This will have lighter, decent quality components. Even a five year old mountain bike that once retailed for $1000 plus could be bought for relatively little money. This is why with a little care you could fit similar components to those fitted by the cheaper OEMs to a better machine. It may look good but you’ll break a sweat picking it up thanks to its weight! One of the disadvantages of buying a cheap, fully fitted e-bike is that you may have good quality e-bike components, but you will generally have a not-so-good bike as a platform.Įven in the $700 – $800 price band you may have disc brakes, forks with shocks and a Shimano gear system but these will be baseline options at best. With these answers in mind let’s now look at the questions above in more detail, including what’s required in how to build an electric bike with these kits and components. You will need more tools and time to fit this. You can also cycle more economically on the battery by fitting a pedal-assist system (PAS) that comes as an option with front, rear and crank motor kits. What sort of distances do you want to go? This will dictate how big a battery you need (often the most expensive component).The better option, though a lot more expensive and harder to fit, would be a crank motor kit.

The cheaper option would be a rear hub motor as you can put a more powerful system in. Are there any big hills in your area that you need to climb? This has two answers.How fast do you want to go? If you want to go 30mph-plus you want a rear hub motor as it can take motors of 750W and more without bending the forks or spinning out when you accelerate.The crank motor kit will cost close to $1000 and more while a quick and easy fit will be a front hub motor for as little as $300 at the other end of the scale. The same question applies to the kit you buy too.Don’t go wild buying a top-end new bike but do consider a good quality secondhand one for a good quality result, though that old machine sitting unloved in your garage could be a fun project for a lower overall cost.

Is this a bit of fun or do you want to set up a decent alternative to buying a pre-built e-bike? This will determine the bike you use as a platform.

Be aware the DIY option can be extremely difficult to do! If you have better bike mechanic skills, or just want to stretch yourself then in order of difficulty, the rear, crank and DIY options may be your choice.

How skilled are you on bike maintenance? If changing a tire is about the most involved you have been then perhaps a front hub motor would be the best way forward.

Need to answer before buying the components or kit for the eventual machine. Know what e-bike you’re about to put together. Before you go out and buy anything you need to

Ev mini bike kit