As I’ve said earlier, I haven’t always been a fan of electric bikes (see http://cycleacrossamerica.com/2018/11/29/e-bike-slackers/). But now that I am a septuagenarian and still love to get outside and ride my bike, electric bikes are looking more attractive to me. Unfortunately, electric bikes can be very costly ranging in price from about a thousand dollars to over ten thousand dollars. In addition, specifications can be very confusing with some retailers omitting important details from their advertisements (more on that subject to follow in later posts).
Not wanting to make an expensive mistake with my first e-bike, I decided to build an e-bike using a Bafang electric bike conversion kit. In that way, if I decided that I wanted an electric road bike I could use it on my road bike. But, if I later felt that I would rather have an electric mountain bike I could easily transfer the motor and battery to my mountain bike.
As a result, I decided on a Bafang 750W BBS02 Mid Drive Motor and Battery kit I found online at https://www.bafangusadirect.com/bafang-750w-bbs02-mid-drive-motor-and-battery-p/60.htm. Although I never heard of Bafang before, I found that it is a leading manufacturer of e-bike drive systems in Asia. While Bafang offers a larger 1000 Watt motor, I chose the 750 watt motor since electric bikes with motors over 750 watts are not legal on US roadways or allowed on federal trails.
Ken Whittaker