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Show HN: Long Range E-Bike

jacquesmattheij.com

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Re: Show HN: Long Range E-Bike

#211

Post by Closi »

et-al wrote: post #180
aaomidi wrote: post #161

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> so that riders don't just cruise at that speed. Do you actually ride bikes on roads? This is there because if you're going slow on an actual road you're more likely to get killed because of a car hitting you. I'm honestly exhausted at this FUD when it's actively fucking with my life as a bike rider on a main road. Even Netherlands allows fully motorized vehicles that are small on their bike paths. Stop thinking of…

The OP, jacquesm, just mentioned throttle-only ebikes are not legal in the Netherlands. Anyone who's comparing ebike speeds to rider speeds: most people new to riding bikes cannot sustain riding at 30kph (18.5mph) for probably more than 5 minutes, less if there's any gradual elevation. As such, bikes are "safe" because there's an inherent speed limiter. You pedal really fast, go fast, then you get tired and chill out…

> You pedal really fast, go fast, then you get tired and chill out.

Is this really true? When I was in France using the Uber bikes to get around I could get up to top speed using almost no effort on the pedals and never found myself getting tired. They really require almost no effort to get up to top speed.

Maybe it sounds like the solution is that a throttle should only take you up to a lower speed though if this is the problem? Like pushing a button can take you to 15 but waggling your feet can take you to 25?

Re: Show HN: Long Range E-Bike

#212

Post by aidenn0 »

koonsolo wrote: post #110
mikestew wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As long as they'r not causing problems for other cyclists And if a frog had wings, it wouldn't bump its ass when it hops. "Other cyclists"? They're not cyclists, they're motorcycle riders, for starters. Now any jackass can zoom down the bike path at 25-30mph, but yeah, as long as that doesn't cause problems...

In Belgium we have pedelecs (max 25kmh) and speed pedelecs (max 45kmh). Pedelecs are catagorized as bicycles, and speed pedelecs as scooters, which require a license plate and all other stuff, including their proper place on the road.

In California it's 32kph (class 1 with pedal, class 2 with throttle) and 45 kph (class 3, pedal assist only)

Class 1 and 2 are currently allowed on all paved paths that bicycles are allowed on.

Class 3 does not require a license, may use the lanes on roads for bicycles, but not walk/bike paths. You also must be 16 or older to operate one.

Enforcement is currently nonexistent where I live. I regularly see people with ostensibly class 2 e-bikes going 50kph, having modified the motor controller.

Re: Show HN: Long Range E-Bike

#213

Post by jacquesm »

Steltek wrote: post #192
jacquesm wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not in the US.

I don't think you need to defend yourself so vigorously in this thread. But I would say that what you're seeing is distinctly the American experience with e-bikes and bike enforcement. Americans are generally clueless about e-bike laws. This includes police and e-bike owners. American e-bikes are marketed as having throttles, being to bypass traffic at high speeds using the bike lanes and bike paths, and not needing…

I added the 'I'm not in the US' bit because I probably should have added my location to the post.

Agreed, poor infrastructure serves as an amplifier of irritation between classes of vehicles that should not even be sharing the same pathways except to occasionally cross. The USA is very much car centric, I'm not even sure if I would ride a bike there. Where I live we have pretty good infra but even here e-bikes and s-pedelecs have upset the order a bit. But I'm sure it will work out in the long term.

Re: Show HN: Long Range E-Bike

#214

Post by pharmakom »

fragmede wrote: post #179
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…

And scooters, electric-scooters, and sit-down electric scooters. And electric wheelchairs, and non-electric wheelchairs and mobility assist carts with handlebars. We also have to delineate between a daydreaming cyclist who's top speed is slow, and a hard-core cyclist with a $3000+ bike that can hit 40 mph in the right conditions. Those cyclists should be banned from using the same paths as the first kind of bicyclist…

A really important factor you didn’t mention is weight.

    KE = 0.5 * v * v * m

Re: Show HN: Long Range E-Bike

#215

Post by yesimahuman »

Interesting reading this as a US resident that modded an existing bike with some parts from Grin and other places. The battery I bought has 17Ah which supposedly has ~50 miles of range which is more than enough for my needs. I'm also able to throttle control and pedal cadence control and hit top speeds of 30+ mph. It's unfortunate that modern e-bikes are so locked down and restricted because the DIY route is a lot of work and pretty expensive, but clearly mainstream e-bikes are arbitrarily limited and holding back the true potential these bikes have.

Re: Show HN: Long Range E-Bike

#216

Post by jacquesm »

dncornholio wrote: post #194
wpietri wrote: post #169

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Speed (or better, momentum) is important. But pedal assistance is definitely material to me. Switching from pedal-assist to throttle-controlled changes the proportionality between impulse and real-world results. As a kid my first response to pretty much anything with a dial was to turn it up all the way and see what happened. That's a behavior I saw quite a bit during the brief plague of VC-funded scooters: novices a…

E bikes also have a dial, all it does is it limits the speed when it stops accelerating. You can dial the bike all the way up, peddle but not apply any force and still accelerate to top speed.

Where I live that would be illegal for an e-bike, that vehicle would be classified as an e-scooter.

Re: Show HN: Long Range E-Bike

#217

Post by 5faulker »

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…

E-bike is basically the smaller version of electric cars, whose sustainability depends on how we power our energy (not that they have a circular manufacturing process of course).

Re: Show HN: Long Range E-Bike

#218

Post by wing-_-nuts »

orforforof wrote: post #79
dQw4w9WgXcQ wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 20…

I used to ride a motorcycle, now I have an ebike. They seem equally safe to me, which is to say neither are safe at all if there are other people on the road. The only solution is extremely defensive driving/riding, assume no one (including pedestrians) can see you. This attitude has been embedded deeply in the motorcycle culture and is the best way to all-around responsible riders -- and it needs to be propagated to…

>Also, sound awareness is a myth propagated by Harley riders.

This pisses me off so much. I know harley riders that have straight pipes and ride around with ear plugs in to keep from going deaf. Anyone caught over the legal noise limit should have their ride confiscated. It's asshole behavior masquerading as 'safety'.

Re: Show HN: Long Range E-Bike

#219

Post by Torkel »

fragmede wrote: post #179
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…

And scooters, electric-scooters, and sit-down electric scooters. And electric wheelchairs, and non-electric wheelchairs and mobility assist carts with handlebars. We also have to delineate between a daydreaming cyclist who's top speed is slow, and a hard-core cyclist with a $3000+ bike that can hit 40 mph in the right conditions. Those cyclists should be banned from using the same paths as the first kind of bicyclist…

Multi-lane bike ”highways” would be awesome. What matters most (imo) is that all these riders are unprotected, and should be kept far apart from cars. If the unprotected, single rider, narrow vehicles want do drive at vastly different speeds then multiple lanes seems like a good solution.

Re: Show HN: Long Range E-Bike

#220

Post by gdubs »

Everything about this is awesome, great work. Love the write up — the bits on safety in particular. The layout is also oddly aesthetically pleasing. Inspiring, though I’m so so far at the beginning of the road with hardware and electronics. Might attempt a solar powered pond pump and battery though.
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