Electric Bikes: Not Cars, Not Bikes, Just Right
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/david-dodge/electric-bikes-canada_b_4632900.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/david-dodge/electric-bikes-canada_b_4632900.html
Are we in the electric Vehicle Revolution?
- Thread starter biknut
- Start date
E-Bikes Are Taking the US by Storm, But Would You Spend Four Figures on One?
http://www.self.com/blogs/flash/2013/05/fitness-ebikes.html
http://www.self.com/blogs/flash/2013/05/fitness-ebikes.html
Just four figures? That would be a bargain. LOL
The decent ones all cost five figures. Go figure.
When Derringer jumps from gas to electric, then you know somethings going on. His minimalistic bike looks great until you see the words, "12.5 Ah capacity", then the bottom just falls out of his bikes for anybody that knows what a Ah is.
And offering every color paint job under the rainbow will not make the 12.5 Ah reality any better either. LOL
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Can a decent electric rear wheel in-hub kit be bought for $300.00 or under, or are all the good kits $1000.00 and up?
I am warming up to the thought of electric.
Sometimes when I am in the woods (you know, those spots where one likes it quiet) an ICE, well, I may just pedal or walk it.
Oh, and the maintenance of the ICE's.
And another thing, converting my full suspension motorized bicycle without a friction drive would be a +.
This any good?
I am warming up to the thought of electric.
Sometimes when I am in the woods (you know, those spots where one likes it quiet) an ICE, well, I may just pedal or walk it.
Oh, and the maintenance of the ICE's.
And another thing, converting my full suspension motorized bicycle without a friction drive would be a +.
This any good?
Still, all eBikes considered 12.5 ah is about average. Since their bikes are only 750w, 12.5 ah should have a decent range of about 30 miles. It that's not enough, an axillary battery could extend the range farther,
They're not telling us much about the motor, but for that price you can guess it's all pretty low end equipment. IMO though, it's probably worth it at that price. At least that's a good way to get your feet wet with an eBike, and not break the bank doing it. A 1000w motor should be able to easily go 30 mph with pedal assist.
Stealth Bomber is approx. $10,000, unless you got a discount.
The very young and the very old will be happy with 12.5Ah and 750W and that's about all who will be. It's just not enough to get the average person out of their car.
It should come with megawatts from the start. Not many people want to have batteries dangling from their bike. LOL
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For e-bikes to be seriously considered as a primary means of urban transportation it's gonna take a Super Electric Bike, like the Stealth Bomber but with twice the range and half the cost. I've seen the look on people faces go from happy to horror, when I tell then how much my last bike cost. It's not pretty. LMAO
Pedal assist?
When I don't need to assist it (while in motion) and power is = or more than gas, and a decent kit can be had for under 300 bux, I guess the ICE is it for now.
You must not fall into the age range of the Very Young or the Very Old then. LOL
The SBP Electrikit doesn't NEED pedal assist and with a GOOD battery ends up just around $1000. 36V scrounge a bike ($100??), kit ($419), extras ($100), Ping 15Ah battery ($450).
48V will pull you right along for a bit more in battery cost ($500). Geared properly it's strong. So for $1100 - DIY is the way to go.
Now let me say something about pedal assist with an electric bike vs an ICE bike. It's amazing to me how little assist it takes to really help battery charge. Most of the time it doesn't even feeling like you are really helping, but the range is greatly extended. When people just dismiss an e-bike just at the mention of pedal assist, then I know they have not hopped on one for any amount of time.
48V will pull you right along for a bit more in battery cost ($500). Geared properly it's strong. So for $1100 - DIY is the way to go.
Now let me say something about pedal assist with an electric bike vs an ICE bike. It's amazing to me how little assist it takes to really help battery charge. Most of the time it doesn't even feeling like you are really helping, but the range is greatly extended. When people just dismiss an e-bike just at the mention of pedal assist, then I know they have not hopped on one for any amount of time.
Actually, the SPB kit sounds WAY better than a hub mount motor. It allows use of the bicycles own gear system.
But for a guy like me with limited disposable income, the cost is still a bit steep, but not outside the range of an impulsive buy.
I think when my HT Internal Cumbustion Engine dies, I am going electric.
But for a guy like me with limited disposable income, the cost is still a bit steep, but not outside the range of an impulsive buy.
I think when my HT Internal Cumbustion Engine dies, I am going electric.
This is very true. I never pedal my bike very hard. I don't even need to pedal it at all, but I like to. Riding an eBike is a very different experience to riding an ice bike, as Pablo alludes to.
If you haven't ridden an eBike, almost everything you think you know about it is a misconception. The biggest misconception has to do with supposed low 20 mph speeds. I was falling for this one too. Because of federal regulations most manufacturers claim only a 20 mph top speed, but that's with no pedal assist. With light pedaling that quickly turns into 30 mph. 30 mph is very fast on a bicycle, and a very average speed for any motor bicycle. You may be thinking, my china girl will go 35 mph. That might be true, but it won't do it for long without intense maintenance. At those speeds vibration takes it's toll pretty quickly. An eBike doesn't vibrate even running at top speed. It's quiet running. A good one should last for years with minimal maintenance, where a china girl's age is usually counted in months.
My last bike had both gas and electric, going at the same time because neither was good enough by itself, for all kinds of reasons. My next bike will be all electric and will be scooter heavy but will not suffer from either slow speed, acceleration, torque or range. It will have everything in abundance. I will have killed every e-bike issue under the sun, except for weight. Pedaling will be completely optional.