DrInnovation
100 W
I'm a newbie on just getting into ebikes. I moved and my commute is now 1 to 2 miles (depending on path) but has some 8 and 10% grades, so while I can do it on a bike my heart is racing and I arrive at work sweating. I don't really want/need speed or really long range and want some exercise just not wanting getting my HR to 190 and being sweaty. Read lots of things on ES and considered building my own, but trying to balance cost with value.
In look at building my own us also used and resuing parts I have from previous projects. Since batteries are often a very expensive parts I was hoping to reuse some military batteries I have from another project (I have 6 plus 2 charger2 and 2 flexible portable solar chargers). These are BB-2590/UBI-2590 (http://ultralifecorporation.com/be-military/products/military-rechargeable/bb-2590-ubbl10-01/) and are very nice rugged and reliable batteries. These are packaged with a natural serial/parallel format, nominally 15/30v with actual voltage range of 20-33.6v in the "30v" mode. Was thinking of using them on some 36v controller or+ rear-hub based setup on my el cheapo mongoose mountain bike. Or Maybe a Magic Pie 2 or 3 as they can handle the voltage of those batteries just fine.
But today I found a used lashout 24v ebike from craigslist for $250 (http://cosprings.en.craigslist.org/bik/4580022966.html). The pic of the used bike look like its in great shape. It has new SLAs but I don't expect SLA will last that long and are heavy, though with my shorter commute they would be okay for now. And its less than half the cost of the parts I was considering. A separate ebike would mean I can keep my regular bike for days I don't mind the sweat (or as i get in better shape and don't sweat as much but can take ebike on days I teach or have meetings or am running late... Not a lot posted here about the lashout and similar bikes, though what I found was generally positive. So any gotacha to lookout for when I test drive it? Are parts still available if it had problems?
Now for the really out there question.. can I mod the lashout to use the BB2590 30v batteries? As I understand from reading here and other sites, the lashout has an integrated controller. I'm torn as I was looking to reuse the BB2590s allowing me to also use it for longer bike trips. So wondered if anyone here had experience with voltages in the low 30 on as lashout or similar bikes. I know they actually sold a 36v version (read that on a thread here pointing to http://www.nycewheels.com/lashout-electric-bike-36v.html). but don't know if that had a different controller and 36v means is higher voltages. if I use eventually switch to an external 36v controller what do I have do to remove/override the internal controller?
In look at building my own us also used and resuing parts I have from previous projects. Since batteries are often a very expensive parts I was hoping to reuse some military batteries I have from another project (I have 6 plus 2 charger2 and 2 flexible portable solar chargers). These are BB-2590/UBI-2590 (http://ultralifecorporation.com/be-military/products/military-rechargeable/bb-2590-ubbl10-01/) and are very nice rugged and reliable batteries. These are packaged with a natural serial/parallel format, nominally 15/30v with actual voltage range of 20-33.6v in the "30v" mode. Was thinking of using them on some 36v controller or+ rear-hub based setup on my el cheapo mongoose mountain bike. Or Maybe a Magic Pie 2 or 3 as they can handle the voltage of those batteries just fine.
But today I found a used lashout 24v ebike from craigslist for $250 (http://cosprings.en.craigslist.org/bik/4580022966.html). The pic of the used bike look like its in great shape. It has new SLAs but I don't expect SLA will last that long and are heavy, though with my shorter commute they would be okay for now. And its less than half the cost of the parts I was considering. A separate ebike would mean I can keep my regular bike for days I don't mind the sweat (or as i get in better shape and don't sweat as much but can take ebike on days I teach or have meetings or am running late... Not a lot posted here about the lashout and similar bikes, though what I found was generally positive. So any gotacha to lookout for when I test drive it? Are parts still available if it had problems?
Now for the really out there question.. can I mod the lashout to use the BB2590 30v batteries? As I understand from reading here and other sites, the lashout has an integrated controller. I'm torn as I was looking to reuse the BB2590s allowing me to also use it for longer bike trips. So wondered if anyone here had experience with voltages in the low 30 on as lashout or similar bikes. I know they actually sold a 36v version (read that on a thread here pointing to http://www.nycewheels.com/lashout-electric-bike-36v.html). but don't know if that had a different controller and 36v means is higher voltages. if I use eventually switch to an external 36v controller what do I have do to remove/override the internal controller?