My Home Made E-Bike

Several members have been asking me about the e-bike on my avatar so rather than PM each of them, I thought I'd just start a new public thread.

I made this e-bike about three years ago and have been riding it ever since. You can ride it in one of three modes, full electric, assist, or regular bicycle mode.

The specs/info I've come up with after almost 3 years of riding and testing are listed below. All are based on a 210 lb rider (aka me) with relatively flat terrain and no assist from me (if you want to compare to other e-bikes, you should understand that those specs assume flat terrain and a 185 lb rider). Speed is approx. 15 mph average. Higher speeds will of course net you less range (and vice versa with lower speeds) but, I ride it wide open most of the way to and from work (6 miles one way) and have yet to run low on battery (charge at work just to be safe).

Bike: Motobecane Gran Turismo 27 speed Touring Bike (excellent bike for $699)
Battery: 24V/30ah battery pack made from 16 Headway 40152S Cells taped together in a triangle pattern with duct tape to allow it to fit in the triangle pack
Motor: Currie 24V/900Watt electric scooter motor
Range: Approx 17 miles
Controller: Kelly 24vdc/50A controller
Control: Thumb throttle
Sprocket: Custom Freewheel modified sprocket (see pic)
Charging time: 25 min's for a 60% charge, 2 hours for a full charge (this could be dramatically shortened with a better charger but, that means more expense as well)
Cost: If you DIY everything, of the shelf parts cost about $2000 (including the bike), $1300 without the bike

The batteries are the main cost since each cell is $35 (approx.) by the time you pay for shipping. 35 X 16 = $560. You can get them cheaper but, not much. There are also a lot of miscellaneous parts like clamps, hose clamps, aluminum stock, metal bar stock, sprocket freewheel bearing, charger, motor, throttle, BMS etc. It adds up quick.

It's not cheap but it is a lot of fun and rewarding to ride reliable transpo that you made. Even better, I work in an office so if I have a meeting and have to wear a suit, I can ride in without sweating. I can go up most hills around here in full electric mode and never go below 15 mph.

Here's a pic of the freewheel sprocket which enables the motor to drive the chain without the pedals turning.

 

Hi Hill,
Yes I did consider a hub motor and it just doesn't offer the versatility that I personally wanted. The mid mount motor offers so much versatility. Every gear is available to me so climbing any hill is no problem. And I can easily select the desired amount of assist by selecting a combination of gears and throttle.