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Long Range E-Bike (2021)

jacquesmattheij.com

251–260 of 345 posts

Re: Long Range E-Bike (2021)

#251
post #66

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 really like a low speed throttle, like 3-5mph max is fine. 20mph is too fast and results in ebikes basically designed a motorcycles that cannot be pedaled. The throttle is so nice to have to get started quickly like turning left at a light, if you didn't have time to downshift before stopping, on a hill, or if the bike is heavily loaded with stuff. Its also nice to be able to use to slowly move between cars with yo…

Those are legal, at least in the EU. It's called "push support" or "walk assist", my bike engages it when I long-press the down button. It's purpose is to help you push the heavy e-bike up ramps and hills, but I mainly use it as a throttle when I ride behind my toddler on his balance bike.

It's closer to 3mph than 5mph, and as such needs some slow-riding skills, but it works.

Re: Long Range E-Bike (2021)

#252
post #30

I bought an entry level ebike and the range is about 100km on lowest power on flat land, and of course it increases if you drive above 25 km/h. I don't know what the difference is with what op has, but for me it's no extra issue to drive above the top speed. It's a gradient transition. I use mine daily and charge it every two or three weeks.

The highend ebikes are actually worse at this style of riding with minimal assist, since they are 30 kg behemoths which ride like shit without plenty of motor power.

Re: Long Range E-Bike (2021)

#253

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Japan has bicycles with license plates. It's clearly possible.

They don't have license plates, they have mandatory registration stickers. You can't read it unless you look closely at the sticker while the bike is stopped. It's to identify owners of stolen bikes, not identifying running bikes.

Re: Long Range E-Bike (2021)

#254

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…

A throttle is excellent on an e-bike especially for city riding. It is far easier to move at slow speeds by applying a small amount of throttle vs. trying to torque the pedals just the right amount, if behind someone or near pedestrians. Many e-bikes don't have torque sensors and instead use a cheap rotation sensor so the motor engages almost randomly at certain points in pedal rotation when moving at slow speed.

> Many e-bikes don't have torque sensors and instead use a cheap rotation sensor so the motor engages almost randomly at certain points in pedal rotation when moving at slow speed.

Today, those are mostly limited to Walmart-tier quality e-bikes. Even the very next step up (still big box store bikes) usually come with torque sensors.

Re: Long Range E-Bike (2021)

#255
post #199

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…

Why are they illegal in the first place? Obviously people see value in such devices. They don't ride them for the sake of riding them without getting caught. They have great utility, with their power, weight and size. They can be fast for sure, but it's also not on the same level as even a 300cc motorbike either - should they really be put into the same basket? How can that be enveloped by law - if it really has to b…

The discussion really depends on which country we're talking about, but basically speed bikes are not illegal. They're just considered as moped, meaning a 50cc motorbike and have to respect all the rules mopeds are subject to, such as:

- Having a license plate and back mirror

- Be insured

- Wear a helmet (not a bike helmet, a moped/motorcycle helmet)

- Drive on the road, not on bike lanes

Nobody is arguing they're equivalent to a 300cc motorbike.

Re: Long Range E-Bike (2021)

#256

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem with max speed is that while big legit ebike manufacturers respect it (e.g. you can't buy a Bosch ebike in the UK that will go above 15.5mph), you can easily get Chinese models that don't care, or you can mod other bikes that do fairly easily. I don't know what the solution is tbh.

You can't "easily" modify an electric brushless motor to go faster than its Kv limit, to handle more current than its magnetic saturation limit, or to exceed the limits of back-EMF. 99% of the people whinging about ebikes have no idea what they're talking about. There are people claiming in this very thread that kids are modding their "e-bikes" to go "45mph." The power levels required to push a hybrid bicycle to 45mp…

No, what the modders do is just disable the velocity dependent power limit on the standard e-bike power controllers. The easiest/hackiest way to do that is to install a pulse rate divider on the tachometer cables - bike goes 30mph, controller thinks it's going 10mph and delivers full power. This messes up the mileage counter and is trivially easy for the cops to spot, but it'll work.

> The power levels required to push a hybrid bicycle to 45mph is north of 3000W

Yeah, 45 mph is hyperbole. 45 kph is very easily doable on a standard 750W e-bike motor with <$1 of additional electronics. At that point it's all aero, so going even faster is mostly about rider position and bike geometry (those scooter looking things are going to be slower than a proper bike on 29" wheels).

Re: Long Range E-Bike (2021)

#257
post #203

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…

> I'm pretty sure your frame wasn't designed to carry this 22 pound battery or anything like it

Presumably bike frames are designed to carry larger riders? 22 pounds is well within the normal range of "adult". Apparently most bike frames are designed for riders up to 120kg - so the OP could easily be 40+kg below that.

Re: Long Range E-Bike (2021)

#258

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

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

That's the limit for continuous rated power. The motor's frequently have 600W-750W of peak power output, and can legally use this much for short amounts of time (usually seconds, like accelerating from a stop; but often also for going up a steep hill for several minutes).

Re: Long Range E-Bike (2021)

#259

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…

They won’t change their tune unless they are directly affected by China eating their lunch.

Re: Long Range E-Bike (2021)

#260
I personally don't agree with the 25kmph is not enough logic. I live in Cambridge, which has fairly decent cycling infrastructure. In my experience, I''m nearly always faster around town on my bike than my friends driving around, once you account for finding parking as well. I never cycle above 25, certainly not inside the town. And I dont think I would want to share cycling lanes with people doing more than that either, and I cycle faster than most people here. Cycling routes are safe because people are cycling at reasonable speeds to get to where they want to go. I haven't lived in the US where everything is much farther apart, amybe it makes more sense ther, but at least for where I live, 25kmph is plenty to get to where i want to go in time, while enjoying the views along the way.
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