store bought or home made?

[neptronix]

I went on Golden Motors.ca and did the build my own kit and it came out to $1095 (USD like the other stuff on the site?) and that's without a bike but they also sell their ebikes too.

EDIT I'll have to run this build thing again as 'the best kit on GM' only comes out to $788 so I must be doing something wrong or too much... later.

I'll tell you this about the goldenmotor kits:

Rode two different ones; extremely heavy, strange brake response, and the power output for the size/weight of the motors was not impressive at all. These were with the golden motor lithium batteries.

They also had a good amount of pedaling resistance since they were both direct drive motors, and also backbreakingly heavy.
ebikekit is nice. cell_man's kit is cheap but not newbie friendly.

 

[Evoforce]

I just wanted to add. My first e-bike was used, and the guy was moving on, so I got it for a good price off from craigslist. My second e-bike, the folding bike is new (Ebay) but I bought the motor kit (Crystalyte 5303) and batteries used, in a Ebay auction for a good price. Excellent motor! The third e-bike was a bike we had for years, but the motor kit (Crystalyte 409) was purchased used from an ES member, for a good price. The fourth e-bike I bought the motor kit (Crystalyte 5304) and the batteries from an ES member, because like everyone else that I purchased from, he was moving on to a new project. He also gave me the bike frame for free! I also have purchased new batteries from Ebay auction at excellent prices. Do you see a recurring pattern? NOooooo, not that I am cheap! You can find alot of good used product out there, that people are selling, so they can move on to their next dream. They are happy to see their last dream go to someone who is excited to take on their last dream.(Plus they need the money for their next vision/dream). Good luck shopping and soon enough you will have that e-bike grin too!

 

[Lock]

Whoops wrong picture. Here it is!

OMG I'm lovin' the "Headway Blue" matching frame!!! Ya can't get "individualized" as store bought, EVer...
Lock

 

[voltagebikes]

Great forum!

Just wanted to confirm what Lock was saying a couple of days ago ... Voltage Bikes has sole rights for the distribution of Wisper bikes in Canada. In no way are we associated with Airstream, although they have been using 'Wisper-like' names in their marketing. Anyway, enough said there ..

We're passionate about electric bikes ... give us a call if you want a chat ...

Cheers


Mike

 

[deardancer3]

Several years ago the choices would have been lousy.

Today, there are Quite a few very good choices, each one being a little better choice depending on your priorities.
It is so good to have good choices. Prebuilt and kits.

So Pick one, any one, and decide what you like and dont like about that particular one:

Price
Support
Weight
User controls
Range
Top Speed
Hill climbing
Ability to modify
Reliability
ETC.

Then look for something that beats that one.
when you have one that cant be improved on for your priorities.... take a deep breath and go for it.

d

 

[ron bruce]

Wow, thanks for all the responses.

I've got a lot to think about and study.