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My Electric Bike Is Not ‘Cheating.’ It Could Replace Cars for Millions of People

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Re: My Electric Bike Is Not ‘Cheating.’ It Could Replace Cars for Millions of People

#21

Post by LeifCarrotson »

Benjamin_Dobell wrote: post #6

I've never lived anywhere near where I worked or studied - absolutely not within push-bike riding distance. So I used to ride a motorcycle. However, after several near misses with oblivious car drivers I decided I didn't want to die. Riding a push-bike is great for your fitness, but it's not feasible if you have a long distance to travel every day. That can be assisted by public transport, but that means you need rea…

Nasty car-to-car crashes happen all the time, and it isn't because the drivers involved don't consider cars a valid means of transport. The difference is that you can walk away from most car-to-car crashes because you're ensconced in 3000 pounds of steel.

Perhaps it will make more sense when self-driving cars, or even just lane keeping and auto-braking cruise control become mainstream.

Re: My Electric Bike Is Not ‘Cheating.’ It Could Replace Cars for Millions of People

#22

Post by derekp7 »

taneq wrote: post #8

I have a couple of friends with e-bikes and they sound like a lot of fun. My only problem with them is that, by the time you've added 10-15kg of running gear to a bike, you've entered a feedback loop where the bike's heavier, and it goes faster, so it needs wider tyres, better brakes... and now is even heavier and harder to pedal, so it needs more power... pretty soon you have something that's enough of a motorbike t…

The optimal build I found is an internal geared motor (they are smaller / lighter), and under 3kg. That, plus the battery pack I got weighs around 3.5 kg, and is 700 watt-hours, which is enough for around 40 - 60 miles of assist at 15 - 20 mph, assuming you are putting in enough peddling that would normally get your bike to about 10 - 12 mph.

Re: My Electric Bike Is Not ‘Cheating.’ It Could Replace Cars for Millions of People

#23

Post by maxharris »

It could replace cars as long as it's not snowing, or raining, or too cold outside, or you don't have stuff to carry.

You know what could replace cars for millions of people? A subway. But first we have to work on legalizing high-density urban environments with narrow streets...

Re: My Electric Bike Is Not ‘Cheating.’ It Could Replace Cars for Millions of People

#24

Post by wapz »

dheera wrote: post #19

I commute on an electric bike in the Bay Area. Electric bikes are awesome to ride, but here are a summary of the main issues I've experienced so far: - LIES, LIES, LIES ABOUT RANGE -- I have a Gigabyke (gigabyke.com) which ships with an SLA battery (a horrible design desicion) and claims a range of 35 miles and a maximum rider weight of 250 pounds. Good luck. I weigh half that and when I got it new, I clocked in exac…

Were you using only electric when you went the 23 miles? I live in Japan now and all the bikes are "electric-assist." You still have to pedal and it just feels like someone is pushing you or you are in a much higher gear than you are.

On my regular bike in the bay area (Berkeley area), I was able to turn 95% of the signals green by stopping right on the sensors (I rode a motorcycle too so I knew where they were). There was 1 signal that I could never change to green with my bicycle and the crosswalk button was reachable from the street. I always rode on the 'smaller' roads for what it's worth.

Re: My Electric Bike Is Not ‘Cheating.’ It Could Replace Cars for Millions of People

#25

Post by lsjdfkljdfwkwdf »

Benjamin_Dobell wrote: post #6

I've never lived anywhere near where I worked or studied - absolutely not within push-bike riding distance. So I used to ride a motorcycle. However, after several near misses with oblivious car drivers I decided I didn't want to die. Riding a push-bike is great for your fitness, but it's not feasible if you have a long distance to travel every day. That can be assisted by public transport, but that means you need rea…

It's rare to see motorcycle riders that aren't totally reckless..

Re: My Electric Bike Is Not ‘Cheating.’ It Could Replace Cars for Millions of People

#26

Post by wildrhythms »

Benjamin_Dobell wrote: post #6

I've never lived anywhere near where I worked or studied - absolutely not within push-bike riding distance. So I used to ride a motorcycle. However, after several near misses with oblivious car drivers I decided I didn't want to die. Riding a push-bike is great for your fitness, but it's not feasible if you have a long distance to travel every day. That can be assisted by public transport, but that means you need rea…

Thanks for mentioning the stigma around motorcycles and scooters in the U.S. They are seen as grown up toys, yet all over the world motorcycles serve as a primary means of transportation for millions of people. Careless drivers obviously aren't targeting motorcycles, but I think there's a collective lack of mindfulness to their presence on the road.

Anecdotally, I became a better car driver after just a few weeks of simply learning to ride a motorcycle on public roads.

Re: My Electric Bike Is Not ‘Cheating.’ It Could Replace Cars for Millions of People

#27

Post by Benjamin_Dobell »

LeifCarrotson wrote: post #21
Benjamin_Dobell wrote: post #6

I've never lived anywhere near where I worked or studied - absolutely not within push-bike riding distance. So I used to ride a motorcycle. However, after several near misses with oblivious car drivers I decided I didn't want to die. Riding a push-bike is great for your fitness, but it's not feasible if you have a long distance to travel every day. That can be assisted by public transport, but that means you need rea…

Nasty car-to-car crashes happen all the time, and it isn't because the drivers involved don't consider cars a valid means of transport. The difference is that you can walk away from most car-to-car crashes because you're ensconced in 3000 pounds of steel. Perhaps it will make more sense when self-driving cars, or even just lane keeping and auto-braking cruise control become mainstream.

I agree that car accidents still happen. But honestly most my near misses with cars were outright insane.

One in particular gives me chills. I was driving along an empty road and a car wanted to make a right-hand turn onto the road. The car driver came to a stop at the side road, we were close and it was clear enough that I made eye contact with the middle-aged woman driver. I swear she looked me right in the eyes, then she proceeded to drive right out in front of me. I swerved, slammed on the brakes and slid up next to her car (luckily there was room on a single lane road). She just waved at me apologetically. I wore a bright red and white (with reflective strips) jacket, bright green and white pants, black and white reflective helmet and my motorcycle was bright green, it was the middle of the day (but not glary) and I had my headlights on regardless.

I'm absolutely convinced she saw me, we looked right at each other, she was just in a bit of a daze and a motorbike didn't register as a car, so she just pulled out. Now, it's true she could have done the same with a car. Obviously, I can't know for sure, but I absolutely believe if bikes were more common that situation just wouldn't have happened - at least, not like it did.

EDIT: To clarify, I'm actually in Australia. So for you US folk it was a left-hand turn she was making ;)

Re: My Electric Bike Is Not ‘Cheating.’ It Could Replace Cars for Millions of People

#28

Post by ScottBurson »

taneq wrote: post #8

I have a couple of friends with e-bikes and they sound like a lot of fun. My only problem with them is that, by the time you've added 10-15kg of running gear to a bike, you've entered a feedback loop where the bike's heavier, and it goes faster, so it needs wider tyres, better brakes... and now is even heavier and harder to pedal, so it needs more power... pretty soon you have something that's enough of a motorbike t…

I don't find this at all. I built my e-bike by converting an old Univega touring bike with a 1300W EcoSpeed mid-drive. Even with a 670Wh battery it comes to less than 10kg additional weight. As a touring bike, it was already built to carry a load, so the rims and tires are fine. The cantilever brakes are adequate; discs would be better, but the bike wasn't built for them.

Top speed on level ground is about 28mph (45 km/h), which is a speed one could easily hit going downhill without a motor, so the bike is well within its intended performance envelope.

I like this setup because it's still easy enough to pedal -- not like a racing bike, of course, but again, well within the amount of weight one might be carrying when touring -- and when I don't feel like pedaling, I don't have to.

Re: My Electric Bike Is Not ‘Cheating.’ It Could Replace Cars for Millions of People

#29

Post by dingo_bat »

If I'm going to travel more than 3 kilometres or so, I'm doing it in a car. Motorcycles and cycles are just too unsafe for daily commuting, no matter how environmentally friendly. They will never replace cars for "millions of people".

Re: My Electric Bike Is Not ‘Cheating.’ It Could Replace Cars for Millions of People

#30

Post by jackschultz »

Just curious about people who commented here. Did anyone read the article? Or just read the title and then comments on what they think about electric bikes?

I haven't read the article, and this seems to be the case for tons and tons of these threads.

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