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Show HN: Long Range E-Bike

jacquesmattheij.com

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Re: Show HN: Long Range E-Bike

#501

Post by newaccount74 »

stef25 wrote: post #351
rjbwork wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have an e-bike and I disagree with your assertions. I'm a fat asthmatic and I have absolutely no problem maintaining 40kph for long stretches of time on my bike. The fastest I've done on it (on a large hill but still) is 42.7MPH (~68Kph). Average cruising speed on flat land can easily be 30-33mph(48-53kph). Not all e-bikes are capable of this, but they are certainly not some kind of rare expensive impossibility - m…

Most if not all electric bikes here in EU won't get close to those speeds, regardless of your fitness. I don't think it's even allowed. If it's capable of doing 50KPH it should be treated as a motorcycle, away from other cyclists and pedestrians and the rider should have the same knowledge as a motorcyclist wrt to how to behave in traffic.

Almost all ebikes are limited to 25km/h here, which is a reasonable speed in my opinion. It makes cycling accessible to everyone regardless of fitness level or hills, but it also ensures that ebikes go at a similar speed as most other riders (most riders on the cycle paths go between 20 and 30 km/h (12-19MPH)

There are some people who modded their ebikes to go faster, but I've only encountered them very rarely.

Re: Show HN: Long Range E-Bike

#502

Post by rixed »

bobthepanda wrote: post #359
rjbwork wrote: post #291

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I specifically did not choose the word disingenuous. I asked him to be more ingenuous. His assertion was "there is absolutely no way you are going to sustain 40 Kph+ for anything but a very short period". I disagree, and I think minimizing the capabilities of these machines in the rhetoric is counterproductive to converting skeptics. In the US it's 100% legal to go 28MPH on them for as long as you can - which for me…

Depends on the jurisdiction. NYC only allows 25MPH: https://www1.nyc.gov/html/dot/html/bicyclists/ebikes.shtml At some point, we do need to restrict faster vehicles from operating in the bike lanes and the sidewalks, because the speed differentials will probably end up killing someone.

They had this problem for years in Amsterdam and last time I've heard about it they decided to ban moped from bike lanes in the city. Electric moped were particularly problematic because of their speed, of their silence and weigh. I don't know what the rules are with regard to ebikes though.

Re: Show HN: Long Range E-Bike

#503

Post by newaccount74 »

antisthenes wrote: post #498
sokoloff wrote: post #489

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> you really start to feel the air resistance and it becomes exponentially harder to go beyond 45kph Nitpick: it becomes cubically harder. ;)

Nitpick to nitpick: cubically is a subset of exponentially.

You are both wrong. Air resistance increases quadratically with speed, not cubically. And you mixed up polynomial with exponential.

Quadratic: x^2

Cubic: x^3

Polynomial (eg. 3rd degree): a + b x + c x^2 + d x^3

Exponential: e^x

Re: Show HN: Long Range E-Bike

#504

Post by themacguffinman »

Fogest wrote: post #485
billylindeman wrote: post #455

Earlier quoted context omitted.

LOL I built the first version of their android app back in the day. Can't speak to why they've been going after modders, but it's likely from a liability / legal standpoint. At the end of the day I still love their products and currently own an XR (may upgrade to a GT next spring!). At least for the earlier versions all the info was published as standard BLE descriptors, so building a third party lightweight app for…

Is it really liability? Because I really doubt that. People modify vehicles all the time and it causes unsafe driving that can lead to collisions. The car manufacturer doesn't get sued because somebody made a stupid change. Maybe it could be a super minor thing they use as an excuse to prevent modding, but I think the actual answer is what the other commenter mentioned. They don't want their own product competing wit…

You don't have to be literally sued for this kind of thing to be a liability. Companies don't like this because even if they don't get sued, it becomes a PR liability when they get a reputation. When the average buyer sees that a product gets a lot of accidents, they're not going to put on their detective hat and spend much time getting to the bottom of "is this reputation truly deserved? was it the customer's fault?"

> People modify vehicles all the time and it causes unsafe driving that can lead to collisions.

Yeah, and car companies don't support these mods. Also, mods that cause unsafe driving are often literally illegal: not only will you be unsupported, the government will punish you for using these mods. Because it's really dangerous and modern Western society generally agrees that it's not okay to let people fuck themselves that easily even if it was their own choice. How dangerous are Minecraft mods?

Re: Show HN: Long Range E-Bike

#505

Post by tda »

jacquesm wrote: post #415
tda wrote: post #400

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

I had my share of controller issues, where the bike would give an error. Removing the battery a few times usually solved it, but somehow the magnetic connector is too sensitive. Worse is that it is really easy to improperly connect the charger, so sometimes it would not charge at work Depending on wind and temperature that would give me a ton of range anxiety. Especially as cycling on a stromer without assist is very very hard. So all in all it was ok, I rode 13k km and it mostly worked. But when it didn't I really hated it.

The €250 travel charger is only 80W, so a full charge takes 12 hours. I ended up writing a script to poll the api to make sure the bike was actually charging when at work.

That is why being able to use the bike as normal when off/dead battery was a primary criterium for me. The bike I have now has a cheap little hub motor on the front wheel, and it lets the wheel spin freely when the bike is off.

A final remark, I used my Stromer ST2 exclusively for commuting. Just not practical in the city, only in between cities. I use my regular ebike for almost all trips, so I get a lot more value from it.

Re: Show HN: Long Range E-Bike

#507

Post by tda »

gglanzani wrote: post #417
tda wrote: post #400

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 :)

That was worst case, I ride in all weather conditions. 7 Bft headwind in winter would deplete the battery from full to 0 on my way home. Also it was difficult to get to max speed witb strong headwind, but 40kmh was always achievable

Re: Show HN: Long Range E-Bike

#508

Post by kennywinker »

Johnny555 wrote: post #443

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.

For highways of larger roads perhaps. If you’re somewhere with good bike infrastructure you won’t be able to take advantage of those nice separated lanes.

Re: Show HN: Long Range E-Bike

#509

Post by leeoniya »

newaccount74 wrote: post #499
leeoniya wrote: post #458

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> but it's likely from a liability / legal standpoint sure. but also the same reason mfgs dont want their modded/refurbished/re-sold prev-gen products competing with their new products.

Which is stupid, since people who look for a cheap used option aren't going to buy a new product at full price anyway. They are going to buy a cheaper product from another company, and then you have lost them as a potential future customer. People who buy your companies used products are much more likely to buy your companies new products at some point in the future.

Sonos is another one that never got the message, until the PR nightmare that ensued.

https://www.theverge.com/2019/12/30/21042871/sonos-recycle-m...

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