Nelson37 said:
What would you do different if you wanted a max speed of 20-25mph, range around 20 miles, for road-use only, (with an off-road switch) and a selling price of around $1500 or less, with no Lipo but including an inexpensive bottle battery (or something similar)? While maintaining a "pedal-able" bicycle?
I think the Genesis V2100 bike is a great starting point?platform for a variety of Conversions.
Obviously, it's virtues have been demonstrated in the High Performance builds from myself, 100volts+, evolutiongts, farfle and others. You can also take the stock bike, and install a BBS02 ($~600) kit on it, or a Yescomusa DD Hub Kit ($300) or a Geared Hub Kit from Em3EV (~$500). Add a 10AH 48V battery (Samsung 25R cells, $600) and a bit of skill to install, and you can easily have a $1500 build.
On my build, without including the battery, for which the costs can very widely, I have amassed the following Bill of parts & Materials:
Genesis V2100 Frame: $130
Farfle Swing Arm $200
Used (Craigslist) Suspension Forks: $250
Used (eBay) Rear Shock: $110
Rear Shock Spacers: $25
Headset: $30
Front Wheel (John Rob Holmes): $250
Motor: MXUS Laced in Moped Rim: $500
Tires & Tubes: $130
Controller: $125
Seat & Seat Post (used): $25
Bottom Bracket: $25
Chain Ring: $25
Single Speed Freewheel: $25
Chain: $25
Cranks & Pedals: $50
Chainring Guard (Custom Water-jet Cut from BigBlueSaw): $32
Stem & Handle bars (Used): $50
Cycle Analyst V2.3: $130
Misc. Wiring & Connectors: $50
Total (Without Battery) = ~$2200
The 84V-10Ah battery I chose to start with cost $~250 from Hobbyking. This is simply 5S2P of the Turnigy 4S Hard case packs. - So my total build is right around $2500. Granted you would probably not want to choose any used parts if you were going to market this bike as "turn-key" to a consumer, so figure probably another $500 for ALL NEW parts. But when you compare the performance of this $3000 bike vs that of a more common Production $3000, I think you get quite a bit more. And of course $3000 is the COST to build the bike, so to have some profit for yourself as a business, I would not sell it for less than $4000.
But I think the strategy I would like to pursue is not one where I sell completed bikes, but rather to let the customer experience the pride of building something themselves, with very detailed "How-To" instructions. The end result of this process is a bike that the consumer really understands and can service themselves, instead of having to take it into their bike shop every time something goes out of alignment, or their battery or display starts acting buggy. - This would really be an opportunity to educate consumers about the products they buy and use, and to make them an informed consumer, rather than one who just hands over their wallet whenever something needs upgrades, repair or routine service.