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The eBike thread

unkel

A quick look seems that this doesn't really seem to fit in the cycling forum. So starting a thread here about all things eBike

I'll get the ball rolling. I have zero experience with eBikes. But I was going to build myself a battery anyway, for various reasons (like in bringing with me in my EV as a "petrol can")

I'm going to buy a solderless kit to make the battery (with 18650 cells I have removed from dead / old laptop batteries). This kit cah handle 20A max, and I would like the battery pack to produce 1kW constant. P=V*I so 1000W = 50V * 20A

This dictates that my battery needs to be nominal 48V (was thinking of making a 24V battery pack, but that won't be able to charge my car)

A quick browse on eBay and Amazon shows that you could buy a powerful 1000W bike conversion kit with everything needed except the battery for about GBP120 (a bit more from Amazon but peace of mind)

What to buy though, front wheel or rear wheel kit? Pros and cons? Any other advice?

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stronglikebull

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117767475#Comment_117767475

Power * Time * Unit cost.

For a typical scooter, maybe 250Wh battery, that's 1/4 of a unit to charge. Assuming a unit cost of 20c, then it's 5c per charge, and if you charge 4 times a week that would only use 4 units a month. Your bill is up over 120 units, so unless you charge the scooter 10 times a day, it ain't that.

A rotary fan might be 100W, mine is, so running that 10 hours a day would use 1 unit (0.1kW*10h is 1kWh), and if running every day would use 30 units in a month.

A robot mower might have a 30Wh battery, which is 30 charges to use a single unit. How many times a day does it recharge? I can't see it using more than 10kWh a month, so you still need to account for about 90 units.

Any chance you or a household member are working from home? My nephew lives with me for the last few months, working at home half the week, and electricity usage has gone from 10kWh a day to about 13. That's 90 units a month on my bill anyway. My own laptop is about 200W, if running that for 10 hours a day it would make about 60kWh a month.

DaveyDave

Anyone know how to calculate the cost of charging batteries?

My electricity bill this month is huge, last summer was 220kWh now it's 339kWh. The only thing that has changed is using a fan more due to the heat (although I sleep with a fan for 2-3 hours most nights all year with minimal cost), my ebike and a robot mower. Maybe solar generation is down although we only have 1.2kW so it doesn't save much off the bills.

Didn't notice a spike in my bill when I got my ebike back in April when charging 2-3 times a week so I'm narrowing it down to the fan or the mower.

The robot mower is 20v, 2.0Ah. One calculator online says it's 75 cent to charge at my unit rate, which would be about €30 a month when used daily.

jon1981

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117764058#Comment_117764058

Sorry, didn't mean to cause any doubt in your mind. I actually test rode one a few weeks back and it felt solid and quality. I'm just thinking down the line because I'll likely be doing 60-70km daily so it will be getting a lot of use!

leche solara

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117762006#Comment_117762006

I have a Kuma M1 just over 7 weeks and love it. I've had no trouble whatsoever so far and it's 6 week checkup revealed no problems. I'm getting more than 100km from a battery charge but exactly how many kilometers I'm not sure as I charge the battery when it's down to one bar as I don't want to run out if I'm far from home. To be honest I haven't given a thought to replacement parts, but maybe it's something I should have considered. The quality of the bike is superb and the other Kumas I've seen in the shop also look to be of a high standard. The folding F1 looks really nice. Because of the quality I'm hopeful that the company will thrive and replacement parts won't be a worry.

jon1981

Any Kuma M1 owners in here? Curious what reliability is like as there's not alot of reviews online given they are relatively new. I'm also wondering what parts replacement is like. The battery design looks very bespoke so wondering if replacements would be possible should Kuma seize to exist.

Bilbo65

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117741948#Comment_117741948

Thanks, I have been dealing with the LBS. I'm looking for a Touring Hybrid Exec 625 so maybe it's time I cast the net a little wider.

irishgrover

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117735209#Comment_117735209

I'll jump in on this. I got a cube nature one 500 last year and love it. Wonderful bike. Have you called around dealers. This is what I did and found one in stock.

Bilbo65

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117044002#Comment_117044002

How did the Cube work out for you now that you have had a few months to enjoy it? I looking at something similar but the wait times are awful now, around mid-November for new stock☹️

celticWario

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117730441#Comment_117730441

I'd be importing yeah, the range is a concern but I'd be charging in work so I think I'm ok on that regard, there's also a battery add on, and as for the torque, it's a very light bike.

leche solara

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117730230#Comment_117730230

Is that on sale here or would you be thinking of getting it delivered from Nevada? The range of 20-30 miles is very low and 40 torque kids and low too

celticWario

Thoughts on this one?

https://ride1up.com/product/roadster-v2/

Specs wise it looks like a great belt driven E-Bike for the price.

Eoin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117623461#Comment_117623461

When I was looking a few years ago, I decided on one with a mid-drive Bosch engine (Haibike sduro 2) - it cost a bit more than the ones you posted, but I figured it was better than having a cheaper one that I may not actually use. I'd absolutely recommend that motor anyway; loads of torque and well able for the hills. I used it for the exact same commute you're going to do, and I'd get there and back twice on a charge. I know it's not the question you asked, but from memory, spending a little bit more gets you in a much better range of options IMO.

leche solara

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117717390#Comment_117717390

Try to get a test ride and see what you like

spalpeen

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117717204#Comment_117717204

Seems to be. I've also come across lots of others in my googling, namely legend siena, legend monza, radmini and brompton e bike

leche solara

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117717188#Comment_117717188

You could get a Fiido from cyclebike.com for about half the price of the Kuma but I think the Kuma is far superior

spalpeen

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117712246#Comment_117712246

Thanks, I'm reading about it now. I guess it is more expensive than:

due to greater range?

leche solara

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117707900#Comment_117707900

Have a look at the Kuma F1. Kumabikes.com. There's a video review on YouTube too.

spalpeen

Looking for a bike rec. I want electric, foldable for convenience (eg taking on public transport.) I'm not an avid cyclist but I want to be able to get around Dublin, maybe max 20km trips return but also would like to be able to take it with me on trips to rural areas. Don't really know what else to say

SCOL

https://boards.ie/discussion/comment/117604504#Comment_117604504

I put the kit onto a Trek T30 Hybrid, fitted fine and a few thousand KM on it.

Martin_B1886

Hey wondering could someone help me out I'm looking to commute from Bray to Dublin daily roughly 45km total commute, I wanted to get an ebike to help with the slight gradients I don't want to spend an absolute fortune on my first one so I'm going to do the bike to work scheme but I'm clueless about bikes and was wondering which of these two are the better option?

https://www.halfords.ie/bikes/mens-bikes/carrera-crossfire-e-mens-electric-hybrid-bike-2.0---17%22%2C-19%22%2C-21%22-frames-445998.html

http://everestcycles.ie/falcon-turbine-27-5%e2%80%b3-electric-mountain-bike/

On paper the Carrera looks the better option but I asked on Reddit and those guys said both are terrible and won't do for what I want but they were pro build your own and that's not an option for me. I weigh 270lbs so I'm not light but I'm not unfit either.

Thanks for the help

loughside

Great ebike weather out there !

Redkite200

SCOL wrote: »

I use a 750w mid drive for my commute 50km ish round trip If your in bad weather and want to get home it's nice to have that little extra power. 250w is EU legal but a little under powered.

Hi, which bike model are you using can I ask? Cheers

[Deleted User]

Don't get fooled, most bikes are well beyond the 250 watt limit, the likes of Bosch are at around 750 watts or possibly more and Brose 1Kw or more.

No one cares about power any more really but the 25 Km/hr limit and not being allowed a throttle and I think acceleration limits.

250 watts is just a sticker put on the motor to make it look all nice and compliant. I bet ( but can't confirm ) even this bike with hub motor in the link above is closer to 500 Watts peak.

SCOL

Redkite200 wrote: »

Hi, another e-bike noob question here:

Looking for a reliable e-bike that would handle say a 20km approx (total) daily commute on normal Irish main roads.

Would this be a decent bike to start off with?

https://greatebike.eu/apache-dakotah

(If I could bring the overall cost down a bit even better of course!)

I use a 750w mid drive for my commute 50km ish round trip If your in bad weather and want to get home it's nice to have that little extra power. 250w is EU legal but a little under powered.

Redkite200

Thanks for the replies.

nokiatom

Redkite200 wrote: »

Hi, another e-bike noob question here:

Looking for a reliable e-bike that would handle say a 20km approx (total) daily commute on normal Irish main roads.

Would this be a decent bike to start off with?

https://greatebike.eu/apache-dakotah

(If I could being the overall cost down a bit even better of course!)

If its only 20km you are doing and theres no steep hills then that bike would suit you

[Deleted User]

Redkite200 wrote: »

Hi, another e-bike noob question here:

Looking for a reliable e-bike that would handle say a 20km approx (total) daily commute on normal Irish main roads.

Would this be a decent bike to start off with?

https://greatebike.eu/apache-dakotah

(If I could being the overall cost down a bit even better of course!)

At that price you're already very limited in the quality and power you can have in an ebike, that motor will provide maybe 45 Nm of torque and that's not a huge amount for a hub motor but should be just fine for level ground to give your legs a boost and it might surprise you on some short hills.

Most people now go for the likes of the Bosch and Yamaha crank drive motors because they can be more efficient especially for hills but on level ground crank drives don't have any advantage and can be somewhat of a disadvantage as you have to ease off on the power before changing gear, you don't with a hub motor.

The real advantage with crank drives is that if you have 45 Nm of torque then it's available in all gears, if you slow down on hills change to a lower gear for more power with a hub you can't because it's a fixed gear so when it slows down under max power then a lot of power gets wasted as heat as the hub becomes inefficient, the solution ? more power ? well yes because the more torque you have the easier the bike will overcome the force that's slowing it down but the consequence is more power needed which drains the battery faster.

So the only real way to know whether the bike would suit you is to test it out but you can't so it's a bit of a gamble, hubs are great with the right level of power so it might have just the right amount for you on level ground if you still peddle along.

Redkite200

Hi, another e-bike noob question here:

Looking for a reliable e-bike that would handle say a 20km approx (total) daily commute on normal Irish main roads.

Would this be a decent bike to start off with?

https://greatebike.eu/apache-dakotah

(If I could bring the overall cost down a bit even better of course!)

mailforkev

geo88 wrote: »

For people that bought the S3 - how was the experience of stopping/starting at intersections for you?
My height is 178cm and wondering if the S3 would be uncomfortable for frequent stops.

I have both an S3 and X3 in the house.
I’m 1.87m so the S3 is perfect for me. It is a big bike though, tall crossbar. They’re built for Dutch people size.
To be honest at 1.78m I’d say you’re just about hitting S3 height but with the saddle quite low. You might be more comfortable on the X3. Depends on your inside leg measurement a bit.

geo88

For people that bought the S3 - how was the experience of stopping/starting at intersections for you?
My height is 178cm and wondering if the S3 would be uncomfortable for frequent stops.

Any other good options in the same price range that also qualify for the bike to work scheme? I see people recommending Cube and Haibike - thought they tend to be quite a bit more expensive.

Is there any thread for DYI conversions - e.g. what would be the best MTB to buy under ~1250e for attaching a kit to it? (Bafang mid drive seems popular here from what I can see).