That's pretty sweet. But $500 is where it'll catch on, not $3,600.
Seriously, I can buy 4 motorcycles for that kind of money.
The Commuter Bike Redesigned and Electrified
11–20 of 61 posts
Re: The Commuter Bike Redesigned and Electrified
#12It'd feel awfully strange riding a bike without my hands out in front of me. Also: * My crappy commuter bike probably costs between 1 and 5% of the price of this thing. * How's it deal with rain/dirt? * Sometimes I do want to just lock it up. Imagine going to the grocery store... at 22 pounds you don't want to haul it around inside. I have a lot more peace of mind locking up my cheap commuter bike outside. Still, it…
How's it deal with rain/dirt?
Forget that, how's it even deal with rough/uneven pavement!?
Re: The Commuter Bike Redesigned and Electrified
#13Seems kind of overdone. You can barely use the sidewalk in Tokyo without getting knocked down by a middle-aged woman with a huge sun-visor, a bag of groceries and two kids strapped to something like this: http://us.sanyo.com/Commercial-eneloop-bike They're just like a regular bike but they assist you when you climb up hills or just plain get tired. The battery behind the seat-tube slides out for a recharge. I would s…
IMHO the foldability part is the main point. The typical usage seems to be home -> bus or tube stop -> public transport -> office. Here in UK you can't take bycicles in buses or tube. There are indeed foldable bikes ( http://www.brompton.co.uk/ ) but they are a pain to (un)fold and they are not electric. Still, price and limited autonomy are real issues. At 1K$ and 20 miles of autonomy I would probably buy one.
As a ridiculously happy Brompton owner and fanboy (how's that for a disclaimer!) let me assure you that they are no pain at all to fold or unfold.
I have challenged a dozen people to get their bikes locked to a post in the time it takes me to fold the Brommy. No one has succeeded to date.
Re: The Commuter Bike Redesigned and Electrified
#14Frankly, I don't see the point of electric bicycles. I have not seen any electric bicycle that offered any real advantage to a normal muscle-operated one.
As a matter of fact, bicycles are one of the oldest and most refined technologies available to us. They are marvelously efficient, they are light and versatile. Adding an electric motor and battery makes them heavy, limits your range and decreases the amount of control you have over the bike. Which is nice for, say, elderly people.
And maybe you are American and you don't know this, but many European countries have excellent biking routes everywhere and cars actually brake for cyclists. All that talk about cycling being dangerous is mainly an American problem. In most other countries, bikes are actually a lot safer than cars for the simple reason that they don't go as fast.
I think bicycles are plain fun. I ride my bicycle to work whenever I can. I love my bicycles. All three of them!
Re: The Commuter Bike Redesigned and Electrified
#15Re: The Commuter Bike Redesigned and Electrified
#16Frankly, I don't see the point of electric bicycles. I have not seen any electric bicycle that offered any real advantage to a normal muscle-operated one. As a matter of fact, bicycles are one of the oldest and most refined technologies available to us. They are marvelously efficient, they are light and versatile. Adding an electric motor and battery makes them heavy, limits your range and decreases the amount of con…
> I think bicycles are plain fun. I ride my bicycle to work whenever I can.
I would do the same, if only we'd have a decent shower at our workplace, so that I won't smell all day after a bike-ride from home. Nevertheless, I can't wait for this winter to be finally over so that I can take my bike for photo-taking rides outside the city I live in. (if it matters, I'm a fellow (East-)European whose city doesn't have that many bike-lines, but it doesn't matter anyway, cause I've first ridden a bike on a national road at age 12, so nothing scares me :) ).
Re: The Commuter Bike Redesigned and Electrified
#17Earlier quoted context omitted.
IMHO the foldability part is the main point. The typical usage seems to be home -> bus or tube stop -> public transport -> office. Here in UK you can't take bycicles in buses or tube. There are indeed foldable bikes ( http://www.brompton.co.uk/ ) but they are a pain to (un)fold and they are not electric. Still, price and limited autonomy are real issues. At 1K$ and 20 miles of autonomy I would probably buy one.
As a ridiculously happy Brompton owner and fanboy (how's that for a disclaimer!) let me assure you that they are no pain at all to fold or unfold. I have challenged a dozen people to get their bikes locked to a post in the time it takes me to fold the Brommy. No one has succeeded to date.
Good to know, I withdraw my objection about folding :)
Still, they are not electric and cost around 1400$
EDIT: This video shows how to fold/unfold one http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNnOdoUn3kg . I'm sold!
Re: The Commuter Bike Redesigned and Electrified
#18Frankly, I don't see the point of electric bicycles. I have not seen any electric bicycle that offered any real advantage to a normal muscle-operated one. As a matter of fact, bicycles are one of the oldest and most refined technologies available to us. They are marvelously efficient, they are light and versatile. Adding an electric motor and battery makes them heavy, limits your range and decreases the amount of con…
> I have not seen any electric bicycle that offered any real advantage to a normal muscle-operated one.
Some people don't have showering facilities at work, or do not want to carry a change of clothes with them. An electric bike is less likely to produce a stinky cyclist.
Re: The Commuter Bike Redesigned and Electrified
#19Frankly, I don't see the point of electric bicycles. I have not seen any electric bicycle that offered any real advantage to a normal muscle-operated one. As a matter of fact, bicycles are one of the oldest and most refined technologies available to us. They are marvelously efficient, they are light and versatile. Adding an electric motor and battery makes them heavy, limits your range and decreases the amount of con…
I see electric bicycles as a tool to help people build a bit of exercise into their daily commute. I'm all for that. I'm a bit leery of devices like this, which help people build no exercise at all into their daily commute.
Re: The Commuter Bike Redesigned and Electrified
#20It seems horribly unsafe in case of an accident. Sure, 15mph is turtle speed when it comes to bicycles (disclosure: I've been racing road bicycles for five years) but you can still get hurt pretty horribly if you fly out of that thing. There's no frame/hand compression to stop you.
Also, it doesn't look like a bicycle, at least compared to something in the similar price range: http://www.londoncyclesport.com/Assets/LondonCycleSport+Digi...
