E-bikes anyone? (bicycles)

Any folks here into ebikes? I've been slow to warm up to them as a longtime MTBer, but it looks like they're here to stay, and the gear is getting pretty good, so Ima get one. I'm keeping my MTBs for trails, but I want something to ride to work. And to the grocery store. And the bar. And wherever else I need to go.

It has always been the dream to park the Taco and get around mostly by bicycle. Some distances are just hard to do in a short period of time though. And then there's getting back and forth to work. I don't wanna show up sweaty & dirty and if I ride a pushbike there, it's gonna take a while and Ima need a shower before.

I still want something a little MTBish, but I also want fenders, maybe a chain guard of some type, a rack, big tires, and I want it to have some power. And range. I'll be doing a lot of stop and go with it and I wanna be able to get across roads quickly as well as climb hills with ease.
So I've been doing a lot of reading and shopping and the first inclination I have is to build. I have a 2000 Cannondale F900SX sitting in the garage doing nothing. It will take a bit of work to get it ready though. So far I'm at $2,150 (est) to get that thing where it will need to be. That's with everything (probably not, but close)...figuring I can score a decent kW motor, decent 48v battery, all the fixins and a few items I'll need for the donor bike. My inclination is to go with a geared hub motor. I'm not looking for a trail bike here - I'm looking for reliability and torque. I ride the road as little as possible though and go to great lengths to avoid is so it will need to be able to go places. I want at least a 50 mile range (willing to buy 2 batteries, but did not include that in the above estimate) and a good 20 mph without any assistance from my legs.

That idea above is a pretty basic setup though and assumes that I'm either going to rebuild the Lefty that's on the Cannondale or replace it with a rigid front end. I'm starting to get to the pricepoint of a decent pre-build even re-using a 20 year old donor rig. It will take considerable time too as I get to rebuild the entire bike and 2 wheels from scratch. Alternately I could pony up a little more cash and buy a decent rig from a shop. I'll save myself lots of time building and tuning and perhaps get something more reliable.

Anyhoo, was hoping to hear from some of you have gone down this road. If there's a thread on this already, apologies for making a new one - I did not find one. I'd love to hear about it though if I did miss it.

TIA!

 

Rob, I was just about to ask the Same question! Ive been looking at an E Bike with Front Suspension. Not so much for the dirt trails, but the ride back home. ( We have a lot of steep hills in my home down, but the views are worth it! Let me Know if you end up Finding a Bike that fits your needs!

https://www.specialized.com/us/en/turbo-levo-comp/p/154386?color=239506-154386

 

Here is my old bike I converted. I used it to get back and forth to school, it beat dealing with parking. 48V 17.5 Ah could easily do 40 miles in the mountains of North Carolina.

My stupid purchase I made for a long range commuter. I am in the process of upgrading it without all the safety features. I believe it is 64 Ah at 48 volts with a claimed 200+ range


Living in Albuquerque is nice and with all the bike paths I am ready to start commuting again. I have a traditional bike though for the fact I need exercise.

 

Awesome, you're probably a good one to ask about the pros & cons of drivetrains. I had myself thinking that I wanted a hub drive but after talking to a bunch of people about this, I'm not so sure anymore. I almost have myself talked into a mid drive now for simplicity's sake - that and I've been riding MTB all my life and it might feel more natural to me. There were and still are a couple things holding me back about that though - shifting has to be hard on the driveline and the fact that steel chainrings are becoming harder to find. But, I guess with something like the BBSHD, you're using that specific single ring which will probably always be available in steel as long as the company stays in business and likely a decent aftermarket. So I guess that excuse can get tossed out.

Daner, I haven't ruled out a pre-built bike, but I don't like the idea of being tied to proprietary batteries, low output (most limited to 350W I believe), and lack of a throttle. I do like the ready-to-ride aspect and how neatly it all meshes, but I live the DIY life where I can so it only makes sense to retrofit a basket case. In a perfect world where I had unlimited space and money I'd just buy a few ready to ride rigs and build a few of my own design, but I do not live in that world just yet. Plus I don't think I want to be that distracted from my pushbikes.

 

Turbo Levo

 

Rob: Great Call! I don't want this bike to make lazy & totally ignore my pedal bikes ( Beach cruisers / downhill Bikes ). But at the same time, I would like to ride the trails a little bit longer, and want the best of both worlds. Mountain biking down the trails, and then using the assisted peddle for the ride back home up Hill.
After doing some research, I have found CUBE makes a great full suspension bike. But I get sticker shock every time I start window shopping. Heres a link. Let me know what you guys think!

https://www.cube.eu/en/2019/e-bikes...stereo-hybrid-120-pro-500-greenniridium-2019/

 

Hub motors are good, but I wanted to use the gears, I maxed out a 33mph ehich was sketchy to say the least. When using a 750 watt BBS02 mid drive I snapped the derailer on a long uphill climb. If I were to do it again I would build another mid drive over hub. Just do hub front and mid drive rear for AWD action lol

 

I would buy a city E-bike in a heartbeat (Said as an avid MTB traditionalist).

I've tried the MTB E-bikes, and they are super fun as well, but I'm an earn your turns sorta guy. That said, A kenevo or something which is basically a DH bike would be great for a few shuttle trails around here where there isn't really a good way to pedal to the top and survive more than one lap.

 

SOLD - I have an ebike specialized turbo levo comp carbon possibly for sale if anyone interested. Hardly used in excellent condition. See link below for the specs on my bike. I got the black and red colored one.

Men's Turbo Levo FSR Comp Carbon 6Fattie/29 | Specialized.com

https://www.specialized.com/us/en/m...910?color=242489-133910&searchText=95218-6602

 

I don't know anything about CUBE, but I do know that cheap mountain bikes are a bad idea - especially when you're dealing with extra weight. I'd personally buy from Specialized or Giant or Trek at this point if I were going to buy a nice eMTB. They seem to have it licked (for this point in the game) and it'll be hard to beat their dealer support and warranties.

 

I have been dreaming about building up a dual hub motor fatbike for snow/sand duty. Suppose something like that could commute too

 

I don't have any experience with ebikes but have recently started thinking about getting one to take camping to explore around on. My original thought was just something lighter than taking a small dirt bike and not needing to carry fuel. And then I started drooling over this...https://lunacycle.com/sur-ron-x-bike-black-edition/

 

Cube is a legit company based in Germany I think. That model specifically I wouldn't waste your time on, but they do offer some great bikes, and are repped by great riders in competitive events. Phil Atwil is one of their riders.

 

Oh, I'm not saying they're not legit. I'm just saying if I'm buying a new bike at close to full price, I'm going to make sure I have local support. I've always bought my bikes new from good shops and I have never regretted it. Invariably something will go wrong with it and instead of picking up the phone and crossing my fingers, I can leave it with the shop and let them sort it out. I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess that e-bikes will be more prone to issues than pushbikes. I've never bought a bike that didn't have to go back to the shop early on for some sort of issue. Err, except my Yeti, but it was built by one of their race wrenches at the HQ in Golden.

 

Yeah, the Sur Ron is definitely on the wish list. I got rid of all my motorcycles 'cause I just don't have time & space for both, but one of those might be manageable. Stupid cheap for what you get too.

 

I got to playing with the numbers again and even using a donor bike that I already own, I'm at 3 grand to bolt on a kit - the way I'd wanna do it anyway. It's getting tempting to just buy a pre-built at this point. Just sooooo many choices.

The Bulls Sturmvogel EVO is starting to look pretty good though.



Seeing some sweet deals on Craigslist too

$2400 for a BBSHD Surly Big Dummy with 20Ah battery



Surly Ogre for 2 grand - also 20 Ah battery



Krampus - medium frame tho - $1800




Decisions.....

 

Shameless plug for http://sickbikeparts.com/electric-shifter-kit-programmable-3000w/

 

I picked this up last night.



https://lectricebikes.com/

I’ve been eying this bike since January and after my trek got stolen outta my truck in a parking lot (I’m a dumbass for leaving it in the bed in that part of town and not locking it down) I finally pulled the trigger on one last week. But they’re so backed up on orders with the whole pandemic mess that I was still browsing Craigslist. Found this one yesterday and picked it up for $277 less than a new one. It’s definitely not for trails at all, and has no suspension aside from the seat post, but it’s going to be a great around town bike. It has plenty of great reviews on the YouTubes and ebike reviewers. Of course there are better ebikes out there but for my needs this is the best bang for buck and it’s a ton of fun to ride!

 

im starting to really dig into these elec assist mountain bikes just for 1.75 mile commute to work....leave Taco parked and I can just roll one of these bikes into my condo..

was looking at the Segway and its about the same if not cheaper than some of these serious E-mountain bikes at $3500 ish price range...maybe not even pedal??
https://www.segway.com/dirt-ebike/

 

Looks like they re-branded the Sur Ron. Pretty sick amount of bike for what you pay. Questionable legality, but unquestionable fun!