if I was bould enough to chance it)

Bellie1

Anyone have a pedago step thro cruiser? How much pedalling do you have to do on en ebike? Have dodgy knee which cycling aggravates. Am concerned that even with the ebike assistance, my knee will still act up as still have to pedal ? How much less pedalling would you need to do on ebike Vs regular hybrid for same journey? eg 1/3rd less pedalling on ebike ?

jill_valentine

So poking around, as far as I can tell, the Kuma K1 looks to be a rebadged version of the same bike sold elsewhere as the Emmo Urban T, the Gygabyke Groove, the Eskuta: 250, the Colossus CSS-53Q and the Pure EV Etrance. I'm not sure the K1 is available via Kuma anymore after all, but I can't see any of its other incarnations being sold here either, which would leave me snookered for the Cycle to Work discount.

Has anybody else come across any of those being sold here, or tried them out?

JamBur

Hi guys, can an e-scooter purchase qualify for the bike to work scheme?

CH3OH

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119282072#Comment_119282072

I know a lad that got a lawnmower on it.

So anything is possible with the right invoice

AidenL

Van Moof.

I’mtempted by the new bikes, need one for myself and Mrs L, but some scary reviews online regarding reliability and customer service. Anyone here have any experience?

mailforkev

@AidenL I bought a Vanmoof S3 in late 2020. Had a minor problem with slipping gears after a few hundred kilometres. New rear wheel was sent to me promptly, I swapped it myself and all good since. Pretty sure the 2021+ models have some upgraded parts and there’s a service partner in Dublin now which wasn’t there when I bought it

I like mine so much that I ended up buying an X3 for my wife a few months later. No problems at all.

I know two other owners and they’ve had no issues.