How I built an electric bicycle from scratch

Building your own eBike is no easy undertaking. But in 2015, if you want to have a good eBike and not spend a small fortune, then you really need to build your own.

Updates for 2017

After struggling with the reliability of the motor on the bull and the battery beginning to lose capacity, I decided to replace the original parts with a motor & battery kit. Thankfully, eBike kits have come a long way since I first built this bike, and there are a lot of great options to work with. In this case, I updated (and upgraded) to a Bafang BBS-HD motor/controller kit and pre-built battery. The kit came from (Luna Cycle)[https://lunacycle.com/bafang-bbshd-1000w-middrive-kit/] and had everything needed to bolt on to the bike.

The 2017 Changes

Here are some pics of the bike with the Bafang BBS-HD and battery from Luna Cycle.

The original story continues below.

Original story

Before I get started, let me share a little about my history and motivation in building an ebike: I used to ride motorcycles exclusively, but living in a big city meant most of my riding was in traffic, with all the risks and downsides that entails. I ended up replacing my motorcycle with a car, but I missed not having two wheels under me. I also despised getting stuck in rush-hour traffic ten times a week. On top of that, I felt I needed to get some more exercise in my daily routine. I knew a bicycle would get me out of traffic, but I didn’t think I was fit enough to ride to work every day. So after searching around, I discovered the world of eBikes—which is short for electric bicycle—and knew I wanted one. The trouble was, these were super new, and almost no company was offering one for sale. It was a hobby-group/home-grown sort of a niche. Luckily, I was already handy with both mechanics, and electronics, so I had the basic skills needed to build my own. This is the story of how I did that.

The bike I chose is a Motobecane Fantom Trail dual-suspension mountain bike, which I picked up at a discount on (Bikes Direct)[https://www.bikesdirect.com]. I figured with the power I wanted to use, I would be smart to have full suspension and disk brakes.