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Electric bikes are sweet!

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Someone was selling some new schwinn continentals I believe, with bad batteries. Checked into new replacement batteries, whoa! big money, queered the deal.
 
Getting into it but have been sick and no riding or completing projects- Have both a 36v 250 watt and 36v 500 watt hub, and a single battery pack at this point- and a bike partially built. I think Big oil is buggering the market by selling higher and higher voltages that need bigger and heavier and more expensive batteries, so it's best to stay low on voltage and wattage. They are selling lots of pre=assembled 24v bikes with hub motors, but it's very hard to find the hubs and wheels individually and expensive. You could still more likely use lead acid dry cell scooter batteries there, wired in series- two at about 5-7 pounds each and come in well-under $100 for batteries that would give a good roller 10 or 15 miles of range at about 15 mph or so. For 36 volts, it would be another cell, and another 5-7 pounds, so it gets more impractical for anything but lithium ion, and for 48v , another 5-7 pounds and that's a LOT of battery weight.
I think the lithium ion batteries have been made safer now and are much lighter but more expensive, especially the bottles and canisters they sell. If you are young and really want to get serious- I think building your own batteries of lithium ion cells is the way to go, They've come out with "lego block" style holders to join the batteries and nickel strips that insert and eliminate much soldering.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/10X-18650-Li-ion-Cell-Battery-Bracket-Cylindrical-Holder-Safety-Anti-vibration/252859728100?_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851&_trkparms=aid=222007&algo=SIM.MBE&ao=2&asc=41376&meid=8c21ea3f6b13462290892881012caef6&pid=100005&rk=3&rkt=6&mehot=ag&sd=172602880549
A home built set up might be under $100, instead of $200 or more.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/50PC-5000mA...id=100005&rk=2&rkt=6&mehot=pp&sd=142325401295
I think they'll sell more "10 and 12 mile batteries" in the future- that are half sized and lighter still and hopefully the price will come down. The 500 watt wheel I have will probably do about 20 mph plus, which is plenty fast on a bicycle for most people. I'm expecting more like 13-15 mph from the 250 watt 36V hub, something I may still be able to get some coffee and groceries with here in warm Florida, where I've ridden 50 cc China Girl 2 cycle builds a number of years and saved on some time and expense in the car. Feeling a little more stupid all the time now at 63.
 
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The Classic and Antique Bicycle Exchange....
Whatever... @mike j and @American Vintage Bicycle Supply are doing cool things with electric powered antique bikes and a lot of the bikes in the video I posted are new interpretations of antique bikes so its relevant. This is one not mentioned in the video that looks sweet.

ruffian-vers-grey-1030x687.jpg
 
Now is a great time to get into them, it's kind of like the wild west out there now as far as regulations & enforcement. The electric bike-blog.com is a really good source of information. I'm dealing with Clean republic for 250 to 350 watt systems & Luna cycles for 750 to 1000 watt set ups. These bikes are a lot of fun.
 
I've been riding an electric bike as my commuter for 10 years now. The original Wilderness Energy hub motor lasted about 7 years before it fried a Hall Effect Sensor, and replaced it with the same unit but now sold as Aotema. The best upgrade was a Lithium Iron Phosphate battery pack. Half the weight of lead acid batteries,BUT an astounding number of charging cycles before it starts to lose power. and they don't catch fire. It's been on the bike about 5 years and range is starting to decrease. What I like about the assist motor is that it eliminates most excuses NOT to take the bike- running late, tired, that hellish headwind, etc.
 
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