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First 100 miles on my E-Bike

yilunzh.com

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Re: First 100 miles on my E-Bike

#11

Post by CompelTechnic »

mindB wrote: post #9

Author seems to think an internal drivetrain for a bike would be more reliable. Maybe somebody more mechanical can chime in, but my understanding was that the opposite was true: only reason cars have to use an internal drivetrain is for cooling and external ones are generally more reliable?

External drivetrains are exposed to dirt and debris, which wears down the bearing faces quickly.

There are certain bicycles that use partially enclosed chains and sprockets for which chain maintenance is greatly reduced.

Re: First 100 miles on my E-Bike

#12

Post by Brakenshire »

WA wrote: post #6

I have put about 3,000km on my E-bike in the last 1.5 years. It's limited to 25km/h, because then I don't need a license, it's fast enough for city traffic (mostly in bike lanes anyways) and I get to tow a trailer for my kid. Biggest advantage: Hills don't exist for me. We live in a city with quite a few hills and day care is about 70-100m below our appartment. Doing this trip twice a day with its 15% slope would tak…

I've read about motorized doping in bike races, with motors hidden inside the gearing, I wonder whether anyone's thought about this sort of thing for consumer bikes, and what sort of benefit you could get for, say, 1kg or half a kg of extra weight. E-bikes at the moment seem to have reconciled themselves to being twice the weight of ordinary bikes.

Re: First 100 miles on my E-Bike

#13

Post by CydeWeys »

mindB wrote: post #9

Author seems to think an internal drivetrain for a bike would be more reliable. Maybe somebody more mechanical can chime in, but my understanding was that the opposite was true: only reason cars have to use an internal drivetrain is for cooling and external ones are generally more reliable?

One of the problems with external drivechains on bicycles is that they're exposed to all sorts of harsh elements like rain, mud, and road salt in winter. Even ignoring that, unless you have good parts and you're really on top of your maintenance and constant adjustment, it's pretty easy to have the chain slip or not engage properly on the chainring/cogset when shifting.

Re: First 100 miles on my E-Bike

#14

Post by tonyedgecombe »

agumonkey wrote: post #8
eesmith wrote: post #2

"Most of the commercial E-Bike uses 250W or 350W motors, because that’s what the European specs are. While that amount of power is able to achieve 20MPH range, it does take its time to get there. In the US, with the open roads, that’s simply not enough power to keep up with traffic. Quite frankly, they still feel like a plain bicycle and it’s a bit boring to ride. Higher adoption require more power." As I understand…

16mph is already surprisingly dangerous in crowded situations

I've found with mine drivers can be surprised, especially on inclines They expect you to slow to a crawl but you keep going and they find they haven't left enough room to pass.

Re: First 100 miles on my E-Bike

#15

Post by LogicX »

I bought a Pedego electric bike this summer to replace a car.

I work from home, and there are many stores, restaurants, my Dr, etc. within a 30min e-bike ride, so we tried this experiment.

It's working out rather well in Myrtle Beach, SC.

My bike did cost me over $3k, however I too went through the process of evaluating what it would cost to build my own. aconsidering my weight (300lbs) The Pedego Stretch was one of the few bikes designed to handle that weight, and has the largest battery in the Pedego lineup. I've been happy with my purchase (including 0% APR financing for 1 year - making it a cheaper monthly payment than the lease I traded in - and that cost goes to $0 this coming summer).

It definitely opened up possibilities beyond a standard bike, and removed the feeling of being 'trapped' while working from home with no car while my wife has it at work.

Re: First 100 miles on my E-Bike

#16

Post by tonyedgecombe »

Brakenshire wrote: post #12
WA wrote: post #6

I have put about 3,000km on my E-bike in the last 1.5 years. It's limited to 25km/h, because then I don't need a license, it's fast enough for city traffic (mostly in bike lanes anyways) and I get to tow a trailer for my kid. Biggest advantage: Hills don't exist for me. We live in a city with quite a few hills and day care is about 70-100m below our appartment. Doing this trip twice a day with its 15% slope would tak…

I've read about motorized doping in bike races, with motors hidden inside the gearing, I wonder whether anyone's thought about this sort of thing for consumer bikes, and what sort of benefit you could get for, say, 1kg or half a kg of extra weight. E-bikes at the moment seem to have reconciled themselves to being twice the weight of ordinary bikes.

Something like this: https://www.vivax-assist.com/en/product/vivax-assist/vivax-a...

I think the problem is range, you won't be able to hide much battery, the one on my bike weighs 6LBs and is quite bulky.

In reality it doesn't really matter because the motor will more than offset the extra drag and weight of a heavy bike.

Re: First 100 miles on my E-Bike

#17

Post by username223 »

CydeWeys wrote: post #10

I'm surprised the author spent so much money building on top of a base bike of such low quality. That department store bike is what bike snobs would call a "bicycle-shaped object". You certainly shouldn't not be cheaping out on the actual bicycle for an e-bike, as you're putting the bike (and particularly the brakes) through forces they were not properly designed for. The author even admits such: > The brakes are oft…

This. For the $1500 the author spent, he could have bought a decent bike instead of strapping a motor on a $200 piece of cast-iron junk.

Plus, a 1000-watt motor is ridiculous: that's the kind of power generated by a pro sprinter, and over twice what a pro climber generates on average. A 100-watt boost would be enough of an advantage to make most hills easy, and would probably weigh and cost far less.

Re: First 100 miles on my E-Bike

#19

Post by jmull »

The laws around e-bikes in the US can be a deterrent. E.g.: [The Murky Legality of E-Bikes](https://www.citylab.com/equity/2016/02/the-murky-legality-of...)

The second paragraph gives you the flavor of it:

> Under federal law, an electric bike with a maximum assisted speed under 20 miles per hour can be sold as a bicycle, not a motor vehicle. Under New York state law, riders would need to register these as they would a motorcycle, moped, or car. But there’s no clear way to register them. Because of this regulatory patchwork, e-bikes are legal to sell as bikes anywhere in the U.S. but effectively illegal to ride in New York, since they can’t be registered as motor vehicles.

Re: First 100 miles on my E-Bike

#20

Post by yilunzh »

CydeWeys wrote: post #10

I'm surprised the author spent so much money building on top of a base bike of such low quality. That department store bike is what bike snobs would call a "bicycle-shaped object". You certainly shouldn't not be cheaping out on the actual bicycle for an e-bike, as you're putting the bike (and particularly the brakes) through forces they were not properly designed for. The author even admits such: > The brakes are oft…

Yup, the brakes is definitely the limiting factor currently, but other parts of the bike have held up surprisingly well. I didn't really know anything about bikes before starting this, so it was a cheap way to learn. I figured I can always upgrade the parts over time if needed. I had set a max budget of $1500 for the initial purchase and had to make tradeoff somewhere.
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