Mounting batteries on an electric bicycle is one of the most important steps of a DIY electric bicycle conversion. The placement of the batteries has a huge impact on the handling of the ebike. The closer to the center of the bicycle you can put your batteries, the better. This usually means some type of frame bag or custom ebike battery box installed in the center triangle of the bicycle frame. And this is where the Ibera triangle bicycle frame bag proves to be a great choice for mounting electric bicycle batteries.
[Updated: I got the chance to review another awesome triangle bag, the Electric Rider bag which you can read about here.]
The Ibera triangle frame bag is incredibly roomy, meaning you can fit a lot of lithium inside. When it comes to increasing your ebike’s range, the more battery you can hold the farther you can go. The Ibera bag makes carrying different sizes and styles of battery easy due to its flexible shape. The cloth material of the bag can conform to the shape of the battery, allowing even large, square batteries to fit easily in the triangle shape.
Check out this video of a large, 48V 10AH Ping battery which fits inside of the Ibera bag:
The Ibera triangle bag itself is made of durable 420D nylon, which gives it good abrasion resistance. If your battery has really sharp corners then over time this could start to wear away at the bag, but most batteries have padded, fairly rounded edges which would prove to be no problem at all.
The fact that the bag is suspended from the bicycle frame means that your battery is also getting some form of shock absorption. Batteries that are hard mounted to frame end up experience lots of vibration and cyclic loading which can shake loose connectors over time. A suspended battery only experiences a fraction of the loading from bumps and vibration.
One other aspect of the Ibera bag that I love is that it has two compartments. The large main compartment is what I use for the batteries, obviously, but the second side compartment is a great place to hide all of your ugly wires, especially if you want to keep your controller in the bag as well.
The Ibera triangle bag comes in two sizes, medium and large. Both have three velcro straps that I have found to be great quality and have stood up to about two years of use so far on my ebikes. The large size bag is the one I use for all of my batteries. The medium size bag would probably work for 24V batteries and for a few RC lipo bricks, but its too small for most 36V and 48V packs. It would make a great controller bag though and help hide that ugly controller and wiring if you are trying to make a stealthy electric bicycle that appears to be a regular bicycle to most people.
The Ibera triangle frame bag verdict
All in all I love these bags and I continue to use them on nearly all of the ebikes I build with center-mounted batteries. The bags are high quality and have proven to stand up over time. The price on Amazon seems to vary between $15-$17 depending on the time of year, but even at the high end it’s still a great deal. I give these frame bags two thumbs up. If you’ve got your ebike battery mounted on a rear rack, try moving it into a frame bag like this one and you’ll be amazed at how much better your ebike feels!
Update: November, 2014 – The large size bags are currently on sale on Amazon for just $11.99, the best price I’ve ever seen them! I don’t know how long this price will last though.
photo credit 1
