Don’t Bother Building a DIY eBike in 2024

Are ebike conversion kits wort it in 2024? Here I give the pros and cons to building a custom DIY electric bike vs buying an ebike.

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[Supavape]

Don't bother building an ebike? You sound like you work for an ebike company now....

[TheJb]

So if you buy a ebike my problem is companies want to charge insane prices for them. 3-4 k for a ebike that only can reach speeds of 30-35 mph. I can build one that can reach speeds of 40+ for a fraction of the cost of a company's ebike.

[carlyellison]

Thank goodness I did my BBSHD MTB conversion in 2023!

[chamesbrown]

Building your own helps you understand how things work, and this can help a lot when or if something breaks, you will definitely know how to replace it from knowledge of the Build

[stockey]

My 60MPH DIY cost me $1500, and i don't intend to sell it, and it's very well built, almost look like a main brand.

[fahmiyusoff]

My 350w kit cost 200usd with perfomance comparable with 1500usd ebikes tf u talking about

[Nalladolla]

Theres also a lot of benefits to diy versus buying premade that you didnt touch on. Yeah someone getting a cheap kit off amazon would be better off buy a cheap bike. Some of us however are into much higher power build utilizing features that arent found of most stock bikes such as variable regen, foc control with field weakening, higher voltage packs, phase amp tuning vs standard battery amp, full tuning abilities on throttle, pas, large direct drive motors over small geared hubs, solar setups, gps and trip analyzers etc.

I agree that for most out there buying premade is the way but for the enthusiastic builders that know where to look, the highest quality and most recent developments can be bought and applied when it will take years to see it on stock bikes.

Example. Grin technologies has developed a thru axle direct drive motor with integrated torque arm, 4kg weight compared to most 6kg on comparable hubs, thin lams for reduced drag, internal temp sensor, overmolder plug, optional single side application, optional pas sensor in cassette body for seamless pas, and with statorade injected into the motor it can handle a bit less than 2kw continuously at higher speeds.

You will not see this motor on a stock bike any time soon, if at all. Most stock bikes are geared hubs and arent anything special.

The benefits to going diy if you actually know what you are doing and dont buy the cheapest stuff from aliexpress are endless. It just depends on if thats what you are looking for. Also companys come and go so when support drops for a bike and parts arent available anymore, they are screwed as most dont do the work themselves. Look up what happened with bionix.
Going diy you have a full understanding of the bike and if something goes wrong you can fix it, without some crappy support trying to "help" you.😂
Premade bikes have come a very long way though and some are a great deal for the price. It all depends on what you are looking for and the use case in my opinion.

Great video!

[Inventerguy]

There are definitely pros and cons to DIY electric bikes, but the thing that makes me really like DIY electric bikes is that you know what went into making it and if something breaks it’s much easier to swap out. Buying a manufacturer to electric bike it’s really good if you just want some thing that set up and good to go right out of the box but the problem with most manufactured electric bikes is that if something gets damaged it’s a lot harder to replace if at all, especially if a frame gets damaged then the bike is pretty much worthless with a DIY electric bike if the frame gets damaged or gets damaged or something with the electrical system fails, you don’t have to replace the whole thing you can just replace a certain part. Also, I find it really fun to just have a electric bike that I built and even if it looks like crap as long as it performs, great it’s amazing because people won’t want to steal it as much as a beautifully made manufactured bike because they think it looks Janky, but to the owner of the bike they know it’s theirs and it works the way they want it. and finally with doing a DIY electric bike you get the satisfaction you built it. You can’t get with a manufactured bike riding built feels A lot more special than writing something that you paid to someone else to build.

[nathancereska]

You left out one scenario. I’ve built and bought bikes. The best bike I have is a 500 dollar Ebike I bought off Amazon…, then stripped it and used a kit on it. All in 2, 000 bucks. Thing is amazing and my range is killer. It’s really a third option, and one I’ve really enjoyed. Thanks for the video

[griffincontracting]

I don't think anything you've mentioned invalidates my DIY e-DH rig.

[davidhuggins]

IDK if I agree with your statement. I'm on my 3rd build after doing major research on all the ready made bikes out there. And I really wanted to buy one. But price was a major factor which lead me to build #3.
Plus if something does go wrong on the road you have a better chance of fixing whatever comes up as supposed to calling customer service and hoping you get help.
Another reason is you can build your bike to the way YOU want it to be. Whatever power you want. That was a major factor because I'm going to be much more comfy on my build than anything on the market.
Now I will say If you got the money to spend and it fits your specs go for it.
But learning to do and build e-bikes is a damn good hobby and you can pass on knowledge to other people.

[murdercom]

Title should be Don't half ass your ebike build in 2024

[paulstrollo]

as a builder, i can tell you for sure and for certain i can no longer compete with mass producers. Just what the parts cost would get you a really nice factory ride forget about all my labor. Only up side is most "kits" are unlocked so more access to P settings ECT.

[igorberezin]

you are dead wrong. my ebike kit i purchased for 210 on ebay which is 1000w direct drive. 8ah battery for 120( currently sold for 90.00). its super easy to build a bike especially that a simple FULL SUSPENSION bike is fairly cheap. fully assembled came to about 400.00 including all headlights, usb ports and additional safety led light installed with flash controller. similar featured bike costs around 1200 if you were to buy it in 2024. so no you are dead wrong. you should build your own diy bike its easy and much more customizable the way you want it. Prebuilt bikes lock you in to a formfactor battery limited outright. They weigh as much as a person 80+lb (my bike i built diy is around 50lb and i carry it all the way to 3rd floor apartment no problems every day)

[namiix]

i think the exception is emtb. a name brand mid drive mountain bike is absurdly overpriced.

[markifi]

one exception: you want an electric cargo bike and can easily store any shape battery, controller, and their cables. some packs especially refurbished automotive stuff still are as cheap as 100 dollars per kilowatthour (according to aging wheels anyway, i haven't seen this first hand)

[nicod]

Bought a name brand ebike, had only troubles after troubles with it... Controller blew, motor melted, battery had to be replaced, frame paint arrived damaged, crank shaft is grinding, all macanical cables had to replaced, front gear derailleur Shimano broke down... 1800€ for fixing. I got new motor, new controller new battery new BMS new cells and I'm a painter by trade so it was easy fix. The struggle was rewinding a motor but anyone gifted with a brain should be able to learn motor basics

[bassw]

DIY is the best way to be, most pre built's have jacked up geometry, terrible for off road, to many pedal strikes, Fork angle is always jacked up too. And full suspension 250w ridiculously expensive, beautiful bikes with pathetic electrical systems that brake a lot leaving you without your bike for months.

[khanrides]

Segway Xyber and lyric graffiti X are coming out this year and both are going to be 45 mph e-bikes. Very promising bikes and they come feature packed out of the box. Lots of great e-bikes coming out this year

[TheMarklandian]

My bike 3kw 60v 25ah high quality 4 piston hydraulic brakes with 203mm rotors was less than 2k. I’ve hit over 50 multiple times on rides no problem. It’s my first ebike/ebike build and I wouldn’t even think of getting a production bike instead. I’m now in the enthusiast category with 4 bikes. One big thing I think with DIY is number one learn and at least understand what you’re doing. Know you’ll need space for electronics and buy a frame based around your components. Number two search the internet for a good quality/priced product. I got an eBay motor kit that was 5 stars and a unit pack power battery. And I think the biggest thing people do is cheap out on necessities. A decent frame and brakes will trump speed for me. Finding the good middle ground is the best in my opinion. DIY really isn’t that bad but it takes alot of time and a lot of research to basically find the Lego pieces for something you only have an image of in your mind