Electric bikes gone wild

[PGlaves]

That thing will go 60 mph, and with some tweaking some think up to 80 mph. Sheesh!

[henzilla]

Sounds like he had the Mac daddy model, most have smaller motors...some by regulations and prob not a bad thing for the forgot to RTFM crowd

[jonnybow]

That article must be using old data claiming that in the US, bikes are only 750W machines. There are 3000W machines now and I'm sure that will also go up.
The motorcycle models are no joke

[Omega Man]

I was on a rail-trail with the ATV recently. There were 2 Quite Kats rolling along quite nicely through the dirt, bumps and grades of the trail.
Very impressive.
OM

[henzilla]

With the current thread concerning H-D’s business model changes and such, thought this odd timing today.

https://electrek.co/2020/10/27/harle...cycle-company/

Mid motor belt drive...made me chuckle just a bit

[wkoppa]

With the current thread concerning H-D’s business model changes and such, thought this odd timing today.

https://electrek.co/2020/10/27/harle...cycle-company/

Mid motor belt drive...made me chuckle just a bit

That's a good looking bike.

The Honda dealer in the town where I grew up also sold Schwinn bicycles. He would excuse himself from the Honda customers to talk to bicycle shoppers, especially around Christmas. Those bicycle guys paid his bills on a more regular basis.

If you have not ridden one of the new electric bicycles you will be pleasantly surprised. My wife took one around the parking lot and said "load it up". Spent more money on that than I did a lot of my early motorcycles.


Wayne Koppa
Grayling, MI
#71,449

[Lee]

Ran across this in Austin today while retrieving a front fork I left at beginning of Covid in ATX.
The operator was describing being turned into a few days before. We compared stories from a distance and Q&A about each other’s bikes... I was on the GSA.

Attachment 79297

That looks like the same bike a guy on another forum just bought.

https://theriderspace.com/forum/bike...ree-hugger-now

[jonnybow]

Here's just one of many deer that I carried back to the truck with my bike and trailer.
This bike is a game changer for me as far as hunting is concerned. Put 250 miles on it this hunting season!

[Omega Man]

With dual wheels-



https://riderungu.com/

Looks interesting.

OM

[robsryder]

[QUOTE=kbasa;1313874... I think they're pretty amazing and right on the forefront of future local transportation, alongside eBicycles, which I also want.[/QUOTE]

I have come to really, really like eBicycles. [I still have my "human-only" bikes, they are just slower and my heart works harder on the hills!]

I found that with eBicycles some are very nice, some nice, and some ok. For a road bike with drop bars I have a Specialized Turbo Creo that has about a 75 mile range (on low setting) and allows for a supplemental battery (that occupies one water bottle spot) said to give another 40 miles (also on the low setting). The supplemental battery only gives me about 28 miles on the high setting though (when I try to keep up with some faster folks - I give out before the battery does).

The Trek Verve series ebikes are nice and we enjoy using these on local "greenway routes" and in quiet residential areas. For an ok eBicycle I have Aventon Pace500 bikes. These are about half the price of the Trek Verve bikes and it is easy to see that some components are a bit lower quality than used on the Treks. Still...half-price. I have let folks ride the Aventon bike, then switch to the Trek. If they can afford it the Trek is the easy choice. But for once in a while rides, the Aventon bikes are ok.

EBicycles have three "classes" or categories. At the lower end the user must pedal and the battery assist is limited to 20 mph. In the middle category the user can either pedal or use a "throttle" (sometimes it is a thumb operated lever) that will allow the battery to propel the bike without pedaling to 20 mph. The highest category has the user pedal, but the battery can provide assistance to 28 mph. Some bikes use a combination of the categories (e.g., pedal-assisted to 28 mph, throttle to 20 mph). There are "hacks" that can be used to exceed the "limits". For some bikes it is more difficult to pedal when the battery is off (or fully discharged). Others can have the battery off and the bicycle can be pedaled as a "regular bike".

The "cruiser" ebicycles can weigh from 50 lbs and up. The range on the cruiser ebikes seems to be 30 to 40 miles. Extra batteries can cost $600.

Some of the really nice road bikes are less than 30 lbs including the battery and motor.

Some bikes have the drive in the rear hub and others have a drive near the crank. If one has to repair a rear puncture, the hub-drive units make repairs a good bit more difficult and require more tools than one might expect.

https://www.specialized.com/us/en/c/eturbocreo

https://www.trekbikes.com/us/en_US/b.../verve/c/B436/

https://www.aventon.com/collections/...c-cruiser-bike

[kbasa]

I have come to really, really like eBicycles. [I still have my "human-only" bikes, they are just slower and my heart works harder on the hills!]

I found that with eBicycles some are very nice, some nice, and some ok. For a road bike with drop bars I have a Specialized Turbo Creo that has about a 75 mile range (on low setting) and allows for a supplemental battery (that occupies one water bottle spot) said to give another 40 miles (also on the low setting). The supplemental battery only gives me about 28 miles on the high setting though (when I try to keep up with some faster folks - I give out before the battery does).

The Trek Verve series ebikes are nice and we enjoy using these on local "greenway routes" and in quiet residential areas. For an ok eBicycle I have Aventon Pace500 bikes. These are about half the price of the Trek Verve bikes and it is easy to see that some components are a bit lower quality than used on the Treks. Still...half-price. I have let folks ride the Aventon bike, then switch to the Trek. If they can afford it the Trek is the easy choice. But for once in a while rides, the Aventon bikes are ok.

EBicycles have three "classes" or categories. At the lower end the user must pedal and the battery assist is limited to 20 mph. In the middle category the user can either pedal or use a "throttle" (sometimes it is a thumb operated lever) that will allow the battery to propel the bike without pedaling to 20 mph. The highest category has the user pedal, but the battery can provide assistance to 28 mph. Some bikes use a combination of the categories (e.g., pedal-assisted to 28 mph, throttle to 20 mph). There are "hacks" that can be used to exceed the "limits". For some bikes it is more difficult to pedal when the battery is off (or fully discharged). Others can have the battery off and the bicycle can be pedaled as a "regular bike".

The "cruiser" ebicycles can weigh from 50 lbs and up. The range on the cruiser ebikes seems to be 30 to 40 miles. Extra batteries can cost $600.

Some of the really nice road bikes are less than 30 lbs including the battery and motor.

Some bikes have the drive in the rear hub and others have a drive near the crank. If one has to repair a rear puncture, the hub-drive units make repairs a good bit more difficult and require more tools than one might expect.

https://www.specialized.com/us/en/c/eturbocreo

https://www.trekbikes.com/us/en_US/b.../verve/c/B436/

https://www.aventon.com/collections/...c-cruiser-bike

I've got kind of a growing fascination with the Specialized Turbo Vado. I've got a 2015 Roubaix SL Comp Disc and I'm thinking it's gonna go and get replaced by something I can use to ride down the giant hill I live on to go to town and not die coming back up.

[DennisDarrow]

[QUOTE=robsryder;1313889]If one has to repair a rear puncture, the hub-drive units make repairs a good bit more difficult and require more tools than one might expect.

Surely not to argue; but perhaps i dont understand what is so hard about this??? I have never had to change a rear tire on a multi-speed tire so i dont know what to expect really. My bicycle tire change experience is with the old gravel road/card popping with the clothes pin attached cruiser when i was 10.

Now though, i have graduated to a Pedeago fat-tire trail that is fantastic on the street. Easy to get up to the 25mph get in trouble range with the front and rear hydro disc brakes. Taking the tire off was loosening one bolt/nut on the axle, taking the luggare rack loose, and then clearing the chain off the gears..................


Putting it back together was the problem......I didnt realize that i squeezed the brake pedal, closing the disc brake pads together and that i needed to open those back up. Getting the playing card thick disc back down into there was a pain but i discovered the situation after breaking the china like pads......Cheap enough to replace those and easy slip in of the new pads into the caliper. So, then to get the chain oriented correctly on those gears, those durn arm things and stuff lined up but that was easy to do once i got it figured out.

No tools other than the ones to remove the axle nut and the luggage rack/saddlebag carrier...........

2 hour job which next time will be 20 minutes.........God bless me....amen.......Dennis

[robsryder]

The hub drives have a wire to deliver power to the hub. One must take care to not damage the wire when loosening the rear wheel axle. Repairing a hub-drive in a garage where one may have a bike stand and appropriate tools ready to hand is one thing. But, making a field repair on a heavy bike is quite another. The less expensive hub driven bikes often lack a "quick release", the nuts that must be loosened require a wrench (adjustable can work, but two may be needed), a cable tie nipper and extra cable ties are needed. There may be slots that have to be aligned to re-fit the axle. Don't damage the wire to the hub drive. The wheel is heavy, the chain is greasy, and is there a spare tube (or patch kit) and CO2 or air pump? If there is a disc rotor on the wheel, take care to not damage the aluminum brake rotor. Insert the orange plastic piece to keep the brake pads separated or try really hard to not squeeze the rear brake lever. Much, much more difficult than a conventional rear wheel or one that uses a drive near the crank (which is essentially a conventional rear wheel).

[Omega Man]

Latest rules on electric bike usage in National Parks-

The regulation defines electric bicycle to mean a two- or three-wheeled cycle with fully operable pedals and an electric motor of not more than 750 watts The regulation establishes a three-class system to differentiate between the models and top assisted speeds of e-bikes.

• Class 1 e-bikes have a motor that provides assistance only when the rider is pedaling, and that ceases to provide assistance when the e-bike reaches 20 mph.
• Class 2 e-bikes have a motor that may be used exclusively to propel the bicycle, and that is not capable of providing assistance when the e-bike reaches 20 mph.
• Class 3 e-bikes have a motor that provides assistance only when the rider is pedaling, and that ceases to provide assistance when the e-bike reaches 28 mph.

Superintendents may authorize the use of e-bikes that fall within any of these classes.

The full article here- https://www.nps.gov/subjects/biking/e-bikes.htm

OM