Hi, I'm new and need advice on my new build.
I commute to work around 7 miles each way and 90% of the time it's a pleasant ride on my Trek 7.3
There is one hill I need to attack, but it's nothing big. That is 90% of the time.
Now, on the windy day it can be little bit more work than I want, plus the summer is coming and the things will get worse.
Originally I was thinking of buying ebike, but could not find anything good below $3K.
Rebuilding my existing bike: I'm concerned about the wheels -want something stronger, because there are few rough patches during my commute.
Also, it was my trusted friend during last 5 years - why break something that works?
What I want is commuter friendly bike with some off-road capabilities (if it will come out right maybe I will try some low level mountain biking).
Ability to mount rear fender and Topeak MTX rack is a must. Hate those seatpost attached ones - I want a real rack.
The other important thing is - I want to be able to use it without power.
That is why I had to abandon the idea of using DD motors and mid-drive's - really concerned about the drag.
I lot of people claiming that without the battery their electric bike rides just like regular bike, but I'm yet to hear somebody say - I rode 10 miles today with my motor off.
So far I come up with this set:
Donor bike: Trek 820 http://www.trekbikes.com/us/en_US/bikes/mountain-bikes/sport-mountain-bikes/820/820/p/1008600-2016
Motor: Lynacycle hub http://lunacycle.com/motors/geared-hub-motor-kit-1000w-front-rear/
Battery: Lynacycle bottle 48V http://lunacycle.com/batteries/packs/48v/48v-panasonic-11-5ah-or-13-5ah-bottle-battery/
The thinking is - steel frame is solid enough to handle additional weight of battery and motor, have mounting holes for fenders and rear rack, no drag, battery should give me enough range.
Concerns:
Don't know if the wheel from Lunacycles will be exact fit for Trek 820. Can I just take out the freewheel from original wheel and transfer it to ewheel ?
WIll bottle battery fit on the frame? It looks like there is enough space, but I have no info on minimal required distance between lower bottle mounting screw and bottom bracket.
The wheels will be different, in ideal world I would like to have the matching wheels. Theoretically ,I can take ewheel and original wheel to bike shop and ask them to lace it, so rims will match.
The other way would be to by two nice double walled rims, so bike shop can build 2 nice wheels for me. Not sure how expensive that might be.
Ebrakes: I don't plan on using sensors, just the throttle, but there is still danger of trigger malfuncion - would be nice to be able to cut the power with the brake.
The ebrakes that come with the kit looks cheap and ugly comparing to nice integrated brakes\gear switches.
I hope to use something like that: http://www.greenbikekit.com/hidden-wire-brake-sensor.html
Following guidelines on sticky - here is the filed questionary:
Desired max speed on level ground: 20 mph
Desired max range at what cruising speed: 20 ml
Preferred bike wheel size, or wheel size of bike you want to convert: 26
Brake type of motor wheel: not disk
Rider weight: 210
Terrain:some short hills under 20% grade
Budget: $1500
Location: USA\ VA
I commute to work around 7 miles each way and 90% of the time it's a pleasant ride on my Trek 7.3
There is one hill I need to attack, but it's nothing big. That is 90% of the time.
Now, on the windy day it can be little bit more work than I want, plus the summer is coming and the things will get worse.
Originally I was thinking of buying ebike, but could not find anything good below $3K.
Rebuilding my existing bike: I'm concerned about the wheels -want something stronger, because there are few rough patches during my commute.
Also, it was my trusted friend during last 5 years - why break something that works?
What I want is commuter friendly bike with some off-road capabilities (if it will come out right maybe I will try some low level mountain biking).
Ability to mount rear fender and Topeak MTX rack is a must. Hate those seatpost attached ones - I want a real rack.
The other important thing is - I want to be able to use it without power.
That is why I had to abandon the idea of using DD motors and mid-drive's - really concerned about the drag.
I lot of people claiming that without the battery their electric bike rides just like regular bike, but I'm yet to hear somebody say - I rode 10 miles today with my motor off.
So far I come up with this set:
Donor bike: Trek 820 http://www.trekbikes.com/us/en_US/bikes/mountain-bikes/sport-mountain-bikes/820/820/p/1008600-2016
Motor: Lynacycle hub http://lunacycle.com/motors/geared-hub-motor-kit-1000w-front-rear/
Battery: Lynacycle bottle 48V http://lunacycle.com/batteries/packs/48v/48v-panasonic-11-5ah-or-13-5ah-bottle-battery/
The thinking is - steel frame is solid enough to handle additional weight of battery and motor, have mounting holes for fenders and rear rack, no drag, battery should give me enough range.
Concerns:
Don't know if the wheel from Lunacycles will be exact fit for Trek 820. Can I just take out the freewheel from original wheel and transfer it to ewheel ?
WIll bottle battery fit on the frame? It looks like there is enough space, but I have no info on minimal required distance between lower bottle mounting screw and bottom bracket.
The wheels will be different, in ideal world I would like to have the matching wheels. Theoretically ,I can take ewheel and original wheel to bike shop and ask them to lace it, so rims will match.
The other way would be to by two nice double walled rims, so bike shop can build 2 nice wheels for me. Not sure how expensive that might be.
Ebrakes: I don't plan on using sensors, just the throttle, but there is still danger of trigger malfuncion - would be nice to be able to cut the power with the brake.
The ebrakes that come with the kit looks cheap and ugly comparing to nice integrated brakes\gear switches.
I hope to use something like that: http://www.greenbikekit.com/hidden-wire-brake-sensor.html
Following guidelines on sticky - here is the filed questionary:
Desired max speed on level ground: 20 mph
Desired max range at what cruising speed: 20 ml
Preferred bike wheel size, or wheel size of bike you want to convert: 26
Brake type of motor wheel: not disk
Rider weight: 210
Terrain:some short hills under 20% grade
Budget: $1500
Location: USA\ VA