# DIY e-Gravel



## shreddr (Oct 10, 2009)

E-bike #4 and perhaps the coolest. Direct sourced full carbon frame and Bafang M800 kit. This is the 250w motor with a 200Wh battery which may seem insufficient but I can see already this may be my favorite bike of all because of the phenomenal M800 motor. The speed limit for assistance is "set" at 16 mph (25kmh) which at first sounded too slow so I immediately started looking for a higher speed solution. I got to take it out for the maiden voyage today and was blown away by the absolutely seamless transition from human to assisted power. Above 16 it's all me, below that, like at the inflection of a climb once my speed drops below 16, the seamless assist kicks in and I climb like a strong amateur racer. This is the wave! I rode 12 miles at max assist (when engaged) and only used 30% of the battery. I think I might have achieved Wheelvana 

Oh yeah total spend ~$4000. I had the high end Mavic All Road Pro wheels and 105 components from another bike, frame and motor kit were $2k. This easily rivals BIG BRAND bikes at 3x the price. I'm looking forward to lots of miles on this baby 










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## Jack7782 (Jan 1, 2009)

shreddr said:


> E-bike #4 and perhaps the coolest. Direct sourced full carbon frame and Bafang M800 kit. This is the 250w motor with a 200Wh battery which may seem insufficient but I can see already this may be my favorite bike of all because of the phenomenal M800 motor. The speed limit for assistance is "set" at 16 mph (25kmh) which at first sounded too slow so I immediately started looking for a higher speed solution. I got to take it out for the maiden voyage today and was blown away by the absolutely seamless transition from human to assisted power. Above 16 it's all me, below that, like at the inflection of a climb once my speed drops below 16, the seamless assist kicks in and I climb like a strong amateur racer. This is the wave! I rode 12 miles at max assist (when engaged) and only used 30% of the battery. I think I might have achieved Wheelvana
> 
> Oh yeah total spend ~$4000. I had the high end Mavic All Road Pro wheels and 105 components from another bike, frame and motor kit were $2k. This easily rivals BIG BRAND bikes at 3x the price. I'm looking forward to lots of miles on this baby
> 
> ...


Very cool bike. Congrats on being a pioneer in building your own ebike. The finished product looks more e-road vs. e-gravel to me. I bet you could don some lycra and drop the A riders on your upcoming weekend group ride. I think they would be nice to you if you took extra long pulls into the headwind etc.


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## patski (Dec 12, 2005)

Looks great!



shreddr said:


> ...Direct sourced full carbon frame{snip}


more info plz.... links, etc... tia



> ... frame and motor kit were $2k.


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## shreddr (Oct 10, 2009)

patski said:


> more info plz.... links, etc... tia


I bought the frame and motor kit from a company called Xiamen Outdoor Bicycle Group through Alibaba, but if you search there now it says they are out of stock. These Alibaba deals are strange, because you have to find out who is actually producing the frames rather than being a reseller. Lot's of companies are just passing them on from somewhere else. The manufacturers are more interested in big orders, and will often make a proprietary frame and advertise as "not available for retail customers" the motors come from Bafang, but it is the same deal, they aren't interested in selling you "1" The company I worked with said they could get me the motor with the frame, but that ended up being very problematic and the motor was significantly delayed by 3 months. You also need to be ready to plunk down a couple of grand to a total stranger outside the country and hope they send you the shipment at some point in the future. Not for the weak of heart or thin of wallet. With all that said a little perseverance and research and you can do what i did. I would venture to guess I have one of the few, perhaps the only Bafang M800 motor and battery in the US, which is cool but you can imagine service is likely nonexistent, so again not for the faint of heart.

Here is a link to the same frame

https://www.lightcarbon.com/full-carbon-road-disc-ebike-frameset-with-flat-mount-brake_p81.html

Light Carbon is a manufacturer, I have bought 2 frames from them and would have bought this one from them as well, except the company I dealt with said they could get the motor too, so I went with them. Light Carbon said they could NOT get the motor, which brings up a key comment, MAKE SURE YOU CAN GET THE MOTOR AND BATTERY BEFORE ORDERING THE FRAME! these frames are proprietary, and won't work with anything else, so if you buy the frame and can't get the motor/battery you have nothing. I was looking into the Fazua system, which is really cool, but I had no source for the motor as an individual, which should probably have been the case for the M800.

As you see it can be done, and the bike is a full carbon, 30lb dream. If Specialized was selling something like this it would have a nice paint job and cost $10,000. Here is a link to an identical bike made by IGO at a much higher price than I paid, and with much cheaper wheels.

https://igoelectric.com/collections/all-ebikes/products/performance-carbon-cgv
good luck!


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## fos'l (May 27, 2009)

Great perseverance; I wouldn't take the chance and/or put in the effort that you did. How much did the motor/battery add to the weight IYO.


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## shreddr (Oct 10, 2009)

fos'l said:


> Great perseverance; I wouldn't take the chance and/or put in the effort that you did. How much did the motor/battery add to the weight IYO.


Here straight from Bafang, 9.7lbs complete kit. I weighed the total bike and it is 30.1 lbs, so the frame isn't exactly a featherweight, but it also has to support some heavy components, and potentially higher speeds. The motor is super small, almost half the size as the Shimano unit, but feels to be almost the same weight. I think the coolest thing is how quiet it is. I have 2 Shimano E8000 bikes and both make a noticable "whir" when running. I don't think I heard a thing out of the Bafang, literally no sound. Unless you know what you are looking for, if a bike like this blew by, you would just think it was a fast rider.


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## fos'l (May 27, 2009)

Thanks for the information and you're correct about the weight of the motor since the newest Bosch is about six pounds AFAIK. Surprisingly, the Revel Propulsion kit only adds about 10 pounds to a bike, but isn't integrated into the frame. Anyway, thanks again and agree about having a more robust frame for the conditions. Also, Bafang seems to have control of motor noise since even my BBS02 is nearly silent after five years of pretty vigorous off road use.


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## Leebherron (Jan 21, 2004)

Hey Shreddr did you see any frames that fit the Turbo Levo sl motors in your research ? I have one....hmmm


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## shreddr (Oct 10, 2009)

Leebherron said:


> Hey Shreddr did you see any frames that fit the Turbo Levo sl motors in your research ? I have one....hmmm


I have looked at lots of carbon e-bike frames, but have not seen any frames that use anything other than the Shimano, Bafang or Fazua motors. If you have a Specialized motor you probably need a Specialized frame.


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## shreddr (Oct 10, 2009)

Quick update. I have a couple of hundred miles on this bike now and it just keeps getting better. I am coming to terms with the assist power levels, like I mentioned before above 16mph the motor is off and its all my power. I was initially using the max assist level of 5 at all times which was getting me about 30 miles, but yesterday I went out and played around with the levels using the 5 assist for only the steeper climbs and adding in just a smaller level of assist on the grades and shorter climbs (2-3). My 25 mile ride last night only used about 40% battery and included a long steep climb at the end. I am sure I could do a 50 mile ride with this and get a boost when needed. I am also considering changing the assist kick in speed. I actually think 17 or 18mph might be ideal based on the way I like to transition into climbs and speed I like to ride. The cool thing is that there is a module (Bafang BESST Service Tool) that allows me to change lots of parameters. It's $100 but I think it will be worth it, plus I love tinkering. 

Hands down the coolest road bike I have ever owned!


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## fos'l (May 27, 2009)

If possible, how does the power compare to your Shimano bikes? Also, can't you set it to "shut off" at higher speeds? BTW, for those interested eunorau, apparently with an office (maybe distribution) in Las Vegas, has carbon frames with Bafang motors and battery for sale.


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## shreddr (Oct 10, 2009)

My Shimano motors are modified and pull to 32mph, so there is no comparison. The one thing about the S motors is they are much louder, and have perceptible drag when the boost isn’t on. I can’t ride the S bikes on a dead battery, it would be very slow and painful. The Bafang rides like a 30 lb bike with no boost, it’s heavy but no drag and the hot wheels help a lot. 


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