A Powerful & Simple Electric Bike Kit
August 15, 2014Electric bikes are becoming more common. As technology advances (especially in the battery department), people are realizing that an ebike is actually a realistic option for the world in which they live. Although ebike kits are nothing new, ebike expert Micah Toll feels his new kits are cheaper, better and easier to install than anything else currently available.
Micah got his start with electric bicycles when he was in college. While looking for an alternative to owning a car in the city, and the hassles and expenses that go along with it, he experimented with a gasoline powered bicycle. While it worked well, it was loud, dirty and he still had to make trips to the gas station.
In hopes of removing some of the negatives attached to the gas bike, he decided to build an electric bike and was thrilled to find that he was "riding around at 30 mph with nothing more than wind noise in my ears."
Over the next few years, Micah built dozens of ebikes for himself and his friends. He realized that many other people were interested in building their own ebike and so he wrote a successful ebook guide to help others with this task. After being asked many times why he didn't offer his own ebike kit, he decided the time was right to create the Barak Electric Bicycle Conversion Kit via Kickstarter. (Barak means "lightning" in Hebrew and has nothing to do with the President of the United States.)
When asked why he decided to create his own electric conversion kit, he said "I've been working with ebikes for many years now, and so I've used just about every ebike part and kit out there. Some are great, others are not. I've used this experience to help beginners learn what to use and what to avoid in their own ebikes. But after seeing so many low quality kits with over-rated specifications that often confuse or trick consumers, I decided I wanted to make my own ebike that would offer not only great value, but better performance and range than many of the other products currently available."
He continued with "Many other ebike kits list their maximum range value as what they get when the rider is pedaling as well, and usually at a reduced speed. This is how many kits get those ridiculous 30 mile range figures. My kit is rated for range at top speed (highest power draw) and with no pedaling, where it gets about 20 miles. If the user pedals as well, 40 miles is achievable easily, and if the speed is reduced just a bit, 60 miles is achievable."
The Barak conversion kit includes a battery, a controller (which is located inside the battery housing), a front bicycle wheel with the integrated motor and a throttle, which is mounted on the handlebars.
You can choose either a 20" or 26" wheel and a 350 watt or 500 watt battery.
Current Kickstarter prices range from $585 - $655.
*Image Credit: Micah Toll