4 ms·
> Whether used for constant speed, acceleration only or pedal assist, what's the point of an E-Bike that's deadweight after less than an hour? I'd like to see
by IkmoIkmo 5y ago
> Whether used for constant speed, acceleration only or pedal assist, what's the point of an E-Bike that's deadweight after less than an hour?
I'd like to see some data on power usage for different percentages of user-assist for people doing average biking speeds. e.g. 25% of total power being motorised/assisted, the other 75% being human-powered, on average.
After all, using it at full power always isn't a bicycle, it's a motorcycle. The idea of e-bikes is to assist the user, on accelerating from a stoplight, on a hill, after a break, in a particularly strong gust of wind. At these short moments assist can be >90%, but when you're at speed it can be say <10%, averaging to perhaps 25%. The assist can be higher on warm days to prevent them becoming too sweaty days, but it'll still be to assist regular biking.
But yeah less than an hour is not really acceptable, I agree. Unless there's some kind of ubiquitous and convenient charging infrastructure, but I don't see that happening anytime soon.
- bserge 5y agoWell, yeah, but it's a quiet electric motorcycle. Once you get used to just a hand throttle and zero pedalling (keep that as a backup and for legality on bike lanes), you may not want to go back heh.
- foxfluff 5y ago> The idea of e-bikes is to assist the user, on accelerating from a stoplight, on a hill, after a break, in a particularly strong gust of wind. To me, the idea of vehicles is to get me from point A to B faster and with less effort than it'd take on foot. If muscle power isn't enough, then adding some battery juice seems like a great idea to go further and faster while maintaining the agility, simple construction, and cheap operating costs of a bicycle. Electric assist for hill climbing and acceleration is a thing for some reason, but it's totally fine to want and expect more than that from a machine.
- swader999 5y agoAgree, I used mine for commuting and to save money on parking. I used my pedals on the way home for exercise. Going 50 km/hr was a necessity as I wanted to keep pace with cars so they wouldn't pass me.
- snovv_crash 5y agoSounds to me like you actually want an electric motorcycle then.
- foxfluff 5y agoA bicycle will get me to places even when I don't have the battery, or don't have a place or the time to charge it. Now are you going to go down the rabbit hole of arguing about definitions?
- snovv_crash 5y agoIt isn't definitions, it is about safety for other road users. If you don't want licensing or testing or inspections or insurance requirements, you need to accept certain limitations so as to not be a hazard. Riding fast on pedestrian paths and bike lanes is simply unacceptable. You are a different class of traffic, and you're trying to shirk the responsibility that comes with it.