Long Range E-Bike (2021) • Hacker News Board

Re: Long Range E-Bike (2021)

#341

Post by 0xWTF » Thu, Mar 05, 2026, 6:11 AM UTC

leoedin wrote: post #257

0xWTF wrote: post #203

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Bicycle frames are highly optimized to have the loads concentrated at specific points, namely the seat, bottom bracket, and wheels. The lugs are heavy, and the tubes are very thin almost everywhere else. This appears to be putting load at focal points along the thin wall regions. Every time you hit a bump, the battery hits the frame, like hitting the thin wall of a soda can with a hammer.

Re: Long Range E-Bike (2021)

#342

Post by 0xWTF » Thu, Mar 05, 2026, 6:12 AM UTC

jacquesm wrote: post #206

0xWTF wrote: post #203

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

To be clear, I really envy you the buttery smooth Dutch roads.

Re: Long Range E-Bike (2021)

#343

Post by conductr » Fri, Mar 06, 2026, 7:38 PM UTC

WarmWash wrote: post #55

conductr wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As an alternative mode of transportation, that could/should replace car usage for many people, I think we need to separate the two completely as well. The throttle version needs to be regulated more like a motorcycle or moped. This would take it out of the hands of most kids and cause license suspension worries for young adults and other reckless users. I agree they are essentially death machines and governments gene…

There is nothing standing in the way of electric motorcycles. People get e-motos because it is effectively a motorcycle, except it doesn't have any road legality requirements. People treat them like bicycles that can just magically go 50mph.

That's the problem, they need to be regulated more like motorcycles so there is differentiation between them and the real e-bikes. Treating them as the same does no good

Re: Long Range E-Bike (2021)

#344

Post by conductr » Fri, Mar 06, 2026, 7:46 PM UTC

carlosjobim wrote: post #281

mc3301 wrote: post #180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cheaper, quieter, smaller footprint for storage, can be easily brought up a few stairs or put in the back of your car (by one person), slower (a perceived safety advantage by some, as most motorcycles can go highway speed), maintenance is less daunting (again, perceived), culture (perceived) as some people are quite turned off by motorcycle culture, and many many more. One of the major problems with ebikes is the exi…

Motorcycles have all those advantages against cars, except being able to bring them indoors. Yet people aren't all riding around on motorcycles. E-Bikes have their niche, but they're not going to replace cars, since motorcycles didn't. Motorcycle culture is something you choose if you participate in. If you're a lady commuting to work on a scooter, few people will expect you to participate in that.

I think they're significantly more approachable than ICE motorcycles. But, what they share is common and a major adoption hinderance in Western world - we just like dry safe climate controlled boxes a lot, it's comfortable.

I think e-motos have a better chance of replacing cars than e-bikes ever do though. The scale of our cities and distance people travel almost necessitate the higher speeds. It will become more popular as economics force it, if the average car keeps costing more and groceries too, while wages stay pretty flat, well groceries will eventually win.

Actually, the economic forces being what they are, have average car age at an all time high in the US [0]. It is likely that once these old cars die off; a large portion of people simply will not be able to afford new cars and at some point the supply of used cars will be insufficient and people will be forced to entertain cheaper alternatives.

[0] https://www.pbs.org/newshour/economy/average-u-s-vehicle-age...

Re: Long Range E-Bike (2021)

#345

Post by loeg » Sat, Mar 07, 2026, 7:26 PM UTC

Panzer04 wrote: post #175

medi8r wrote: post #172

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah the assistance you get from a bike being light is huge. I wonder if expensive light bike > assisted bike in terms of saving human effort per trip. Obviously if the e-bike requires no pedalling at all it wins but then that is not legal everywhere.

Human effort just isn't worth very much. The strongest humans on earth can manage about 400W for an hour. Even very small ebike motors are usually capable of 500w continuous/forever, so long as the motor does not spend too much time stalled or at very low speeds. For a normal human, a "legal" 250w motor is easily doubling or tripling their normal power output, so hauling around an extra 20kg on top of the existing ~1…

> The strongest humans on earth can manage about 400W for an hour.

Hayden Pucker did ~500. But more or less, yeah.