im sorry if this comes off as a jack@$$ but what do i save going this route over ordering one for the same price?

 

Nope the question doesn’t bother me haha. Not sure you can find a 1000w mid drive motor with a 52v battery for this price. Most prebuilt bikes for ~2000 are hub drive motors and usually 48v from what I’ve seen. Hub drive motors work fine and are substantially cheaper but struggle climbing hills. Also from my understanding the bike I built would be more comparable to a $4000 bike. Again this is just the research I’ve looked up and came across and how I interpreted it. I’m not advocating to buy one or make one or that anything I said is 100% for that matter. I ultimately decided for my needs and what I wanted a diy bike would do exactly what I need and for a price I was willing to pay. If you think you’d be better off buying one than by all means go for it, it might suit your needs perfectly. I decided to post my build as encouragement for some that may have considered it before but were unsure.

 

I have been considering doing this exact thing

 

Great write up! Could you post some links to everything you used? Thanks!

 

This is the install video, he has other videos on his channel regarding installation of various sensors:

Park tool channel for adjusting and changing parts on bike: https://youtube.com/@parktool?si=5ZRe43tE3LCj9tO8

Motor kit I used: Complete Kit package- Monster Range Commuter 1000w Motor | Johnny Nerd Out

Fat tire bike: Save up to 60% off new Fat Bikes and Mountain Bikes - MTB - Gravity Bullseye Monster

Luna Eclipse 42T offset chainring: Luna Eclipse ChainRing for the BBSHD

Hydraulic brakes: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B...orks-20&linkId=316cda347d7cd5f380f9bf08ba56bb46&language=en_US&ref_=as_li_ss_tl

Tool kit: https://www.amazon.com/Piece-Bike-T...tool,aps,174&sr=8-9-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9waG9uZV9zZWFyY2hfbXRm&psc=1

Rear rack: https://www.amazon.com/Ibera-Bike-R...rack,aps,183&sr=8-6-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9waG9uZV9zZWFyY2hfbXRm&psc=1

Mud flaps: https://www.amazon.com/Portland-Des...LJ5TYS2N&keywords=pdw+mud+shovel&qid=1700756528&sprefix=pdw+mud+,aps,251&sr=8-3

Amazon.com : Portland Design Works | Mud Shovel 6.5 Rear Fat/Plus Fender, Black Topo, Universal : Sports & Outdoors

Amazon.com : Portland Design Works | Mud Shovel 6.5 Rear Fat/Plus Fender, Black Topo, Universal : Sports & Outdoors

www.amazon.com

The pedals and grips are just extras I put on. But the locking grips are much easier to put on and take off than the standard ones that just slide on. Had to take them off and put them on a couple times when setting up the display and throttle etc.

 

I did the same thing last winter. I had a bunch of points to basspro so I picked up their fat tire bike for free. Then got the same kit you did from electrify bike but with the smaller battery. you can’t get an e-bike like ours for under 5k. I’m 6’3 235lbs and with my climber on my back, bow on the handlebars, and a deer on the trailer it has no issues moving all that weight. Depending on where you hunt you might have issues with that trailer. I had that type of setup and wasn’t getting the clearance. I changed to the trailer in the pics and it works a lot better. The trailer hitch is a swivel so if the deer rolls over the bike wont. Also do yourself a favor and buy a good chain tool and connecting links to bring with you. The motor is powerful, you will def break the chain at some point. It just happened to me and it wasn’t fun.

 

I did the same thing last winter. I had a bunch of points to basspro so I picked up their fat tire bike for free. Then got the same kit you did from electrify bike but with the smaller battery. you can’t get an e-bike like ours for under 5k. I’m 6’3 235lbs and with my climber on my back, bow on the handlebars, and a deer on the trailer it has no issues moving all that weight.

Sweet build! Yeah I have a spare chain and a chain breaker tool I’m gonna throw in the bag you can see by the handlebars. I’ve taken the cart on a small test ride just around and so far it pulls good. Before the kit came in I was pedaling my brother around on the cart and it was moving surprisingly easy so I’m not too concerned there. The bow grips for the handle bar I still need to pick up. Haven’t decided fully on what I want yet and the seasons nearly over so I may wait a while before I decide what ones I want to purchase. They make a smaller battery that fits into the mount I have. I’m planning on picking it up down the road for when I’m around the house and not concerned about the range.

 

Sweet setup and thanks for sharing

 

Wow. Wish you were my neighbor.
Happy New Year all.

 

Great post ! I bought a ebike this year and it has been a game changer going to stands.I am already wanting a more powerful ebike for the hills.

 

Pretty Freaking Cool. Very nice. --JP

 

Great Post!!!! You are quite handy!

 

Neat setup

 

THEY ARE AWSOME , VERY SELDOM AM I SWEATY NOW WHEN I GET SETTLED IN........... I HAVE BUILT 2 OF THEM ALSO AND JUST FYI IF YOU PUT THE 30 TOOTH MIGHTY MINI SPROCKET ON THERE , IT REALLY HELPS ON THE HILLS . MY BRAKES WEAR OUT FAST AND ITS MY GOAL TO CHANGE TO THE HYDRAULIC BRAKES THIS OFFEASON , EVERYONE SAYS THEY MAKE A BIG DIFFERENCE

 

May look into the 30T. Might have to remove a couple smaller gears and the. Space out the Casette to get a good chain line. Didn’t use my disc brakes at all with the motor on so I can’t say for sure how well they work. But they stop me very quickly going about 26-27 down the blacktop. I was testing them out the other day. Super excited to use the bike going forward though. Very impressed with it so far!

 

Update:

Added a milk crate for some storage/tools. Also rigged up my weapon mount. I needed a weapon mount that wouldn’t cause my recurve to stick out way past the handlebars. After looking through some forums and amazon products I decided to try a roll bar mount for a side by side and see if I could rig it up some way.

First I fastened the milk crate to my rear rack with zip-ties rated for 120#. Then I wrapped a piece of PVC that fit in the roll bar mount in electrical tape. Then drilled a couple holes through the pipe for the same heavy duty zip-ties to keep the pipe from spinning. Then fastened the pipe to the milk crate. This Mount allows my recurve to ride parallel to the bike but out just enough where it doesn’t hit me or affect my ability to turn. Also prevents me from essentially having 6 foot wide handlebars if the bow was hanging across them. Also tried out my .22, .450 bushmaster, and my compound and they all fit in well enough with limited movement that I am not concerned about it.

Also put a rechargeable headlight on the front. Didn’t want one that ran off a battery as I had plenty of cables up there already. This kit also came with a clip on tail-light that is rechargeable. I threw it in my front storage bag and figured it would come in handy for traveling on the roads after dark.

I have drove the bike 12 miles so far and am beyond pleased with it. Currently trying to rig/make some sort of motor shield. Nothing fancy just enough to keep majority of the mud and water off.

 

Definitely keep anyone from following too close

 

Sweet setup! Wish the area I hunted allowed e-bikes. I’m stuck on an “old fashioned” pedal bike with my kids modified buggy as my game trailer. lol

 

PHOTOS NEAR BOTTOM

I have been throwing around the idea of getting an e-bike for a while now but couldn’t bring myself to spend 5-6k on a prebuilt bike. I didn’t want to buy a $1000 bike either and get no performance so I settled on building one.

To preface this I have no experience with mountain bikes whatsoever, I am pretty handy but never messed with a bicycle much. Everything I learned was through YouTube and google. The bike I used is a gravity bullseye monster fat tire bike. The bike sells for $600 online. I chose this model because during my research I saw on another forum a user built a ebike off this model and it was pretty much what I was looking for. The trouble with fat tire bikes and conversions is the wide tires causing issues with the chain line when you get the motor spaced out but this bike worked perfectly. The motor I put on the bike is a 1000w Bafang mid-drive with a 52v 25a battery.

Before the motor ever came in I went ahead and upgrade the brakes to SHIMANO MT200 front and rear hydraulic brakes. Hydraulic brakes are recommended for a ebike for better braking at speed. Watched a couple YouTube videos on it and the install was pretty self-explanatory. The motor came in on a Thursday and after only a couple hours I had the motor on with a rough idea of where I was going to run the wires.

Installing the motor was about as easy as the videos made it look. There is a great channel called JohhnyNerdOut that has a perfect video on installing this motor. Between him and Park Tool (bike mechanic channel) I could pretty much do it all on a bike. I won’t explain the process because I still don’t know the proper bike terms haha. But the video is an excellent tool for anyone considering this. The bike bottom bracket is 100mm and it was recommended by JohnnyNerdOut to get a 120mm motor and space it out with the included spacers. I did have to make my own spacers for the non-drive side (small piece of pvc) until my new metal spacers come in. I could have ordered the spacers on my initial order but wasn’t sure if I would need them. I also had to go to the hardware store and get some shorter 6mm socket head cap screws to mount the motor as well as washers. There were mounting screws included but with the spacing i had the screws were way too long. Kind of expected this thought as I read of this being quite common through my research. But with the new screws and washers everything mounted perfectly and was really easy. I will add that I didn’t use the chainring that came with the kit, I bought a Luna Eclipse 42t offset chainring to put on this bike to help out the chain line and get more torque. I also had to install a new chain as the original was too tight with the new chainring, but that only took 10-15 minutes to size and install.

With the motor installed, and wires roughed next I needed to install the battery mount. This goes right where the water bottle holder bolts are so went on fairly easy. I say fairly easy because the battery I chose is so big I had to file out the screw slot about a 1/2” to get the battery to slide into the mount properly. With a smaller battery this wouldn’t have been an issue, but I got it figured out and the battery is secured. Then came the fun part of installing countless sensors, all which JohnnyNerdOut has excellent videos on. Setup the Speedometer first, then the gear shift sensor, then the hydraulic brake cutoffs. All that was left was to do some cable management as there’s was a plethora of them in front of the handlebars. Finished that up Friday night and fine tuned the shifting on the bike today (had to loosen shifting cable to get shift sensor on).

The bike is now running perfectly and shifting gears great. The bike as you see it in the photos i have around $2100 in without the cart. This is for the bike, motor kit with battery, upgraded brakes, new Luna chainring, new pedals, new grips, the mud flaps, and the rear rack. If you count the tool kit I had to purchase, which was well worth the $80 as it had everything I needed, then around $2200.
It’s been pretty wet and cold and I’m still recovering from being sick so I haven’t really rode it very far or much yet but I think it will run around 25ish mph on the road. I could probably get more with a higher tooth chain ring, but I’m not looking for speed on this bike, I want something can get through a little mud and climb some hills.
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if anyone has questions or wants links to any of the videos or products feel free to comment or message me I’d be happy to share them or help you as best I can. Like I said I’m no bike expert but this was a pretty easy build. I have around 6 hours in it maybe counting tearing the bike apart, installing the kit, cable management, and adjusting the rear derailleur (for shifting). Probably like 20 hours if you count all the research and videos I watched before the motor came in. If you’re able to follow instructions then you can definitely do this if it is something your considering.

Looks pretty sweet!

 

Lol! I was the other guy that built the exact bike this spring! Going to experiment with dropping 3-4 gears out and keeping the Luna 42 but with an even better chain line. Put a suspension seat post on there and youll be in heaven! Also gonna put a front suspension on it but for now running the treads at 12psi really soaks up the bumps

 

Lol! I was the other guy that built the exact bike this spring! Going to experiment with dropping 3-4 gears out and keeping the Luna 42 but with an even better chain line. Put a suspension seat post on there and youll be in heaven! Also gonna put a front suspension on it but for now running the treads at 12psi really soaks up the bumps View attachment 8049018 View attachment 8049019 View attachment 8049024

Over the winter, I've been doing a bit of research on suspension seat post options for my Rambo R750. I know the post is 27.2mm, but the span of designs and costs are staggering. Some for $25 and running up to $350. I ride mostly gravel roads and two tracks for scouting and checking trail cams, so I don't need something built for the Rocky Mountains. I also noticed that suspension seat posts do not have the taper of the stock seat post for a seat to simply fit over and clamp down .....they instead clamp to the bottom of the seat frame. Any tips or suggestions for someone not wanting to invest several hundred dollars in a trial?

 

When people ask me why I built instead of buying, I say cause it’s built for ME. Not anyone else. The bike is framed for ME. The gears are selected for the terrain I ride in. I MADE THIS! Like making arrows, tuning ur own bow…etc.
Also, I didn’t put a bow holder on mine….I use a sling. I live in Nort Wisconsin and we have snow n ice all over the place during late season. If I gotta take a dump, I have a better chance of my bow surviving. Just my .02€

 

Here’s my price list…

 

My build….

https://www.archerytalk.com/threads/ebike-the-diy-version.6204325/post-1115657194

 

Awesome thanks for chiming in! I can’t believe through my research I never found your post on archery talk, I had only ever seen it on the other forum. Nice to finally give you some credit for the inspiration and ideas!

 

Sent u a PM

 

Did you try out narrow tires in the design before settling on this width?

 

No the bike I bought came with fat tires which is what I wanted. Supposed to handle mud and snow better. Haven’t really done a whole lot of research on regular mountain bike tires repurposed for hunting bikes. I’m sure it can be done and works fine especially if you have decent trails/roads to follow.

 

Interesting question. I was watching the news that had an item about E-bikes. A fire chief was advocating some sort of standards or guidelines as he has seen several fires caused by the lithium batteries and chargers.

 

The cheapo in me was really hoping this would cost under $1k lol but sounds like a great deal either way

 

How did you measure the offset to ensure you bought the right chain ring?

 

Measure what’s that? Jk but I didn’t measure, one of the builds I was basing this off of used this chain ring so I just went ahead and ordered it to see and it fit well.

i do know that before i ordered that chain ring my line was favoring the high gears 6-7-8 just from looking at it and the way the chain was skipping gears when shifting. I was already okay if I never got to use those highest gears anyway. I was wanting good shifting through the first 4-5. But the chain ring worked great and with some adjusting of the cables and rear derailleur I can now shift through all gears.

I probably make it past 3rd gear 5% of the time I’m riding the bike. Just don’t really have a need to go any faster for what I’m using it for. But the bike is still running great for anyone that’s curious! The battery last forever and I’m buying a second smaller battery soon for hunting around the house where I don’t need 20-25 miles of range.

 

PHOTOS NEAR BOTTOM

I have been throwing around the idea of getting an e-bike for a while now but couldn’t bring myself to spend 5-6k on a prebuilt bike. I didn’t want to buy a $1000 bike either and get no performance so I settled on building one.

To preface this I have no experience with mountain bikes whatsoever, I am pretty handy but never messed with a bicycle much. Everything I learned was through YouTube and google. The bike I used is a gravity bullseye monster fat tire bike. The bike sells for $600 online. I chose this model because during my research I saw on another forum a user built a ebike off this model and it was pretty much what I was looking for. The trouble with fat tire bikes and conversions is the wide tires causing issues with the chain line when you get the motor spaced out but this bike worked perfectly. The motor I put on the bike is a 1000w Bafang mid-drive with a 52v 25a battery.

Before the motor ever came in I went ahead and upgrade the brakes to SHIMANO MT200 front and rear hydraulic brakes. Hydraulic brakes are recommended for a ebike for better braking at speed. Watched a couple YouTube videos on it and the install was pretty self-explanatory. The motor came in on a Thursday and after only a couple hours I had the motor on with a rough idea of where I was going to run the wires.

Installing the motor was about as easy as the videos made it look. There is a great channel called JohhnyNerdOut that has a perfect video on installing this motor. Between him and Park Tool (bike mechanic channel) I could pretty much do it all on a bike. I won’t explain the process because I still don’t know the proper bike terms haha. But the video is an excellent tool for anyone considering this. The bike bottom bracket is 100mm and it was recommended by JohnnyNerdOut to get a 120mm motor and space it out with the included spacers. I did have to make my own spacers for the non-drive side (small piece of pvc) until my new metal spacers come in. I could have ordered the spacers on my initial order but wasn’t sure if I would need them. I also had to go to the hardware store and get some shorter 6mm socket head cap screws to mount the motor as well as washers. There were mounting screws included but with the spacing i had the screws were way too long. Kind of expected this thought as I read of this being quite common through my research. But with the new screws and washers everything mounted perfectly and was really easy. I will add that I didn’t use the chainring that came with the kit, I bought a Luna Eclipse 42t offset chainring to put on this bike to help out the chain line and get more torque. I also had to install a new chain as the original was too tight with the new chainring, but that only took 10-15 minutes to size and install.

With the motor installed, and wires roughed next I needed to install the battery mount. This goes right where the water bottle holder bolts are so went on fairly easy. I say fairly easy because the battery I chose is so big I had to file out the screw slot about a 1/2” to get the battery to slide into the mount properly. With a smaller battery this wouldn’t have been an issue, but I got it figured out and the battery is secured. Then came the fun part of installing countless sensors, all which JohnnyNerdOut has excellent videos on. Setup the Speedometer first, then the gear shift sensor, then the hydraulic brake cutoffs. All that was left was to do some cable management as there’s was a plethora of them in front of the handlebars. Finished that up Friday night and fine tuned the shifting on the bike today (had to loosen shifting cable to get shift sensor on).

The bike is now running perfectly and shifting gears great. The bike as you see it in the photos i have around $2100 in without the cart. This is for the bike, motor kit with battery, upgraded brakes, new Luna chainring, new pedals, new grips, the mud flaps, and the rear rack. If you count the tool kit I had to purchase, which was well worth the $80 as it had everything I needed, then around $2200.
It’s been pretty wet and cold and I’m still recovering from being sick so I haven’t really rode it very far or much yet but I think it will run around 25ish mph on the road. I could probably get more with a higher tooth chain ring, but I’m not looking for speed on this bike, I want something can get through a little mud and climb some hills.
View attachment 8014010
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View attachment 8014012

if anyone has questions or wants links to any of the videos or products feel free to comment or message me I’d be happy to share them or help you as best I can. Like I said I’m no bike expert but this was a pretty easy build. I have around 6 hours in it maybe counting tearing the bike apart, installing the kit, cable management, and adjusting the rear derailleur (for shifting). Probably like 20 hours if you count all the research and videos I watched before the motor came in. If you’re able to follow instructions then you can definitely do this if it is something your considering.

Some updated photos and an update on the bike itself.
The bike runs around 27mph on flat road without pedaling. Which is plenty fast for me. Got it up to 33 going slightly downhill while pedaling felt like I was in nascar. Bike is driving great goes through sand and mud with no problems at all. Took it on a 12 mile ride today with limited pedaling and the battery handled it great, also had probably 1-2 miles on it before that already so very confident in the range of this bike/battery combo. The bike is a blast to drive around, can definitely see myself driving this around all year despite it being a “hunting build”.
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Amazing work

 

120 miles so far with no issues. Have used it far more than I thought and it’s not even hunting season yet. Little chores around the house, fishing nearby, joy rides. It’s a fun bike to ride

 

I own an older Gary Fischer Mountain Bike. (I’m cheap) Would it make more sense to just buy a cheaper e bike than spend 2 k retrofitting this cheaper old bike???