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> compatible with all major brands How does the compatibility work ? For my experience as an e bike mecanist, most of the brand have their own plug (with diffe

> compatible with all major brands How does the compatibility work ? For my experience as an e bike mecanist, most of the brand have their own plug (with different number of pins). Event for those that use the standard shimano/bosch/bafang there is a new plug every two years. This plug market make me think of the mobile phone in 2000’s.

dncornholio 2y ago
They make you undo the plugs and connect the wires from the motor to their battery mount.
- Gigachad 2y ago
  I wonder how they managed that. My understanding was it was all computerised, proprietary, and DRMed.
criddell 2y ago
I was wondering that too. Trek, for example, has the batteries in a compartment that is part of the bike. What happens in that case? And since you work on this stuff let me ask you: who makes the Toyota Camry of ebikes? In other words, who makes the it-just-works-and-its-fine ebike for people who don't really care about ebikes? I've thought about getting one for commuting to work but every time I've started to look I get decision fatigue and give up for another year.
- bambax 2y ago
  Building your own ebike with a Bafang motor and an ordinary bike you have lying around (or a used one you buy specifically for that purpose) is easy and cheap, and works very, very well. It's true that ordinary Chinese battery packs don't last much more than three years though. (Edit for the downvote: I have built three of those already for myself, plus a couple of others for friends, never had any problem whatsoever. Transformation takes less than two hours.)
  - deleted 2y ago
    [deleted]
  - aziaziazi 2y ago
    I support this. Bonus points : you can revert back to a normal bike whenever you need and you can swap motors for replacement/upgrade. Beware to use a frame that can handle the motor power.
  - criddell 2y ago
    The last thing in the world I want is another hobby. I want something with a warranty and a local dealer who will service it.
    - bambax 2y ago
      There are many shops all over the world that can install Bafang motors and service them should something break. (But it almost never breaks.)
- aziaziazi 2y ago
  Kalkhoff is well known and I enjoyed working on them because they use quality, standard pieces, everything is strong and well designed without any fancy custom made parts. Lowest prices around 1500€ and you definitely shouldn’t by a bike cheaper than that. By the way avoid startups that create the “revolutionary IOT magic bike“ most of them are fantastic in marketing but a pain to maintain. That being said, the most reliable bike is a bike without motor. You get ~3x the quality of an e bike for the same price (because 2/3 of an ebike price is the battery/motor).
  - criddell 2y ago
    Unfortunately, they won't ship to the US. I mentioned Trek because that's what Wired recommends. Specifically the Trek FX+ 2 which is something like $2500 which seems fair. Does Trek have an okay reputation? There are 5 bike shops selling and servicing Trek in my city so that's why I was leaning towards them.
    - aziaziazi 2y ago
      Trek has a good reputation and the FX+ 2 seems very nice although i did’t find the exact specs on the composants used (!). If you’re in a wet state check carefully the sealing around the motor and the one between the battery and the frame. When the falls rains come many bikes stop working. The ones with wide joints covering and without much motor aeration tends to handle better.
littlestymaar 2y ago
> For my experience as an e bike mecanist, most of the brand have their own plug (with different number of pins). Event for those that use the standard shimano/bosch/bafang there is a new plug every two years. This plug market make me think of the mobile phone in 2000’s. Let's hope the European Commission addresses this one as well then…
- criddell 2y ago
  Somebody else mentioned power tools. I'd love for governments to start to address the lack of battery standards with power tools.
  - littlestymaar 2y ago
    Indeed!
vallettea 2y ago
hello, the battery comes with a docking support so you'll have both side of the connector (femal on the battery, male on the dock). Inside the docking you'll have a PCB with wago that enables you tu just plug the bare cables inside. Once done, the only thing you need to do is t select the write CAN protocol (with the app or we can ship it with the right protocol in case you d'ont want to use the app).

dncornholio 2y ago

They make you undo the plugs and connect the wires from the motor to their battery mount.

Gigachad 2y ago
I wonder how they managed that. My understanding was it was all computerised, proprietary, and DRMed.

criddell 2y ago

I was wondering that too. Trek, for example, has the batteries in a compartment that is part of the bike. What happens in that case? And since you work on this stuff let me ask you: who makes the Toyota Camry of ebikes? In other words, who makes the it-just-works-and-its-fine ebike for people who don't really care about ebikes? I've thought about getting one for commuting to work but every time I've started to look I get decision fatigue and give up for another year.

bambax 2y ago
Building your own ebike with a Bafang motor and an ordinary bike you have lying around (or a used one you buy specifically for that purpose) is easy and cheap, and works very, very well. It's true that ordinary Chinese battery packs don't last much more than three years though. (Edit for the downvote: I have built three of those already for myself, plus a couple of others for friends, never had any problem whatsoever. Transformation takes less than two hours.)
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
- aziaziazi 2y ago
  I support this. Bonus points : you can revert back to a normal bike whenever you need and you can swap motors for replacement/upgrade. Beware to use a frame that can handle the motor power.
- criddell 2y ago
  The last thing in the world I want is another hobby. I want something with a warranty and a local dealer who will service it.
  - bambax 2y ago
    There are many shops all over the world that can install Bafang motors and service them should something break. (But it almost never breaks.)
aziaziazi 2y ago
Kalkhoff is well known and I enjoyed working on them because they use quality, standard pieces, everything is strong and well designed without any fancy custom made parts. Lowest prices around 1500€ and you definitely shouldn’t by a bike cheaper than that. By the way avoid startups that create the “revolutionary IOT magic bike“ most of them are fantastic in marketing but a pain to maintain. That being said, the most reliable bike is a bike without motor. You get ~3x the quality of an e bike for the same price (because 2/3 of an ebike price is the battery/motor).
- criddell 2y ago
  Unfortunately, they won't ship to the US. I mentioned Trek because that's what Wired recommends. Specifically the Trek FX+ 2 which is something like $2500 which seems fair. Does Trek have an okay reputation? There are 5 bike shops selling and servicing Trek in my city so that's why I was leaning towards them.
  - aziaziazi 2y ago
    Trek has a good reputation and the FX+ 2 seems very nice although i did’t find the exact specs on the composants used (!). If you’re in a wet state check carefully the sealing around the motor and the one between the battery and the frame. When the falls rains come many bikes stop working. The ones with wide joints covering and without much motor aeration tends to handle better.

littlestymaar 2y ago

> For my experience as an e bike mecanist, most of the brand have their own plug (with different number of pins). Event for those that use the standard shimano/bosch/bafang there is a new plug every two years. This plug market make me think of the mobile phone in 2000’s. Let's hope the European Commission addresses this one as well then…

criddell 2y ago
Somebody else mentioned power tools. I'd love for governments to start to address the lack of battery standards with power tools.
- littlestymaar 2y ago
  Indeed!

vallettea 2y ago

hello, the battery comes with a docking support so you'll have both side of the connector (femal on the battery, male on the dock). Inside the docking you'll have a PCB with wago that enables you tu just plug the bare cables inside. Once done, the only thing you need to do is t select the write CAN protocol (with the app or we can ship it with the right protocol in case you d'ont want to use the app).