Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Asus Bike Booster

asus.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

181–190 of 476 posts

Re: Asus Bike Booster

#181

Post by selfhoster1312 »

fwipsy wrote: post #132
molsongolden wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This bike booster will probably come in at less than half the cost but the Bimotal kit is another option that doesn't have the tire wear issue, offers better performance, and the form factor is much nicer. https://bimotal.com/products/elevate

Wow, $2k? You could get a decent ebike for that money. And the installation doesn't look any easier than a hub motor... Only seems worth it if you already have an extremely nice bike. I think of friction drives as being aimed at budget-conscious commuters, not serious mountain bikers.

I was shocked by the price, too. I mean a motor and a battery can't be so expensive, especially such a "small" battery (300Wh).

That being said, having driven electric bikes for a while, here in France they're ridiculously limited in speed and power. 25km/h limit on flat land usually makes sense (except on long straight lines), but when you get climbing even slightly you get down to ~10km/h and have to provide more effort. I guess that's where the 750/1250W 70Nm unrestrained motor comes in handy, and if you live in a place with lots of small hills the choice is either that kind of motor or a car, not the 1000€-total Decathlon/Carrefour electric bike.

Re: Asus Bike Booster

#182

Post by wafflemaker »

Gigachad wrote: post #158
taneq wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You don’t gotta be impossible to steal from, you just gotta be more annoying to steal from than the next guy.

They will still steal your seat, lights, wheel, and any other bit they can get. Sure you can use all number of locks, security bolts, and stripping the bike down yourself every time you leave it, but it’s sucks. You’d rather public spaces just be safe.

Just follow the old Eve online adage - don't fly what you can't afford to lose.

If there's lot of theft and you can't store bike at a secure place - have a cheap bike.

Re: Asus Bike Booster

#183

Post by cube00 »

Animats wrote: post #141

No price. No order form. No delivery date. Vaporware. Come on, ASUS. You're a real company, not some kickstarter scam.

Their AI bot is just as grim

Me: when's the bike booster available to purchase?

ASUS AI: For the most accurate and up-to-date product release information, we recommend following our Facebook and Instagram channels. We share all our launch announcements there first, along with exciting product previews.

Hilarious advice given both Meta products are notorious for not showing everything from the accounts you follow.

Re: Asus Bike Booster

#185

Post by DonHopkins »

I absolutely would not give up my double panniers and rack. I put a small Tom Bihn Bag "Daylight Backpack" with my laptop in one, and the bike charger and food and other junk in the other, empty my pockets into the zipper bag, and then I'm totally unencumbered for riding and have unlimited distance since I can plug in and charge the battery if it gets low. Riding with a backpack on my back or even stuff in my pockets is a drag. The panniers are also great for grocery and other shopping.

https://www.tombihn.com/products/daylight-backpack

Re: Asus Bike Booster

#186

Post by DonHopkins »

selfhoster1312 wrote: post #179

A smartphone app to change motor speed, really? Not even talking about your motor getting hacked (with the S in IOT standing for security and all), getting out a fragile device that captures all your attention while biking is really dangerous for you and the device. So they say there's a button on the thing itself which is not so much more practical. If they insist on wireless controls, the cost of a waterproof batte…

Throttled motors on ebikes are terribly unsafe, compared to pedal assist central motors. I just got rear-ended by an illegally hot-rodded fat bike with a throttle, when the asshole lost control of his bike after hitting my rear wheel trying to pass at illegally high speed without bothering to ring his bell, and he flipped over and spilled onto the bike path.

I was fine, but surprised he so carelessly and thoughtlessly sneaked up on me and tried to pass when I was already going fast downhill off of a bridge over a canal, on my legal eBike with 25 kph maximum assist.

Pedaling makes you pay attention and gives you direct control over the speed, and the assist drops out once you're going >25 kph. The asshole who hit me from behind probably didn't have time to find the throttle with his hand, and was never really in control of his bike or paying much attention up to when he freaked out and hit me.

What to do about fatbikes endangering our safety?

https://www.reddit.com/r/Netherlands/comments/1knza1c/what_t...

Fatbikes in the Netherlands 2026: What You Actually Need to Know

https://bikefair.org/blog/fatbikes-netherlands-guide-2026

Re: Asus Bike Booster

#187

Post by mvdwoord »

It seems to me this is a product for almost no one. Inefficient delivery of power, bulky, "smart" detection in stead of reliable operation and most importantly, the only target market I could imagine cannot use it. Not sure about other places and climates, but over here, most bicycles have fenders.

Bicycles without fenders are typically used for specific recreational activities and those sure as heck do not want this clumsy thing attached.. If they want any form of electrical assistance they would want it a lot more sleek and efficient.

Other than that, it reminds me of the Spartamet, a Dutch piece of tech from 1985 which added a small combustion engine to an otherwise regular city bike.

https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spartamet

Re: Asus Bike Booster

#188

Post by silversmith »

pjmlp wrote: post #140
giardini wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And WTF is it about mud guards now? When i was young all bicycles came with mud guard (then called "fenders") front and rear. Now they seem to be anathema. Every bike I rode w/o fenders put a stripe of mud up my back!

Being cynical I would say it is yet another way to upsell. Here in Germany if you want to get a cheaper bicycle, other than flea markets, usually they make you mount the pedals yourself, doesn't have fenders, lights might also be missing, depending on the offer.

Are you looking at performance road bikes? Fenders and lights are removed for weight savings, and for pedals there are multiple clip-in systems, you are supposed to install the pedals that match your chosen system.

If, however, they are doing that for commuter bikes...

Re: Asus Bike Booster

#190

Post by adwn »

AngryData wrote: post #137
Gigachad wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Tbh solving this is one of the actual use cases for things like flock cameras. Simply bolting things down harder is still defeated by a battery powered grinder.

Theft is solved by making society better, not worse. Make people not want or reliant upon crime to survive.

> Theft is solved by making society better, not worse.

Phew, good to hear. Here I thought it would be a hard and complex problem, with lots of unknown unknowns, difficult political compromises, a generation-spanning efforts and many potential solutions with uncertain outcomes, partially contradicting each other.

Instead, we just have to make society better. So, what's step 1?

Post reply on HN