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First 100 miles on my E-Bike

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Re: First 100 miles on my E-Bike

#181

Post by mrob »

Xylakant wrote: post #163
CydeWeys wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's also steel, which is probably better in an electric bike where you don't care about weight as much but you do care about durability.

Good steel frames are not necessarily significantly heavier than aluminum frames but they ride much much better (have more flex). They also can be repaired if required while aluminum is probably toast after anything that damages the frame. In anything that is not a race or cargo bike I’d always prefer a steel frame.

Steel frames are only easy to repair if they're lugged, i.e. the tubes are brazed into lug sockets. This was once a common method of hand building frames, but it's now rare and expensive. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lugged_steel_frame_constructio...

Re: First 100 miles on my E-Bike

#182

Post by rorykoehler »

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 average between 30-40kmh riding without a motor. Ebikes should be limited to 50kmh

Re: First 100 miles on my E-Bike

#183

Post by rorykoehler »

gkya wrote: post #47
lumberjack wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

The problem in Singapore is you need to get a COE for motorbikes. They cost at least 5x what am ebike would cost. I want an electrical assist bicycle that goes 50kmh and is nimble not a scooter that goes 80kmh, costs an order of magnitude more and rides like a death trap. I'd be happy if they provided some sort of intermediate license with a test for faster ebikes.

Re: First 100 miles on my E-Bike

#184

Post by always_good »

dsr_ wrote: post #121
CydeWeys wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It took him ten hours of work the first time. Yes, it'll take him less the second time because he's gotten better at it, but it's still by no means easy or trivial. And we haven't gotten to how much he values his time yet.

People love to go on about the value of their time, but most people cannot arbitrarily decide to work another hour and get paid for it. Most people either have their schedules set by their employers or are on a salary that doesn't change if they add an additional hour. Don't weight ten hours of learning about bicycle assembly as though it were ten billable hours if it isn't. Compare it against the ten hours you were…

Some HNers make me wonder if they could even enjoy a remote beach without finding a way to bill someone for it.

Re: First 100 miles on my E-Bike

#185

Post by grwthckrmstr »

Here in India I see a few people cycling to work. A "few" (we have a LOT of people).

I can't see adoption increase. I myself won't ride a cycle, because

1. There's way too much pollution on the roads. I'll die breathing that air

2. If I don't die breathing that air, some car or bus driver who doesn't give a shit about other people's lives and is on their phone while driving will hit me and perhaps kill me (or worse, leave me disabled for life)

I want to cycle to work everyday. I want the exercise. I want to live, and to be healthy, and to protect the environment.

But the flip side is, I might die.

Re: First 100 miles on my E-Bike

#186

Post by jdietrich »

mindB wrote: post #174
jdietrich wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Internal gearhubs are drastically more reliable than derailleur gears and require almost no maintenance. They use an epicyclic gear train in a sealed oil bath, so most of the mechanical parts are protected from moisture and foreign objects. The use of a gearhub also facilitates the use of an enclosed chaincase, or a belt or shaft drive. The Sturmey Archer 3-speed gearhub has existed largely unchanged since 1938 and i…

Can you buy bikes that come with internal gearhubs on the consumer market, or is this always an aftermarket thing nowadays?

Yes, although they can be somewhat hard to find in some markets. Any Dutch or German bike shop will have a wide selection of bikes with gearhubs, but in the US you might need to speak to a dealer that specialises in urban utility bikes. Some department store cruiser and hybrid bikes have Sturmey Archer 3-speed gearhubs, although the rest of the bike may be mediocre.

Dahon and Tern are both manufacturers of folding bicycles and both offer a good range of bikes with gearhubs. Folding bikes can be a very practical choice even if you don't use the folding feature very often - they're compact, agile and easy to ride.

Re: First 100 miles on my E-Bike

#187

Post by freeone3000 »

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.

Faster than the cars in my city.

Re: First 100 miles on my E-Bike

#188

Post by jmcphers »

raguuu wrote: post #166
sliverstorm wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The biggest attraction it me would be, not getting all sweaty. But at the same time, wouldn't it be better for me if I trained my body until I didn't get all sweaty on a regular bike?

Yes it would, if you really care about the planet and climate change you and I need to sacrifice something. Getting fit while helping doesn't hurt.

It's worth keeping in mind that riding a bike isn't necessarily better for climate change. Presuming that you aren't actively losing weight, you're eating extra calories in the form of food to power your bike. And the ecological impact of that food can easily be greater than that of biking.

For example, buying 1kg of beef has the same ecological impact as driving 63 miles in a car[0]. However, that 1kg supplies you with only 2,500 calories[1]. At ~50 calories per mile[2], you get 50 miles of biking out of the beef--less than what it took to get the beef to you. It feels like you're saving the environment by not driving, but you're actually doing the exact opposite!

Of course, most environmentally conscious people aren't going to have a diet that meat-rich. But it's something to keep in mind if you're trying to reduce your carbon emissions by biking.

[0] http://www.greeneatz.com/foods-carbon-footprint.html

[1] https://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/search/list?qlookup=23568

[2] https://www.livestrong.com/article/135430-calories-burned-bi...

Re: First 100 miles on my E-Bike

#189

Post by analog31 »

m1keil wrote: post #179

Question to e-bike owners - did you have to handle any sort of negativity from non e-bike riders? Stuff like "oh you are lazy", "this is unhealthy" etc?

Every group has its snobs. There are also people who think that car drivers are lazy and unhealthy.

I'm a conventional cyclist, but some of my friends have e-bikes.

For the most part, people get along. While cyclists don't know what to expect as e-bikes get more popular, we also recognize that e-bikes provide access to cycling for a larger population. The hope is that the overall popularity of cycling will be better for everybody. There's a general observation that car drivers behave better towards cyclists as cycling gets more popular in any given locale.

At least in my locale, e-bikes are arriving on the scene gradually enough, that people can have a wait-and-see attitude about how they will mix with conventional bikes as they get more popular. For now I have a laissez-faire attitude unless or until problems emerge.

Re: First 100 miles on my E-Bike

#190

Post by Wingman4l7 »

ufo wrote: post #107
tonyedgecombe wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Something like this: https://www.vivax-assist.com/en/product/vivax-assist/vivax-a... I think the problem is range, you won't be able to hide much battery, the one on my bike weighs 6LBs and is quite bulky. In reality it doesn't really matter because the motor will more than offset the extra drag and weight of a heavy bike.

Can you pedal and use the motor at the same time in a regular ebike? I think what the parent posters want to be able to turn off the motor completely.

You can; it's called "pedal assist", and usually, the motor controllers can be set to do it at different levels of pedaling intensity. It's usually implemented by spacing magnets around the crankset and then calculating how fast they're passing by a sensor.
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