I used a single speed road bike I got from ebay for $250. The horizontal dropouts were critical for adjusting chain tension.
Design:
24v 600w motor from cloudelectric. Came with matching controller and twist throttle - $150
2 12v 17ah Zues batteries off ebay - $75
80 tooth chainring with #25 chain from electricscooterparts
Plus a ton of other hardware and unused parts!
So I took it out for the first time today. Wearing baggy sweats I still got up to about 30mph on flat section. This bike has decent power I'd say, it accelerates modestly, even from 5mph, which is a nice suprise. I haven't taken it up any real hills yet, but the key will be going into them as fast as possible and pedaling to assist.
Overall, this has a speed of low 20s at about half throttle. I actually am just estimating speed, need to get a computer on the bike. I also need to wearing tighter clothing which will make a big difference at high speed.
Here are a couple pics, I need to refine the battery mounting and clean up the wiring mounting as well. My only concern with the bike is that the motor stays put and the chain does ok.
Handling is a little sketchy with the 26lbs of batteries, I think I might spend the money and go to lithium or something more advanced. The other big problem is the motor is the way of my pedaling, so I can't pedal a lot. I will probably redesign the whole bike this winter.
I must say it was a ton of fun to cruise quickly without any effort. I'm a cyclist and really appreciate this free speed!
Such a fun project! (Although I did short my batteries once last week and scared myself pretty well. Fried my connectors too. haha)
I almost gave up on this, but I'm so glad I finally got it working!
One more thing! This is a chain drive and, it is QUIET as can be! I heard all this talk about how noisy chains are, but this just like my regular road bike, nearly silent, just a nice little hum of the motor! THAT is the reason I wanted electric, no noise!
Design:
24v 600w motor from cloudelectric. Came with matching controller and twist throttle - $150
2 12v 17ah Zues batteries off ebay - $75
80 tooth chainring with #25 chain from electricscooterparts
Plus a ton of other hardware and unused parts!
So I took it out for the first time today. Wearing baggy sweats I still got up to about 30mph on flat section. This bike has decent power I'd say, it accelerates modestly, even from 5mph, which is a nice suprise. I haven't taken it up any real hills yet, but the key will be going into them as fast as possible and pedaling to assist.
Overall, this has a speed of low 20s at about half throttle. I actually am just estimating speed, need to get a computer on the bike. I also need to wearing tighter clothing which will make a big difference at high speed.
Here are a couple pics, I need to refine the battery mounting and clean up the wiring mounting as well. My only concern with the bike is that the motor stays put and the chain does ok.
Handling is a little sketchy with the 26lbs of batteries, I think I might spend the money and go to lithium or something more advanced. The other big problem is the motor is the way of my pedaling, so I can't pedal a lot. I will probably redesign the whole bike this winter.
I must say it was a ton of fun to cruise quickly without any effort. I'm a cyclist and really appreciate this free speed!
Such a fun project! (Although I did short my batteries once last week and scared myself pretty well. Fried my connectors too. haha)
I almost gave up on this, but I'm so glad I finally got it working!
One more thing! This is a chain drive and, it is QUIET as can be! I heard all this talk about how noisy chains are, but this just like my regular road bike, nearly silent, just a nice little hum of the motor! THAT is the reason I wanted electric, no noise!
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