Is It Worth Building a Custom eBike or Just Buying One?
Posted by spanky1312@reddit | ebikes | View on Reddit | 9 comments
I’ve seen a few posts about DIY builds saving money or getting better specs. Is it worth the hassle if you’re not super technical, or is a mid-range prebuilt the safer bet?
JG-at-Prime@reddit
It depends entirely on what the build specifications are.
There are lots of good bikes on the market and they all fit different roles.
The community can help you find a pre-built bike or we can help you with parts.
What do you plan to do with the bike?
What is the maximum distance you need to cover in a day? (include applicable commuting and any extra errands / pleasure riding)
Are you an average sized human?
Do you plan to pedal much?
Do you want a throttle?
How much cargo do you think you might need to carry?
Do you plan to transport any tiny humans? (careful, they bite)
Does the bike need to fold?
Any special size or weight restrictions?
What is the terrain where you plan to ride the bike? (hilly, mountainous, flat, mixed, uphill both ways?)
What is your preferred riding position? (Road bike, Mountain Bike, Cruiser, Upright, Recumbent, Trike, Quad?)
Bikes are such personal items and fit is very important if you plan to pedal much.
I have very particular requirements for an e-bike so I choose to build my own bikes.
Building your own bike puts you in control of all the parts. If you buy a bike you are often at the mercy of the manufacturer for new parts. If they go out of business you could be left with a fancy paperweight.
Or you get the fun of learning how to rewire the whole bike yourself. I just had to do that myself and I wouldn’t wish that game on anyone.
If you build it yourself you get to choose the geometry of the frame, you get to choose the motor location(s) and you get a purpose built bike that will do exactly what you want it to do.
The question is:
What do you want the bike to do?
TitaniumKneecap@reddit
I'm looking for a bike that is basically a Velotric Tempo with more range and power, as I weigh around 190 and have a lot of hills in my city. And I'd like to be able to do about 30 miles with high assist. I've been looking at the CYC photon kit with a 52v 20ah battery, and a Polygon Path 3 as the donor bike.
My pre built alternative was a Velotric Summit 2 and I would downsize for a less aggressive ride and put continental contact urban tires on it.
Thoughts?
JG-at-Prime@reddit
It depends entirely on how mechanically inclined you are.
It sounds like you would benefit from a dual battery configuration. That may not be possible with a pre-built electronic bike.
Dual battery adapters are available relatively cheap https://www.ebay.com/itm/316798015650
The batteries that you choose need to be the same nominal voltage 48v or 52v but they don’t need to be the same capacity or form factor. One can be a rear rack battery and the other can be frame mounted or whatever.
Since you are in a hilly region I’d recommend a mid-drive like a 750 watt Bafang motor. Mounted onto a 7 or more speed bike it should give you plenty of torque to make it up the hills.
Try to find a bike that has or can support hydraulic disc brakes. Hills + e-bike = hard on brake pads. Look for dual caliber brakes if available. They use larger pads that will wear longer.
I’d recommend a 203mm rotor in the front and a 180mm in the rear. I was recently talking to an AI about brakes. It indicated that a slightly smaller rotor in the rear would offer better modulation and make the rear less likely to lock up.
An e-bike light kit is helpful too. It seems like it’s dark about half the time these days. It’s nice to not have to worry about individually changing every part of the bike.
TitaniumKneecap@reddit
Appreciate your response! The bikes I'm considering are all hydraulic disk brake. I was looking at the ToSeven DM01 and the CYC Photon 2 for their better efficiency, torque sensor, etc. Both are 1000w mid drives, paired to a 1,040wh battery.
I'm very mechanically inclined so no problem there.
This_2_shallPass1947@reddit
You need to ask yourself about budget, terrain (hills mainly), type of bike you want, can you build it or will every step be an adventure.
I would just buy a bike if it was my first worst case scenario you strip that bike make some changes and use the frame for a bigger motor, additional hub (to make it AWD) but the frame is an e-bike frame so you have an advantage, but that’s just me.
geoguy78@reddit
Pros and cons. I went back and forth forever and finally just bought a used Trek via their used bike program. For me it came down to the realization that my current analog bike was going to result in too many compromises, mostly related to the chainline (I specifically wanted a mid drive). I still plan on building a bike, but having the premade and riding it around is helping me realize things that I like/dislike that'll help me out together a really good, intentional build when I'm ready
Dualin@reddit
I will always go with DIY since I love tinkering to my specs and hate being locked in with proprietary parts, where the only way for repairs is too send it to the manufacture.
I've build a couple bikes with BBSHD and a CYCmotor mid drives. With these builds I have learnt to repair and replace any part of a bike. I have never needed to take my bikes to a shop for someone else to fix, so that's a huge plus.
SnowDrifter_@reddit
I built mine because I wanted an open ecosystem
And I'm a fiddler at heart
Was it as pretty as a pre built bike? Hell no. It was an eyesore. But ya know what? It was my eyesore. And it did everything I wanted. No compromises
Hungry_Orange666@reddit
DIY builds can be made with specific goal: high speed, lighter weight, cheap maintenance, stealth, better suspension or brakes or drivetrain, and so on.
If you don't want ebike that reaches any specific goal, prebuild will be fine.