Difference between pages "Motor Controller" and "Buy a bike"

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(Created page with "Motor controllers are what convert the DC of your battery into 3 phase AC for your motor. They determine the maximum current and hence wattage that goes to your motor and automatically adjust the amount of current sent depending on the throttle settings. Some motor controllers are programmable and have adjustable current limits and other settings while others are fixed. Most e-bike controllers can be used with most motors, however pairing a high power controller with a...")
 
(Created page with "We highly recommend that you get a high quality bike to convert. Don't put a thousand dollars in e-bike hardware on a $200 low quality bike. It may also be unsafe to ride lower quality bikes at the speed that e-bikes very frequently travel at. As such we recommend you check out your local bike shops for a high quality bike. Ideally one with front suspension and disk brakes. Rim brakes if they are the linear-pull/V brake style are ok in fair weather, but if you ever bi...")
 
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Motor controllers are what convert the DC of your battery into 3 phase AC for your motor.
We highly recommend that you get a high quality bike to convert. Don't put a thousand dollars in e-bike hardware on a $200 low quality bike. It may also be unsafe to ride lower quality bikes at the speed that e-bikes very frequently travel at.


They determine the maximum current and hence wattage that goes to your motor and automatically adjust the amount of current sent depending on the throttle settings.
As such we recommend you check out your local bike shops for a high quality bike. Ideally one with front suspension and disk brakes.  


Some motor controllers are programmable and have adjustable current limits and other settings while others are fixed. Most e-bike controllers can be used with most motors, however pairing a high power controller with a low power motor will likely overheat the motor.
Rim brakes if they are the linear-pull/V brake style are ok in fair weather, but if you ever bike in the rain they will massively lose stopping power. Disk brakes are highly recommended overall. Hydraulic are nice but mechanical disk brakes are still far superior to linear-pull brakes and are much less costly to maintain then hydraulics. mechanical disk brakes also allow you to easily attach e-brake levers and cheaply change the length of shiftier housing if desired.  


As its your motor controller that sets the maximum battery current, you must select a battery that can supply as many amps as your controller is rated for or more.  
Rear suspension can take up valuable space inside the triangle often used to mount the battery and unless you spend a great deal of money is generally of poor quality and durability. As such rear suspension is not recommended unless you plan to do a lot of off roading and plan to pay good money for it.  


Controllers also act as switch mode power supplies and can trade off voltage for amps. This is why controllers will have a 'phase amp' and 'battery amp' setting. Battery amps determines your maximum battery current and hence max wattage (equivalent to horsepower) while phase amps is the maximum output current at slow speed and determines your maximum torque. Do note that its phase amps that cause heating in a motor (Watts dissipated as heat = Current ^ 2 * winding resistance), so while a high phase amp controller gives you more torque at slow speeds it will also cause much more heating when you use that extra torque.
Mountain bikes are generally ideal and have the widest range of available components and are the easiest to convert, but road bikes and fat bikes can be converted as well if you pay attention to what components you are buying.


Controllers come with a few different features that should be looked for:
Do not shop at Walmart, Canadian tire or other department stores that offer extremely cheap bikes. They are often put together by inexperienced people being paid by the bike and made of the cheapest components on the market. Parts will fail, rims will warp and overall durability is very poor.


Current or Speed throttle mode: Current mode is much preferred as it allows you to adjust the output torque of the motor for a smooth comfortable and efficient ride. Speed mode is much like the throttle on a tractor, it uses full power to reach a desired speed and then maintains that speed, causing sudden jolts of power whenever you adjust the throttle. Sadly speed throttle mode is much more common then current throttle mode for budget controllers.
Others things to look for:


Programmability: Some controllers can be programmed via bluetooth or via a cable to a PC or laptop, while others are just fixed. Programmable controllers are much more flexible offering a range of settings like battery amp limit, phase amp limit, soft start, adjustable speed limits, adjustable soft start, etc.  
Look for rack mounting points (small threaded holes on both sides of the bike) near the seat and near the rear axle if you plan to carry cargo. e-bikes are great for daily shopping trips and it is highly recommended you consider a rear rack and panniers (bags) for it. Top rack mount points can be replaced with a replacement seat clamp but bottom clamp points require P clamps or similar that may not be as strong as built in mount points.  


Sine wave or square/trapezoidal: Sine wave drives are slightly more efficient and cause the motor to produce much less noise then square wave.
Separate brake and shifter controls. Combined brake/shifter levers can often make it difficult to mount additional controls to your bike that are needed when converting it to an e-bike, mirrors and turn signal controls may not fit well with combined brake/shifters and make it more expensive to change as you need to buy replacements for both.
 
Kick stand mount plate near the crank to mount a double kickstand. It may be difficult to mount a kickstand without a sturdy kickstand mounting plate on your bike. E-bikes are often too heavy for single kick stands mounted near the rear wheel.

Latest revision as of 08:20, 15 January 2022

We highly recommend that you get a high quality bike to convert. Don't put a thousand dollars in e-bike hardware on a $200 low quality bike. It may also be unsafe to ride lower quality bikes at the speed that e-bikes very frequently travel at.

As such we recommend you check out your local bike shops for a high quality bike. Ideally one with front suspension and disk brakes.

Rim brakes if they are the linear-pull/V brake style are ok in fair weather, but if you ever bike in the rain they will massively lose stopping power. Disk brakes are highly recommended overall. Hydraulic are nice but mechanical disk brakes are still far superior to linear-pull brakes and are much less costly to maintain then hydraulics. mechanical disk brakes also allow you to easily attach e-brake levers and cheaply change the length of shiftier housing if desired.

Rear suspension can take up valuable space inside the triangle often used to mount the battery and unless you spend a great deal of money is generally of poor quality and durability. As such rear suspension is not recommended unless you plan to do a lot of off roading and plan to pay good money for it.

Mountain bikes are generally ideal and have the widest range of available components and are the easiest to convert, but road bikes and fat bikes can be converted as well if you pay attention to what components you are buying.

Do not shop at Walmart, Canadian tire or other department stores that offer extremely cheap bikes. They are often put together by inexperienced people being paid by the bike and made of the cheapest components on the market. Parts will fail, rims will warp and overall durability is very poor.

Others things to look for:

Look for rack mounting points (small threaded holes on both sides of the bike) near the seat and near the rear axle if you plan to carry cargo. e-bikes are great for daily shopping trips and it is highly recommended you consider a rear rack and panniers (bags) for it. Top rack mount points can be replaced with a replacement seat clamp but bottom clamp points require P clamps or similar that may not be as strong as built in mount points.

Separate brake and shifter controls. Combined brake/shifter levers can often make it difficult to mount additional controls to your bike that are needed when converting it to an e-bike, mirrors and turn signal controls may not fit well with combined brake/shifters and make it more expensive to change as you need to buy replacements for both.

Kick stand mount plate near the crank to mount a double kickstand. It may be difficult to mount a kickstand without a sturdy kickstand mounting plate on your bike. E-bikes are often too heavy for single kick stands mounted near the rear wheel.