Truly reliable ebike?
- Thread starter mvly
- Start date
Chalo
100 TW
HK12K said:
Man, Chalo's post was wordy AF.
markz
100 TW
You have mellowed out
:wink:
:wink:
Chalo said:
ZeroEm
1 MW
Yes, it's 9yrs later and this thread has some life again. Have E-bikes improved in the last decade?
My trike is only 2yrs old. Tried to follow best methods here on ES when making it into an e-trike. That has worked out well. Airing up tires monthly and waxing my chain are the things I do most. Not counting charging. I'm sure it's all in relation to how many miles it is rode.
I would say my trike is truly reliable with in reason.
My trike is only 2yrs old. Tried to follow best methods here on ES when making it into an e-trike. That has worked out well. Airing up tires monthly and waxing my chain are the things I do most. Not counting charging. I'm sure it's all in relation to how many miles it is rode.
I would say my trike is truly reliable with in reason.
Greendog
100 W
- Joined
- Jun 15, 2021
- Messages
- 129
Be interesting see how many miles people are getting in the lifetime of there motor, controller, battery combos.
Any of you got galactic miles on your odometers?
Think I seen couple people on here say got over 10k
pretty sure that's kilometers though :wink:
post pics of your odometers,
So heres the rules, no cheating for starters,
we'll know, don't ask how, we'll just know :lol:
some of you I bet are already thinking about changing wheel size setting or putting bike on a treadmill,
for the record I have 3000 miles on cheap chinesium 1500w, did take 2years though
some of you regular commuters or delivery peeps should be able beat that easy 
Ps :wink: anyone know how many Smiley's it takes before ES
revokes your emoji rights?, think I'll try find out :wink: 
just found out its 10, never let it be said i dont empart valueable info ,sorry in all seriousness, well built Ebikes are very reliable, I have killed two infernal combustion cars in time I have had my ebike if thats is anything go by
Any of you got galactic miles on your odometers?
Think I seen couple people on here say got over 10k
pretty sure that's kilometers though :wink:
post pics of your odometers,
So heres the rules, no cheating for starters,
we'll know, don't ask how, we'll just know :lol:
some of you I bet are already thinking about changing wheel size setting or putting bike on a treadmill,
for the record I have 3000 miles on cheap chinesium 1500w, did take 2years though
some of you regular commuters or delivery peeps should be able beat that easy Ps :wink: anyone know how many Smiley's it takes before ES
revokes your emoji rights?, think I'll try find out :wink: just found out its 10, never let it be said i dont empart valueable info ,sorry in all seriousness, well built Ebikes are very reliable, I have killed two infernal combustion cars in time I have had my ebike if thats is anything go by 
MoneyPit
10 W
If I had just one bike, I'd have a lot more miles to report on one motor. My max is about 7000. A bike I gave to a friend had about 4400 on it from one year's commuting. I probably put in about 10k miles per year. I use an ebike as an auto replacement (I still have my license and my 2 cars are kept on battery tenders; used only for the occasional long haul).
My physical distance to work is about 4.4 miles, but since I ride the bike as a pedelec for exercise, I make the trip in 15 miles. So 30 miles daily (to satisfy the smarty-pants' out there, I do not ride an analog bike because I have to tightly control my exercise level thanks to a heart condition). This works out to about 150 miles per week. Rain or shine. Freezing or boiling (its supposed to hit 105 fahrenheit today). I have a cargo bike that I use to ride to the store for groceries/Costco runs. I pick the furthest stores from my residence to patronize (after scouting the bike rack situation) again for exercise, so add those miles to the log. Same goes for visiting friends. I've been a cyclist all my life so the folks who know me know I'm weird like that.
So a long background in cycling and building bikes, then I get into ebikes... the bikes I build are optimized for reliability on their bicycle components, with an eye towards severe duty thanks to the 'e' in 'ebike'.
The first bikes I built contained mistakes - and they were geared hub drives so the bar was lower to a quality build. Later on, especially when I decided I needed to be able to take hills, I went to mid drives.
Bottom line: My bikes are fully, mechanically reliable. I'm building with solid components. Nothing cheap (unless its a steel cluster). If I don't build them solid, I'm walking and thats a bad thing. The electrics are reliable as well. I don't pick parts I have to twist wires together to make work, and I have the proper tools and bits to do lifetime-reliable crimps (no wiring failures since I started in 2016, at least).
I'm not in any way special for doing this. I am experienced at building bikes, and I am a real pain in the ass as far as attention to detail is concerned.
One of my cargo bikes on a Home Depot run. This is one of my two daily drivers right now.
My main 'store' bike. 2wd. 32ah 14S9P 21700 pack w/big bms is in a vented, temp-sensor'd box under the floor. Among other things 2wd with a rear mid means - if you set it up right - drivetrain wear associated with a BBSHD disappears. Also there is no need to downshift if you start from a stop with the front hub's PAS set to engage first (dual throttles in case you care to just hit it).
Dual geared hubs. My daily driver for a few years until I got into cargo bikes. These motors benefit from being opened up and re-greased roughly annually. I'm using Mobil28 now but the original white lithium needed more frequent service.
I'd say most problems with builds are due to the builder's skill level or the chosen source material... not the platform. In fairness, being a lifelong utility rider with a focus on that kind of riding alone serves me well when it comes to planning a build.
My physical distance to work is about 4.4 miles, but since I ride the bike as a pedelec for exercise, I make the trip in 15 miles. So 30 miles daily (to satisfy the smarty-pants' out there, I do not ride an analog bike because I have to tightly control my exercise level thanks to a heart condition). This works out to about 150 miles per week. Rain or shine. Freezing or boiling (its supposed to hit 105 fahrenheit today). I have a cargo bike that I use to ride to the store for groceries/Costco runs. I pick the furthest stores from my residence to patronize (after scouting the bike rack situation) again for exercise, so add those miles to the log. Same goes for visiting friends. I've been a cyclist all my life so the folks who know me know I'm weird like that.
So a long background in cycling and building bikes, then I get into ebikes... the bikes I build are optimized for reliability on their bicycle components, with an eye towards severe duty thanks to the 'e' in 'ebike'.
The first bikes I built contained mistakes - and they were geared hub drives so the bar was lower to a quality build. Later on, especially when I decided I needed to be able to take hills, I went to mid drives.
Bottom line: My bikes are fully, mechanically reliable. I'm building with solid components. Nothing cheap (unless its a steel cluster). If I don't build them solid, I'm walking and thats a bad thing. The electrics are reliable as well. I don't pick parts I have to twist wires together to make work, and I have the proper tools and bits to do lifetime-reliable crimps (no wiring failures since I started in 2016, at least).
I'm not in any way special for doing this. I am experienced at building bikes, and I am a real pain in the ass as far as attention to detail is concerned.
One of my cargo bikes on a Home Depot run. This is one of my two daily drivers right now.
My main 'store' bike. 2wd. 32ah 14S9P 21700 pack w/big bms is in a vented, temp-sensor'd box under the floor. Among other things 2wd with a rear mid means - if you set it up right - drivetrain wear associated with a BBSHD disappears. Also there is no need to downshift if you start from a stop with the front hub's PAS set to engage first (dual throttles in case you care to just hit it).
Dual geared hubs. My daily driver for a few years until I got into cargo bikes. These motors benefit from being opened up and re-greased roughly annually. I'm using Mobil28 now but the original white lithium needed more frequent service.
I'd say most problems with builds are due to the builder's skill level or the chosen source material... not the platform. In fairness, being a lifelong utility rider with a focus on that kind of riding alone serves me well when it comes to planning a build.
Once setup correctly, a 20x3" bike with a dd hub and a single speed are pretty bullet proof. But even most geared hubs can last for thousands of miles. One key aspect are power levels. If you stay within designed specs, everything lasts a lot longer. Hot rodding is only so much fun...
That beeing said, "maintenance free" is overrated in my opinion. Sure, it's important to choose sustainable designs and quality parts if you are to avoid unnecessary breakdown; but ease of repair is much more important in my opinion. Choose readily available parts and don't dwell into overly complicated german style engineering... Also don't make bikes too heavy; past 25-30kg, they become quite hard to deal with.
You gotta miss the 2000s, when everyone thought bike design reached a dead end, and all there was left were optimizations. You could actually make most common repairs with a single allen wrench!
That beeing said, "maintenance free" is overrated in my opinion. Sure, it's important to choose sustainable designs and quality parts if you are to avoid unnecessary breakdown; but ease of repair is much more important in my opinion. Choose readily available parts and don't dwell into overly complicated german style engineering... Also don't make bikes too heavy; past 25-30kg, they become quite hard to deal with.
You gotta miss the 2000s, when everyone thought bike design reached a dead end, and all there was left were optimizations. You could actually make most common repairs with a single allen wrench!
markz
100 TW
That is one thing I dislike about some bicycles is that the traingle is shortened and is smaller then it should be. My current ebike is like that I just get around it by installing the battery above of the top bar. I was looking at my bike the other day and realized it had holes in the top bar for cable routing. Well my Townie Electra 21D had holes in the top bar for cable routing and thats exactly where the frame cracked and I thought about that bike more while looking at my current bike and realized the Townie could have cracked because I mounted my batteries below the top bar because the triangle had so much room. Where it cracked was the hole near the seat tube. Getting me concerned with my new bike, but its probably a combination of my body weight at that time being 380lbs and the battery weight with its vibrations. Not sure what to do to have it not happen again with my new bike aside from relocation. It wasnt like I was doing jumps, or pumping bmx-style rollers, or doing wheelies. The most I'd do would have been a going off a curb. Vibrations with the top tube able holes in the tube.
GIGATT
10 W
Yes he can quite loquacious unless asked about a modified for speed Cushman or Taylor Dunn 
His knowledge is not taken for granted though. thanks Chalo
His knowledge is not taken for granted though. thanks Chalo
Chalo said:
dogman dan
1 PW
You hit one point spot on. For those that only weigh 150 pounds, stuff like bending wheels or breaking cheap ass frames becomes a non issue. But start towing trailers, or loading panniers with 40 pounds of batteries, its another story. Almost all of my problems with the bike itself ended the instant I started riding a very sturdy Giant DH type mtb on the commute. But I also put a crapton of miles on the cruiser that I built from a $100 buck schwinn frame. Cheap frame yes, but not weak. I was pretty amazed though, that the crank never gave out.
One thing is for sure, quality e bike components do exist now. But in 2012, or now, you don't get em in a 200 buck "48v 1000w" kit. For this I mean bike wattage stuff, less than 1500w. Good controllers from Grin, or E bike kit or Luna will last nearly forever. I have one controller from EBK still running, 10 years later. Eventually even my lyens controllers wore out. But I never had an EBK controller actually fail. Burn in my garage fire yes, but not fail. Plug problems remain the main reason a bike wont run. But the getting rid of the old scooter plugs cut that down by 80%.
One thing is for sure, quality e bike components do exist now. But in 2012, or now, you don't get em in a 200 buck "48v 1000w" kit. For this I mean bike wattage stuff, less than 1500w. Good controllers from Grin, or E bike kit or Luna will last nearly forever. I have one controller from EBK still running, 10 years later. Eventually even my lyens controllers wore out. But I never had an EBK controller actually fail. Burn in my garage fire yes, but not fail. Plug problems remain the main reason a bike wont run. But the getting rid of the old scooter plugs cut that down by 80%.
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