Electric Bikes.

[BringYouToLife]

I haven't seen any good electric road bikes, it seems like battery
technology has reached a point where a good electric road bike would
be a practical means of transportation, they sell bikes that have 20
mile range at 17mph, but add your cycling power to that, and just
conserve your electric power to maintain high gear speeds, it would
seem like you could have a very significant range with little tiring
with these new batteries.
I spend so much on gas when I drive, and somedays you are just too
tired to ride your bike to work, but with that little edge from a
electric motor, I think it would be very practical for almost anyone.

And plus, we don't have to start a nuclear war over oil, won't cause
hurricanes and global warming, etc.

P.S In my city this week, some guy was exonerated for hitting a
biker, because the biker was there to tell his side of the story,
driver said they turned into the path of their vehicle. Wonderful.
You hit a biker , you go to jail, I see so many people who give
absolutely no room to bikers, especially when they are turning in and
out of places, they all assume that since they're in a big car, they
have the right of way. This is why nearly nobody rides their bikes on
the roads with the cars. If we would just lobby the states and
government to made the roads a mere 12 inches wider, a bike lane on
all roads, they could do that for mininal cost, and it would be sooo
much easier to ride, but nearly all the connecting roads are barely
big enough for 2 cars, and now we got these goddamn 6 foot wide
hummers stalking everyone, hogging road width.

[Pete]

"BringYouToLife" > wrote

> I haven't seen any good electric road bikes, it seems like battery
> technology has reached a point where a good electric road bike would
> be a practical means of transportation, they sell bikes that have 20
> mile range at 17mph, but add your cycling power to that, and just
> conserve your electric power to maintain high gear speeds, it would
> seem like you could have a very significant range with little tiring
> with these new batteries.
> I spend so much on gas when I drive, and somedays you are just too
> tired to ride your bike to work, but with that little edge from a
> electric motor, I think it would be very practical for almost anyone.

I've testridden a couple. A Giant LaFree, and a Huffy (somethingorother soon
taken off the market).
My take on it is that the motor and battery and gearing provide enough power
to overcome the extra weight of the motor and battery and gearing.
The LaFree control system requires you to pedal along with the motor. And it
may boost a couple of mph. But not much.
The Huffy could be ridden with only the motor, but the rest of it was sooo
crappy as to be a nonstarter.

You need a groundfloor parking space for it. These things weigh 70+lbs, so
carrying it upstairs in an apartment is troublesome, as would be putting it
on a bike rack if you wanted to take it anywhere.
Kickstand techology needs to be worked on. The Giant wasn't too bad, but the
Huffy would fall over at the slightest touch. CoG was way off, and the stand
couldn't handle it.

Elec bikes seem to be a solution in search of a problem. Too slow to be an
advantage, too heavy to be a *bicycle*, range limited (try pedalling that
70lb lump home when the batteries are low).

Take a 1/2 step up, and get a regular moped, or little motorcycle. Faster
and good on gas.

> And plus, we don't have to start a nuclear war over oil, won't cause
> hurricanes and global warming, etc.

Oh, and electricity ain't free. You're not paying to move a 3,000lb lump,
but you are paying.

Pete

[cheg]

"BringYouToLife" > wrote in message
om...
> I haven't seen any good electric road bikes, ...

http://www.electricvehiclesnw.com/main/lite.htm

[zed]

http://www.strangevehicles.com/content/item/13793.html

[the black rose]

zed wrote:
> http://www.strangevehicles.com/content/item/13793.html

LOL. I wonder how comfortable it REALLY is.

-km

[Matt O'Toole]

Pete wrote:

> Elec bikes seem to be a solution in search of a problem. Too slow to
> be an advantage, too heavy to be a *bicycle*, range limited (try
> pedalling that 70lb lump home when the batteries are low).
>
> Take a 1/2 step up, and get a regular moped, or little motorcycle.
> Faster and good on gas.

How about an electric one? I've ridden the Oxygen, and I was very impressed.
Domino's Pizza is using them for delivery in Europe, and will be in the US soon
too:

http://www.evworld.com/view.cfm?section=article&storyid=757

>> And plus, we don't have to start a nuclear war over oil, won't cause
>> hurricanes and global warming, etc.
>
> Oh, and electricity ain't free. You're not paying to move a 3,000lb
> lump, but you are paying.

Electricity is a whole lot cheaper than gasoline, especially if you "fill up"
overnight when the rates are cheaper. Electric vehicles require far less
maintenance, and can be parked indoors because there are no gas fumes, fire
hazard, or oily mess.

Matt O.

[Pete]

"Matt O'Toole" > wrote

>
> How about an electric one? I've ridden the Oxygen, and I was very
impressed.
> Domino's Pizza is using them for delivery in Europe, and will be in the US
soon
> too:
>
> http://www.evworld.com/view.cfm?section=article&storyid=757

Sounds interesting. What's the range and speed of these things? Oxygen
doesn't seem to have any specs on their website.

Pete

[Mitch Haley]

Matt O'Toole wrote:
>
> How about an electric one? I've ridden the Oxygen, and I was very impressed.
> Domino's Pizza is using them for delivery in Europe, and will be in the US soon
> too:
>
> http://www.evworld.com/view.cfm?section=article&storyid=757

Well, that looks as useful as a Honda Spree, which is better than
some e-bikes.

I was thinking about how neat it would be to build a brushless
motor/generator into the front hub. Even a relatively lightweight
50 watt/hr battery could give a noticeable boost to your commuting
speed, and the motor would double as a generator for your headlight
if the battery ran down. Getting decent efficiency from the motor
at 200-400rpm might be a challenge.
Mitch.

[Matt O'Toole]

Pete wrote:

> "Matt O'Toole" > wrote
>
>>
>> How about an electric one? I've ridden the Oxygen, and I was very
>> impressed. Domino's Pizza is using them for delivery in Europe, and
>> will be in the US soon too:
>>
>> http://www.evworld.com/view.cfm?section=article&storyid=757
>
> Sounds interesting. What's the range and speed of these things? Oxygen
> doesn't seem to have any specs on their website.

As the article mentions, they go about 30 MPH, for 50-60 miles or so. IIRC they
have a few different battery packages available, performance varying slightly
with cost.

Matt O.

[Pete]

"Matt O'Toole" > wrote in message
...
> Pete wrote:
>
> > "Matt O'Toole" > wrote
> >
> >>
> >> How about an electric one? I've ridden the Oxygen, and I was very
> >> impressed. Domino's Pizza is using them for delivery in Europe, and
> >> will be in the US soon too:
> >>
> >> http://www.evworld.com/view.cfm?section=article&storyid=757
> >
> > Sounds interesting. What's the range and speed of these things? Oxygen
> > doesn't seem to have any specs on their website.
>
> As the article mentions, they go about 30 MPH, for 50-60 miles or so.
IIRC they
> have a few different battery packages available, performance varying
slightly
> with cost.

Ah, I missed that. Thanks

Pete

[[email protected]]

On 7 Oct 2004 15:07:07 -0700,
(BringYouToLife) wrote:

>I haven't seen any good electric road bikes, it seems like battery
>technology has reached a point where a good electric road bike would
>be a practical means of transportation, they sell bikes that have 20
>mile range at 17mph, but add your cycling power to that, and just
>conserve your electric power to maintain high gear speeds, it would
>seem like you could have a very significant range with little tiring
>with these new batteries.
> I spend so much on gas when I drive, and somedays you are just too
>tired to ride your bike to work, but with that little edge from a
>electric motor, I think it would be very practical for almost anyone.
>
> And plus, we don't have to start a nuclear war over oil, won't cause
>hurricanes and global warming, etc.
>
>P.S In my city this week, some guy was exonerated for hitting a
>biker, because the biker was there to tell his side of the story,
>driver said they turned into the path of their vehicle. Wonderful.
>You hit a biker , you go to jail, I see so many people who give
>absolutely no room to bikers, especially when they are turning in and
>out of places, they all assume that since they're in a big car, they
>have the right of way. This is why nearly nobody rides their bikes on
>the roads with the cars. If we would just lobby the states and
>government to made the roads a mere 12 inches wider, a bike lane on
>all roads, they could do that for mininal cost, and it would be sooo
>much easier to ride, but nearly all the connecting roads are barely
>big enough for 2 cars, and now we got these goddamn 6 foot wide
>hummers stalking everyone, hogging road width.
I bought Wilderness energy kit and put on a cheap bike bought
from Walmart. Bike cost me $70 and kit cost me $400+ $50 shipping.
I've been using it for about 5 months and put about $1500
miles on it.
The good things-
It goes about18 - 20 miles / hour speed, totally quite, can
take off without even touching the paddles, never had to worry about
gas price.
The bad thing-
Kit added 36 LB and even though it supposed to go 20 miles
[which I'm sure it can go if you use totally flat road with no wind
and once take off don't even think about slowing down] the best I got
9 miles without paddling and 12 when I paddled with it. Due to weight
it's lot of work to get it upstairs. Since I use to go to work and no
way for me to charge it, Batteries are now shot [can get 5 miles
without paddling now] and I gotta get new pack [$85 w/ shipping]
As far as I'm concern it's been fun and I will keep using it
as long as it last but I will consider buying a 49cc moped next.

[Jack Blake]

wrote in message > way for me to charge it, Batteries are now shot [can get 5 miles
> without paddling now] and I gotta get new pack [$85 w/ shipping]

Dead gel-cell lead-acid batteries can be REVIVED, no need to buy
replacement SLA batteries for your electric bicycle:

http://www.abilities.ca/phorum/read.php?f=21&i=36&t=36