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I remember a Kickstarter that was popular that had a bicycle wheel with a motor in it that you could fit most bikes. I'd be far more interested in a solution li

by orik 11y ago

I remember a Kickstarter that was popular that had a bicycle wheel with a motor in it that you could fit most bikes. I'd be far more interested in a solution like this for a daily commute, seems very elegant.

dsr_ 11y ago
The Copenhagen Wheel -- http://superpedestrian.com http://superpedestrian.com. Pre-order phase, still.
AstroJetson 11y ago
Me too, it would make biking to work in the summer a little less sweaty, which would make the co-workers happy.
- jcoffland 11y ago
  Of course you could just get a motor cycle. I bet the reason you started ride to work had something to do with staying healthy.
deleted 11y ago
[deleted]
jseliger 11y ago
I remember a Kickstarter that was popular that had a bicycle wheel with a motor in it that you could fit most bikes Yeah. Kickstarter has had a lot of interesting bikes in the last year. One YC company, Vanhawks (http://vanhawks.com/ http://vanhawks.com/), came up through Kickstarter, and they've been shipping smart bikes in the last couple months. Still, prices among electrically assisted bikes remain high. For example, the Faraday electric bike: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/faradaybikes/faraday-cortland https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/faradaybikes/faraday-co... starts at $2,700. It seems like they should be less expensive, but for whatever reason few electric bikes have appeared in the U.S. for under $2K. It seems like price is holding back electric bikes more than anything else. The system discussed in the original article appears to be much more expensive than an entire electric bike.
- shpx 11y ago
  You can buy $200-400 conversion kits (and a battery) and convert a bike you already own into electric. http://www.ebay.com/bhp/electric-bike-kit http://www.ebay.com/bhp/electric-bike-kit
SixSigma 11y ago
they are readily available http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00I0SHKXO http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00I0SHKXO
junto 11y ago
There's this company in Austria too, funnily enough a work colleague sent me the link today: http://www.add-e.at/ueber-add-e/ http://www.add-e.at/ueber-add-e/
ansible 11y ago
I have previously used an e-bike for commuting to work. The goals were to get to work less sweaty and more quickly. It had its ups and downs. I certainly wasn't fresh as a daisy upon arriving at work, even with the e-bike's help. The model I chose was rather longer and heavier than a regular bike, and that was a definite inconvenience. Going up stairs, storage, etc. And that's not getting into the mechanical reliability issues I had (Chinese off-brand import). It was an interesting experiment, but I wouldn't do it again. You'll need to carefully consider all the factors before choosing something like this.
codingdave 11y ago
You don't need a Kickstarter for that. Multiple companies have made those for years. I've used these systems before, with success, and used it on a 20 mile commute that I did via bike for a year: http://ridebionx.com/ http://ridebionx.com/

by orik 11y ago

dsr_ 11y ago

The Copenhagen Wheel -- http://superpedestrian.com http://superpedestrian.com. Pre-order phase, still.

AstroJetson 11y ago

Me too, it would make biking to work in the summer a little less sweaty, which would make the co-workers happy.

jcoffland 11y ago
Of course you could just get a motor cycle. I bet the reason you started ride to work had something to do with staying healthy.

deleted 11y ago

[deleted]

jseliger 11y ago

I remember a Kickstarter that was popular that had a bicycle wheel with a motor in it that you could fit most bikes Yeah. Kickstarter has had a lot of interesting bikes in the last year. One YC company, Vanhawks (http://vanhawks.com/ http://vanhawks.com/), came up through Kickstarter, and they've been shipping smart bikes in the last couple months. Still, prices among electrically assisted bikes remain high. For example, the Faraday electric bike: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/faradaybikes/faraday-cortland https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/faradaybikes/faraday-co... starts at $2,700. It seems like they should be less expensive, but for whatever reason few electric bikes have appeared in the U.S. for under $2K. It seems like price is holding back electric bikes more than anything else. The system discussed in the original article appears to be much more expensive than an entire electric bike.

shpx 11y ago
You can buy $200-400 conversion kits (and a battery) and convert a bike you already own into electric. http://www.ebay.com/bhp/electric-bike-kit http://www.ebay.com/bhp/electric-bike-kit

SixSigma 11y ago

they are readily available http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00I0SHKXO http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00I0SHKXO

junto 11y ago

There's this company in Austria too, funnily enough a work colleague sent me the link today: http://www.add-e.at/ueber-add-e/ http://www.add-e.at/ueber-add-e/

ansible 11y ago

I have previously used an e-bike for commuting to work. The goals were to get to work less sweaty and more quickly. It had its ups and downs. I certainly wasn't fresh as a daisy upon arriving at work, even with the e-bike's help. The model I chose was rather longer and heavier than a regular bike, and that was a definite inconvenience. Going up stairs, storage, etc. And that's not getting into the mechanical reliability issues I had (Chinese off-brand import). It was an interesting experiment, but I wouldn't do it again. You'll need to carefully consider all the factors before choosing something like this.

codingdave 11y ago

You don't need a Kickstarter for that. Multiple companies have made those for years. I've used these systems before, with success, and used it on a 20 mile commute that I did via bike for a year: http://ridebionx.com/ http://ridebionx.com/