Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

First 100 miles on my E-Bike

yilunzh.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

41–50 of 248 posts

Re: First 100 miles on my E-Bike

#41

Post by alfla »

waytogo wrote: post #27

I don't grok e-bikes. I like them and I'd like to get one but I just don't know how I will manage the charging. I am livinig in a big city and have no garage and no wall socket in front of my street door. And 100% of all destinations I ride to don't have wall sockets for charging neither. So, I would need to carry every time the heavy battery upstairs (3 floors)? I am anyway always full-loaded with bags or whatever a…

My battery is easily removable and has a handle. When you are riding a bike you usually don't carry stuff that you have to use your hands to carry. I always have a backpack. In any case I always have at least one hand available to carry other stuff.

I charge the battery in my entry at home every day, but I could probably charge it only once or twice a week and that would still be sufficient.

Re: First 100 miles on my E-Bike

#42

Post by Lio »

jordache wrote: post #26

I still think the opportunity cost of not having a car is greater than whatever you pay to make it instantly available, should you want to take that trip during poor weather, or sufficient distance to make the ebike non applicable. Unless you are content with the daily patterns that are constraint by the range of your e-bike.

If your ebike is a Brompton or some other kind of folder you can of course fold it up really easily and use public transport to extend your range.

Re: First 100 miles on my E-Bike

#43

Post by dmurray »

username223 wrote: post #17
CydeWeys wrote: post #10

I'm surprised the author spent so much money building on top of a base bike of such low quality. That department store bike is what bike snobs would call a "bicycle-shaped object". You certainly shouldn't not be cheaping out on the actual bicycle for an e-bike, as you're putting the bike (and particularly the brakes) through forces they were not properly designed for. The author even admits such: > The brakes are oft…

This. For the $1500 the author spent, he could have bought a decent bike instead of strapping a motor on a $200 piece of cast-iron junk. Plus, a 1000-watt motor is ridiculous: that's the kind of power generated by a pro sprinter, and over twice what a pro climber generates on average. A 100-watt boost would be enough of an advantage to make most hills easy, and would probably weigh and cost far less.

100 watts would turn it back into a manual bike with some electrical assist. There's a place for that, but it's clear the author was looking for something more.

Re: First 100 miles on my E-Bike

#44

Post by oligopoly »

rorykoehler wrote: post #30
WA wrote: post #6

I have put about 3,000km on my E-bike in the last 1.5 years. It's limited to 25km/h, because then I don't need a license, it's fast enough for city traffic (mostly in bike lanes anyways) and I get to tow a trailer for my kid. Biggest advantage: Hills don't exist for me. We live in a city with quite a few hills and day care is about 70-100m below our appartment. Doing this trip twice a day with its 15% slope would tak…

The 25km/h limit is why I won't buy one. Pointless for normal use.

Yeah, that's just ridiculous. You can cycle 20-25km/h without catching a breath if you are even in decent shape

Re: First 100 miles on my E-Bike

#45

Post by mertd »

waytogo wrote: post #27

I don't grok e-bikes. I like them and I'd like to get one but I just don't know how I will manage the charging. I am livinig in a big city and have no garage and no wall socket in front of my street door. And 100% of all destinations I ride to don't have wall sockets for charging neither. So, I would need to carry every time the heavy battery upstairs (3 floors)? I am anyway always full-loaded with bags or whatever a…

Let's say you weigh 70kg. The 7kg lighter bike only saves you less than 10% weight overall but a 300W motor easily multiplies your power.

Re: First 100 miles on my E-Bike

#46

Post by alfla »

WA wrote: post #6

I have put about 3,000km on my E-bike in the last 1.5 years. It's limited to 25km/h, because then I don't need a license, it's fast enough for city traffic (mostly in bike lanes anyways) and I get to tow a trailer for my kid. Biggest advantage: Hills don't exist for me. We live in a city with quite a few hills and day care is about 70-100m below our appartment. Doing this trip twice a day with its 15% slope would tak…

I'm on my second converted (bafang) e-bike, been riding about 4000 KM the past two years all year (Norway). I love it! I use it as my main means of transportation, both to work and for other transport needs.

My first one was a cheap/old 26" dirtbike with hydraulic brakes. It was OK but the front shock and relatively skinny wheels were a limiting factor.

My second bike is a mid/high quality 27.5" dirtbike with a good front shock and good hydraulic brakes. And it's a really good bike all year. I highly recommend getting fairly large wheels with wide tires and a good front shock for a conversion bike.

Re: First 100 miles on my E-Bike

#47

Post by gkya »

lumberjack wrote: post #35
rorykoehler wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The 25km/h limit is why I won't buy one. Pointless for normal use.

A fast e-bike would be dangerous, anyway. At that point, you should just get a small capacity motorcycle or a scooter.

I wonder if sth. like an electric Vespa would be feasible. You would be able to pack in more battery than an e-bike, but the last mile would be a problem because you can't just pedal the rest of the way.

Re: First 100 miles on my E-Bike

#48

Post by jordache »

Lio wrote: post #42
jordache wrote: post #26

I still think the opportunity cost of not having a car is greater than whatever you pay to make it instantly available, should you want to take that trip during poor weather, or sufficient distance to make the ebike non applicable. Unless you are content with the daily patterns that are constraint by the range of your e-bike.

If your ebike is a Brompton or some other kind of folder you can of course fold it up really easily and use public transport to extend your range.

that's also assuming from your house to your final destination, the combination of battery range, leg strength, and public transportation is sufficiently diverse to get you where you want to go.

I live near the mountains, and you need a vehicle to go into the mountains. riding an e-bike into the mountains and then relying on muscle power to move the heavy bike is not realistic.

Re: First 100 miles on my E-Bike

#49

Post by quickben »

yilunzh wrote: post #20
CydeWeys wrote: post #10

I'm surprised the author spent so much money building on top of a base bike of such low quality. That department store bike is what bike snobs would call a "bicycle-shaped object". You certainly shouldn't not be cheaping out on the actual bicycle for an e-bike, as you're putting the bike (and particularly the brakes) through forces they were not properly designed for. The author even admits such: > The brakes are oft…

Yup, the brakes is definitely the limiting factor currently, but other parts of the bike have held up surprisingly well. I didn't really know anything about bikes before starting this, so it was a cheap way to learn. I figured I can always upgrade the parts over time if needed. I had set a max budget of $1500 for the initial purchase and had to make tradeoff somewhere.

I've been getting interested in e-bikes recently. Work is 15km away, but I do weight near 0.1 [t] :)

Hows the battery holding if you carry extra weight? How much does the total setup, you included, weights?

Re: First 100 miles on my E-Bike

#50

Post by VLM »

jmull wrote: post #19

The laws around e-bikes in the US can be a deterrent. E.g.: [The Murky Legality of E-Bikes]( https://www.citylab.com/equity/2016/02/the-murky-legality-of... ) The second paragraph gives you the flavor of it: > Under federal law, an electric bike with a maximum assisted speed under 20 miles per hour can be sold as a bicycle, not a motor vehicle. Under New York state law, riders would need to register these as they wou…

Don't forget the state and muni laws.

I was going to build a ebike with my teenage son last summer, however it would be illegal for him to ride it in our state regardless of power output until he gets his drivers license. Also during the electric skateboard/scooter fad about a decade ago my home town banned them from city sidewalks, city property (aka parks and trails) and city roads, and the anti-e-skateboard code would cover e-bikes. So I'd only be able to ride it out of town, and my son could only ride it out of state.

The BBSHD is available from many places and seems to be a good kit with a good rep. Kits are modular and most battery packs are quick swap so if you're willing to fill backpacks and bike baskets with spare batteries you could go thousands of miles between charges if you're willing to pay for that kind of ridiculous privilege. Before I found out state law prohibits it, I was hoping to cruise some of our rural completely empty state bicycle trails purely for fun, requiring more range, so I'd likely need a slightly larger battery, but its all modular and very easy to install as large of a battery as you're willing to pay for. Being modular it doesn't matter that OP didn't like his electronic controller, luckily there are plenty to substitute, including all manner of software patches, and OP did not list the exact controller and firmware OP has and is dissatisfied with, unfortunately. The ebike battle seems to start with discovering what is even possible, first, and of course that changes from month to month...

I find it interesting that OP wanted higher efficiency tires, whereas I was interested in the idea of lower efficiency larger tires to make potholes more survivable. I don't really care if my drive to the food store takes 16 minutes of battery charging or 17 minutes of battery charging, but I would like to avoid flat tires and wiping out on the way.

Of course law enforcement is spotty, much like every other law, especially driving. I didn't see any point in putting my son (or myself) in some cops crosshairs so I gave up on that project. Oh well.

Post reply on HN