Electric bikes gone wild

[Lee]

I've seen bicycles on interstates here in Montana. .

You're correct. I forgot it's legal in some locations in the western states.

[KenDittrick]

E-Bike hate?
Comparing E-Bike to gasoline motorcycle
E-Motorcycles are a better comparison it would seem. Those Zero E-Motorcycles look pretty good as well.
Might be able to put baseball cards on the spokes of a E-Bike to remove the “stealth” factor
OM

If you are referring to my previous post I will clarify. I compared the cost of an e-bike to the cost of a gas powered motorcycle.

I am a huge supporter of moving from gasoline to electric bicycles/motos that utilize power from environmentally responsible electricity sources. Range is still a problem for motorcycle use cases, whereas bicycles are much closer for my use case. I commuted to work for 40 years on a ten-speed bicycle with a round trip of 45 Km per day. That was the range required for me. YMMV for everyone else.

There was not and still is no place to recharge a bike, motorcycle or car for return trips so round trip range (home back to home) is very important.

[ALIENHITCHHIKER]

Trigger warning - this is a curmudgeon posting:

I hate to see these E-bikes set up with trail capable fat knobbies. It makes it too tempting to actually take these 300 lb machines onto hiking/mountain bike trails - a lot of weight for these sorts of trails to bear, not to mention the potential for excessive speed.

Hopefully anyone who rides one will have the good sense to stick to fire roads and gravel.

[8ninety8]

Back to usage on designated park trails, bicycling, walking, jogging and such. The trails I use are posted, no motorized equipment. And, as I earlier posted, they're out on the trails here. And they're moving right along. Almost like, zo-o-o-ooooom. The fat tires can be heard coming from behind. Hope they got insurance.

It's dangerous enough with multiple use trails. Families and such on weekends. Strollers, hot wheels sometimes blocking the paths. Which is fine as long as all are careful. Have no idea where electric bicycles will be categorized. It would seem they're a motorized vehicle?

[Lee]

Back to usage on designated park trails, bicycling, walking, jogging and such. The trails I use are posted, no motorized equipment. And, as I earlier posted, they're out on the trails here. And they're moving right along. Almost like, zo-o-o-ooooom. The fat tires can be heard coming from behind. Hope they got insurance.

It's dangerous enough with multiple use trails. Families and such on weekends. Strollers, hot wheels sometimes blocking the paths. Which is fine as long as all are careful. Have no idea where electric bicycles will be categorized. It would seem they're a motorized vehicle?

In the Des Moines area all the bicycle trails are marked No Motorized Vehicles but it's legal for electric bicycles to use the trails.

[kbasa]

I took a snapshot- that doesn’t want to upload

MSRP- $4,724
Bass Pro Discount- $420
Included options- rack and fenders- $130

Final price- $4,434.

OM

For that much money, go look at bikes from traditional bicycle manufacturers like Specialized, IMHO.

If you're looking to use an eBike for running chores, google up electric cargo bikes. For most chores within a mile or so of ones home, electric bicycles, IMHO, represent the future or local transportation. I see cargo bikes riding home here with a couple bags of groceries in the bin and a kid or two sitting on the big bench seat on the bag.

Also note that there are different schemes for how electric bikes work. Some are like motorcycles, twist the grip and off you go. Others are pedal assist: you pedal and it amplifies your power with electric assist. Some do both, so you want that to be clear.

But mostly, I'd stick to traditional manufacturers because of their ability to offer higher quality components like brakes, wheel sets, etc.

[kbasa]

Trigger warning - this is a curmudgeon posting:

I hate to see these E-bikes set up with trail capable fat knobbies. It makes it too tempting to actually take these 300 lb machines onto hiking/mountain bike trails - a lot of weight for these sorts of trails to bear, not to mention the potential for excessive speed.

Hopefully anyone who rides one will have the good sense to stick to fire roads and gravel.

These don't weigh 300 pounds unless they have a 250 pound person them.

[kbasa]

Some roadway terminology is weird. I live on a two lane road in Texas designated Texas Highway 118. In Texas it is designated and called a highway. To our north about 100 or so miles is US Interstate Highway 10, generally designated and called Interstate 10 or I-10. In California I-10 would be called "the 10." In many other locales I-10 would be called a highway, but Texas Highway 118 would be called something or other but not called a highway. The Texas nomenclature is the same as I found in Iowa and Kansas when we lived there and I believe is the same as AKBeemer finds in Montana and Alaska.

In SoCal, it's be "the 10". Up here, it'd be "10". We call controlled access roads "freeways" here. Highways can be two lane, like Highway 1, but mostly, when referring to numbered roads around here, we call them by their number. "We took 1 to 128, then over to Calistoga, then up 29 to Clearlake".

If someone from SoCal visited, they'd say "We took the 1 to 128, then over the Calistoga, where we caught the 29 to Clearlake."

I wouldn't be surprised if Texas has similar regional variations to here.

[Omega Man]

Last I read, if the motor is in the pedal set, it’s “assisted” and ok in parks. If driven from the rear, it’s “driven” and not allowed.
OM

[ALIENHITCHHIKER]

These don't weigh 300 pounds unless they have a 250 pound person them.

You are correct - weight is only about 80 lbs for the QuietKat e-bikes. My mistake. I was looking at their load capacity.

By way of comparison, my human powered Kona HonzoCR weighs about 27 lbs.

[kbasa]

You are correct - weight is only about 80 lbs for the QuietKat e-bikes. My mistake. I was looking at their load capacity.

By way of comparison, my human powered Kona HonzoCR weighs about 27 lbs.

I can dig it. My Colnago Ace is a bit over 17. It's a hoot.

Imho, the more folks we can get on bicycles the better. For bikes above a certain speed threshold, maybe we should require training? Bad bicycling etiquette gets people hurt or killed.

In NYC recently, bike trips have increased by a couple hundred thousand over last year, as people move off mass transit. They're using those Citi Bikes and the bike Lanes. Covid may normalize bicycles for urban use.

[Omega Man]

I used to watch Superbikes, a show with Jayson Britton.

https://www.jasonbritton.com/gallery

A lot of his training was in California on nice bikes. IIRC, he used to do 27 miles on his “regular” route.

It kept him in great shape. I think out here, 27 miles would result in 10 near death experiences

OM

[henzilla]

This is the owner of the bicycle museum in Cumberland Gap, the museum is in background that I posted in Bicycle thread.
He was out in his electric pedicab he fabbed.

47338FB1-2E44-47FC-BA23-D0E228D631D2.jpeg

3E41EAF0-8664-4938-ACC3-11316F9F950C.jpeg

The battery is a lithium pack on the rear rack above wheel.

67738A8C-7A32-462D-BF37-E7416910F63D.jpeg

The drive hub is a Shimano 8 speed Nexus w/ disc brake. He told me in spite of size, the rig is pretty zippy.

B969F353-34F6-4020-A6F0-C7B4BE3725AF.jpeg

[jonnybow]

I've recently started researching ebikes for hunting. getting in and out of some of my bigger farms while hunting is exhausting. The long walks cause sweating which can ensure the deer wont come around as well as the presence of a person walking from the parking area to the hunting spot can spook deer. We've never allowed any vehicles while hunting, only when retrieving downed deer do we currently allow 4 wheelers.
Now that we have chosen to allow bikes, I'm buying one.
There are hundreds of options, from cheap foreign made bikes to top end ebikes offered from racing bike manufacturers. The hunting specific bikes are all over the place as well, from entry level to over the moon stuff.
I've found the QuietKat Ranger, it's a rear hub model which offers 750 or 1000watt motors. Where I hunt, the terrain is fairly flat with only rolling hills which allows me to look at the "cheaper" rear hub offerings. This particular model has a "hunting package" that comes with a 2 wheel trailer, gun holder, rear rack with panniers, fenders and GPS holder included. I've ordered but they won't ship until the end of June.
Looking forward to riding this bike around, they look like tons of fun

[Omega Man]

I've recently started researching ebikes for hunting. getting in and out of some of my bigger farms while hunting is exhausting. The long walks cause sweating which can ensure the deer wont come around as well as the presence of a person walking from the parking area to the hunting spot can spook deer. We've never allowed any vehicles while hunting, only when retrieving downed deer do we currently allow 4 wheelers.
Now that we have chosen to allow bikes, I'm buying one.
There are hundreds of options, from cheap foreign made bikes to top end ebikes offered from racing bike manufacturers. The hunting specific bikes are all over the place as well, from entry level to over the moon stuff.
I've found the QuietKat Ranger, it's a rear hub model which offers 750 or 1000watt motors. Where I hunt, the terrain is fairly flat with only rolling hills which allows me to look at the "cheaper" rear hub offerings. This particular model has a "hunting package" that comes with a 2 wheel trailer, gun holder, rear rack with panniers, fenders and GPS holder included. I've ordered but they won't ship until the end of June.
Looking forward to riding this bike around, they look like tons of fun

A number of the hunting shows are featuring that brand of electric bike. They are doing exactly that and it appears with great success.
Post up how you make out. I really have an interest in one.
Thanks.
OM