What makes for a beautiful custom eBike?

What constitutes really gorgeous electrical bicycles these days?
I am thinking custom hand built eBikes and not commercially available units.
Thanks!

Simplicity. Fitness for purpose. Economy of features. Quality materials. Careful workmanship and elegant (but not hidden) electrical components.

Because there are more required ingredients in an e-bike than in a regular bicycle, there are more opportunities to make it tacky-looking.

Needlessly curved tubing, gratuitous chrome, phony tanks, mag wheels, and any styling cues lifted from motorcycles make me think, "ugh, that guy."

Chalo said:

Simplicity. Fitness for purpose. Economy of features. Quality materials. Careful workmanship and elegant (but not hidden) electrical components.

Because there are more required ingredients in an e-bike than in a regular bicycle, there are more opportunities to make it tacky-looking.

Needlessly curved tubing, gratuitous chrome, phony tanks, mag wheels, and any styling cues lifted from motorcycles make me think, "ugh, that guy."

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Great! Can you list some examples of eBikes you love? Some relatively recent machines from custom builders. I remember a wonderful bike Miles did some time back...stuff like that.

Well then, you have signed up for the right forum, if you go over to MTBR Forums and into their ebike section; they dont like anything over a 125W legal smeasel motors and no modifications neither. Not like Somalia has any ebike laws anywhere, guess everyone on Earth is from the great Red, White and whats that other color, maple leaf red is it, huh blue oh stars and stripes.

RWP said:

I am thinking custom hand built eBikes and not commercially available units.
Thanks!

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Bump.

Looking for photos of electric bicycle beauties. Please post yours.

Thanks.

Use google to do the work. Try this

https://www.google.com/search?biw=1...64.338.7......1....1..gws-wiz-img.46UEtlhylt0

Lots of ugly ones in there, but you can pick out the pretty ones.

fechter said:

Use google to do the work. Try this

https://www.google.com/search?biw=1...64.338.7......1....1..gws-wiz-img.46UEtlhylt0

Lots of ugly ones in there, but you can pick out the pretty ones.

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I use Google images a lot...but thanks so much for the trick to narrow down my search!!!

For me it's got to function better than anything being mass produced, I couldn't care less hoe it looks.

Grantmac said:

For me it's got to function better than anything being mass produced, I couldn't care less hoe it looks.

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Engineering excellence is important for sure.
If you are interested in public reception and uptake, so is design excellence.

Grantmac said:

For me it's got to function better than anything being mass produced, I couldn't care less hoe it looks.

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"Better".

What do you think would work better about a homebuilt DIY e-bike compared to say, a $7500 fully integrated Bosch or Shimano motor equipped Specialized, Trek or the like?

Apropos the topic, I think those major manufacturer bikes are ugly. But functionally, they are sorted out to a degree that is hard for a hobbyist to attain.

I went looking for pictures of e-bikes I find particularly appealing, but I didn't find any I thought were exquisite. For instance, I found this handmade Fifield bike, which is very nice but has too much furniture on it to be maximally pleasing to the eye:



I think it's noteworthy that the same features that would make the bike a pleasure to live with, make it less attractive to look at. I'm reminded of the hipster fixies of five minutes ago that had nice simple lines-- but no brakes, weather protection, or anywhere to put your stuff. People bought them by the shipload for how they looked, but very few still ride anything like that.

Chalo said:

Grantmac said:

For me it's got to function better than anything being mass produced, I couldn't care less hoe it looks.

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...I went looking for pictures of e-bikes I find particularly appealing, but I didn't find any I thought were exquisite. For instance, I found this handmade Fifield bike, which is very nice but has too much furniture on it to be maximally pleasing to the eye:...

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You found an unusually clean machine with, as you say, "a lot of furniture". Thank you!

Beautiful means eye candy which means thieves like it too.

Beautiful means not wrenching on the ebike all the time, having it run smoothly, and making the bicycle look fuckingugly.

The primary reason I ditched my nice looking Townie 21D cruiser is because everyone commented on how nice a bike it was. So when I found an abandoned Norco, I scooped it up and swapped everything over. Now some people think I am a bum, but they'd never know my bicycle is worth more then their shittyass minivan, and no I didnt want that McPukes combo meal deal they put on my seat, but hey whatever. Atleast I know there is no eye appeal to my e-ride. Its just a matter of trying to hide the motor, controller and having a compact battery.

I'd the LMX a custom bike since it's also not mass produced and to my mind it is certainly far better than anything which is being produced in the mainstream. Mainly because it's roughly what I'd build if I had the talent to do so.

I kinda dig, but not really. If this is what you are talking about, https://lmxbikes.com/en/
I've never been a fan of a bicycle even remotely looking like a motorcycle to the commoner.
The LMX64 is not bad, looks just like any other bicycle you buy from the local bicycle store. However for €5,499.00 which is like $8200 Canadian and Aus dollar, I could do a lot with that, with a ton of money left over.

I would just try to find a full suspension bicycle, that is somewhat stretched like a cruiser, but has fatter tires on it, for winter riding and I would still run a rear hub direct drive, but the controller would have to be Sinewave, have Regen, brake cut off, 3 speed switch for speed %, of course a cycle analyst, satiator charger, and a decent sized battery. I will try to find the bicycle style I would want. Probably would have to get someone to custom make it.

I dig this, but with a really stiff rear suspension, and a more cruiser, slightly stretched look to it.
http://forums.mtbr.com/attachments/fat-bikes/983239d1429816231-gravity-quigley-full-suspension-fat-bike-quigley.jpg

Grantmac said:

I'd the LMX a custom bike since it's also not mass produced and to my mind it is certainly far better than anything which is being produced in the mainstream. Mainly because it's roughly what I'd build if I had the talent to do so.

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https://lmxbikes.com/en/all-terrain-emtbs/140-lmx64-enduro-emtb.html

That one. To my mind it's got it all.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder...

One man's trash, is another man's treasure.

https://www.electricbike.com/custom-builds-index/

To me the beauty is in the functionality (that it does the job it was designed to do, and does it well, and does it in the way the rider actually needs it to, not just how some marketeer thought it might be cool to do it), and the quality of the materials and workmanship.

So there's not much out there I'd call beautiful.

I'd like mine to someday qualify, but that's unlikely to happen mostly due to the latter two factors.

spinningmagnets said:

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder...

One man's trash, is another man's treasure.

https://www.electricbike.com/custom-builds-index/

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Thanks, Ron nice work. I found this earlier today.

Pretty much the only good looking e bike I ever built. I stretched a swchwinn, and lengthened the deck. link to the build on the bottom of this post. But some would just think cruisers are ugly.

In my eye, this bike is beautiful, because it worked so good. The lower deck carried stuff nicer, the 20" wheel got up hills better, and the mid frame battery trays, though kind of ugly, functioned great. So for me, the functionality of this bike made it a beauty. View attachment 2

I built some really ugly bikes, for years.

Sure it's a fair amount of money, but not compared to similarly spec'd factory ebikes and the LMX dual chain setup is vastly superior to my mind.

But because it IS rather costly and I'm rather cheap I'm pursuing a similar drive system on a downhill frame. Serial mid drives and hub motors are both compromise solutions with major drawbacks popular only because they are easily adapted to existing bicycles.

markz said:

I kinda dig, but not really. If this is what you are talking about, https://lmxbikes.com/en/
I've never been a fan of a bicycle even remotely looking like a motorcycle to the commoner.
The LMX64 is not bad, looks just like any other bicycle you buy from the local bicycle store. However for €5,499.00 which is like $8200 Canadian and Aus dollar, I could do a lot with that, with a ton of money left over.

I would just try to find a full suspension bicycle, that is somewhat stretched like a cruiser, but has fatter tires on it, for winter riding and I would still run a rear hub direct drive, but the controller would have to be Sinewave, have Regen, brake cut off, 3 speed switch for speed %, of course a cycle analyst, satiator charger, and a decent sized battery. I will try to find the bicycle style I would want. Probably would have to get someone to custom make it.

I dig this, but with a really stiff rear suspension, and a more cruiser, slightly stretched look to it.
http://forums.mtbr.com/attachments/fat-bikes/983239d1429816231-gravity-quigley-full-suspension-fat-bike-quigley.jpg

Grantmac said:

I'd the LMX a custom bike since it's also not mass produced and to my mind it is certainly far better than anything which is being produced in the mainstream. Mainly because it's roughly what I'd build if I had the talent to do so.

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Click to expand...

RWP said:

Looking for photos of electric bicycle beauties. Please post yours.

Click to expand...

I am afraid that none of mine would qualify at "beauties."

Custom hand built eBike ( pictures missing from his build thread ) , not commercially available , aesthetically pleasing - https://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=58265

Still have to have a wheel base that will fit on the transit bus bike racks. I've used them two or three times this year with flats. I bought a mini 12V air pump at Crappy Tire for $15cdn, figured its better then sending my money over to China.

I broke off the seat tube on the Norco CityGlide a day or two ago. This bike was abandoned by the bicycle store itself, when I acquired it, the bike still had the bike store repair # on it. It was a great bike while it lasted, it had a IGH so the rear drop outs were narrower, I had to really pry the drop outs to fit the mxus 3kw. If you must ask, the rear seat post rack was rubbing, I had cut the seat post a little too short. So 3/4 of my trip, I tried to re-adjust, and as they say "Wheres the beef?" not enough beef of seat post inside seat tube frame.

View attachment 1

Quickly sprang into action with my Townie 21D with the fork off it. First successful threaded fork job, I've done a headsets on threadless before.

The color makes it stand out, which I do not like one bit! I get too many compliments with the Townie.
This may be my best work yet :wink:
Yes I am a black Gorilla tape, and zip tie kinda guy :lol:




I have loved feet forward design from the momeny I rode the Townie Electra 7D, I can not get used to the mtb position plus I am too old to hunch over. I am pondering the single speed Electra Rally Sport, for my next backup bicycle.
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/9b/64/52/9b6452a295fd5b38868b34635fe003c5.jpg
I like the fact there is so much space in the triangle, and that the middle cross bar would be great for a smaller battery or the controller. May have to cut that middle bar for a bigger battery, so many ways to go with it. Cleaner top bar when looking down. No angles on the battery mounting it to the mid bar. I dig it!

Still no chain. :lol: