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

Long Range E-Bike (2021)

jacquesmattheij.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

201–210 of 345 posts

Re: Long Range E-Bike (2021)

#201

Post by Zambyte »

freeopinion wrote: post #181
skeeter2020 wrote: post #174

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You know what happens when a cyclist is involved in a traffic accident they cause? They might get hurt or cause some minor property damage. When the driver of a car is at fault they kill other people, so I'm not too worried about even negligent bike riders causing an accident.

We recently had a funeral for people killed in an accident that was not caused by the car driver. When cars and bikes share the same space, it might be an impact with a car that kills somebody, but that impact might be the result of a chain of actions initiated by a bicyclist.

Drivers are actually not supposed to crash into people, regardless of where they are. If you can't react fast enough to the situation around you while driving a car, you were driving too fast, full stop.

Don't victim blame.

Re: Long Range E-Bike (2021)

#202

Post by bryanlarsen »

socalgal2 wrote: post #158
wintermutestwin wrote: post #68

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.

Large license plates don't prevent cars from regularly breaking traffic laws. The percentage of cyclists who come to a complete stop at all stop signs and red lights is higher than the percentage of drivers who strictly follow the speed limit.

Re: Long Range E-Bike (2021)

#203

Post by 0xWTF »

jacquesm wrote: post #129

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…

What surface conditions do you ride this in? I spent this morning on my Specialized Levo (1) and ran down the entire battery over the course of about 2.5 hours, covering 36 km and 1400 meters of elevation, much of the downhill being at "mach chicken", with drops, doubles, locked up dirt surfing, etc. There is 0% probability I would take this long range e-bike to that terrain. Which is fine. But I'm pretty sure your frame wasn't designed to carry this 22 pound battery or anything like it, so are you exclusively riding this on buttery smooth Dutch roads?

(1) a few years old now, but keeps up with my buddy riding the new-new version https://upway.co/products/specialized-turbo-levo-comp-carbon...

Re: Long Range E-Bike (2021)

#204

Post by thrill »

pluralmonad wrote: post #61
thrill wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

“E-bikes with throttles should not be refereed to as e-bikes” This is simply wrong and does a disservice to the growing eBike interest. The US-federally defined classes are proper and while IMO overly limiting (max speed should be 60kph and still classified as an eBike as it’s simply safer in traffic), they adequately classify what is an eBike and what is not, and having a throttle does not make something not an eBik…

Why do you think it is bad for communities to set their own standards?

Because if a eBike meets already well defined federal class specifications it is considered a eBike, and not a motor vehicle, and other than setting reasonable speed limits in high foot-traffic areas, local regulations do nothing but complicate life.

Re: Long Range E-Bike (2021)

#205

Post by socalgal2 »

socalgal2 wrote: post #158
wintermutestwin wrote: post #68

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.

It's hilarious to see all the responses that are effectively "others break the law more!"

The license plate issue is that cities can, and are, adding more and more license plate scanners to catch cars. Those won't work for bicycles and ebikes (who drive like cyclists) unless they require license plates on bikes/ebikes and enforce. Yes, and enforce more on cars too.

Re: Long Range E-Bike (2021)

#206

Post by jacquesm »

0xWTF wrote: post #203
jacquesm wrote: post #129

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…

What surface conditions do you ride this in? I spent this morning on my Specialized Levo (1) and ran down the entire battery over the course of about 2.5 hours, covering 36 km and 1400 meters of elevation, much of the downhill being at "mach chicken", with drops, doubles, locked up dirt surfing, etc. There is 0% probability I would take this long range e-bike to that terrain. Which is fine. But I'm pretty sure your f…

Bikepaths, mostly.

Re: Long Range E-Bike (2021)

#207

Post by spaqin »

oceanplexian wrote: post #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…

Every time a cool thing becomes popular I only envy the early adopters who didn't have to worry about regulation too much, and build their companies or brands when the rules were still light. Then with the resources they get, they can spend some of them on adhering to the new requirements, which newcomers have to struggle with. Oh well.

Gotta keep on the edge if you want to enjoy things or be successful.

Re: Long Range E-Bike (2021)

#208

Post by thrill »

bootlooped wrote: post #64
thrill wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

“E-bikes with throttles should not be refereed to as e-bikes” This is simply wrong and does a disservice to the growing eBike interest. The US-federally defined classes are proper and while IMO overly limiting (max speed should be 60kph and still classified as an eBike as it’s simply safer in traffic), they adequately classify what is an eBike and what is not, and having a throttle does not make something not an eBik…

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.

People ride analog pedal bikes all the time in places with road traffic and they impede that traffic when they are going slower - I’ve known more people hurt because someone tried to pass them when they’re departing a traffic light or needing to turn across traffic than from falling down while going “too fast”. It’s frequently more than getting yelled at when multi-ton vehicles intentionally pass by you so close you feel the wind push you away. Being able to go about 35mph puts you at a pace where someone in a car stuck behind you is much more likely to exhibit a little patience.

EBikes are popular and growing like crazy, especially outside the US. There’s somewhere over 30 million in India alone, estimated to double in five years. Their presence is not going away, even in the US, but it takes serious time and desire to get protected bike lanes built. Where I live there’s 6 grocery stores within 3 miles in either direction - and all on the other side of a 4 lane road. You end up riding in the road for part of the trip, and it’s more dangerous from relatively heavy traffic if you’re going 15 instead of 35 for even that short distance.

Re: Long Range E-Bike (2021)

#209

Post by jacquesm »

jadenPete wrote: post #169
jacquesm wrote: post #129

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.

170 cells, they're 45 grams each, the pack mounting hardware and box adds another two kilos or so, so say 10 Kg in all for the pack. Definitely not a lightweight :) But once it's going you hardly notice the weight other than when you have a pothole or bump. It also obviously isn't as nimble as a lighter bike but it is still very well manageable because the weight is relatively low.

What's interesting is that the duct tape is still the same, it never even cracked or tear. I don't particularly care about the looks, it just needs to work.

Re: Long Range E-Bike (2021)

#210

Post by jacquesm »

defrost wrote: post #131
jacquesm wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's why you don't touch Lithium Ion packs unless you know what you are doing. I've repaired many Bosch packs before I tried building my own and seeing the guts of professionally designed and robotically assembled packs after they're a few years old is a very sobering exercise in what to do and what definitely not to do. There are a bunch of youtubers that go out of their way to give massively dangerous advice to p…

While you are Not My Engineer and .. are there any bloggers / vloggers that are or at least seem to be giving good advice that you are comfortable passing on?

Yes, there is an Australian dude that has pretty much seen it all, and he's paid his tuition fees so he's a lot more careful now.

I'll look up his name tomorrow, it's been years since I last looked at that (it's 5 am after a night of hacking so I'm off to bed).

Post reply on HN