Show HN: Long Range E-Bike • Hacker News Board

Re: Show HN: Long Range E-Bike

#441

Post by jacquesm » Sat, Nov 13, 2021, 12:02 AM UTC

deanc wrote: post #73

I have a specialized Vado sl. You can purchase a range extender and easily do over 100km with it, in reality closer to 200k. Any reason you didn’t consider this as it’s manufacturer supported?

I've looked at that bike now. It's a regular e-bike, not an s-pedelec so quite a bit slower, also the range is very small. I like the looks though, very elegant. But like I wrote in the article, I'm probably faster on my old non assisted racer than I would be on that bike even though it would give me more range because it's assisted. The battery on my bike is more than four times as large, and will do 180 km at maximum assist, far faster than that Vado SL bike will go, and it's a different class of bike entirely (pedelec vs s-pedelec).

Re: Show HN: Long Range E-Bike

#442

Post by jacquesm » Sat, Nov 13, 2021, 12:03 AM UTC

amelius wrote: post #403

jacquesm wrote: post #363

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's because the metal case can go live if there is an internal short. That's what that protects against. But agreed, that really caught me out. I had a blind spot for days due to the afterimage.

It's probably because touching the outer ring of the BNC connector (which is at ground) can become dangerous, yes. So the best way to go about it is to use an isolated differential probe. Or use an isolation transformer to float your device under test, which is always a good idea.

Yes, I learned that the hard way that day.

Re: Show HN: Long Range E-Bike

#443

Post by Johnny555 » Sat, Nov 13, 2021, 12:06 AM UTC

This is an interesting project, but if I needed long range transportation and didn't want a car, I'd get an electric scooter (the Vespa kind, not the Razor kind), or an electric motorcycle. It's built to handle higher speeds and can coexist with cars more safely.

Re: Show HN: Long Range E-Bike

#444

Post by conductr » Sat, Nov 13, 2021, 12:13 AM UTC

FuckButtons wrote: post #329

conductr wrote: post #301

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My concern at those speeds is traction. I prefer fat tires so a bit of loose gravel or a pothole doesn’t ruin my day.

I go at that speed on my road bike under my own power with teeny tiny tyres to reduce drag. By comparison this thing is safer since it has disk brakes and larger tires.

Yeah road bike riding is absolutely what I want to avoid though. Suppose it’s personal preference but I hate those tiny tires. I’ve hit a curve + gravel/loose asphalt and had my front wheel slide sideways causing me to lay the bike down at full speed. Back in my BMX days I had a friend lose his top lip like this and I was riding right next to him (it got sewn back on). And I’m just a casual rider now a days. I’m not a commuter or sport rider, just gets me outside on a nice day. So I am taking in my surroundings and not necessarily 100% focused on the road.

Re: Show HN: Long Range E-Bike

#445

Post by whimsicalism » Sat, Nov 13, 2021, 12:13 AM UTC

seanmcdirmid wrote: post #437

whimsicalism wrote: post #303

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing at all - just that it is definitely not the case that you can comfortably comingle normal bikes with those lanes.

There aren't many normal bikes left, or rather, they are becoming a luxury.

That was not my experience in Beijing in January 2020, but I have not been since.

Re: Show HN: Long Range E-Bike

#446

Post by femto » Sat, Nov 13, 2021, 12:20 AM UTC

jacquesm wrote: post #427

Zigurd wrote: post #421

Earlier quoted context omitted.

By and by, enough cars will be equipped with enough driver assist that heavy cars that must be crashworthy at relatively high speeds will no longer be needed, much in the way active safety makes light high speed rail carriages possible. Then lightweight vehicles can come in to wider use. Imagine how road capacity would be increased by something like a lightweight one-seat series hybrid "bike" with an enclosing fairin…

Yes, this is definitely a good point. There is an arms race like effect at work here, if you could de-escalate that lighter vehicles would be much better.

One wonders whether there is a place for "Active Crumple Zones"? Instead of a car having to weigh more that the opposition, it carries an explosive charge in it's nose, which is used to provide a burst of forward momentum to the leading edge of the car during a crash, preventing it from being forced back into the passenger compartment. One can imagine refinements, such as inertial sensing and a feedback loop to control the size of the discharge, so the "virtual" weight of the light vehicle matches the vehicle that it is colliding with.

Count this as idle speculation rather then a serious proposal! Mind you, if a bike was equipped with such a system a 4WD owner would get a big surprise when they ran into a cyclist and got like-for-like.

Edit: I guess I'm really describing Reactive Armour for everyday vehicles.

Re: Show HN: Long Range E-Bike

#447

Post by 908B64B197 » Sat, Nov 13, 2021, 12:20 AM UTC

jacquesm wrote: post #28

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…

> 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.

I really need to understand what's the difference with a throttle and a pedal assist whose curve is basically so that it gives all power at a ridiculously low pedaling rate...

Re: Show HN: Long Range E-Bike

#448

Post by mulmen » Sat, Nov 13, 2021, 12:21 AM UTC

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…

> You're not really a regular bicycle anymore due to your speed, but you're also not a motorcycle that deserves its own lane.

Even human powered bicycles are entitled to their own lane. They are vehicles like anyone else.

Re: Show HN: Long Range E-Bike

#449

Post by licensekey » Sat, Nov 13, 2021, 12:23 AM UTC

What's HN favorite fancy-ish ebike from the likes of VanMoof or Cowboy or something else? I saw one of the bikes sell for as high as $5k which, provided how many very nice-looking alternatives at 50% the cost there are seams unreasonable.

Re: Show HN: Long Range E-Bike

#450

Post by lmm » Sat, Nov 13, 2021, 12:30 AM UTC

jacquesm wrote: post #408

goodpoint wrote: post #378

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Very low to the ground That makes recumbent bikes safer (actually the safest) during falls. Less height - less kinetic energy. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recumbent_bicycle > nearly invisible from the perspective of a motorist Usually solved by bright colors and adding a flag on top.

Yes, that's what I thought. I had fallen many times with recumbents and never the slightest problem, because you're so close to the ground. And then my foot hit the ground, ever so briefly. And that's a failure mode I never really considered but what happened next went pretty quick and irreversible once it starts: your foot hits the ground, the bike moves a little bit forward, this puts more pressure on your foot, so…

That's a well known issue and why people are generally advised to only ever ride recumbents with cleats (or heel slings or similar). And in any case it doesn't affect velomobiles for obvious reasons.