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I don't see how I could use a bicycle reliably in my hilly town that gets significant snow fall every winter. Could I please have some kind of electric tuk-tuk

I don't see how I could use a bicycle reliably in my hilly town that gets significant snow fall every winter. Could I please have some kind of electric tuk-tuk instead?

timbit42 4y ago
Check out the Organic Transit ELF or the BetterBike PEBL. Both are enclosed electric trikes with two wheels in front. The PEBL can be winterized by adding a floor and it has reverse.
spothedog1 4y ago
Ebikes are pretty powerful, kinda like riding a smaller motorcycle
- sokoloff 4y ago
  Power is almost never the limiting factor for snowy hills.
- traverseda 4y ago
  Sure, add on a third wheel, some thicker tires, and give me a cabin so I don't need to get too rained on and I can probably get rid of my car and borrow one if I need to pick up like a load of plywood or something. Seriously though, a cabin probably won't even add too much weight, make it out of corrugated plastic or something. We already have the technology. #legalize_tuk-tuks
  - Tade0 4y ago
    The final stage of urban vehicular evolution is the golf cart: https://www.golfcartreport.com/top-golf-cart-cities-in-the-united-states/ https://www.golfcartreport.com/top-golf-cart-cities-in-the-u... Personally I wouldn't mind zipping around in this instead of doing manual labour in an awkward position just to move around.
    - deleted 4y ago
      [deleted]
  - xattt 4y ago
    At what point does an adult tricycle stop being recognized as a legal road-going vehicle?
    - bombcar 4y ago
      It varies from state to state but usually the deciding factor is the motor. No motor? It's a bike, no matter how many wheels it has. Amusingly enough many of the laws are old enough that they are written with "cc" mentioned, below 60cc is a "moped" above is a "motorcycle". Those rules will have to be updated to account for various traction devices.
  - ZeroGravitas 4y ago
    e-tuk tuks (with and without cycling) are a thing, and seem likely to explode in popularity though they mostly seem to be for delivery drivers.
- zbrozek 4y ago
  The balance requirement of a two-wheel vehicle probably makes them less appealing in icy weather to most folks. I don't live in an area that experiences cold weather, so I'm speculating.
  - traverseda 4y ago
    They make electric trikes, and they're a bit more popular around here (Nova Scotia). Electric trikes have their own balance problems though. Also thinner tires and there being no such thing as ABS brakes make it really easy to go into a slide, especially if you don't really know why ABS brakes are a thing. Cold weather is difficult, you need to protect yourself from the cold but you also need to deal with heat and sweat from biking, so your clothing requirements actually change depending on what point in the bike ride you're on. Visibility is reduced due to high snowbanks, so you're likely coming to a complete stop more often than you otherwise would. That's a good argument for electrics and regenerative braking obviously. Road salt and ice are a big problem, since bikes have components exposed. Components like chains, brake lines, the steering yolk, etc. Those are probably not made for the weather here and will more or less dissolve if you use most bikes during the winter. I'm sure there are some that are alright, but it's an additional research task. I think it's solvable, and a personal vehicle that can solve that will probably do quite well if they can hit the right price-point, but I think that vehicle ends up looking more like a golf cart or a kei-car than a bike.
    - ZeroGravitas 4y ago
      They've started doing ABS for bikes with disc brakes. https://www.bosch-ebike.com/en/products/abs https://www.bosch-ebike.com/en/products/abs
- hackernewds 4y ago
  Why not just motorcycles then? they have been invented decades ago :) Are kids supposed to self-transport as well
  - traverseda 4y ago
    A motorcycle is actually harder to get a license for than a car is up here in Canada...
  - bombcar 4y ago
    There's a subset of people who are very anti-car and not actually very pro-bike/transit and you can find them by seeing if they rant and rage against motorcycles as well.
- nomel 4y ago
  That only goes 20mph, which is the max legal speed, in the US.
notesinthefield 4y ago
Ebikes, albeit still very expensive, are a great option. Even my weaker radmission can kind of help get my 250lb body up Cincinnati hills but im a seasoned bike commuter, new riders my size wont go for it in the winter.
- kennywinker 4y ago
  > still very expensive Plenty of decent ebikes available in the $1000-$2000 range. I don't think that counts as "very expensive" - for a lot of people that'll be 6 months or less of gas usage
  - nomel 4y ago
    I don't think that math is realistic. Most reasonably sized cars get > 30 these days. $1500 is 9,000 miles of fuel, or an average of 51 miles per day for 6 months. If you're commuting that far, then a bike probably isn't going to work anyways. Let's say you can afford to live within some reasonable commute distance of 10 miles from your office, which is 2x the average bike commute distance, and 30 minutes at max legal ebike speed. That $1500 will get you 2 years of commute fuel, if you consider the seasons prevent you from driving for 3 months of the year.
    - kennywinker 4y ago
      Not your point, but I'd like to mention it since this is the scenario you brought up - if you live 10 miles or less from your work, unless you've got zero traffic and perfect parking on both ends, I'll bet an ebike is faster door to door than a car - and when it's slower it's like 5min slower. But back to the numbers: I just typed in "average miles driven" to get my numbers, but you're right that's not exactly realistic. So taking your numbers, and settings aside other savings that not driving 5200miles/year will get you, two years of gas still doesn't count as "very expensive" imo.
      - notesinthefield 4y ago
        This is more or less my logic, when I am in the office and the weather is not debilitating, by bike I can get to my desk ten minutes faster despite living only 6 or so miles away. Ive done this for a long time and its probably kept a few thousand miles off of my car.

I don't see how I could use a bicycle reliably in my hilly town that gets significant snow fall every winter. Could I please have some kind of electric tuk-tuk instead?

timbit42 4y ago

Check out the Organic Transit ELF or the BetterBike PEBL. Both are enclosed electric trikes with two wheels in front. The PEBL can be winterized by adding a floor and it has reverse.

spothedog1 4y ago

Ebikes are pretty powerful, kinda like riding a smaller motorcycle

sokoloff 4y ago
Power is almost never the limiting factor for snowy hills.
traverseda 4y ago
Sure, add on a third wheel, some thicker tires, and give me a cabin so I don't need to get too rained on and I can probably get rid of my car and borrow one if I need to pick up like a load of plywood or something. Seriously though, a cabin probably won't even add too much weight, make it out of corrugated plastic or something. We already have the technology. #legalize_tuk-tuks
- Tade0 4y ago
  The final stage of urban vehicular evolution is the golf cart: https://www.golfcartreport.com/top-golf-cart-cities-in-the-united-states/ https://www.golfcartreport.com/top-golf-cart-cities-in-the-u... Personally I wouldn't mind zipping around in this instead of doing manual labour in an awkward position just to move around.
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
- xattt 4y ago
  At what point does an adult tricycle stop being recognized as a legal road-going vehicle?
  - bombcar 4y ago
    It varies from state to state but usually the deciding factor is the motor. No motor? It's a bike, no matter how many wheels it has. Amusingly enough many of the laws are old enough that they are written with "cc" mentioned, below 60cc is a "moped" above is a "motorcycle". Those rules will have to be updated to account for various traction devices.
- ZeroGravitas 4y ago
  e-tuk tuks (with and without cycling) are a thing, and seem likely to explode in popularity though they mostly seem to be for delivery drivers.
zbrozek 4y ago
The balance requirement of a two-wheel vehicle probably makes them less appealing in icy weather to most folks. I don't live in an area that experiences cold weather, so I'm speculating.
- traverseda 4y ago
  They make electric trikes, and they're a bit more popular around here (Nova Scotia). Electric trikes have their own balance problems though. Also thinner tires and there being no such thing as ABS brakes make it really easy to go into a slide, especially if you don't really know why ABS brakes are a thing. Cold weather is difficult, you need to protect yourself from the cold but you also need to deal with heat and sweat from biking, so your clothing requirements actually change depending on what point in the bike ride you're on. Visibility is reduced due to high snowbanks, so you're likely coming to a complete stop more often than you otherwise would. That's a good argument for electrics and regenerative braking obviously. Road salt and ice are a big problem, since bikes have components exposed. Components like chains, brake lines, the steering yolk, etc. Those are probably not made for the weather here and will more or less dissolve if you use most bikes during the winter. I'm sure there are some that are alright, but it's an additional research task. I think it's solvable, and a personal vehicle that can solve that will probably do quite well if they can hit the right price-point, but I think that vehicle ends up looking more like a golf cart or a kei-car than a bike.
  - ZeroGravitas 4y ago
    They've started doing ABS for bikes with disc brakes. https://www.bosch-ebike.com/en/products/abs https://www.bosch-ebike.com/en/products/abs
hackernewds 4y ago
Why not just motorcycles then? they have been invented decades ago :) Are kids supposed to self-transport as well
- traverseda 4y ago
  A motorcycle is actually harder to get a license for than a car is up here in Canada...
- bombcar 4y ago
  There's a subset of people who are very anti-car and not actually very pro-bike/transit and you can find them by seeing if they rant and rage against motorcycles as well.
nomel 4y ago
That only goes 20mph, which is the max legal speed, in the US.

notesinthefield 4y ago

Ebikes, albeit still very expensive, are a great option. Even my weaker radmission can kind of help get my 250lb body up Cincinnati hills but im a seasoned bike commuter, new riders my size wont go for it in the winter.

kennywinker 4y ago
> still very expensive Plenty of decent ebikes available in the $1000-$2000 range. I don't think that counts as "very expensive" - for a lot of people that'll be 6 months or less of gas usage
- nomel 4y ago
  I don't think that math is realistic. Most reasonably sized cars get > 30 these days. $1500 is 9,000 miles of fuel, or an average of 51 miles per day for 6 months. If you're commuting that far, then a bike probably isn't going to work anyways. Let's say you can afford to live within some reasonable commute distance of 10 miles from your office, which is 2x the average bike commute distance, and 30 minutes at max legal ebike speed. That $1500 will get you 2 years of commute fuel, if you consider the seasons prevent you from driving for 3 months of the year.
  - kennywinker 4y ago
    Not your point, but I'd like to mention it since this is the scenario you brought up - if you live 10 miles or less from your work, unless you've got zero traffic and perfect parking on both ends, I'll bet an ebike is faster door to door than a car - and when it's slower it's like 5min slower. But back to the numbers: I just typed in "average miles driven" to get my numbers, but you're right that's not exactly realistic. So taking your numbers, and settings aside other savings that not driving 5200miles/year will get you, two years of gas still doesn't count as "very expensive" imo.
    - notesinthefield 4y ago
      This is more or less my logic, when I am in the office and the weather is not debilitating, by bike I can get to my desk ten minutes faster despite living only 6 or so miles away. Ive done this for a long time and its probably kept a few thousand miles off of my car.