A bit uglier and with an less consensual design than Tesla IMO
This is for bicycles what Tesla is for cars
21–30 of 68 posts
Re: This is for bicycles what Tesla is for cars
#22Did you mean, this is to Motorbikes what Tesla is for cars? Isn't the bicycle already pretty damn perfect? I don't look at my bike and wish it could take petrol or was electric powered. There are tons of electric motor assisted bikes out there without the weight of a motorbike.
Re: This is for bicycles what Tesla is for cars
#23At my previous agency we built the website for a competitor to a bike like this. They gave us one to keep at the office so I have a little experience with it.
The bike in this article has all the same problems as the one we had.
It's waaaaaay too heavy. You can't really peddle it, not for long anyway, it's virtually impossible. It's only a matter of time before the battery runs out on you and you find yourself stuck.
You can't get it around. The one we had took several people to move up and down things. This is a pretty big issue when you're living in a London apartment (their target market).
Then there's the segway effect. Was it PG who said that you can't ride one without looking like a smug twat? The first time my boss took it out some guys in a white van slowed down to yell "get a real bike, you lazy !#&*"...
Re: This is for bicycles what Tesla is for cars
#24This is the opposite of what Tesla is for cars. It's taking the single most energy efficient vehicle I know - 99% mechanical efficiency, incredibly low carbon footprint, and an amazing calorie-per-kilometer ratio (miles-per-apple?) - and it makes it worse in every single aspect. It is probably fun to ride, and it's better for the environment than cars, but it is certainly not a "greener" bicycle.
Re: This is for bicycles what Tesla is for cars
#25This is not what I would call a bicycle. It's a motorbike that allows you to pedal should you want to. In the UK, this would need a motorbike licence. There are strict rules as to how an electric bicycle may assist you and up to what speed. Non-pedal assist (just turn the handle) are limited to 20kmh otherwise they are considered a motorbike. Pedal assist are effectively self-limiting.
Also in the video, the woman accelerates away from a motorbike then loses him when she decides to carry on through a pedestrianised area at I guess 30kmh. WTF?
We have people at work who have electric bikes. The key is that they can be parked in bike racks with other bikes AND, most importantly, they can grab the battery and charge it at their desk.
Tyres are very fat on this bike so won't bike rack and the battery is internal so you will need a specific charging point.
As a bike for use on a mountain bike trail...bet the handling is way to heavy for most trails.
Clever idea but not sure who it's aimed at. I'm guessing an environmentally conscious dirt bike riders?
Re: This is for bicycles what Tesla is for cars
#26At a weight of 49 kg, this is way too heavy to be considered "sort of a bicycle". Pedelecs assist the rider, whereas here it's necessary to have a charged battery, or you'll feel like there's another person riding along with you. Taking a look from the other "what is a bicycle" side, this thing fills an interesting niche: even when you only have to pedal for 1% of the power in street mode, you're still pedaling, so i…
I happily ride my heavy Stromer to work. With respect to things on wheels, it's not that important how heavy it is once it starts moving—what you lose in starting you gain in greater inertia. It's just something you get used to.
We'd all be better off if we commuted with 50kg bikes than 1,100kg cars.
Re: This is for bicycles what Tesla is for cars
#27This is not what I would call a bicycle. It's a motorbike that allows you to pedal should you want to. In the UK, this would need a motorbike licence. There are strict rules as to how an electric bicycle may assist you and up to what speed. Non-pedal assist (just turn the handle) are limited to 20kmh otherwise they are considered a motorbike. Pedal assist are effectively self-limiting. Also in the video, the woman ac…
Unless this bike can reach it's top speed in around 2 seconds, I don't the motorcycle was really going for it. (I'm basing this on my not-ridiculously-fast motorcycle which can easily reach 65kmh in 2 seconds)
Re: This is for bicycles what Tesla is for cars
#28This weighs 50kg and will not be legally considered a bicycle. So you will need a license plate and insurance. And then it's probably not street legal. So you can drive this in the woods, if you don't get caught.
What EU legislation says about the max. bike weight?
Re: This is for bicycles what Tesla is for cars
#29This, my friends, is an electric moped. I wouldn't pay 600 euro for it, let alone 6000. If you are looking for fuel economy, regular old-school gas mopeds can get >100mpg. Admittedly, though, they do not offer a tablet and fingerprint reader interface. This will only carry forward on the force of hype, not because it is a truly great product.
Re: This is for bicycles what Tesla is for cars
#30Could you see yourself riding this regularly on the commute to the office? If not, it's a toy, not a Tesla equivalent. It's a shame, as I think there's a lot of room for innovation in bicycles. Not to mention, I'm waiting for the day where magic happens and I can get stats for all of my cycle rides without first having to load up a phone app (or stick on a cycle computer, for that matter).
Bicycles are probably one innovative and competitive markets out there, the amount of cutting edge technology used to shave gram weight from components is absurd, there are thousands of manufacturers for each niche in the bicycle industry.