Cheap Electric fatbike

[Beasho]

I tend to agree with Yugi.  My last electric bike had 5,000 miles before I upgraded to my electric Fatbike.

I upgraded to the Boris FS X9 with Bluto front shocks.  Essentially this was a $400 bike with a $600 front shock.

http://www.bikesdirect.com/products/motobecane/fat-bikes/fat-bikes-borisfs-x9-bluto-ltd.htm

I managed to break nearly all the components on my first electric bike (iZip ZUMA rear hub).  I too snapped a rear axle, stretched the chain, wore down the gears, went through the rear derailleur, blew out the original front forks, wore out tires, blew countless spokes (I always kept 1 dozen on hand), and even fried the controller.  What I learned was that these bikes were not CARS designed for 100,000 miles.  The stuff wears out.

The new bike has the advantage of a good shock, soft tires and slightly better components.  I am hoping the cushion keeps the spokes from breaking.  I am wary of the chain being under such an enormous load.  I so far have 550 miles on the new bike (since September) with about 50 miles on sand.  I am surprised how much the sand just 'flits away.'  Time will tell but I am more consciously lubricating the chain and derailleur whenever I hear any minor chunking sounds. 

[Dwight (DW)]

Thanks everyone.

Thinking back on the events of that day, when I rode down the wheelchair ramp to the beach, the bike had a strange wobble. I thought maybe a tire was flat.

I'll bet the axle bent unloading the bike from my van that day. Then it wobbled when I took off, and that stressed chain.

I just roll the bike out of the van and let it bounce on the pavement. Oops.

[stoneaxe]

Got the package from Pono. Now for the bike, battery....and helmet.....maybe body armor too...

[Dwight (DW)]

Stoneaxe,

I have been reading up on bent axle fat bikes. I found lots of threads on it. Some, think it's a design flaw in fat bikes. Longer axles are required, but nothing has been done to upgrade axles over regular mountain bikes using 2.25" tires with much shorter axles.

So I searched out the largest through axle fat bike choices. 12mm RR, 15mm Frt. I was very disappointed. Only bikes above $1200 from bikes direct and the-house have this.

On to plan B. The new bike category called Plus bikes, with 27.5 x 3" tires. These use shorter axles, yet come with the same hardened through axle 12mm RR, 15mm Frt. Here is the kicker.....these bikes are way, way, cheaper than fat bikes. Fat bikes are a rip off because they are the hot bike right now. I'm not riding in snow. I can ride the beach with 3" tires just fine. Most beach cruiser don't have tires that fat. I can ride the road at super high tides.

I ordered a plus bike with front shock. High end hyd brakes, BB7. Motobecane, all for hundreds less than fat bike. It arrives today.

http://bikeisland.com  this is bikesdirect scratch and dent outlet. I discoverd this outlet after ordering mine. They didn't have my bike anyway.

The Plus Bike category is so new, few people even sell bikes with 3" tires. I read somewhere that tire size only went into production about a year ago.

[Glowmaster]

They are finishing the extension of the Cape Cod Rail Trail bicycle trail in Yarmouth right behind where I work.

So my 3.8miles commute will be 1.3miles of smooth level bike path. I am biking to work next year!

I dont want to build my own Ebike, and am deciding between the Surface 604 colt, Radpower Radcity or FLX trail premade.

All 3 in the $1500-1700 range.  Any comments on premade E-bikes?


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[PonoBill]

DW, great point on the Plus bikes, I expect my Trek is considered that. Not a full-on fatty. I don't think I've bent an axle on my cheap-ass Mongoose yet, but it's not for lack of trying. I am careful not to let it drop taking it out of the truck--I bent the rear axle on my three wheeler by letting the wheel drop off my tailgate. Also flat-spotted the rim and loosened a bunch of spokes. 

The motor I sent to Bob is for 100mm bottom brackets, though it can be spaced for narrower, as long as the spacers are well-made and tight. Tape and PVC pipe won't cut it. My trek needed a spacer, I bored the inside of some heavy tubing so the fit was perfect, but the OD was a little small inside the BB, so I added lateral weld lines and ground them to fit. I thought I could turn them down to fit, but even the lightest cut looked like it was going to rip the toolpost off my lathe. Looks like something from the days of steam, but it doesn't jiggle.

Glowmaster--all three look surprisingly good for the price point. I'd gravitate towards the FLX trail because of the midmotor and larger battery. the motor is pretty anemic, but the gearset will make up for that to some degree. Of the two hubmotor bikes, the Radpower looks to be the best spec, and perhaps the best bike, though pictures and basic specs can be deceiving. Yugi is undoubtedly a better judge of that.

If he doesn't respond I'd PM him and ask him to take a look.

[Dwight (DW)]

The Motobecane Plus bikes have 100mm bottom brackets. That's what fedex is bringing me today!

[PonoBill]

Wow, those look really good, for not that much more money.

[yugi]

I took a peak. I know nothing about motors so just looking at the bikes the FLX by FAR. The other look lame and have 26” wheels.

FLX:
+ ve  Looks good.
+ ve  makes engineering sense
+ ve   decent components spec (bike built around the mid motor)
+ ve 27+ wheels, excellent tires (my fav).  The other bikes are 26” wheels. Has been, for a reason. They will begin to fade and be less available.

Colt Electric Cruiser Bike
-ve  looks like a woman's bike
-ve 26” wheels

RadCity Electric Commuter Bike:
-ve: Ugly! Sorry, a bike must be esthetic.
-ve: mech disc brakes. Sorry, needs real brakes.
-ve 26" wheels

[edit to add]
One downside is you'd need to buy a better lock for the FLX. No-one would want to steal either of the other two - so they have that going for them.

[Glowmaster]

I hear you Yugi

how about this one?

https://shop.m2sbikes.com/collections/frontpage/products/xc-mid-drive-electric-commuter

Why is 27.5" better than 26"?

thanks for your advice.

[yugi]

I hear you Yugi

how about this one?

https://shop.m2sbikes.com/collections/frontpage/products/xc-mid-drive-electric-commuter

Why is 27.5" better than 26"?

thanks for your advice.

OK, heres the Mtb wheel story. Much like SUP sizes and norms you will see.

There are 3 wheel sizes in Mtb: 26”, 27.5”(650B), and 29”(700C).

Bigger wheels roll over little bumps easier. Meaning better rolling and more comfy ride. Everyone would have gone with the bigger size right fro the start but with big wheels you got less room to squeeze in a fat tire to fit in to your frame. That’s basically the juggling act and here is how it unfolded.

The original crew in the SF area racing clunkers off-road were looking into building their own bikes allowing for fatter tires on their bikes. No room for that with big road bike wheels (and the rims were too skinny). The funny story is that they were actually looking to get 650b rims (AKA 27.5”) but couldn’t source them but they could get 26” rims. So they went with that and it became the standard.

Gary Fisher rocked the boat after 10 years and came out with the 29” wheels with lets, say mid fat tires. Works much better for a rigid bike without suspension because the wheels make for a better ride. But there still isn’t room for a long travel suspension bike to use these big wheels. So Suspension bikes were still 26”. OK, you’ll see some 29” full susp bike but they are short travel. With all the buzz about how bigger wheels work some guys took the good old 650 rim size standard  (AKA 27.5”) made full susp bikes with that. Marketing! Bigger is better right. Everyone whined “WTF, why another size” but after a few years of whining 27.5” won, because it is just that bit better. 26” will begin to fade out including tires for it, at least the top end ones. I still have 26” and I’ll buy a new DW board and then a new foil SUP before I need to switch. But I would never buy a new bike with 26”. 2nd hand, yes because they are going for next to nothing.

27+ is simply a bike built with 27.5” wheels but with enough room in the frame to accommodate fat tires, 2.5” or 3”. Fat tires are “poor mans suspension”. Nice!

If I got an eBike it would be for distance commuting so I’d get 29” wheels. Fine for dirt roads and stuff like that.

The FLX you’re looking at is the little brother of their fuss susp bike, just rigid. Hence the 27.5” wheels. It’s built for off road. (and has nice off-road tires)

So, like everything. Depends on your use.


I took a peek at M25 XC sport. It’s similar to FLX.
- first. It’s not bad looking but the FLX still has a cleaner look. I do have a soft spot for all black bikes. Whats with those silly orange highlights on the M25??? They think it’s 1980 or what?
- I dunno exactly what to look at in a motor but the FLX motor looks more powerful. I like power.
- you might get all excited that the M25 has a slightly higher spec derailler and 10 speeds over the FLX 9. But the 9 is better for eBikes. The chain is stronger (10 gears needs a narrower 10 gear chain).
- I dunno if the M25 has this but the FLX brakes seem to cut the power. Sounds like a sensible feature.
- M25 tires are a bit more road/dirt mix. But don’t let that sway you. Tires are things to replace anyway.
- otherwise they are similar frames, wheel size and spec.

[Zooport]

I like the look of the FLX you mention because it doesn't scream ebike.  Battery concealed in a slightly larger downtube and motor concealed in the crankshaft area.  If you will commute on bike trails shoulder to shoulder with licra clad, road bike dudes, you often get hassled and catcalled, at least here in OC.  Nice to have your technology less obvious. 

[stoneaxe]

Catcalls because you have an electric bike.....what a bunch of losers.

[Zooport]

Catcalls because you have an electric bike.....what a bunch of losers.

Losers, I agree.  The most common catcall is yelling "cheater" at you as they go by.  Which doesn't make sense, other than they view bike riding as a competition and nothing else.  I usually respond with a thumbs up.

[Glowmaster]

Radcity and FLX are cadence sensors for pedal assist,

Surface 604 is torque sensing (which makes a lot of sense to me) and the

M2S has the new Bafang max mid-drive that combines torque and speed sensing at 80Khz.

This is so high tech it makes me have to think!

thanks for the feedback guys, very excited to pull the trigger, but it is also tempered by the other post of "came within inches"......


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