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Electric bike, stupid love of my life

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Re: Electric bike, stupid love of my life

#291

Post by constantcrying »

baxuz wrote: post #281
constantcrying wrote: post #278

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is nothing worse than using a bike in a dense city. I love cycling, but the moment you are confronted with high concentrations of pedestrians and cars it quickly gets unbearable and unreasonably dangerous. Not to mention that it is impossible for some people, 1:30 with a train, 45 minutes with a car and about 3 hours with a bike, makes thr choice rather obvious.

See, the problem you have is a large concentration of cars.

And pedestrians, who are easily as reckless and uncaring.

Re: Electric bike, stupid love of my life

#292

Post by constantcrying »

swader999 wrote: post #290
constantcrying wrote: post #278

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is nothing worse than using a bike in a dense city. I love cycling, but the moment you are confronted with high concentrations of pedestrians and cars it quickly gets unbearable and unreasonably dangerous. Not to mention that it is impossible for some people, 1:30 with a train, 45 minutes with a car and about 3 hours with a bike, makes thr choice rather obvious.

Building a custom ebike that can do 50km/HR and then you can pace cars and it's s lot more harmonious. I spent a lot of time planning routes to work, preferred side streets and bike paths. Your not constrained to the shortest route when you have a bit of per power helping you out.

>Building a custom ebike that can do 50km/HR

Illegal. And suicidal.

Re: Electric bike, stupid love of my life

#293

Post by johannes1234321 »

beebmam wrote: post #286
rcpt wrote: post #126

Greatest thing about bikes, and this still applies to ebikes, is that you actually experience and participate in the city you live in. You learn the small roads, you see other people and they see you, you spot tiny businesses and interesting parks. I lived in Los Angeles without a car for a few years. I often met people who lived here much longer but knew almost nothing about the local area despite having intimate kn…

If by "experience and participate" you mean "get hit by a negligent car", then yes, I agree. I'll never ride a bicycle again until my city is serious about cyclist safety.

And your city won't get serious, as long as nobody is needing it ...

Re: Electric bike, stupid love of my life

#294

Post by DonHopkins »

CalRobert wrote: post #110

The single most exciting thing about moving to the Netherlands next month is getting to ride an electric bakfiets with my kids every single day.

You won't be disappointed, and that feeling will not fade. I grew up in the US but live in the Netherlands, and when I see parents riding around with their kids and pets in an electric bakfiets, on bike paths along city and country roads, and on paths through the parks, I am so benevolently jealous of them. The kids always look so delighted, having the time of their lives, and the parents are so healthy and fit!

I can highly recommend getting an electric bakfiets with an Enviolo NuVinci Stepless Automatic Transmission Hub. It's a gearless continuously variable planetary hub, with an automatic transmission, that can change gears while you're stopped, automatically shifting from high into low gear when you stop at an intersection, then smoothly shifting up as you accelerate. Yes, it can actually shift while stopped, and while you're accelerating, and it's perfectly smooth. Get a carbon fiber belt drive instead of a chain if you can, too. Low maintenance, long life, and grease free!

Your kids will be safer and you will be much happier concentrating on driving and navigating instead of shifting gears, especially if you tend to forget to shift into low gear before stopping, which is a potential disaster with a normal derailleur and a bakfiets full of kids at a busy intersection, but not a problem with an automatic continuous transmission.

https://www.urbanebikes.nl/cargo-l-enviolo-automatic

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYiXwhjlSMc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJ2f08RHD1Y

Re: Electric bike, stupid love of my life

#295

Post by shrimpx »

acdha wrote: post #280
shrimpx wrote: post #276

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm eyeing an e-bike but part of me is afraid that I won't exercise as much and get lazy. Currently I bike often and get a pretty good daily workout as I climb into town.

I have found the opposite to be true: it removes excuses not to cycle, and going faster means we ride longer. We’ve gone long enough without starting our car that I had to jump it a couple of time.

Thanks!

Re: Electric bike, stupid love of my life

#296

Post by miketery »

beebmam wrote: post #286
rcpt wrote: post #126

Greatest thing about bikes, and this still applies to ebikes, is that you actually experience and participate in the city you live in. You learn the small roads, you see other people and they see you, you spot tiny businesses and interesting parks. I lived in Los Angeles without a car for a few years. I often met people who lived here much longer but knew almost nothing about the local area despite having intimate kn…

If by "experience and participate" you mean "get hit by a negligent car", then yes, I agree. I'll never ride a bicycle again until my city is serious about cyclist safety.

What city are you in? It will get better if more and more people ride.

Re: Electric bike, stupid love of my life

#297

Post by acdha »

shrimpx wrote: post #295
acdha wrote: post #280

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have found the opposite to be true: it removes excuses not to cycle, and going faster means we ride longer. We’ve gone long enough without starting our car that I had to jump it a couple of time.

Thanks!

One other thought: if you’ve ever been annoyed by cargo capacity, flats, etc. e-assist is a great leveler. I stopped worrying about the weight of my lock, heavy duty tires, etc. because I have an e-cargo bike with a kid on it, which is liberating compared to sweating grams on a road bike. (Not that a good road bike isn’t fun but it’s way less practical)

Re: Electric bike, stupid love of my life

#298

Post by rhn_mk1 »

rpozarickij wrote: post #256
readingistuff wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Electric bicycles are actually more efficient than bicycles (which are themselves more efficient than walking). The combination of human power and electric assist uses less total energy than human power alone!

I wonder how is it possible to use less total energy? If you need to apply an amount of energy to travel a given distance, the amount can't be that different whether the energy comes from muscles or from an electric motor (or a combination of both). These are different sources of energy, but it's still energy. I'd imagine the movement of the legs while pedalling would affect the aerodynamics, but is there something e…

It requires looking farther back into where the energy comes from. Humans are rather inefficient at converting calories in carbohydrates into movement. Electric motors are comparatively better at turning electric potential energy stored in batteries to kinetic energy.

Keep going this way and you'll eventually reach the efficiency of converting solar power to movement, which is again directly comparable, and electrical systems win compared to biological systems.

Re: Electric bike, stupid love of my life

#299

Post by juujian »

rcpt wrote: post #126

Greatest thing about bikes, and this still applies to ebikes, is that you actually experience and participate in the city you live in. You learn the small roads, you see other people and they see you, you spot tiny businesses and interesting parks. I lived in Los Angeles without a car for a few years. I often met people who lived here much longer but knew almost nothing about the local area despite having intimate kn…

> you actually experience and participate in the city you live in. You learn the small roads, you see other people and they see you, you spot tiny businesses and interesting parks.

And you get cussed out by either drivers or pedestrians, because street design pits you against either one or the other...

Re: Electric bike, stupid love of my life

#300

Post by jeffbee »

rsynnott wrote: post #289
jeffbee wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don’t think this can be ignored. The bulk of ebike injuries to children are coming from throttle-having class 2 bikes and in my view these should simply be outlawed. I’ve seen people crash then who clearly thought they were stopping, but who were holding the throttle. They were riding a motorcycle without motorcycle training. Torque-assist pedal systems are perfectly intuitive to anyone who knows how to ride a regu…

> The bulk of ebike injuries to children are coming from throttle-having class 2 bikes and in my view these should simply be outlawed Huh, I always thought that virtually everywhere treated these the same as motorbikes (ie you need a license, insurance etc).

I've never heard of any place that required a license for any of the 3 formal electric bike classifications. If you need a motorcycle license that is because the thing you intend to ride is, in fact, a motorcycle.

The bike featured in the article, a BESV PSA1, is considered a "class 1" machine under the most common framework. It has a low-power motor, pedal assist, and no throttle. I am not aware of any place that requires licenses or insurance for such a bike.

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