Building a DIY E bike

Hi everyone, hope you are all keeping well I hope to soon be beginning a new job. It's about 20 km away at the moment I don't drive so either have to rely on public transport, which I find unreliable. Plus with the times I could be working. I don't think it would suit and I don't want to be begging for lifts off my parents.

I know there is the bike to work scheme, but I don't want to be asking the employer before I've even properly started. Plus, I feel it would be more environmentally friendly to use my existing bike frame, which is a fairly well built hybrid.

Could anyone point me in the direction of the bits I would need or perhaps an all in one conversion kit?

loyatemu

https://www.swytchbike.com/

(though you could be waiting a while as they work on some weird crowdfunded sales system).

Thank you for the link. I did see that earlier. However, apparently it costs something like £1000 for that and get a fully assembled and in my opinion better value bike from RAD.

https://radpowerbikes.eu/products/radmission-electric-metro-bike

Thanks again for the suggestion.

jc bamford

There is a lot of information on this Thread about eibes especially self build ebikes. Check out geared motor versus direct drive motor, geared best for commuting https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2058188919

Depending on the employer, there may be conditions on availing of the BTW scheme e.g. have to be with them at least 6 months etc and I don't know of any employer who would let you do it before even starting work with them given that there are usually probationary periods

Have you tried cycling the route already?

20km is definitely doable even with very poor fitness levels and I say that as someone who is not at all fit. If there are showers at your place of work you could cycle in and shower there.

That being said, I'm 23km away from my place of work and pre-covid I was seriously entertaining the idea of getting an ebike and cycling it

If funds are tight op, it may be a case that you cycle it for now, and avail of the BTW scheme as soon as you are able.

khaldrogo

https://mysuperebike.com/

GabbaTheHutt

Be careful on this. By converting a standard hybrid to an eBike you will invalidate the bikes warranty and legally it will be a very dark grey area if you have an accident.

Gwildor

Just started my own conversion, though on a recumbent trike. The parts are the same. You have a few things to consider:
Mid drive or hub drive
Torque sensing or cadence sensing
Power output (250, 350, 500, 750 or 1000) 250w is the legal limit.
Battery voltage and amp hour (has to be matched to the motor. Eg, 36v battery to 36v motor)

The kit I went for is a Tong Shen TSDZ2 500w 48v with a 48v 17.5ah battery. Mid drive. Comes in at just under €800 delivered. I went with this one over a Bafang as I wanted the torque sensor. Bafang motors are cadence sensors only.

Kander

I was bored in early lockdown last year and built my own DIY e-bike. I sourced all the parts on Ali-express and used a second hand bike off done deal. I got an all in one Kit that had waterproof connections / minimal excess wiring / large battery.

Ebike Kit total: €425
500w 48v Bafang front geared motor & wheel
Cadence + thumb throttle
48v Waterproof controller & wiring
24ah battery

Torque levers: €10
Jubilee pipe clips €10
Running 500W 48v through the front wheel needs torque lever to spread the power over a wider area of the fork.

Donor bike: €180
I needed a bike with steel forks so a cheaper model worked out fine. Giant Escape 3.


Work is a 36km round trip through dublin city centre so it has a lot of starting & stopping. I also have hills on both sides of the trip. Fully loaded bike I could do the trip twice (72km) easily if I assisted with peddling and not stupid on power level.

I am very happy with what I got for €650. I spent probably another €50 on Panniers & mudguards to really turn it into my commuting work horse.

loyatemu

Deleted User wrote: »

Thank you for the link. I did see that earlier. However, apparently it costs something like £1000

that's the "full RRP", I think they generally sell it half price (i.e. the real price, is half price). But like I said, you'll be waiting until they do another production run of the kit.

yousifm

You can find sellers for all in one ebike kits on Facebook marketplace as well as donedeal or get your bike upgraded for you with the myebike.ie guys.

Macy0161

Kander wrote: »

I am very happy with what I got for €650. I spent probably another €50 on Panniers & mudguards to really turn it into my commuting work horse.

Any links to the kit?

Kander

I'll P.M you the link.

Thanks everyone for all your helpful advice. I'd appreciate the PM when you are able.

eeeee

20k each way is very doable on a regular bike, I do it. It'd suggest giving it a try before creating a franken bike

eeeee

eeeee wrote: »

20k each way is very doable on a regular bike, I do it. It'd suggest giving it a try before creating a franken bike

Your right I should give it a go, I'm lucky in a way in that I do start early in the morning but I have plenty of light this time of year and I'll be on small rural roads.

By the way everyone to save me creating another thread, I'm in the mood to spend some of my savings, I really need a suggestion for a new bike ideally something with wide tyres and disk brakes.

peasant

Gwildor wrote: »

The kit I went for is a Tong Shen TSDZ2 500w 48v with a 48v 17.5ah battery. Mid drive. Comes in at just under €800 delivered. I went with this one over a Bafang as I wanted the torque sensor. Bafang motors are cadence sensors only.

I've got the 36V 250W version of that motor. It came factory fitted complete with my bike from a German maker (since defunct)

Very happy with that motor, good power out of it and the torque sensing gives very "natural" assistance. This motor can be fitted to any bike with standard crank housing diameter.