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Show HN: Long Range E-Bike

jacquesmattheij.com

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Re: Show HN: Long Range E-Bike

#411

Post by jacquesm »

wing-_-nuts wrote: post #392
jacquesm wrote: post #237

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Right up to the point when you cause and accident, it turns out that you are not insured and you are now in debt for the rest of your life. This is not a small matter.

How does someone on a bike 'cause an accident'? How exactly is a cop going to know that you've modified your bike? They aren't tour de france officials. I'd be fine taking my chances. You seem to have a very legalistic outlook that doesn't translate to reality.

The police here is pretty good at accident mechanics, the insurance will insist and if your bike has been modded you are in pretty hot water.

My 'legalistic outlook' is mostly informed by the local news.

But don't take my word for it, have a read:

https://www.google.com/search?channel=fs&q=opgevoerde+e-bike...

Re: Show HN: Long Range E-Bike

#412

Post by tonyedgecombe »

iso1210 wrote: post #136
mikepurvis wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At a certain point, you've added enough extra mass to the vehicle in terms of batteries, motor, beefed up brakes and frame, etc that you need to start asking questions about how much kinetic energy it's carrying and what happens to it all in case of a crash. Silly comparison, but we wouldn't let a car drive on the sidewalk even if it had a special module that limited it to 5km/h.

> Silly comparison, but we wouldn't let a car drive on the sidewalk even if it had a special module that limited it to 5km/h. We do in the UK - it's perfectly normal for cars (including police cars) to mount and drive along the pavement, before being left there

There has been some talk of changing the law on that, although I can’t see how that would work in many streets.

Re: Show HN: Long Range E-Bike

#413

Post by mikesabbagh »

twodave wrote: post #38

Awesome project Jacques! I saw a comment of yours on an article a day or two ago and was hoping to see this pop up soon. I've found the most difficult thing about riding an e-bike is the other motorists have no idea how to react to you. You're not really a regular bicycle anymore due to your speed, but you're also not a motorcycle that deserves its own lane. I have at least one car turn in front of me almost every tr…

I just discovered electric bikes lately, and started going to the office on an ebike instead of subway!! I then discovered how dangerous this can get especially at the end of the day when my brain is tired!

I thought of stop riding bikes, but then chose to have a life insurance instead

Re: Show HN: Long Range E-Bike

#414

Post by jacquesm »

birdyrooster wrote: post #409

How many times are you going to tempt fate? You already had an accident which makes it so you can't easily ride a regular bike anymore and yet here you are on an e-bike. I don't really want an answer, just more expressing my dismay. Good luck!

That was a pretty bad accident but the mechanics of it were - retrospectively - quite predictable. It's just that a low recumbent seemed very safe right up to the second that it wasn't.

Anyway, those two really don't compare, and I can ride a regular bike just not quite as easily as before. Those screws and the steel really should be taken out but between COVID and work there hasn't really been a 3 month gap where I figured I would chance it, because it's a full recovery after that again.

Thanks for the concern though, and I'll try to stay in one piece.

Re: Show HN: Long Range E-Bike

#415

Post by jacquesm »

tda wrote: post #400
gglanzani wrote: post #188

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Using my Stromer ST1X — which lacks the top of the line motor of the ST3 and ST5 — I can bike at 45kph at any battery % above 30. I am probably 140kg with bike, battery, laptop, clothes, and stuff. Outside the cities I can go in the bike lane, and I am absolutely twice as fast as most bikes. I live in the Netherlands, so everything being flat helps.

I recently sold my ST2. I could get only 30-60km on a full (1kwh) battery at max speed (46 kmh). But then why would you go below max speed om a 7k bicycle? I got rid of it because it was also very expensive in maintenance, and because cycling on the road slightly slower than cars really sucks (a few too many encounters with aggressive cars). The stromers are near impossible to ride without assist, think because of th…

How was the Stromer reliability wise?

Re: Show HN: Long Range E-Bike

#416

Post by 93po »

bredren wrote: post #269

I built a stretch cruiser ebike out of parts, including a bafang / 8fun mid drive and 52v “shark” style battery. It does pedal assist and straight up throttle to danger in lickety-split. This is a cool project, however, I wouldn’t have gone this route because: It isn’t a great idea to lock up an ebike, but there are circumstances where you might want to and you’ll want to take the battery with you when you do. If you…

If the battery isn't easily removed then I would say it's probably just as safe to lock up this ebike as much as any other expensive bike. It'd be really hard to flip/fence with a custom battery like that though

Re: Show HN: Long Range E-Bike

#417

Post by gglanzani »

tda wrote: post #400
gglanzani wrote: post #188

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Using my Stromer ST1X — which lacks the top of the line motor of the ST3 and ST5 — I can bike at 45kph at any battery % above 30. I am probably 140kg with bike, battery, laptop, clothes, and stuff. Outside the cities I can go in the bike lane, and I am absolutely twice as fast as most bikes. I live in the Netherlands, so everything being flat helps.

I recently sold my ST2. I could get only 30-60km on a full (1kwh) battery at max speed (46 kmh). But then why would you go below max speed om a 7k bicycle? I got rid of it because it was also very expensive in maintenance, and because cycling on the road slightly slower than cars really sucks (a few too many encounters with aggressive cars). The stromers are near impossible to ride without assist, think because of th…

I don’t have the ST2, but 30km on a full battery seems off to me :)

Re: Show HN: Long Range E-Bike

#418

Post by pmontra »

emj wrote: post #393
stef25 wrote: post #354

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Whatever you do in traffic, be very careful. I'm still driving a car and inner city traffic is basically slaloming between cyclists. If something goes wrong, only one of us will end up in hospital. I do also ride my bike on weekends have have been riding a 650cc motorbike for 15+ years, so not at all against 2 wheels. It's just that most people on two wheels seem to have started very recently and they don't know how…

As a cyclist I tend not to care so much about all the mistakes other people do. Realistically it's a very small percentage of people that are new in traffic, the problem is that you usually only see the mistakes people do. You will never see that cylist who changed their pace 20s ago to avoid you. What has been shown is that people who travel by many different modes; cylists, pedestrian, motorcycle, car, bus etc, are…

I agree and provide examples.

As a cyclist I know that a road bike is faster than a car in a roundabout so when I drive my car I don't overtake bikes right before roundabouts: either they'll try to overtake me right where the road gets narrower (unsafe) or have to slow down behind me (and they don't have an engine). So I slow down a little and overtake them after the roundabout. Same thing when approaching a red traffic light. I'll have to stop anyway.

Some pedestrians keep the left on mixed bicycle / pedestrian roads (this is a drive on the right country) probably to defend against the occasional crazy cyclist. That's dangerous IMHO because as a cyclist I get surprised sometimes when I didn't realize they are walking or worse running towards me and I get suddenly closer to them than I foresaw.

And as a driver it's really difficult to see a bicycle with no lights at night (nearly all food deliveries here.) At least wear some reflecting clothes, but buy a rear light and charge it as you do with your phone. Front lights are important too. One of them nearly crashed into my left door on a rainy night because I didn't see him when I came out from a stop.

Re: Show HN: Long Range E-Bike

#419

Post by boxcardavin »

11thEarlOfMar wrote: post #298

Regenerative braking may be able to help, yes? https://radpowerbikes.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/36004517...

Regen will usually only gain you 3-5% total range, most of the power from biking is dissipated as heat through aero drag, even if you're biking up and down hills. Source – my company exclusively does ebike research and development.
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