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Show HN: Long Range E-Bike

jacquesmattheij.com

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Re: Show HN: Long Range E-Bike

#21

Post by vneur »

xchaotic wrote: post #19

It’s worth saying that it’s not to hard to train up to being able to do 100-200km rides with no electronic assist. At such distance, the weight saving is probably outweighing the battery and you can use the space in the frame can be used for luggage such as extra clothing. At longer distances the ride limiting factor is comfort, not stamina / endurance - here the Ebike adds nothing

The author provided a compelling reason for this long-distance ebike: they have an injury and the acceleration assist allows them to cycle without aggravating the injury. I don't think it's fair to assume that every person who wants to cycle 200km can do so without electrical assist.

Re: Show HN: Long Range E-Bike

#22

Post by jacquesm »

xchaotic wrote: post #19

It’s worth saying that it’s not to hard to train up to being able to do 100-200km rides with no electronic assist. At such distance, the weight saving is probably outweighing the battery and you can use the space in the frame can be used for luggage such as extra clothing. At longer distances the ride limiting factor is comfort, not stamina / endurance - here the Ebike adds nothing

I can do 100K rides just fine, but not in the same time. An e-bike is much more convenient for that, we have this thing called wind here that can really get you. On my 10 speed (an elderly Guerciotti, very nice bike) my peak is 38 or so and I can average about 28 for a two hour ride, after that it drops and there is no way I could do a return after 65 km at that speed without slowing down considerably.

I've done many 10's of thousands of kilometers on bikes and there is no way to compare the two in practice, even the very best racing bike can't keep up with an e-bike over a long distance unless the rider is tour-de-France level.

E-bikes add range, compared to what you would do on your own in the same time. That is what makes them viable replacement for a car, suddenly 60% or so of your car trips are within the range of the e-bike, and with this large battery for me that is more like 95% or even more. Since getting the second battery for the e-bike I haven't used the car more than twice (that's a few months). Car ownership has gone from being a 'must' to 'uneconomical' and no regular bike that I've ever owned had that property.

And that's before we get into the fact that without the assist I have a hard time to get started at all.

Re: Show HN: Long Range E-Bike

#23

Post by 1-more »

jacquesm wrote: post #13
blunte wrote: post #12

This bike has the added benefit of being theft resistant - on the basis that it's too heavy for one person to lift. Seriously though, what does it weigh? With a typical sized Dutch man, stopping from full speed is going to be a real test of the brakes... For the same reason I don't like scooters on bike paths, I wouldn't want this sharing a bike path with me. When heavy fast vehicles and regular bikes collide, the re…

About 35 to 36 Kg. Bike + rider is 105K, which is actually not that bad. Your typical parent+bike+two kids is a lot heavier, I've had my 'daddy bike' up to well over 130 Kg before one of the kids was old enough to ride by themselves. Full speed to stop is pretty good too, I did a couple of e-brakes to see how the change of weight and COG affected the bike. Stopping distance is a bit longer, it doesn't kick out when b…

haha I'm more than that on my road bike and I'm stopping with rim brakes. This is incredibly impressive work; congratulations! Can't wait to see the update. I suspect you're going to be just fine on water ingress based on what the inside of the package looks like.

Re: Show HN: Long Range E-Bike

#24

Post by fnord77 »

nousermane wrote: post #11

> S-Pedelec (...) top speed 45 kph (...) in many places you are forced to ride in traffic Yes. This is the way. Thank you, Dutch government. If somebody feels like wheezing an almost completely silent 200kg projectile, godspeed. But please gtfo from the urban bike paths, if at all possible.

I have a class 3 and I don't feel safe riding in bike lanes at full speed, zipping by slower bicycles. There's no place to go if someone swerves. I will usually ride in traffic instead.

Re: Show HN: Long Range E-Bike

#25

Post by jdc0589 »

stevesearer wrote: post #10

We have a pretty good network of fire roads in the southern Los Padres National Forest. Several times recently I have seen hunters and campers using E-Bikes to extend their range into the forest. From what I can tell they use a cargo trailer for gear as well as extra batteries. It will be interesting to see what other uses being find for E-Bikes as ranges increase.

a friend does this for getting to fishing spots quicker from campsites. Sounds like an incredible idea if you've got the space for it, especially if you've got a large battery bank in your camper/vehicle for partial charges without having to turn an engine/generator on (I've got ~100amp hours of lithium battery in my truck camper, and I'd probably at least double that if I was gonna charge a bike every now and then)

Re: Show HN: Long Range E-Bike

#27

Post by TacticalCoder »

We really need a terminology to differentiate better between pedal-assist only e-bikes ("pedelec") and electric motorbikes. A "bicycle" that can accelerate without the need to pedal at all is an electric motorcycle, no matter if you put pedal on it or not.

I see the two as totally different things: I've tried pedal-assist e-bike and they're great. But... Although I have nothing against motorbikes I'm not cool at all with basically motorbikes getting a free pass because they're disguised as bicycles.

BTW this reminds me of the old french "Solex / VéloSolex": basically a real engine put on top of the front wheel, and able to accelerate by itself without the need to pedal. But the thing still had pedals. I used to use one and still have one in a garage. But I didn't use it on the bicycle lanes...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V%C3%A9loSoleX

Re: Show HN: Long Range E-Bike

#28

Post by jacquesm »

TacticalCoder wrote: post #27

We really need a terminology to differentiate better between pedal-assist only e-bikes ("pedelec") and electric motorbikes. A "bicycle" that can accelerate without the need to pedal at all is an electric motorcycle, no matter if you put pedal on it or not. I see the two as totally different things: I've tried pedal-assist e-bike and they're great. But... Although I have nothing against motorbikes I'm not cool at all…

This is a pedal assist e-bike. There are people that cheat and that install throttles so they can move without pedaling but that's a great way to get your vehicle confiscated.

A typical ride has me providing 40 to 60% of the Joules and the remainder comes out of the battery. If there is a very heavy wind up (not rare here) that might drop to 30/70 and if I have a tailwind it is the reverse. The bike has a nice stats display where it tracks all this stuff. Maximum assist is 350W (10A current out of a nominally 36V battery), at the wheel considerably less than that, this is only used when starting up from a complete stop. The rest of the time you're at a small fraction of that.

Re: Show HN: Long Range E-Bike

#29

Post by dQw4w9WgXcQ »

nousermane wrote: post #11

> S-Pedelec (...) top speed 45 kph (...) in many places you are forced to ride in traffic Yes. This is the way. Thank you, Dutch government. If somebody feels like wheezing an almost completely silent 200kg projectile, godspeed. But please gtfo from the urban bike paths, if at all possible.

All the speed of motorcycles without the sound awareness, what could possibly go wrong? My overall experience is that E-bike riders generally have decent cycling manners, it's the scooter and unicycle riders that seem to think they can just crank their walking speed up to 30mph and go everywhere a pedestrian would. I usually just give them a firm "heads up next time" when I get buzzed by an electric motor whine at 20mph.

Re: Show HN: Long Range E-Bike

#30

Post by jacquesm »

fnord77 wrote: post #24
nousermane wrote: post #11

> S-Pedelec (...) top speed 45 kph (...) in many places you are forced to ride in traffic Yes. This is the way. Thank you, Dutch government. If somebody feels like wheezing an almost completely silent 200kg projectile, godspeed. But please gtfo from the urban bike paths, if at all possible.

I have a class 3 and I don't feel safe riding in bike lanes at full speed, zipping by slower bicycles. There's no place to go if someone swerves. I will usually ride in traffic instead.

Riding in traffic here is suicide. Drivers get very irritated when you are not exactly at the speed limit and I've had more than one instance where someone essentially overtook and then forced me into the bike lane. And that's just here in town, where there is absolutely nothing to gain.
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