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E-bike E-xperiences?
Jakedata writes "I am in the process of building my first e-bike. I intend to use it to commute to work a couple times a week, weather permitting. I can only assume that many members of the /. crowd are already riding e-bikes and would be only too happy to share their experiences. I am looking at a very affordable e-bike conversion kit from Golden Island Machinery. They offer a 36 volt lead-acid battery pack for it, but I am concerned that it will be too heavy. Rabbit tool has a selection of components and power options but they are pretty pricy. So, is Golden Motor's kit any good? Is lead acid OK to start off with? Does someone want to donate a direct-conversion methanol fuel cell to the project?"
This thing has a top speed of 36km/h and 50km distance. I'd say it would come in handy to complement your peddling when the wind is not in your favor.
Though I would have liked to have seen it hooked up to the derailleur as the motor specs says it has 'high torque'.
I can usually maintain 35km/h effortlessly, but with this beast 45km/h could be the crusing speed if peddling and motoring can go hand in hand.
Wouldn't go any faster on a pedal bike, leave that to the stunt people.
Candle burns its brightest in the dark
When I was a young geek of 9, I got my ham radio license.
I tricked my bike out with an old 2M radio bolted to the handlebars, 6V golf cart battery under the seat, and a whip antenna attached to the frame, down by the rear axle, running up like one of those flags
More than doubled the bike's weight. I was, however, the kid with a real mobile rig.
I only really talked to my parents with it, but it was still cool. And ultra-geeky.
Hehe
Do you really mean 35km/h on average? For how long? That is almost as good as a professional cyclist can get...
I think you might get into trouble for operating a motorized vehicle without the proper license or registration. Since you stated that you want to commute to work, why not get a scooter? You can ride legally on all of the same roads as a car can and not have to worry about cars passing (and nearly hitting) you on busy streets while on a bicycle.
I ride a motorcycle to work and it is the funnest thing! I blow past all of the cars and cut in front of everyone at stop lights.
I use a Velomobile to get to work and back (http://www.velomobiel.nl/). It is fast and wether proof. (and there is a lot of nasty wheter over here in the Netherlands.
Nyh
What do you know about the kit that was linked in the article? It seems that this kit powers your front wheel, while you power the back with a stadard pedal arrangement. That's something I haven't seen in an ebike before. Would you be limited to going the fastest that the motor/gearbox in the front wheel can move, or would you be able to add your pedal power and the electric motor to move at a greater pace? I obviously see the potential for greater acceleration and easier to maintain speed while going uphill, etc, but I'd like to be able cruise at a high speed for longish distances. Or, alternatively, add a little extra speed to my cruising for long durations.
The battery, I agree looks pretty hefty, I'll be interested to see what the /. crowd comes up with on that. Does the "power braker" = a regenerative braking system, or is it some sort of power assited brake to help you slow down at higher speeds and with the extra weight?
Why not add gadgets to a regular bike? Like say a Palm Pilot or a GPS? That would, IMO make it an E-bike. If you are looking for an electric bike, then why not build an electric motorbike or perhaps a scooter?
I mean, having a bike and NOT moving it under your own power (Kinetic or Potential energy here) really defeats the purpose.
Try to hack my 31337 firewall!
It's more predictably sunny here, so people can bike or walk more, I guess.
I live in the Netherlands, the weather sucks all the time, it's either raining and/or cold, or it's too warm/humid (happens a few days each year, rest of the time it's cold and raining), still we have more bicycles than people here, and no one wears a helmet. ofcourse, it's as flat as a pancake out here, so no crazy downhill speeds.
I think the reason bikes are so popular down here is that it's just too crowded for cars, and the distances are relatively short.
It's also probably the only country where it's perfectly normal to pick up your date on a bike.
Why not make an iBike? It would be slightly more expensive, but much sleeker and more stylish.
What we really need is a ten day waiting period and a background check before you can buy a congressman.
You could install one of these on a BikeE (Google cache of related pages) and be the first kid on the block to have an EbikeBikeE!
-- My hovercraft is full of eels.
I was seduced by the idEa of an Ebike about 18 months ago.
I bought an Aprilia enjoy ebike.
This was not a Harley, but was certainly a fat and useless hog.
What a dog!!! about 4 (four!!!) km range going up and down hills here in Sydney.
So...I did what some other reader here suggested...bought myself a super duper light mountain bike, stuck some thin style phat boy kevlar tyres...pump'D them to 100 psi.
Man! You don't need a motor.
Float like a butterfly instead of riding the Hog.
Get a real bike. Should fuel cells...or flying cars ever emerge..then pigs too might fly.
It's also probably the only country where it's perfectly normal to pick up your date on a bike.
I love it. In far too many countries (and I include specifically the UK and USA) your percieved status is almost solely defined by the cost of your car.
BugBear (whose bikes are worth more than his car)
Ignorance is curable. Stupid is forever.
I have been biking to work now for almost a year. I've long since gotten in shape, and I have no problems with hills or smelling at work (just change cloths, it takes 1 minuet).
But there are days I just don't feel upto it. Seriously. Sometimes I just didn't get enough sleep, sometimes I'm sick (though rarely thanx to all that regular exercise), and sometimes I'm bruised from falling off my bike. So some times I'm just not capable of putting out that much effort.
It would be nice to have something that could pick up the slack. "Help" pedal as it were so that I can still ride my bike, even when I don't have the energy. There may be days when I don't have the energy to ride, but there is never a day that I don't want to ride.
That and for longer inter-city trips, some kind help would also be good.
But batteries don't have any where near the power density for longer intercity trips. And the system ways so much that it's more of a burden than a help on daily commutes. (since most days you won't need it)
I know I'll get flaimed for it, but what about a small petrol/gas motor? Easy to refule, there often made light weight, and have the power to make a real difference in both scenarios.
I would rather be ashes than dust!
Whether you lose weight from your arse or your belly is entirely down to your anatomy and how it distributed the fat in the first place. You will grow muscle in your arse from cycling, but if you aren't losing fat from your belly, you won't be losing it from your arse either. Fat is never "converted" to muscle.
You know,
/. type of stuff.
when I read the subject and frontpage bit, i thought he was building a bike, that took care of his email needs, and had a build in laptop, and other geeky
It turns out however to be the other kind of E (lectric iso lectronic)
Have you considered a moped type bike ?
Not to mention over here in the Netherlands you are ridiculed when riding a 'Spartamet', which is a bike with an additional small electrical motor, unless yer 60+ or something :)
Also, the Netherlands is probably the only country where on a Saturday evening in the major cities you expect to leave yer home with a bike and return home with another one ('stealing' bikes is the national pass-time)...
>An e-bike confers no speed advantage, at the cost of being environmetally unfriendly, and denying the user exercise
It also denies the user sweat, which is important if a shower is not available at work (or if time is at a premium), and is much more fuel efficient than another non-sweaty option, driving a car.
Why is driving a car OK, riding a bike is OK, but riding an e-bike is lazy?
Simple Unexpected Concrete Credible Emotional Stories
There's really no reason not to get a real bike. It's faster, more efficient, better for you, and better for everyone else too. I think I know what the problem is here:
You can't squeeze your ample posterior into those sleek lycra bike shorts. Here's what you do, my friend.
Take the shorts and duct-tape them to the refrigerator. Then the next time you go to get beer/soda/ice cream/etc., you'll see them there and think, "If I keep stuffing my face I'll never fit into these sleek lycra shorts." Then go do 20 situps instead.
You may want to tape another pair of shorts near whereever you keep the chips.
Finally, a (real) bicycle is one of the greatest gadgets ever created. It is THE most efficient mode of transportation. It has been refined for over a century.
It requires you to do some work, but it will pay back your input with improved health, better physique, and increased energy.
Plus, you get to be a bike snob, too. Welcome.
I found four or five really useful suggestions in here. Good links too. Thanks for that.
Golden Motor may be tough to deal with, but no horror stories.
Stay away from the Zap! motor (I knew that).
Lead Acid batteries will be OK for now. NiMH is better, Li Polymer is best, but tempermental.
The bike will be a thief magnet (I knew that too).
Where I live, I will probably pick up more chicks with the e-bike than a Harley. They probably won't be as much fun though.
Check on local licensing regs.
To the bike snobs - I have an efficient Cannondale road bike, and I ride it often. I wear Lycra shorts. The motor is going on my police auction mountain bike.
To the "get off your fat ass" trolls - my blood pressure is lower than yours, my cholesterol is lower than yours, I swim laps several times a week, and I know the difference between peddle and pedal.
My commute is 15 miles with some hellish hills. As several people pointed out, I don't want to stink the place up when I get there.
And finally, having modpoints while your story is up really r0x0rz.
I can usually maintain 35km/h effortlessly, but with this beast 45km/h could be the crusing speed if peddling and motoring can go hand in hand.
Wouldn't go any faster on a pedal bike, leave that to the stunt people.
Really?
What kind of bike are you on? You should be plenty stable up to 40mph (~65km/h). I hit that on almost every ride I go on (I live at the bottom of a few rather large hills, every ride I do ends in a steep decent). Hell 3 weeks ago I was on a 70 mile ride, and I went down a long ~10% grade, I hit 54mph (~87km/h) I didn't feel the least bit unstable until about 50mph, and it was still quite managable the whole way. The pro's in europe routinly break 100km/h coming down mountains.
And I ride a rather cheap 2002 Giant OCR2 (~$800), I have been told that high speed handling is one of the places where the expensive bikes actually do much better.
"I'll have a Guinness, no wait, make that a Coors Light" -Grad student I work with, who shall remain anonymous...
At ZVO, we tackled that series of problems and created an e-bike that's light (39 lb.), easy to pedal and uses whatever gearing is currently on the bike -- from derailleurs to hub transmissions. As a result, we have a bike that will do over 35 MPH and climb hills, as well, without pedaling, but encourages dual drive modality -- pedal with motor assist -- for the most daunting hills while you're training.
http://www.zvoinc.com/
We don't think powering a bike is sacrilegeous. Anything that gets more people out among other folks and encourages a sense of community is a good thing. Anything that relieves road congestion is a good thing. Anything that encourages excercising more than the right foot is a good thing.
I've been biking about an hour a day during my lunch break for the last few months. I've managed to lose over 20 pounds as a result - even on a steady diet of pizza, steak & cheese subs, and Mountain Dew. I feel better, look better (according to my wife), and have more energy than before I started biking. Get an e-bike if you must, but do yourself a favor and ride under your own power as much as possible.