I am new to ebike building but am coming from a surron-x. sadly I got rid of that bike due to it not really looking like or being an actual ebike. Now I need to scratch the itch again. :)
I am considering a 19” motobecane HAL 5.5 Recon with 27.5” wheels from bikes direct. Here is a link to the specific bike.
it visually looks like a battery pack will fit inside the triangle. I want to get a BBSHD mid drive, and whatever battery will give me the most power (I am 6-1”/230lbs).
I will mostly use the bike for commuting and some easy trail riding and single track with my kids. Not competing or doing anything advanced.
guidance and feedback is very much appreciated!
follow up for those that come across this.
I purchased the bike from bikesdirect as mentioned. The extra large frame helps with fitting the battery. The bike shipped much faster than I expected and was at my home and assembled within about a week and a few days of making the order. Yes the website is a throw-back to the internet of the 90s, but they have checkout through paypal so you can rest assured that it is secured.
I purchased the 68mm BBSHD kit w/ EggRider V2 display, 52v Super Shark w/ Panasonic GA cells, 4x spacers, and gear shift sensor all from Johnnynerdout.com. John packed things with care and shipped it fast. The items took only a couple days to arrive and were in great shape.
After watching all of John's videos on assembly, diagnostics, tips and tricks, guidance (purchase the good tools!!!), I was ready to install everything.
Since this was a new bike, the cranks and bottom bracket came up easily with the right tools (park tool crank puller, and a bottom bracket socket from amazon). The big time consumer here, for me at least was cable management. I agree with Johnny that you want things to look as clean as possible. I used a mix of zip ties and velcro straps to bundle cables up and under things. I also used this 1/2" wire loom tubing cable sleeve from amazon (link) to try and make things a bit nicer.
It took my about 3 hours in total to get things working and have a bit more to do still. But it all works! The EggRider display is perfect for my needs and the app works pretty well on iOS for what I am wanting to do. Nice simple controls that have a nice quality fit and finish.
Outstand tasks:
1) I ordered a new KMS e11 136 link chain since my stock SRAM SX Eagle chain is just not long enough at 118 links to get into the larger circumference/lower speed gears.
2) Install the gear shift sensor.
3) I still have some tidying up to do with the cables and zip ties to ensure things are secure.
4) Figure out a mount for the headlight, and see if there is a way to wire up a tail light as well.
I went ahead and ordered the bike. 21” frame and 29” wheels. Unfortunately the matte black is sold out so I got the silver. Now to hurry up and wait! 😂
looking at that bike its honestly a great choice. full suspension, compatible BB, good triangle space, really cant go wrong on this one. I would suggest a Larger frame, like the 21" and the 29er version - 29" seems to be the new sweet spot wheel size for XC, commuting, long trail rides, and tackling large obstacles. also a slightly longer frame adds more handling stability for an ebike, since your taller I see no issue with the 21" frame. keep in mind youll have to check that battery dimensions fit inside the triangle space dimensions, many batteries are too large. I went with a custom samsung 40T cells slim pack 52v12 ah (640 watt hours or about 20-30 miles of range depending on your riding efficiency) which is 12 x 3 x 3.x5" and 8 lbs roughly, which would fit in that frame fine by the looks of it. I have a spare samsung slim pack for sale in case you cant find a suitable battery. all easily DIY doable. with the black color frame you can do a blacked out stealth theme. good choice. feel free to check out my victory posts for bikes ive converted, cheers.