Monday, February 19, 2018

Getting Started - Ordering/Purchasing

Been thinking about and researching for years.  Hopefully this will be the first of many ebike builds!

I may shoot some video too, but for now I wanted to document the parts list and experience putting this together.  I will also sprinkle in some thoughts about things that worked well and not so well along the way.

2/13/2018 - Started ordering / purchasing parts

Balancing Weight vs. CostThe thought in the back of my mind as I selected various parts and options was to strike a balance between overall weight for the bike and keeping cost down.  I suspected to learn many things during this process so in a way this is a prototype for me.  As such, when I needed to pick various components, I used this thinking to guide me.


Bike $129:  26" Men's Kent KZR Mountain Bike, Black 
Was looking for aluminum frame and front disc brakes.  Seemed like 26' was the most popular ebike kit option and my existing bike had that size tires so I went with that size.  We will see if this bike overall is big enough for me (6' 1", 250 lbs).  In hindsight, should have gone with next step up (700cc).  Was also looking for front suspension at a minimum and needed room to mount the batteries in the middle of the frame to keep weight balanced.   

Ebike Kit $185: ELECTRIC BICYCLE 36V 500W GEARED FRONT 26” KIT (OPT2)
Was looking for a front mount, geared motor.  Thought 24v would be too small but 48 seemed like too many batteries to mount mid frame.  If I was going to do a back tire rack, I may have gone up to 48v.  Was also trying to keep weight down so this motor was lighter and 1 less battery helps too.  We will see if enough power for me.

Batteries $48: 12V 5AH SLA Battery Replacement for Razor PowerRider 360 
Went back and forth about SLA vs Li-ion.  Went with small SLA batteries to keep cost down.  I suspect I maybe upgrading to Li-ion or using them on the next build.  Since this is a learning experience for me I didn't want to spend the money now.  I also am not planning to use this bike daily or to commute or anything so that was in my mind too.

Charger $30, 36V SLA Charger SLA AGM GEL

 Bag $13, Bushwhacker Laredo Black - Bicycle Frame Bag 


Seat Pole Shock $29, Choose Suspension Seat Post 27.2 x 350mm 31.6 x 350mm 

Total cost: $434 plus tax

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