What is Endless Sphere and How Do I Use It?

To describe it in one sentence, Endless Sphere is an online electric vehicle forum where  thousands of electric bicycle enthusiasts discuss ebike topics. But Endless Sphere is really so much more than that. It’s a community and a gathering place where people come to share ideas, talk shop, show off their creations and help beginners get into the world of electric bicycles (and other EV’s, but it’s the electric bicycles that interests us).

Endless Sphere works like just about any other internet forum where anyone can post a topic. Topics range from questions about how something works to just a series of pictures of someone’s new ebike, explaining how they built it. After an initial post, any other user can post a reply on the same topic, creating a thread of replies. It is free to make an account and post, meaning literally anyone can take part in the conversations.

Some people on the forum are beginners working on their first electric bicycle while others are Endless Sphere regulars with thousands of posts. The regulars come to help others with their experience and stay at the leading edge of electric bicycle technology.

Endless Sphere is a great resource for beginners because it’s akin to taking part in an international conference where all the best minds and biggest players in electric bicycles meet to discuss, teach and learn about different ebike topics.

How to take advantage of Endless Sphere

How can you best use Endless Sphere as a resource? For beginners to the ebike world, I recommend browsing around Endless Sphere, reading threads on topics that interest you and learning from the experience of others who have spent years building many different electric bicycles.

The act of reading posts without taking an active part in the discussion is sometimes known as “lurking”. Lurkers are people who don’t contribute to the conversation, they simply reads along to benefit from the information. Think of it as being in the audience during a lecture or discussion on a particular ebike topic. Lurking is perfectly acceptable and is a great way to learn about many different subjects from battery technology to motor choice and more. Many lurkers read for years without even signing up for an account.

Sometimes lurking isn’t enough when your particular question or topic of interest hasn’t ever been brought up on Endless Sphere before. You should always try searching the site first to be certain your question hasn’t been covered, because after so many years with a very active community, it becomes rarer that something has never been covered on Endless Sphere. Many beginners come with questions about specific ebike systems or even more general “where do I begin” type questions. These are some of the most frequently asked questions on Endless Sphere and you are nearly guaranteed to find those types of questions already somewhere in the forum.

To be honest, the search box on Endless Sphere doesn’t work so well, and it can be hard to wade through all the non relevant entries that it returns. When I search endless sphere, I usually just go to google and type in “endless sphere” followed by whatever I’m interested in. For example, if you wanted info on replacing a twist throttle, you might go to google and search “endless sphere replace twist throttle”. All of the results that are returned at the top of the page will be previous Endless Sphere posts talking about that specific subject.

Making your own posts on Endless Sphere

However, every day there are new questions being asked and topics being proposed to supplement the information already available on Endless Sphere. If you haven’t been able to find the answer to your question anywhere on Endless Sphere then it’s time to create an account and take an active part in the community.

You can easily create a free account with the site by choosing a username and creating a profile. You don’t have to fill in much information, but it is highly recommended to at least list your country in your profile, as well as state if you live in the US. This helps the community make more specific recommendations based on vendors in your area or even based on your local weather or terrain.

If someone knows you’re located in Australia, he or she likely won’t recommend a vendor in Canada, etc.

Next, browse to the correct section of the site through the Board Index. You’ll likely be looking for either the E-Bike General Discussion or Electric Technical, depending whether your question is a general topic such as which battery would best fit your specific bicycle, or a more technical question like how to install a temperature sensor in your motor.

Create a new post in the section that seems most related to your question. Try to describe your situation and issue or question as best as you can, providing all of the relevant details. The more info you can offer, the more complete the answers you receive will be.

After submitting your new post, just sit back and wait.

Users on Endless Sphere come from all over the world and people use the site around the clock. You’ll likely start receiving answers to your question in the next few hours, but it could be up to a day before someone responds to your post. Just be patient. Avoid the temptation to post the same topic in multiple different sections of the site (known as cross posting) as this annoys the users and makes it harder to keep track of responses. It also pollutes the system by having multiple identical threads, making it harder for everyone else to navigate the site.

With any luck you’ll find multiple people commenting on your topic and providing insight from different perspectives. It’s not uncommon to return to your thread to find different experts arguing over the best answer to your question. This is normal! There is often more than one correct answer and more than one way to do things. Listen to what everybody has to say and engage in the conversation.

Depending on your question or situation, you’ll likely be asked for more info, so try to respond in a timely fashion to keep the people you are conversing with engaged. If you are getting help with a problem you are experiencing, it is good etiquette to return to the thread after you have solved the problem to give a summary of the solution. This helps people that will find your thread in the coming months and years, looking for a solution to the exact same problem. You can even edit your original post with a statement at the end about how your problem was solved.

Endless Sphere – a buyer’s market

Another great use for Endless Sphere is as a sort of digital flea market for electric bicycle parts. There are two sections dedicated to selling new and used ebike parts where you can find some really good deals on great products.

This is a great way to pick up a battery or motor that you need for your project at a steep discount. Just make sure you know what you are buying and that the seller provides many pictures to help you understand the product’s condition.

Generally speaking, Endless Sphere has been a very safe place to buy and sell ebike parts, partly based on the accountability of a user and his reputation in the community. However, if you see a user has few or no posts, be more wary of whatever they are selling. There have unfortunately been a few cases of a user getting ripped off. This has been very rare over the history of Endless Sphere, but it can still happen.

Endless Sphere – welcome to the rabbit’s hole

Endless Sphere can be a little like taking the red pill and seeing how deep the rabbit’s hole goes. The helpful people, plethora of information and friendly environment make it a great place for ebike people to hang out and build the community.

As you become more involved in Endless Sphere, and as you learn more about electric bicycles in general, you may even be able to start helping others that aren’t as far along as yourself. You of course shouldn’t attempt to provide insight on something that is above your expertise, but if you see someone struggling with something you’ve had to deal with before, feel free to hop in and offer assistance. It’s this cycle of learning and teaching that helps keep Endless Sphere growing as a community and a resource.

photo credit 1, 2, 3