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I've read about motorized doping in bike races, with motors hidden inside the gearing, I wonder whether anyone's thought about this sort of thing for consumer b
by Brakenshire 9y ago
I've read about motorized doping in bike races, with motors hidden inside the gearing, I wonder whether anyone's thought about this sort of thing for consumer bikes, and what sort of benefit you could get for, say, 1kg or half a kg of extra weight. E-bikes at the moment seem to have reconciled themselves to being twice the weight of ordinary bikes.
- tonyedgecombe 9y agoSomething like this: https://www.vivax-assist.com/en/product/vivax-assist/vivax-assist_4-0.php https://www.vivax-assist.com/en/product/vivax-assist/vivax-a... I think the problem is range, you won't be able to hide much battery, the one on my bike weighs 6LBs and is quite bulky. In reality it doesn't really matter because the motor will more than offset the extra drag and weight of a heavy bike.
- ufo 9y agoCan you pedal and use the motor at the same time in a regular ebike? I think what the parent posters want to be able to turn off the motor completely.
- Wingman4l7 9y agoYou can; it's called "pedal assist", and usually, the motor controllers can be set to do it at different levels of pedaling intensity. It's usually implemented by spacing magnets around the crankset and then calculating how fast they're passing by a sensor.
- Brakenshire 9y ago> I think the problem is range, you won't be able to hide much battery, the one on my bike weighs 6LBs and is quite bulky. Interesting, that seems to be exactly what I was thinking of. The good thing is, it seems you could use it without a battery, or with differently sized batteries depending on need. If I'm reading this right, the motor, wiring, etc, weighs about 1000g, then a 6Ah battery another 850g, or a 9Ah battery 1250g. So only an extra kilo if you just wanted to use it as a normal bike, and if you're commuting, you might know exactly what capacity you need, and could just take that. Especially in cities, there's a lot of carrying bikes up and down stairs. Just needs to be a lot cheaper than 3000 Euros!
- fjsolwmv 9y agoJust strap a power drill and a caster between back seat and wheel.
- matt-attack 9y agoHave you seen this: https://budnitzbicycles.com/bicycles/view/titanium-ebike https://budnitzbicycles.com/bicycles/view/titanium-ebike I think it’s the closest you’ll find to a bike the looks and operates almost identically to a traditional bike. No wires, no display, excellent weight, etc. Obviously the price is out of control, but still the right idea I think.
- soperj 9y agoIs it really that bad if you could use it as your car?
- bufferoverflow 9y agoBut you really can't. 1) cars can go a lot faster and on highways 2) cars can haul lots of cargo 3) cars can have 3-6 passengers 4) cars drive just fine in strong wind / rain / snow 5) cars are a lot safer on roads There are obvious disadvantages too, but, regardless, ebikes are not car replacements. They are good for relatively short trips in places with good bicycle infrastructure.
- marcus_holmes 9y agoIf you commute less than, say, 10 miles, to work then they are a functional replacement for a car. You can hire a car, or a van, for other tasks that require those advantages. Or even (shock!) use public transport.
- bufferoverflow 9y agoYeah, so if you ignore all the points I've made, it is indeed a replacement. So is riding a unicycle. Or walking.
- dagurp 9y agoBut he/she didn't. In most cities you can rent cars by the hour and that is enough for a lot of people.
- fsargent 9y agoYou should check out vanmoof. You'd never know it was an ebike if it weren't for the iconic branding.