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Show HN: Long Range E-Bike

jacquesmattheij.com

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Re: Show HN: Long Range E-Bike

#511

Post by ornornor »

There are alternatives that don’t involve DRM or Bosch at all.

I built our ebikes around regular bikes using a TSDZ2 torque sensing motor and an em3ev 52V battery. Total cost around 600$ + bike + tools. The battery is already assembled so no risk of setting your house on fire. The torque sensing makes it really natural (like having bionic legs), the whole thing has an open source firmware if you want to replace the Chinese made one (https://github.com/OpenSourceEBike/Color_LCD) and you can use any battery with it. With a 850Wh battery we get around 100km range.

There is also the cyber bike for which you can buy plans and build from scratch but that one is more of a motorcycle and you’ll probably need certification + insurance to use it legally.

Re: Show HN: Long Range E-Bike

#512

Post by throwaway984393 »

iamtheworstdev wrote: post #493
throwaway984393 wrote: post #492

> and besides a lot better for our precious climate, which is the main reason I wanted to cut down on the use of my car. I'm sure building an e-bike is a lot of fun. But there must be plenty of other ways to help the climate if you'd like to use your car occasionally. For example, people who bike a lot might still order a ton of goods online (say, from Alibaba?) to save money, which then has the double effect of enco…

that seems unfair.. OP is a nerd doing nerd things with the side effect of a feel good environmental story/reward.. vs turning off a hot water heater between daily showers is more like a misunderstanding of thermodynamics(?) or some part of physics. or not running an A/C which, hey, if they're happy, who gives a shit?

> hey, if they're happy, who gives a shit?

They should, and the reason why is recycling.

Everyone believed the claims that recycling would help the planet. But it turned out that most (not all, but most) recycling was being burned or buried, because it was never going to be cost effective. Nobody verified the claims, but it "made them happy" to think they were helping the planet. And now we live in a world with just as much trash and even more microplastics, when we could have been making real changes to actually reduce our waste impact. Letting people blithely say "oh I'm doing it to help the climate" helps people be happy while exacerbating the problem they're pretending to be helping to fix.

Another example is people who say "hey I'm not racist! my best friend is black!" while their subconscious bias at work actively prevents black people from being hired or promoted. Or "I'm not sexist! I love women!" while speaking over them in every meeting and shooting down their ideas. It's not enough to just feel good about what we're doing. We need to verify we're actually helping, not just assume we are.

Re: Show HN: Long Range E-Bike

#513

Post by deanc »

jeffbee wrote: post #274
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?

The Vado SL with the range extender still has a smaller battery than the Vado. If you want that kind of range all the time, isn't the Vado the better choice? At $450 for 160Wh, the Vado SL range extender is the worst deal in the Specialized catalog, and that's saying something!

The Vado is also twice as heavy. The SL is super light so that heavy battery is hauling a lot more weight around. The SL is for those who still want to cycle. The power of the normal Vado basically makes you redundant.

Re: Show HN: Long Range E-Bike

#514

Post by deanc »

jacquesm wrote: post #441
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 maxim…

Are you driving the s-pedelec on bike lanes in NL? It’s illegal to do so here in Finland although it’s not well enforced and no way am I riding in traffic here. You’re also required to have a license plate for the s-pedelec here also.

Re: Show HN: Long Range E-Bike

#515

Post by wraptile »

As someone who lives in SEA this obsession with e-bikes is rather fascinating. Modern ice motorbikes are dirt cheap (you can get one for the price of OPs battery pack) , easy to maintain and are surprisingly silent. Finally it can carry the whole family - pets included! It's not that uncommon to see 4 people on a scooter around here.

Honestly aside from weather I wonder why the west has such terrible adoption for imho the best transport vehicle we've got.

Re: Show HN: Long Range E-Bike

#516

Post by hellbannedguy »

themacguffinman wrote: post #504
Fogest wrote: post #485

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?…

For as long as I can remember the minute a vechicle (Hot rod cars basically) are modified to go faster, or different than stock; the public blames the guy who modified the car.

I really doubt the public is going to blame OneWheel for a product that was monkeyed with.

I felt for awhile now that if Tesla let home mechanics modify their Salvage vechicles; they would have brought more guys like myself into their product.

I know what you guys are thinking. Elon doesn't need anymore success. He might in a decade from now maybe. Getting guys who work on their own vechicles in his boathouse seems like it would be a good idea.

(Personally I don't buy anything I can't work on, or modify. It not even that Zen and Motorcycle Mechanics philosophy. It's about money. I'm poor, and can't afford to not repair my big purchases.)

Re: Show HN: Long Range E-Bike

#517

Post by stef25 »

analog31 wrote: post #395
stef25 wrote: post #345

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When getting your motorcycle license here in Belgium they teach you to always take the lane. Ride 3/4 of the way in. If you give the car some space, they'll drive closer to you, try to pass and then get impatient & aggressive when they can't. If you take up all the space they'll usually just accept it. Obviously rules for bicycles may be slightly different but more and more inner city roads here in EU are now clearly…

In the US, we have something called "sharrows" which are a picture of a bike, and an arrow, painted on the street. The arrow is supposed to show drivers the "line" that a cyclist can occupy. Coincident with sharrows, my locale has designated "bike boulevards," that are considered to be preferred for cyclists. I live on such a street, that is a favorite route for riding from a large residential area towards the center…

They exist here as well. As a cyclist they don't make me feel very safe - when driving a car I've noticed that cyclists are often hidden from view by the cars in front of you and only "appear" two cars ahead of you.

Every day I see drivers playing with their phone and that two car distance is short enough for them not to look up and read end the cyclist.

When my kids reach the age when they can cycle by themselves it will worry me even more.

Re: Show HN: Long Range E-Bike

#518

Post by salmonellaeater »

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…

> 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 trip out just because they're misjudging my speed. I get honked and yelled at when on the road because folks get frustrated when I'm using the left-hand side of the right-turn lane as a bike path.

Cycling is my primary mode of transportation, and I've found a couple things help with this:

1. Take the lane any time there's a chance of conflict such as a right hook, and when there is not enough space for a car to safely pass [1][2]

2. Use a headlight all the time, even during the day. This is what motorcyclists do, and when I made this change I noted a major drop in the number of drivers that turn without noticing me.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicular_cycling#Lane_control

[2] This page has descriptions of several types of collision, with example videos and how to choose a lane position that avoids them: https://iamtraffic.org/engineering/behaviors-and-risk/

Re: Show HN: Long Range E-Bike

#519

Post by pharmakom »

leetcrew wrote: post #253
pharmakom wrote: post #214

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Yes but to not give weight a mention isn’t quite right.

Small car: 1500kg

Bike: 10kg

Escooter: 3kg (?)

Re: Show HN: Long Range E-Bike

#520

Post by masklinn »

908B64B197 wrote: post #364
masklinn wrote: post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Who's going to confiscate this bike???? Most european cops if they catch you: some countries may treat s-pedelecs as bikes, but in most it's a moped, you need a driving license, insurance, a license plate, and all the legal equipment of a moped (e.g. lights, rear view mirror), and commonly type approval (which is going to be very, very expensive). Also can't use cycle paths. Over the last few years many (but probab…

> it's a moped, you need a driving license, insurance, a license plate, and all the legal equipment of a moped (e.g. lights, rear view mirror), and commonly type approval (which is going to be very, very expensive). The amount of bureaucracy in Europe for completely mundane things is completely unbelievable. Getting a Driver's license in France, for example, is an uphill battle against a very hostile administration.…

> Having a tiny bike barely able to break the 25mph limit be considered a moped just because it has a throttle as well as pedal assist is completely ridiculous.

Yeah, what is the world coming to when a moped is considered a moped? Insanity. Cats and dogs living together.

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