Best Electric Bikes Under $1000

Table of contents:

• Types of motors for electric bicycles
• Gear hub motors
• Gearless (straight wire) sleeve motors.
• Battery voltage

Types of motors for electric bicycles

Most e-bike models now have a brushless “sleeve motor” built directly into the front or rear wheel. But some cheaper systems like the Ezip use an external chain driven motor. While these setups are cheaper and provide good torque, they are not as quiet, efficient, or discreet as the hub motors used in most e-bikes. Sleeve motors have several subgroups:

Gear hub motors

Most off-the-shelf Best Electric Bikes Under 00 use brushless "geared" bush motors. These motors have a planetary transmission that helps transfer power from the engine to the wheel. Thanks to the planetary gear, these motors provide excellent torque, but they cannot achieve high speeds with their help. Their advantages include high torque, which means good power during acceleration and the ability to overcome steep climbs. In addition, less power is needed to rotate the engine, which means they have a smaller size and weight. On ready-made electric bikes, the power of the motors is in the range from 200 to 500 W and they can reach speeds of up to 32 km / h. But you can also buy e-bike kits with increased maximum power up to 1000 W and huge torque, which is very important in mountainous areas. They have a lower top speed, are more expensive, and are subject to planetary gear wear.

Gearless (straight wire) sleeve motors.

Even if the effect of corrosion is taken into account, this type of engine will last much longer, since it does not have a planetary gear and the moving components do not come into direct contact with each other. They are able to develop a high maximum speed. But due to the lack of a planetary gear, they have less torque and therefore require more power to achieve maximum speed. This means that direct drive motors are larger and heavier than geared motors. Most straight wire hub motors (e.g. E-Bike conversion kits) are rated at 350-500W and reach a top speed of 29-40km/h. More powerful motors (eg Crystalyte) are capable of reaching speeds in excess of 56 km/h (reference: ).

Battery voltage

E-bikes typically run on 24V, 36V and 48V. As a rule, the higher the voltage, the higher the top speed, although this is not always the case (check the data sheet). Because power and speed can be affected by the efficiency of the motor and transmission, a 24V ebike can have the same top speed as a 36V ebike. But the general pattern is that bikes with higher voltages are more fast. At 24 V, the maximum speed can be 24 - 29 km / h, at 36 V - 26 - 32 km / h, at 48 V - 39 - 45 km / h. Although these specifications are outside the limits defined by law, some conversion kits can even run at 72 volts and reach speeds in excess of 56 km/h! 

But such a high speed can put significant stress on the components of the bike. Keep in mind that even the fastest athletes travel by bike at an average speed of only 27 - 29 km/h. 32 km/h seems like a very high speed for most cyclists. Anything above this speed is unsafe and breaks the law.

In addition, the higher the voltage, the more batteries are installed, which means their price and weight are higher.