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Show HN: Long Range E-Bike

jacquesmattheij.com

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Re: Show HN: Long Range E-Bike

#251

Post by bcherry »

user_7832 wrote: post #190

I have a question for the author - what safety precautions do you take against theft for such an e-bike, especially when going to public places like supermarkets? I recently came to the Netherlands and have heard that bike theft is common, especially for expensive bikes. I would guess that such an e-bike would be an attractive target, so do you take additional precautions when parking in public places (like 2/3/4 loc…

I park a similar ebike in San Francisco fairly often. I have a good U-Lock and only lock to secure bike rings on main streets but haven't had any trouble. I've left it for hours at a time, but never later than about 9pm. You can mitigate the overall risk with an insurance plan, which is only a few hundred bucks a year.

Re: Show HN: Long Range E-Bike

#252

Post by dncornholio »

jacquesm wrote: post #245
dncornholio wrote: post #232

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Doesn't any Batavus E-Bike does this? That's were I got my (limited) experience from.

That depends on what you mean by 'dial it up', do you mean a throttle? If so then that's illegal. If it is just a 25 kph bike then you can feather the pedals and it will go up to 15 or so and above that you'll have to work for it.

25 kph bike, has a setting for power that has 4 stages and an 5th stage called boost. Would go all the way to 25 with just feathering

Re: Show HN: Long Range E-Bike

#253

Post by leetcrew »

pharmakom wrote: post #214
fragmede wrote: post #179

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

that equation shows velocity is more important though? a small car at 10 mph has about the same KE as a 200 lb person going 40 mph. of course KE doesn't tell the whole story. of the two, I'd much rather be hit by the car. I could run into a brick wall at 10 mph and probably be okay.

Re: Show HN: Long Range E-Bike

#254

Post by cbhl »

TrevorJ wrote: post #240
fragmede wrote: post #179

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

Eh, this is just extending the argument into absurdity I feel.

I don't know that it is -- electric scooters are controversial -- some folks want them on sidewalks; others in bike lines; yet others only in mixed traffic with cars.

Re: Show HN: Long Range E-Bike

#255

Post by ulnarkressty »

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…

I find the e-bike that the article talks about (S-pedelec) to be the peak of unsafeness for two wheeled vehicles. A colleague had one and let me try it - I quickly noped out.

He's doing 40mph in traffic with his bike shorts and a flimsy helmet. The power to weight ratio also gives him enormous acceleration, so he can jump from the red lights in front of everyone. Other drivers often misjudge how quickly he can move and he had some close calls like this.

If I were the author I would reconsider using one of these, especially with his history of accidents...

Re: Show HN: Long Range E-Bike

#256

Post by jacquesm »

rjbwork wrote: post #174
jacquesm wrote: post #171

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm sure there are other e-bikes, but those are not available where I live. The fastest here are the Stromers, they are a little bit faster but not exceptionally so and they also cut out at 45 kph, just like mine. At a guess your bike outputs more power than is legal here.

>At a guess your bike outputs more power than is legal here. From a brief look - no. Belgium says "4000 W 45 km/h limited "speed pedelecs", which are classed as mopeds for all requirements." Mine has a 750W nominal motor, but seems to output around 1050W at peak.

4000 W? That sounds a little excessive :)

A typical s-pedelec is somewhere between 350 and 750 W nominal and with peaks of maybe twice that.

Re: Show HN: Long Range E-Bike

#257

Post by Bootvis »

dheera wrote: post #223
pharmakom wrote: post #214

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A really important factor you didn’t mention is weight. KE = 0.5 * v * v * m

Yes but probability of a crash is probably related to the spread in the velocities of various agents. This is why I often ride my 40 km/h max electric moped on bike paths. Cars don't give me enough following distance so I'm not risking my life there. I also slow down drastically when passing pedal bikers.

If you're exerting yourself you tend to pay attention to what's happening around you. I noticed that folks that go very fast on their two-wheeled vehicle without too much effort get distracted quite easily.

Re: Show HN: Long Range E-Bike

#259

Post by m4x »

jacquesm wrote: post #170
nybble41 wrote: post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You're not really a regular bicycle anymore due to your speed… The top speed (with assist) for class 1 & 2 e-bikes is well within the speed range of a regular bicycle. 15 MPH is considered a reasonable average speed for beginners, and 18-22 MPG is not out of the question with training. I've ridden my own e-bike past 20 MPH with no assist on occasion, and being a foldable model designed for electric assist it has a…

I've tried driving over the top of the motor on this bike and it is almost impossible. I'm a pretty strong cyclist and I never managed more than 48 kph and that only very briefly. The drag is insane.

Trying to exceed the 32 km/h limit on my ebike is similar. It's like hitting a brick wall when the assist drops out.

I assume it's a combination of the extra weight and the extra losses from pedalling the motor as well as the wheels (mostly the second part I think). Going faster on my non-electric mountain bike is significantly easier.

Re: Show HN: Long Range E-Bike

#260

Post by et-al »

Closi wrote: post #211
et-al wrote: post #180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

A lower speed for throttle-only sounds like a good solution!

To clarify, my original post was about non-electric bicycles, but my experience with pedal-assist ebikes [Jump (RIP) and Citibike/Baywheels] was that they were noticeably heavy and after a few blocks of pedaling really hard, I'd tire out and slow down. Perhaps you're gifted with a very high vo2max?

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