Considering a build-up electric bike and the above online vendors seem to have a good reputation here and other ebike forums. I'm pretty handy with a wrench, but when it comes to ebikes, i'd like to be able to call someone or email them with any questions. I have built up a ebike before with a front motor, SLAs and a pretty bare bones controller, but I'm willing to push up my budget a little higher. I also have a bionx, that may be reaching the end of it's life.
Does anyone have a preference for the above vendors? Also, who has the cheapest prices, while at the same time delivering service AFTER the sale. Anyone else besides the above? Thanks in advance.
Price, quality, service: Pick two. If you really want service, shop locally as possible. You know, where a human being looks at your situation and evaluates everything, not just what you care to mention. We probably reject more mules than we approve. And high torque, high speed, front wheel drive on a department store suspension fork, yeah perfect. Online might deter you, we'd STOP you.
JTH/Amp Brothers Electric Cycles/MI
Love to shop locally, but there is no one here who is a dedicated ebike dealer. There is a shop that installs Bionx kits, but they pretty much told me he will ship the units back to Canada, if there is a warranty issue.
We have a vendor directory on this site - http://visforvoltage.org/vendors - which may help you find a good dealer, and if you know a good dealer that's not in the directory feel free to add them.
I myself have bought a couple kits from e-BikeKit and like what they're doing. The geared motor is very lightweight and does 17 miles/hr .. the non-geared motor is higher power, heavier and does 23+ miles/hr. I like the geared motor because it made it more feasible to lift and carry my bicycle around. Both are pretty powerful and I like their responsiveness.
- David Herron, The Long Tail Pipe, davidherron.com, 7gen.com, What is Reiki
I've had very good results with Terry from hightekbikes.com. They have a better quality version as e-bikekit.com based in California. They sell ampedbikes stuff as well. I tried to deal direct with amped bikes but I think they prefer to work with dealers.