Anyone ever tried converting regular bike to e-bike? Please Help

[Ordinarily_Greater]

Hello people

 

At the time of curiousity i was interested into bicycles, then found out that normal bikes can be an e-bike. And now im having a real case scenario that i could benefit from e-bikes.

 

I have a bike that i rarely use and i want it converted to an e-bike. first of all its for going to school. so i need take or give 60km/h because its a 6km trip. other than that i haven't decided to make the e-bike kit my self or buy the built ones.

 

So i need help to make an e-bike kit myself, i have a difficulty understanding the concept So what parts do i need and i want experience from you who have done it or fiddle around with it

 

Thanks

[Enderman]

Uh, it's not as simple as plugging some things in and having it work...

It's going to cost hundreds of dollars, months of planning and design, fabrication tools and experience, and that's assuming you already have some engineering experience in both mechanical and electrical.

[Tsuki]

if you dont know what you are doing, buy a kit. dont fully diy it.   and even then it wont be super easy.  also if you dont have a high quality road bike, i wouldnt do it at all.

they arent designed for mountain bikes, and cheap road bikes wont handle the speed safely.

[Ordinarily_Greater]

3 minutes ago, James Evens said:

Don't do it. The frame isn't build for these forces and might crack.

Thanks for the quick reply

 

So its a MTB with Alumunium 6061 (forgot how "inch" big it is)

3 minutes ago, Enderman said:

Uh, it's not as simple as plugging some things in and having it work...

It's going to cost hundreds of dollars, months of planning and design, fabrication tools and experience, and that's assuming you already have some engineering experience in both mechanical and electrical.

Im ok with how much it is going to cost and what about those ebike kits? are they a quick solution to this?

downloadfile-2.bin

[SenKa]

Its bafang time. https://www.bafangusadirect.com/bafang-750w-bbs02-mid-drive-motor-and-battery-p/60.htm

[Ordinarily_Greater]

5 minutes ago, Tsuki said:

if you dont know what you are doing, buy a kit. dont fully diy it.   and even then it wont be super easy.  also if you dont have a high quality road bike, i wouldnt do it at all.

they arent designed for mountain bikes, and cheap road bikes wont handle the speed safely.

So what if i use the slower kits? like the ones claimed at 35km/h?

also theres a local brand here (i say reputable) at indonesia thats selling a 350W kit claiming 40km/h for $250 USD do you think that the bike i posted will handle it?

[Derkoli]

2 minutes ago, Ordinarily_Greater said:

So what if i use the slower kits? like the ones claimed at 35km/h?

also theres a local brand here (i say reputable) at indonesia thats selling a 350W kit claiming 40km/h for $250 USD do you think that the bike i posted will handle it?

The frame welds look decent compared to my MTB, it should handle it. I regularly hit 40KM/H on my road bike aswell.

[Ordinarily_Greater]

4 minutes ago, SenKa said:

Its bafang time. https://www.bafangusadirect.com/bafang-750w-bbs02-mid-drive-motor-and-battery-p/60.htm

this is it chief, probably gunna import it hehe

 

i mean i could find a better bike than what i have now and making that as a hobby to work on, or just swap a better frame and wheels

[Tsuki]

2 minutes ago, Ordinarily_Greater said:

So what if i use the slower kits? like the ones claimed at 35km/h?

also theres a local brand here (i say reputable) at indonesia thats selling a 350W kit claiming 40km/h for $250 USD do you think that the bike i posted will handle it?

im not familiar with that bike, but its not just about the speed.  its not about the torque that the motor puts on the hub.

low quality components will get destroyed by putting a motor on it.

[Ordinarily_Greater]

3 minutes ago, Derkoli said:

The frame welds look decent compared to my MTB, it should handle it. I regularly hit 40KM/H on my road bike aswell.

Ah nice, im guessing that is DIY ebike kit? also how much battery life did you get with your usage?

7 minutes ago, Tsuki said:

im not familiar with that bike, but its not just about the speed.  its not about the torque that the motor puts on the hub.

low quality components will get destroyed by putting a motor on it.

just found out my local brand sells this $350 kit consists of the battery too (22.2v 6Ah, Chinese Grade "A")

 

So, on paper will you recommend this? up to 45km of mileage (mhm dependant on bike spec)

[SenKa]

1 hour ago, Ordinarily_Greater said:

this is it chief, probably gunna import it hehe

 

i mean i could find a better bike than what i have now and making that as a hobby to work on, or just swap a better frame and wheels

It would honestly be much easier to strap on a little 1cyl 2 stroke motor with ~$80 worth of hardware off Ebay. Another option to keep in mind.

[Ordinarily_Greater]

9 hours ago, James Evens said:

Not good. If battery's are cheap and you are fine with swapping it during the rides it is fine. For daily 12 km it will work.

is it not good at long term use? if it has short lifespans i could look up for the battery replacements. I havent found the ones from the kit maker yet soo.. custom way to do it?

[Derkoli]

12 hours ago, Ordinarily_Greater said:

Ah nice, im guessing that is DIY ebike kit? also how much battery life did you get with your usage?

Ah well, They're both normal bikes, just saying that i would be very surprised if the welds wouldnt hold up to 40km/h (MTB is a Calibre bossnut evo, Road bike is a Specialized tarmac disc expert)

[TheTacoSniper]

I converted a pretty decent mountain bike ( to electric last year but was a bigger pain in the ass than I had expected it to be. I got one of those 1000W kits from Amazon and got lucky with the batteries because hobbyking was having a sale (3 x 4s 16AH for a total of around 700wH for $150 USD). It was front wheel drive, because I figured it would be easier to deal with than the rear sprocket etc, but the front dropouts on the fork ended up breaking off, because it was some brittle aluminum alloy and was not designed for that much torque in the front. I ended up having to get a cheap chinese steel fork but the mounting holes for the front disk brakes were slightly off, coupled with the motor being too wide, so I had to replace the front brake caliper, and even then it didn't ever line up properly. I designed a 3d printed enclosure for the batteries, and that was the only part of the bike that went well. I built it because I wanted to use it to get around my large and hilly college campus, but it ended up being so big, heavy, and cumbersome that I only used it maybe 15 times in a year and ended up walking/taking the bus.

[Ordinarily_Greater]

15 hours ago, James Evens said:

132WH isn't much energy.and the range they advertis is often ideal condition: depending on how you use it half the range could be realistic. Like I sad if you just want the bike for 12 km per day it should be fine. If you want to use it for different things the range will annoy you.

For reference other ebikes have 600 WH and get around 100 km under realistic conditions. "(ok this is so efficient, wauw)"

 

Oh by "not good" you meant is the mileage you get when its configurable at 800W? And charging it would be frequent? ok i get the point

 

but do you think it will last a year or more before i search out for a battery replacement?