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AmpedBikes – Electric Bicycle Conversion Kits |
13 Comments |
| By Chris Welch in Bicycles, Green Living, Hybrids | August 25, 2008 | ||
Riding your bike to work or the grocery store seems appealing, but up until now you just didn’t want to show up all sweaty or worn out to accomplish what you set out to do. There are plenty of electric conversion kits out there that allow you to convert your pedal bicycle into a electric assisted pedal bike, just do a quick Google search. The AmpedBikes kit, a brushless 36V 500W Brushless (zero maintenance) electric hub, can be installed easily by someone with the most basic of tools and bicycle maintenance experience.
AmpedBikes was started by Danny L. Ray,a cabinet maker, as he was unhappy with the quality of the kits he had tried out. So after some research and a few trips to China he found a company that were willing to build a kit to his requirements. The result of his research and effort is a $360 kit that he sells from his website.
AmpedBikes have two kits available, one for the front and one for the rear wheel. These kits include:
- Front or Rear 26″ 36V 500W Brushless Hub Motor Set in a High Quality Double Walled Aluminum
- Rim on 12 Gauge Stainless Steel Spokes.
- 36v 1.8a Smart Charger
- Replacement Handlegrips
- Thumb throttle w/led battery guage & power switch
- Microprocessor controlled brushless speed controller
- Replacement brakes with power cutoff switch for motor
- Controller wire attached to brakes
Currently we are not supplying batteries as there are just too many options. We are planning on offering a low end kit complete with SLA batteries as a starter kit. I really did not want to do this because 90% of customers that buy a low end kit usually end up back in the garage within 3 months. But customers continue to ask. So the reason we are adding the low end kit is that some customers simply want to get their feet wet at a low price and see how they like it.There are many different options for batteries these days. So I will make a list from high end to standard.
SLA (Sealed Lead Acid) These are heavy and old technology but cheap. It is tried and true and will get you through your first year or two of your E-bike. The standard for e-bikes is using 3, 12V 10AH batteries in series. These can be found again on EBay or at local Electronics stores for $20-$30 each. Lifepo4, (lithium iron phosphate) this is the lightest weight and smallest package and best battery you can get for your e-bike kit. You can find deals on eBay for these from time to time. Search eBay for “lifepo4 36V” you want a pack with charger and BMS (battery management system) at 36V 10AH-20AH. These will run you anywhere from $350-$500 NiMH, (nickel metal hydride) These are good lightweight batteries but also costly the technology is a bit old bit they are still 3x as good as Lead Acid if you can get a deal on them. Again you want a pack with charger at 36V 10AH-20AH. The cost on these will run from $250-$350 and again search EBay for the best deals.
I am considering giving one of these kits a try. Have any of you had experience with AmpedBikes Kits? Or any other brushless hub motor kits? Let me know you experience, sound off in the comments.
Visit AmpedBikes for more info and a great installation video.
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Don Jones said,
I have worked the Internet for weeks and can truly say Danny has the best bang for the buck. I correspond with him in anticipation of using his product on my website. He is a straight shooter and truly trying to help others. I have no experience with his product but if words and research mean anything, he is the best out there.
Frank Claussen said,
I bought a kit from them. Yeah I have talked with Danny over via email. He is a straight shooter and call them like he sees them. Hard to find people like that these days. I had a problem with my kit (my fault) I spun the axle inside of my forks and Danny walked me through fixing it to get me back on the road! I think he is wearing down though. I am in portland and I persnaloly know about 7 people that ride his conversions and he tries to deal with each and every person which must be completely taxing.
He told me he is not interested in making a buck but instead making a strong footprint in this new industry.
For what its worth ,I have other conversion kits and the ampedbikes kit is the best one I own.
Eliezer Rodriguez said,
greeting
The main goal of our company is tu bring the latest technology available for bikes, in order to provide comfort and better performanse for the rider, i am very interested in your product(electric bicycles conversion kits) Iwould like to know what is the minimum amount of merchandise to purchase from you in order for me to study the viavility of the product here in Puerto Rico as well as the price and what kind of warranty is there available for both, my business as the supplier and for the ultimate purchaser.
Best regards
Eliezer Rodriguez
John Moxford said,
I have been using an electric conversion kit bought 2 years ago from Wilderness Energy. This was a brushed motor kit that eats regular SLA batteries in a year or less. It quit a few months ago due to brush wear. It was a chore buying this kit from WE 2 years ago, and trying to get parts from them is next to impossible. They have “customer service people” that makes you wish you were talking to a machine! I stumbled on AmpedBikes and ordered one of their front wheel conversions which I have not yet received due to high demand. The great part about this kit is not only being brushless, but you get to choose your battery technology. I have chosen to use deep cycle AGM batteries from Jupiter Batteries, as they will oulast the SLA batteries 2 to 5 times or more, and are cheap to boot. AmpedBikes is the real deal and so is Jupiter!!!
John Moxford
John Moxford said,
I bought 3 AGM 12 volt, 12 amp hour deep cycle from Jupiter Battery for less than 20 bucks each.These come with a 2 year warranty. Regular SLA batteries are warranted for 90 days, if you’re lucky. They are not light like the new technology, but give you the absolute best bang for the buck. When the new technology gets reasonable, I’m sure Jupiter Battery will be there too.
John Moxford
John said,
Thanks for the tip about Jupiter Battery. The prices are low. But, just to be clear, AGM is one of two types of SLAs. I wonder why Jupiter products outlast other SLAs.
(SLA) SEALED LEAD ACID
A term commonly used to refer to either Gel Cell or AGM batteries. To be a sealed lead acid battery the battery needs to have only two things:
1. It must be a battery that uses acid for electrolytes.
2. It must be sealed
Reference:
http://www.zbattery.com/AGM-vs-Gel-Cell-sealed-lead-acid-batteries
John Moxford said,
To John,
You are correct that AGM batteries are essentially a modified SLA. The big difference is that all SLA (gell cell batteries) have plates that are constructed with plates made of porous lead (think of a sponge) and are not deep cycle rated, and they sulfate much easier. The AGM batteries have solid lead plates and are deep cycle rated. Instead of gell electrolyte they use an absorbant glass mat with more efficient liquid electrolyte that is intentionally made 95% saturated which prevents venting.The difference in service life is dramatic. The AGM battery will not “outgas” or vent when pushed hard, but SLA batteries will. Information regarding this is readily available on the Web. Until lithium technology becomes much cheaper, this is the best bang for the buck unless you have an issue with battery weight, but if you do, you wouldn’t be using SLA’s either. One other dramatic difference is that AGM self discharge (when not being used) substantially less than the SLA’s, so you don’t have to be concerned nearly as much as to “topping them off”.
Mike W said,
I bought this kit and installed it on my bike. It is excellent value, excellent quality, and best of all Danny will answer your questions during your build.
Jeffrey Short said,
I have been using a kit from http://www.ampedbikes.com for almost 2 years now, upwards of 3,000 miles trouble free. They walked me through the process and I am just waiting for their IPO so I can invest. Thanks for all the hard work Danny!
Tracy Humphrey said,
I am interested in buy a e-bike conversion kit for my mountain bike. I bike year round here in Saskatchewan and want to know if it will work in the winter here. It gets really cold here and windy in the winter and I would like some help getting to work on my bike this year. I have disk brake on my bike and need to know if it works with them or should I use my older mountain bike?
Richard said,
Ok kit(once I finally got it) but terrible service. No reply to emails and no one answers the phone!
Dave Stame said,
We have had excellent service with Ampedbikes. They answered all of our questions and to top it off they walked me through installation. Danny is a straight up guy. If you are local swing by his shop. He answered all my questions via email within 24 hours.
Kenneth said,
can someone check the IPs and see how many of these responses came from the same location claiming that “danny is a straight up guy”?