Live data from Hacker News

Long Range E-Bike (2021)

jacquesmattheij.com

161–170 of 345 posts

Re: Long Range E-Bike (2021)

#161

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We have the laws. What they’re doing is illegal. I think they need a higher tier of penalties for the repeat offenders, but that would require anyone getting caught first. It’s an enforcement problem. The riders know they’re riding where police cars can’t get them. They also know that the bike cops aren’t allowed to ride ultra powerful electric motorcycles. They also know they can just drive off across some grass int…

> We have the laws. What they’re doing is illegal. … It’s an enforcement problem. Because some people think laws only ever exist to restrain as a show of power over others and something is only illegal if you get caught. And some people just want to be contrarian and acting against the law is the ultimate punching-up. Some laws are just a good idea, and provide benefit, or even just expectation/predictability, to eve…

Japan puts these uturn fences up. The sign near the uturn part says "get off your bike and walk it"

https://pasteboard.co/IlXSlFUOgULW.png

I'm not sure how I feel about them. I like that the made a way to get you off your bike. I dislike that the path seems plenty wide enough to accomodate bikes and that it would be a useful bike path or 1/2 bike path, but they want it to 100% pedestrian path, even though it's not remotely crowded.

Re: Long Range E-Bike (2021)

#162
Reading the comments here, let’s take a moment to mourn another technology that so called HN hackers want to see regulated en masse by their big daddy government.

Like drones, 3D printing, and now the simple pleasure of building your own e-bike. It seems like a certain demographic of NIMBY/Karen has taken over and is hell bent against makers and anything remotely cool, DIY, that could even be slightly more dangerous than a game of Pickleball.

Re: Long Range E-Bike (2021)

#163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

60kmph / 37mph is very fast for somebody who might just be wearing a bicycle helmet (hopefully). If traffic is going that fast, I think it may just not be the appropriate place for a bicycle to be. I've gone that fast on an e-bike before, and it doesn't feel comfortable nor safe.

I agree with having a good helmet, however to be honest my first motorbike ride and car drive at 60kmh were terrifying. Also many people never bicycle even in a 30kmh limites zone because they don’t feel safe. But I don’t want to downplay speed, as you noted it’s probably the key: most motorbike death are because speed or loose of control without involving any other vehicle. Also small cylinders (< 50cc) are almost a…

Suicidal motorbikes are allowed with license and insurance though. Not saying that's optimal for public safety, but that's a big distinction.

I think that's the logical line between e-bikes an electric motos: at what power or speed do you want to start requiring some kind of licensing or insurance?

Re: Long Range E-Bike (2021)

#164
post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Pedal assist ebikes are incredible, and really just turn weak cyclists into strong cyclists The more useful case ime is turning cyclists with reduced mobility into regular cyclists. In particular quite a few elderly people seem to have picked it up in my city, they aren't quite strong riders but definitely seem able of adapting to normal traffic. It also seems like a significantly safer option for individual transp…

> The more useful case ime is turning cyclists with reduced mobility into regular cyclists. That's exactly my use case. I've got a bad leg and this thing made all the difference for longer rides.

I am impressed by your solution and I took have at least one bad leg. I have decided against batteries in favour of a basic bike that I can park anywhere and carry up stairs. I want the little and often mobility with a few longer rides over summer. I also have a neighbour in his late seventies that rides 'naturally aspirated' with a buddy that is two years older. His buddy has an ebike and he is giving it a couple of years before he goes electric.

Being younger than him, I feel that I need to stick with 'naturally aspirated'.

I am interested in going the other way to get a dynamo with that switchable between lighting and USB power, for my phone and speakers. There is 3A at 6V to play with.

Ultimately I would want mild hybrid, with regen so all assistance is pedal powered.

Re: Long Range E-Bike (2021)

#165
post #151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think we have different grocery habits. Food, beer, and cat litter would be too heavy for a bike.

You don't think a family of four buys 'food' ? I also get beer occasionally, although sometimes I get it from the corner store a few blocks away. I do get kitty litter with the car on the occasional trip to Costco because I'm not set on using the bike for every last thing. Just that the eBike makes a lot of things a lot more convenient.

The "food" was a catch-all. Pretty sure that was clear.

Beer and cat litter alone are the heavy items, and don't fit stable in a bike, especially in bad weather.

Plus 2 weeks of groceries, depending on what you need can really add up.

On a bike? Fah-get-a-bout-it. Guess I'd be biking my ass to the store every day.

Or I could live in the present and drive an actual car.

Clearly GP buys 1 day worth of food if he can bike groceries for a family of four.

I had Uber drivers struggle to bike 1 MEAL for my family.

Re: Long Range E-Bike (2021)

#166
post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think we have different grocery habits. Food, beer, and cat litter would be too heavy for a bike.

Are you sure? https://www.r-m.de/en-us/bikes/load5-75/

How many of those have you seen in the US?

None, because noone wants to bike 5 miles for 3 bags of groceries.

Re: Long Range E-Bike (2021)

#167

Sort of a hijack, but it rides on the awesomeness that e-bikes can bring about. They truly are incredible if you have never gotten to ride one. E-bikes with throttles should not be refereed to as e-bikes E-peds, e-motos, electric motorycle, whatever. Just don't call them ebikes. The problem is people (especially kids) getting what are essentially electric motorcycles, thinking they are ebikes, and then causing all so…

I don't understand that point. Why do e-bikes become better or more safe when you have to rotate your legs? Its really frustrating and silly that I have to go through the motions (literally) of riding a bicycle if I want to get the priviledge of using a bike lane or going without a license plate. (At least that's the case here in Germany AFAIK). They could go ahead and make "fast electric bikes" and "slow electric bi…

"hinging the decision on whether your legs or your wrist is turning is illogical"

No it's not, it's recognizing the psychology between "big push with foot makes go fast" and "pressing button makes go fast".

Besides, if the only thing that matters is speed, then logically you'd have to require normal pushbikes to register as well, once cyclists are able to pedal sufficiently fast.

Re: Long Range E-Bike (2021)

#168
post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They're talking about riding a regular bike at 25mph. Most people can't sustain that.

Most people cannot sustain it on a 750w mid drive e-bike either.

Are ebikes not legally restricted to 250W-ish in most countries?

Re: Long Range E-Bike (2021)

#169

So, this got posted again I see. A few years later: the pack is still going strong and has not - so far - shown any signs of wear. I've put close to 15000 Km on it now and there is no degradation worth mentioning, though I suspect that if I do a precise capacity measurement that it would definitely show some reduced capacity. The really neat thing is that at the end of a long ride the cell groups still track to withi…

I'm curious, how much does this weigh? I've ridden e-bikes a few times, and it's always surprising how much heavier they are than ordinary bikes. I can't imagine how heavy this must be.

Re: Long Range E-Bike (2021)

#170

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As an oldster who used to do weekly century rides and lost that ability due to nerve damage in my foot (thanks to decades of wearing pointy Italian riding shoes), I’d love it if we could focus on simply enforcing laws that exist rather than saddling arbitrary blanket regulations on lawful citizens. I built an ebike and hell yes I put a throttle on it because it enables me to ride more technical trails. This bike has…

I'm sypathetic but ... unlike cars, bikes don't have large each to read license plates. People will scream about facial recognition. I'm not trying to take away your freedom. I've just wished they'd enforce traffic laws on cyclists but it's just not going to happen and cyclists know it so they almost all break traffic laws with impunity.

You know who generally stops at a stop sign or stoplight? People on an e-bike, compared to people riding for sport or commuting on road bikes. It's not a big deal to stop and get started again when you have a motor. It's a pain in the ass when you're trying to make it to work on time with your legs.

Why is having a license plate even relevant here? Most traffic enforcement is done when an officer sees something happen.

Post reply on HN