Electric bikes?

[einmusiker]

who uses them? what are your favorites?

I am probably going to buy one this wee to commute to/from work, about a 14 mile round trip. I have a few big hills on the route but the roads are good other than that

 

[Maddix]

Do a Wikipedia on "electric bicycle laws" if your not familiar with them.
I'm assuming your not familiar with bicycles?
If all you've ridden was cheap bikes, you owe it to yourself to test ride a quality bike.
Jamis makes very good commuter bikes. Also look at their Coda line of bikes.
If you could test ride a Coda Comp, you'd love it.
You don't need a front suspension fork for pavement. All they do is add weight and soak up pedal energy.

 

[GermanyChris]

Do a Wikipedia on "electric bicycle laws" if your not familiar with them.
I'm assuming your not familiar with bicycles?
If all you've ridden was cheap bikes, you owe it to yourself to test ride a quality bike.
Jamis makes very good commuter bikes. Also look at their Coda line of bikes.
If you could test ride a Coda Comp, you'd love it.
You don't need a front suspension fork for pavement. All they do is add weight and soak up pedal energy.

What does this have to do with an eBike?

@OP I'd likely not get a true electric bike, pedelec maybe.

 

[Orange Crane]

I don't know anything about electric bikes (other than that trek makes some nice ones) but it sounds like your situation is ideal for one. Your local shop should be able to give you insight into the details of the world of ebikes. I visited the seattle bike expo this weekend and ebikes were definitely being represented there. I think we're going to see an increase in availability of ebikes of all kinds in the US in the next decade considering the beginning cultural shift away from the personal auto in many major cities.

That distance is fair, not super short or too long. I have a comparable commute, by normal-bike, up a couple of good hills. If it weren't for an ideal combination of factors I would have likely ended up going the ebike route; I live in a city that rarely gets very hot or cold, I have shower facilities at work, work attire is extremely casual, I'm young(ish) and physically resilient, and a good number of both friends and coworkers also ride. I do have a couple of friends who have ebikes and they love them. Not everyone wants to or is able to put up major physical effort every time they need to go someplace and ebikes provide a great medium between the convenience of a bike and ease of traditional motor driven transport. And you don't smell of gasoline after riding an ebike the way you do after a motorcycle ride!

I highly encourage anyone, especially if you live in an urban area, to look into bicycles, ebikes, mopeds or scooters for commuting and personal transit. The advantage to ebikes in particular is that in most cases you can throttle the electric assist so that you get a boost on hills or in the face of a good headwind, while using your own power when you like. This is the perfect time of year (in the northern hemisphere) to get on a bike- you'll figure out the ins and outs of your machine as well as have a chance to settle on gear that suits your needs just in time for the best of the riding season.

A good article about ebikes.

 

[senseless]

I haven't seen any E-bikes in our local bike stores, so I assume they must be maintenance headaches for the dealers.

 

[einmusiker]

Well my budget is around $500 or so. Everyone is recommending the Currie Trailz bike but I've seen mixed reviews. I really like this bike on fleabay http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180889949439 as it is powerful and the stated battery range is incredible for an ebike. Only problem is nobody seems to have ever heard of the brand and I imagine maintenance would be difficult given the relative scarcity.

 

[senseless]

Reviving this thread because my local bike dealer now has a full line of Trek electric bikes with service after the sale. Has anyone ridden one of these? I would like to have a mixed use type for public streets and parks with big hills to climb.
https://www.trekbikes.com/us/en_US/bikes/electric-bikes/c/B507/#sort_form1

 

[0388631]

Trek is a good company. No doubt their e-bikes are built as well as their regular bikes.

 

[Tom4981]

I was looking at them a couple of years back but decided on putting a 49cc gas engine on the bike instead.

 

[Lioness~]

I have an EcoRide, that is a local Swedish company for Electric bikes.
Popular in Scandinavia.
Bought the Epix Tour Uni last spring. Great city bike, very pleased.

https://www.ecoride.se/vara-elcyklar/42-epix-tour-uni

 

[jeyf]

zeromotorcycle.com
i dont work for these people but the concept looks interesting?

everyone here better appreciates what they are used to. either you like hospital food or not; my last bike was a 07 R1. For everyday grocery getter driving, a conservative rider can appreciate the better handling to avoid a traffic situation.

 

[senseless]

zeromotorcycle.com
i dont work for these people but the concept looks interesting?

everyone here better appreciates what they are used to. either you like hospital food or not; my last bike was a 07 R1. For everyday grocery getter driving, a conservative rider can appreciate the better handling to avoid a traffic situation.

Interesting, but the one thing you want on a motorcycle is to be heard.

 

[Anarchy99]

I love my electric bike, its the tidal force m-750

its a foldable mountain bike and is pretty awesome ( its a version of the Montague paratrooper frame )

for years it was considered the e-bike to get because unlike others at the time it was one of the only mountain bikes rather than city style bikes that could be foldable and thus made it great for commuting as well as offloading.

unfortunately the company that made it went under years ago, but silver lining its one of those eclectic things that has a underground following and a still active google group.
best off the company that does warranty service still exists so people are able to refurbish them still.

last year i convinced a buddy to track one down he found it for less than $400 and got fresh batteries for a few hundred more.

I myself a year and half ago had them do a battery replacement and they were even able to unlock the motor to be 1000W vs the stock 750w (so technically i have the M-750X now not the M-750) basically i can go faster WOOT!!

the non X model is Range with only Front Hub Battery 20 miles (32 km)without pedaling, more with pedaling.
(you can add removable 3rd party battery packs either instead of or addition to the hub) with a maximum Speed of 20 mph (32 km/h)

or the X model is up to 20 miles (32 km) without peddling, more with peddling and a maximum speed of Up to 25 mph (40 km/h)

if you want to put in the legwork to find one i still think especially for the price it can be a excellent option

 

[jeyf]

Interesting, but the one thing you want on a motorcycle is to be heard.

tie a bell on it

 

[juanm]

who uses them? what are your favorites?

I am probably going to buy one this wee to commute to/from work, about a 14 mile round trip. I have a few big hills on the route but the roads are good other than that

I bought one last month. It’s brilliant. Because of the regulations it’s limited to 16 mph so my peak speed is slower than on my road bike, but overall this one is faster because it’s a steady 16 mph even uphill.

Edit: Old thread resurrecting got me again!

 

[senseless]

I've read that serious cyclists get pissy about E-bikes, since they consider it too easy. I guess there are purists about everything.

 

[Anarchy99]

I've read that serious cyclists get pissy about E-bikes, since they consider it too easy. I guess there are purists about everything.

yeah but sometimes easy is whats needed to enter.

i lost over 70lbs when i was commuting with a ebike.
yeah i was really fat but thats the point, when your so overweight the idea of a bike "is for athletes"

when i started using the bike it was a straight up moped, slowly but surely id pedal a bit and eventually i was all pedalling, it was rare that id use the battery at all unless i was in a rush to get somewhere, then id use the combination.

point im getting at is who gives a flying F what elitist cyclist douchebags think.

also many ebike's similar to regen braking allow for added resistance so you can charge your batteries somewhat by peddling basically turning it into a exercise bike that moves so hypothetically some bikes are harder than "real bikes"

 

[Lioness~]

I've read that serious cyclists get pissy about E-bikes, since they consider it too easy. I guess there are purists about everything.

They are inexperienced dumb heads then.

yeah but sometimes easy is whats needed to enter.

i lost over 70lbs when i was commuting with a ebike.
yeah i was really fat but thats the point, when your so overweight the idea of a bike "is for athletes"

when i started using the bike it was a straight up moped, slowly but surely id pedal a bit and eventually i was all pedalling, it was rare that id use the battery at all unless i was in a rush to get somewhere, then id use the combination.

point im getting at is who gives a flying F what elitist cyclist douchebags think.

also many ebike's similar to regen braking allow for added resistance so you can charge your batteries somewhat by peddling basically turning it into a exercise bike that moves so hypothetically some bikes are harder than "real bikes"

Good for you.
Keep going.

The cyclist purists can yell or speak whatever they want, if they want, for my concerns too.
I don’t care at all. They are probably not enough experienced to understand what they talk about then.

I've been biking down 7 racer-bikes through my life.
Done a LOT of other training simultaneously with it.
Today biking with my EcoRide is only transportation for me. Great joyful and easy transportation.
I get all the training I want and need through Ashtanga today.
I get air, wind some nature & weather through my e-bike, and superb fast and easy transportation within the city.

Any road biking with my e-bike, don’t think so. That way they are slower then a snail comparing to good racer-bikes. It’s even boring. Tried it this summer when going out sun bathing. Just ridiculous. But then, it was just transportation to the ocean, no road biking, and way too slow in that matter.
I have a racer bike hanging in the bike-cellar, in pretty good shape, if I would ever feel for it again.
Doubt it

 

[jeyf]

Electric bicycle vs electric motorcycle
bet there is less insurance and registration issues on the electric bicycle

 

[a2jack]

I was looking at them a couple of years back but decided on putting a 49cc gas engine on the bike instead.

Pix ? Thinking along those lines, as we have a couple of high end peddle bikes already .
[doublepost=1547695560][/doublepost]

Electric bicycle vs electric motorcycle
bet there is less insurance and registration issues on the electric bicycle

Michigan rewrote the laws just last year. Helmets for kids but rules now same as non powered bikes. A2

 

[Anarchy99]

Electric bicycle vs electric motorcycle
bet there is less insurance and registration issues on the electric bicycle

depends on your jurisdiction, where i a m in canada you don't even need a real license even for a motor bike, there are some knowledge written tests and you hold your L learners license (that you would get for a car) for 30 days after that you take a motorbike skills test and you pass, if your underage a legal guardian needs to consent.
still the fact you can be fully licensed at 16 for a motorbike is crazy considering its years of L(earners) and N(ew) before getting your full car license.
but i digress...

for e-bikes they used to fall under moped laws from the 70s that were very lax, now its 500 watts or less and be capable of propelling the cycle no faster than 32 km/h on level ground without pedalling.
if its above that then motorcycle license covers it.

ive heard in many places moped laws are the best thus why many e-bikes have pedals even if pedals are pointless

 

[jeyf]

in my area there is an engine displacement limit and it has to be an automatic transmission.

Seems none of the local laws here apply to electric bikes or motorcycles. There is a moped shop down the street, ill have to ask.

 

[senseless]

3rd resurrection on this thread. This is the new Luna Stealth E-Bike that totally looks like a regular bike. Torque assisted pedaling, so no throttle. Very stylish, sold out presently:
https://newatlas.com/luna-fixed-stealth-ebike/59734/