Is there a "best" cheapo ebike build kit?

I'm about to build another ebike. I figure a cheapo kit where I can take the battery off and leave the bike in the bike shed is my best bet. I can't bring the bike into my new apartment, and I just want something to jump on, push a throttle, and be to work in 10 minutes a couple miles away when it's shitty, windy, and bitter cold(WI) and I don't feel like really riding. I could build on a 26" bike that I can likely source for free, or a 650b wheeled Schwinn "mountain bike" from a box store that I found next to a dumpster this past summer.

Will one of the cheapo kits survive the cold of staying in a small bike shed for the winter? Will wiring, throttle, or LCD likely be an issue?

Also, I can't remember the website I ordered the battery from last time. Any thoughts on where to look for a cheap battery pack?

Sheer folly to recommend a "cheapo kit" that may or may not serve your needs but you are on the right track planning to bring the battery inside, as that is the main component that doesn't like to operate in freezing temperatures.

If water gets in the chain or shifting cables and freezes that can cause operational problems until they thaw out.

"Cheap battery pack" is almost guaranteed to be a letdown. Either/and counterfeit cells, poor condition cells, substandard materials, substandard assembly, etc. As you will be bringing the battery into the apartment to charge, recommend you go with a quality pack to minimize possibility of fire or explosion.

Where you gonna get "el cheapo" studded tires for your winter commute?

I recommend something like a Hailong or Polly cased battery that you can unlock and carry inside. The cheapest, scariest version of that I would gamble my own money on is Unit Pack Power. Even then, it's hardly something I'd want to stake my job on.

Battery needs to live in climate control when not out riding. Don't charge it when it (the battery) is below freezing. LCDs can be damaged by Martian conditions. The easiest way to avoid this is not to have one. Cheap!

Everything besides the battery and LCD should be okay in the freezer burned hellscape you call home.
Some of the plastic bits might become brittle.

Why do you want a kit? Just buy the $40 rental hubs, a $30 controller, $5 throttle and figure out your battery, do you gamble with the back alley hustlers trying to shave a few pennies to make a buck profit of the usual suspects (Amazon/Ebay/Alibaba/Aliexpress)

Otherwise $250 is common, sometimes $220, maybe $200
How much time do you have?
How much is your time worth?

Also the best for you is not the best for me. So we can just assume you want the cheapest of the cheap and it dont matter if its mid drive, wimpy 250W power or average 1kw power or higher power, then theres the whole direct drive heavy strong power house can use and abuse and dump tons of amps into it or go geared light torquey and if you break gears is "best" then easily found replacement parts. Damn "best" questions again.


What is your "best"?

Well, best these days would be its in stock, and the cheapest including shipping. Covid days, you buy what you can get.

Cold doesn't bother motors, controllers, wiring, unless full of enough water to freeze that. Store it kind of dry and you will be fine. So the shed should be ok, if its freezing rain out there while you are working, put a baggie over the throttle at least, and maybe the LCD. Mount the controller where it stays dryer, or can be covered when parked in the rain.

For lots of money, you can buy kits that have more waterproof controllers and displays.

RE the battery, do bring it inside so its warm-ish when you run it, or charge it. Don't run it or charge it when frozen. But be aware that el cheapo batteries could burn the apartment. Not saying never charge it inside, but don't fall asleep while it charges. You might not have a wife around to wake you up when the house is on fire. I got real unlucky that my battery did that. Its not that common. But lucky my wife woke me up and told me the house was on fire.

One cheap solution for this is to take an old pair of MTB tires and drive 3/8" sheet metal screws through the tread blocks from the inside, alternating side to side. Then use duct tape to cover the heads. I did this to a set maybe 20 years ago (I still have them in my parts cabinet!) and rode them a few times in winters. They work really well but are heavy... which is not a problem for an e-bike. One word of caution: be careful handling and mounting them. They'll cut your hands up.

Chalo said:

Where you gonna get "el cheapo" studded tires for your winter commute?

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dogman dan said:

You might not have a wife around to wake you up when the house is on fire. I got real unlucky that my battery did that. Its not that common. But lucky my wife woke me up and told me the house was on fire.

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I wonder what will shave more years off your life, on average, a wife smoke detector, or that rare house fire.

Why not charge a battery inside a metal case anyway no matter who made it or what name is on the cells? Apple devices set houses on fire too.

A surplus ammo box would be perfect.

There are several (many) threads on inexpensive bike kits, but mine from YESCOM was superb if very ordinary in components. Recently I purchased a kit from RICE that is inexpensive, but has waterproof connectors; haven't used it yet.

waterproof connectors ..... generous amounts of 'vaseline petroleum jelly' or dielectric grease on the connectors to keep moisture, condensation and water out. Put some on cables ends for the same reason as well.

I'm a bike mechanic in a shop, so resources regarding use of a proper bike shop, studded tires(already have), ability to wire it up and build it properly, etc, aren't an issue. I plan on using cinder blocks to make a little spot to charge the battery in. The battery will be either in my apartment when not working or in the shop when I am working, so it'll only be exposed to the cold when riding. The last bike I did was on a Trek Fuel frameset with a Voilamart 500w, 36v kit and a $200 battery and it served me well riding ~25+mi daily, rain or shine. I was thinking of trying a 1000w, 48v kit if the batteries aren't too much more expensive. Why not have more power.
Edit: I did track down where I got the last battery. PSWpower. Looks like they only offer one battery now, and it doesn't suit my needs.

Chalo said:

Everything besides the battery and LCD should be okay in the freezer burned hellscape you call home.

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:lol: I tried to escape and moved to Cambodia(sunny, warm, and dry. Beautiful almost all the time), but covid brought me back.

markz said:

Just buy the $40 rental hubs, a $30 controller, $5 throttle and figure out your battery.

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I'll definitely look into this. Then maybe I could figure out a smaller controller. That was the main complaint I had with my last cheapo kit was a fairly large controller and nowhere good to mount it. Didn't know I could get a wheel that cheaply. If this is just the hub, I don't know that it would save all that much once I buy a rim, spokes, and nipples, though. But maybe it would still. Hmm...

Electric Earth said:

markz said:

Just buy the $40 rental hubs, a $30 controller, $5 throttle and figure out your battery.

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Didn't know I could get a wheel that cheaply. If this is just the hub, I don't know that it would save all that much once I buy a rim, spokes, and nipples, though. But maybe it would still. Hmm...

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The surplus Jump bike hubs come built into a 26" wheel with tube, tire, disc brake rotor, and usually the brake caliper too. It's all used and its condition is variable. The rim can be a hassle to use with rim brakes.

https://jag35.com/collections/e-bike/products/26-bafang-36v-dc-electric-bike-wheel-tire-w-tektro-disk-break

https://www.batteryclearinghouse.com/products/26-bafang-dc36v-sturmey-archer-rx-rd3-electric-bike-wheel-with-tire-brake

This one is brand new, but it's a smaller hub with a Shimano roller brake spline instead of a disc mount:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/363559221130

raylo32 said:

One cheap solution for this is to take an old pair of MTB tires and drive 3/8" sheet metal screws through the tread blocks from the inside, alternating side to side. Then use duct tape to cover the heads.

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Nice, good idea! maybe use gorilla tape next time. But they only had duck tape 20 years ago haha

As usual, us Canadians pay more, I priced it out to $160usd shipped so not worth it for me to get wimpy 250W or 500W. Front hub would be nice to have, but I need a 35H motor aka 1500W for heat shedding ability primarily.

Ah a thought just came to mind, I have rear 135mm leaf 35H.
When I melted the phase wire insulation inside the hub a week ago, I priced out a new motor.
At leaf you can buy a stator with covers and no magnet ring.
What I was looking at - rear 35H - same price as below - https://www.leafbike.com/products/e-bike-hub-motor/rear-rotor-winding-48v-52v-1500w-hub-motor-part-1097.html
But now, I could just get this - Front - in a higher turn count (slower kv) $188+$92 - https://www.leafbike.com/products/e-bike-hub-motor/front-rotor-winding-48v-52v-1500w-electric-bike-motor-part-1143.html
**Please be careful here, the Leaf 1500W is wider then the 1000W.
**Which is why the Leaf cast wheel is good for only 1kw
So I could have a front and rear 1500W Leaf reusing the magnet ring for only $280usd shipped. Which would be an excellent value because I could be riding today on my Trek Verve 1 with front hub with stock fork. But I really dont want to ding that bike up. I've ridden with rear hub 26 and broke the rd, its a 700C bike but I didnt adjust the rd.


Are the Leafbike.com hub motors cheap?
- Well its a good hub motor, efficient, good quality, reputable seller, ships on time and ultimately the most important thing of all you can get the motor in any winding you want.

Can you do that with the mystery back alley sellers on ebay? Nope. Half the time they dont even list the width of the magnets (25H, 35H etc) so you can/cant get a feel for the realistic power levels.
Sure those mystery sellers can sling some cheap product, I bought $220 kits from YESCOMUSA type sellers. Might have even breached the $200 mark, thats Canadian peso's btw. I see someone selling those kits for $380cdn online locally. I've sold a few pulling the same move.

Inflation is rising, prices are going up, shipping constraints are real factors so you must act fast when you find a decent deal.

Finally, for studded tires - Buy them in the middle of summer. I saw some great deals online from reputable bicycle parts sellers. I should have bought a pair but I was to cheap :lol:

Buy an OEM ebike. This is the time of the year they go on sale.

Why bother being married to an OEM manufacturer, thats about the worst you can do.
You might as well be hanging out over at MTBR forums :lol:

ebike4healthandfitness said:

Buy an OEM ebike. This is the time of the year they go on sale.

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Chalo said:

The surplus Jump bike hubs come built into a 26" wheel with tube, tire, disc brake rotor, and usually the brake caliper too. It's all used and its condition is variable. The rim can be a hassle to use with rim brakes....

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If only they were rear wheels. Thanks for the links, though! I'll have to start looking around for a rear wheel for cheap. Didn't realize that was a thing.

ebike4healthandfitness said:

Buy an OEM ebike. This is the time of the year they go on sale.

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Even working at a bike shop there's no way I'd come Close to the price of DIY, so obviously there's that. $1,200 on sale when I'm looking for a $250 kit? Most of them also don't have throttles, only pedal assist. And not as fun or capable as even cheap DIY in most cases.

Electric Earth said:

Chalo said:

The surplus Jump bike hubs come built into a 26" wheel with tube, tire, disc brake rotor, and usually the brake caliper too. It's all used and its condition is variable. The rim can be a hassle to use with rim brakes....

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If only they were rear wheels. Thanks for the links, though! I'll have to start looking around for a rear wheel for cheap. Didn't realize that was a thing.

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My first hub motor e-bike, about 18 years ago, had a front hub motor because the wheel dish problems with rear hub motors were totally intractable. Things have improved a bit since then, but hub motor wheels are still inherently weaker than regular bike wheels. Regular rear bike wheels are weaker than regular front wheels. And rear wheels carry more than double the load of the front wheels on most bikes.

I still avoid rear hub motors on my own bikes, both for reasons of wheel strength and stiffness, and because committed pedaling tends to break the right side cover of rear hub motors. Putting the motor in front allows me to use an internally geared hub, a cassette hub, or whatever I like. I think the only reason I'd consider using a rear hub motor is to have motor drive on both wheels.

Electric Earth said:

ebike4healthandfitness said:

Buy an OEM ebike. This is the time of the year they go on sale.

Click to expand...

Even working at a bike shop there's no way I'd come Close to the price of DIY, so obviously there's that. $1,200 on sale when I'm looking for a $250 kit? Most of them also don't have throttles, only pedal assist. And not as fun or capable as even cheap DIY in most cases.

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In your opening post you mention needing to buy the battery pack .....so this will cost much more than the price of $250 kit plus whatever non ebike parts you need for your salvage 650b bike.

P.S. Why would you need a $1200 on sale ebike to travel a couple of miles to work? Even the cheapest OEM ebike could do such a short distance with ease. Start off every winter with a new OEM ebike you bought on sale. Sell in spring for a potential profit....wash rinse repeat.

Battery fires are rare, really rare. They just make a big impression because they make big fires if the battery is big. My mistake was not so much charging inside, but falling asleep with it on the charger. I just wasn't around nearby, when that really rare thing happened to me.

Not my original idea, but it works great. IIRC I read about similar in something called MTB Magazine... I sorta remember what those are but the memory is fading.

Eastwood said:

raylo32 said:

One cheap solution for this is to take an old pair of MTB tires and drive 3/8" sheet metal screws through the tread blocks from the inside, alternating side to side. Then use duct tape to cover the heads.

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Nice, good idea! maybe use gorilla tape next time. But they only had duck tape 20 years ago haha

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As far as the thumb throttle goes......I would read comments on whatever site sells the cheap and on sale OEM ebike. I have noticed myself that some of these cheap OEM ebikes can have a thumb throttle added without changing the controller.

Might as well start suggesting buying a used "oem" ebike.

This is a diy forum, we build stuff here.
I get the suggestion of buying a store bought "oem" ebike, or an online ready to ride ebike. But really, suggest it once and move on, really. :wink:

Bicycle = Free if you already have one, if not, roam the alley ways you will find bikes in various states pretty quickly.

ebike kit = $250-300, just go to Yescomusa and buy a friggin' kit. I don't know how much shipping would be for that.

Battery = stumbling block for most, along with seeing 100's of wires and not knowing how to twist wires together and using $1.00 electrical tape, for the half ass route, or $10 soldering iron + tape or better yet heat shrink. Oh where art though buy these mysterious items, so exotic.

As mentioned $50 used rental hub motors laced and need truing. Shipping cost of who knows, they dont ship to Canada.

Unite chain driven archaic motors, its called ebay have you heard of it?
Going down the barbaric ladder even more - vehicle alternators, electric lawn tools, drills, tread mills, washer/dryer motors, and god forbid you burn ancient dino's with a $150 china doll kit fumer and hurt them darn tree's and wales, or $90 Harbor Freight honda clone.

Please, do not buy a used battery. They are worthless.
If you buy a used motor, open it up and take a sniff. I lost $90 on a used burnt hub motor and yes I sniffed it but smell doesnt permutate through a sealed cover plate. I can't remember if I spun it but no bike to rotate, no tools either.Key is shiny windings, otherwise its comprimised.

markz said:

Might as well start suggesting buying a used "oem" ebike.

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There is no need to when a new on sale OEM bike will be cheaper than a kit and battery.

All he needs to do is a bit of research finding one that is compatible out of the box for adding a thumb throttle. Then his "build" will be to simply add thumb throttle instead of salvaging a bike (potentially a lot of work) plus building the from the ground up.