Help me Build my Wife a Bike

So I build electric skateboards. I know shit all about Bikes in general.

But, my wife commutes to work and I want to build her a sexy little electric Bike.

I don’t mind research, but don’t feel like investing the 10s of hours I need to get a good working knowledge on Bicycles. Just not interested enough.

But, I KNOW some of you chaps will know already!

So I plead for help!

I don’t want to build some janky shit guys. But don’t want to break the bank either…

Her commute is like 2.5 miles each way and she is a Nurse. She will look cute as a button on like a cafe style hybrid look.

Here are the top contenders for the Bike itself. Mind you, if these are shit, say something. But this the “look” I /we are after

https://www.raleighusa.com/carlton-mixte

So I want to convert this thing first thing.

My first question/assumption is that I should opt for a single speed because I am going to make it electric anyway? Is this correct? Don’t want to waste money on components that won’t be used.

Also, what simple bike conversion kits do you recommend? This isn’t a performance build, but aesthetic and practical.

Luna cycles?

I build my own batteries, so is there a good source for bike enclosures? Or should I say fuck it and just buy a battery? Would be nice to save some money here since I have picked up the skills to accomplish this task because my Esk8 addiction.

Any input welcome. I am trying to stay reasonable on price.

Sub $1200 hopefully? Reasonable budget?

Help me out guys, I need some pussy.

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Probably the best deal is bafang setups since you probably don’t want to go hub.

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So hub is definitely a no go? Mind you she isn’t going to be ripping this thing.

Think of a bike version a Boosted board in eco or regular mode…

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I just ordered this kit
https://www.cycmotor.com/x1-pro
But with a battery you ending up at 2000 USD + bike.

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Hub is fine and cheapest option, but puts a lot of weight on one end.

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I have been looking at this for some time. A neat little conversion kit that fit the style you are looking for. It might still be an indigogo thing. Its been a while since I last checked. They are 50% off. but maybe only 22 hours yet.

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Bike frames are also built really strong in the crank area, so that’s why I like the idea of the power unit there.

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@klaus79856 that looks sick!

But too much beef for what I need.

@BillGordon is that really a problem with slow speed short distance commuter?

I would definitely want the power there if building for myself.

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Probably not.

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That looks good. Kind of like the ebike equivalent of a Mellow drive.

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Honestly Tim you should keep it simple. Buy a nice fixie second hand and chuck a bafang kit on there from aliexpress. Build the battery yourself so that you know it’s trustworthy.

Fitting bafang to bike ~1hr
Build battery and she’s off.

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I have to say I was attracted to the ease of installation of a front hub setup.

But the Bafang id pretty easy to set up on a single speed?

Imma bout to pull the trigger on this

https://www.raleighusa.com/carlton-mixte

Probably will make my own enclosure. I have idea for that…

Yeah, you could do a nice triangle wedge battery at the seatpost junction (though would increase stepover) or behind the headset tube.

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Definitely needs to go in the triangle to not increase stopover.

Dis bih short.

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This seems like a popular drive kit from AliExpress

https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/ehIz3Eey

It seemed to be the most cost efective one when I was reserching E-Bikes

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I love my Luna cycle charger great performance for the price so I would think there cycles but be of the same quality

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So what cells do you think you will use for this? 30q?

I think a longer range low powered ebike would do really nicely with some of those Sanyo 20700Bs

Haven’t gotten that far yet. I normally use 30qs, but there is probably a better choice for this application

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$400 kit including battery is scary tempting. Quick hub swap, I like the way they approached it. I’ll be looking at these guys around Christmas if I can’t get my wife esk8ing

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