14 ms·
Turn any bicycle electric
- nomad-nigiri 2y agoVery cool concept. It’d be helpful if there was videos of it working or some details on the process you made to build it. Or even why you did.
- oneseven 2y agoThe home page is a video of it working. Including throwing gasoline on it when it's already on fire. While it's running.
- pbhjpbhj 2y agoThe practical demonstration in the video are fun and memorable. Realistically I'd take a lighter case without ability to submerge the whole thing in mud and set fire to it, but I'm in urban UK. It seems to be built for a warzone, milled out of solid aluminium?
- SamBam 2y agoOr built for a place with only dirt roads, heavy muds during a rainy season, probably very limited ability to get spare parts, and a desire to use it for years after buying it.
- pbhjpbhj 2y agoI'd have thought reducing weight would provide more utility (in rural monsoon areas, say) if violent contact wasn't part of the problem - it might survive crashes that destroy the bike, maybe that's the design decision. FWIW, I'm not saying it's wrong, just notable in the apparent robustness.
- joshuahaglund 2y agoWhich was cool until he littered the bottle of gas into the irrigation ditch behind him
- cogman10 2y ago> It’d be helpful if there was videos of it working It was easy to miss, but the first image on the page is actually a fairly detailed video showing it working. Here's a direct link to the video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFsnS0Yb1Bs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFsnS0Yb1Bs
- nayuki 2y agoThis is a simple yet slick video! It clearly highlights the benefits of this invention. It was interesting to see the use of the uncommon word "inlet" (2m05s), which is the correct word for a socket on a power sink that accepts a power cable. On the other hand, I didn't like the non-standard use of metric units: At 0m34s, "25 KPH" should be "25 km/h" (k is not allowed as an abbreviation of km, and p cannot stand for per). At 0m38s, "170KG" should be "170 kg" (metric is case-sensitive). At 0m43s, "40 KMS" should be "40 km" because plural symbols are not allowed (and can be confused for the second, e.g. N⋅s is newton-second and not "newtons"). At 2m20s, the claim "20mins pedalling charges 50% battery" sounds too good to be true. For example, 20 minutes of vigorous pedaling on a manual bike will not let you travel a distance of 20 km (half of the claimed battery range). At 2m29s, "8 crore bicycles & rickshaws running across India", meaning 80 million, seems like a very small number for a population of 1.4 billion.
- pbhjpbhj 2y ago>At 2m29s, "8 crore bicycles & rickshaws running across India", meaning 80 million // That's a new word for me (en-gb native). I assumed it meant something like '8 brands of...'. Thanks for clarifying.
- nayuki 2y agoYeah, I had to research "crore" today due to the word being mentioned. Another Indian number word is lakh = 100,000, which I only knew since a few years ago (living in Canada for 30 years). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crore https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crore , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lakh https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lakh
- idkwhattocallme 2y agototally missed it at first but just watched it. badass. Inventions that build upon what is already in the market are the most ingenious
- iceenforcer 2y agoWhy would i? "Analogue" (pure mechanical) tech is king.
- SamBam 2y agoIf your livelihood depends on 50+ miles travel every day, and you're 55 years old, you may well appreciate the assistance.
- wiether 2y agoGiven the specs, this product is absolutely not an help for this kind of constraints. My take in the ebike/bike debate is just this: if you're not sitted in yet another car, you're winning.
- yread 2y agoI prefer "accoustic" (as in guitars)
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- tantalor 2y agoFitting all that (battery, motor, controller, voltage converter, charger) into a small package is pretty impressive. Mid-drives are certainly superior to hub-drives, so that's another plus. Can it pedal assist? i.e. only kick on when pedaling. That's often a legal requirement. Doesn't mention cost, weight, or battery capacity. I'm assuming most of the parts beyond the aluminum chassis are off the shelf. It would be a nice thing to open source, or at least sell the plans so anybody* can build. * with access to a machine shop
- jandrese 2y agoIt does say a 40km range, but ebike range estimates are often highly optimistic.
- yeureka 2y agoI converted my bike, do 36km per day and still have 40% left after that.
- SoftTalker 2y ago> Can it pedal assist? i.e. only kick on when pedaling. Looks like it drives the chain, so unless you have a freewheeling front hub pedaling may not be optional.
- reubenmorais 2y agoI was confused about that. It looks like it drives the chain, but then in the video after installing it or while riding it he's not pedaling. But then when watching closely, I can see there's a cut in the video between the device being placed on the frame and him testing it and in the cut the entire bottom bracket has been replaced and the chain is now making a different path through the machine, so I assume the bottom bracket needs to also have a freewheel to make it work, plus you'll need a new chain (or to join a couple of chains) to make it fit.
- michaelt 2y agoThe video is a bit strange: https://youtu.be/SFsnS0Yb1Bs?feature=shared&t=96 https://youtu.be/SFsnS0Yb1Bs?feature=shared&t=96 It appears to show the front sprocket spinning, but the pedals stationary. I assume this is a "freewheel crank" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Front_freewheel https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Front_freewheel
- jandrese 2y agoThat's a quite a look, reminds me a bit of something from the Fallout universe. I'm a bit surprised at the "pedaling charges the batteries" bullet point. That's extremely rare in the e-bike world. 25,000 mph top speed seems somewhat optimistic however. I assume it means 25 kph top speed, which is on the slower side for e-bikes.
- speerer 2y agoThis made me smile, but I looked it up anyway and it turns out it's a non-SI abbreviation for kilometres per hour. https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/kmph https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/kmph Not common in my country, the UK, but maybe in India? I know the Indian language numbering system has different number groupings, so why not.
- joseda-hg 2y agoI mean, miles are so rare for non English speakers, that it didn't register to me as weird
- bryanlarsen 2y agoThe correct abbreviation is "km/h", so kmph is closer to the correct one than kph. kph seems like a measure of insane acidity.
- aarroyoc 2y ago> I assume it means 25 kph top speed, which is on the slower side for e-bikes. This is the maximum speed for an e-bike in many European countries
- wiredfool 2y agoThat could be a really quick retrofit -- looks like only the chain and chainguard would need to change for the standard utility type bike. Top speed would probably depend on the rear cog, unless they're doing something really sneaky.
- MattSayar 2y agoI love everything about the demo video on the homepage. It's always fun to see a creator beat up their product and see it withstand the abuse. As far as "any bike can be an ebike" I'm surprised that Hilltoppers[0] haven't gained more traction over the years. You just pop off your current bike's front wheel and install theirs. [0] https://hilltopperbikes.com/product-category/electric-bike-kits/ https://hilltopperbikes.com/product-category/electric-bike-k...
- SequoiaHope 2y agoNote that’s a front wheel not a front tire! When I first read your comment I was very curious to see how replacing just a tire could help here hah. But yeah that kind of product makes a lot of sense! I DIY’d my ebike using a BBSHD motor and an EM3EV battery. Including the bike the total cost was $3k but this type of setup could seriously replace a car in many locations, except the roads aren’t designed for it. I have plenty of experience riding bikes on public roads but I daydream about shutting down some of the roads and making them an independent bike network. The bike itself is fantastic it’s just cars that make it risky for the average person. We could absolutely accommodate more people biking if we commit to it! Would be lower costs than driving a car and I find it more fun not to be sitting in a huge metal box. My rear rack and panniers hold a lot of cargo and with good rain gear the weather doesn’t slow me down.
- MattSayar 2y agoI have a bad habit of accidentally using "tire" and "wheel" synonymously, sorry! I updated it, thanks.
- nayuki 2y agoIt's okay, these concepts are frequently conflated. For example when it comes to cars, it is advised to put on "winter tires", but people usually keep an entire set of 4 tires+rims so that they change the wheels instead of the tires.
- 2y ago
- world2vec 2y agoThe demo video on the top of the homepage is awesome. Explains the use case, how it works, key specs and so on, all in a nice smooth video.
- jajko 2y agoAlso transforms anonymous product to some specific cool inventor stuff who as you now know has a sense of humor, and actually understands product testing and target audience. Smart move, well done.
- Mengkudulangsat 2y agoThe acting, storyboarding, frame composition, colour contrast are all better than some movies.
- f4c39012 2y agoi absolutely _wanted_ to watch this. And rewatch it. Showed it to others. This is awesome marketing of what looks like an amazing product, oh why isn't more marketing like this?!
- greenavocado 2y agoVideo makes it look like you can just drop it in and go. No. You have to change out the chain for a longer one.
- londons_explore 2y agoBike chain is fairly standard - the kit could ship with a chain tool and an extra few inches of chain.
- wiether 2y agoI have four bikes, they all need a different kind of chain. The only _fairly standard_ part in a bike is the saddle.
- greenavocado 2y agoNope
- Saris 2y agoThat's really easy, you can also just add some links since bicycle chains are pretty standard.
- extraduder_ire 2y agoWhy? Does the chain wrap around anything, or is it just driven from a sprocket on one side? I assume minor deflection could be handled by the tensioner inherent in geared bikes.
- jdawg777 2y agoThis is impressive engineering. So much better than the available ebike conversion kits. I want one!
- 4gotunameagain 2y agoLet's check the numbers. They claim : Range: 40km 20 min pedaling charges 50% Top speed 25kph If a 70kg well trained amateur cyclist can output ~200W for an hour [1], so let's guestimate 130 for an average person. That would mean the battery has a capacity of at least: 130W * 2*20min = 86.6Wh. The efficiency of the motor/ESC is not considered. So at 15kph, it would take 2.6 hours to reach the stated 40km range. 86.6Wh / 2.6hrs = 32.5W A model based calculator [2] says that with 32.5W you indeed cycle at 15.5kph. LiFePo batteries have an energy density of 325Wh/L, so we would need a battery volume of: 86.6Wh/325Wh/L = 0.27L, but a quick search for an example online reveals that a commercial 10Ah 12.8V takes up 1L. That would seem to fit within the product. I was initially doubting the claims, but it seems to check out ? [1] https://blog.2peak.com/en/what-are-the-average-watts-of-a-good-cyclist/ https://blog.2peak.com/en/what-are-the-average-watts-of-a-go... [2] https://www.gribble.org/cycling/power_v_speed.html https://www.gribble.org/cycling/power_v_speed.html
- londons_explore 2y ago> with 32.5W you indeed cycle at 15.5kph. With a perfect bike in a velodrome, maybe. But on Indias rough roads with an old mountain bike, I suspect this number to be double.
- 4gotunameagain 2y agoIt is a good point, but I highly doubt the stated 40km range was measured with a rusty bike off road. I think it is fair of a seller to state their range in good conditions.
- lostlogin 2y agoI’m missing something, what’s unrealistic about 15.5kmh? That’s absolutely crawling on a bike.
- 4gotunameagain 2y agoWhat he meant was to go 15.5km/h with a good bike on a velodrome might require 32.5W, but it would require quite a bit more power on rough dirt roads with a shittier bike
- Imustaskforhelp 2y agoThis is great. Also interesting that they use .co.in (as in we are from "India") and their name is also very indian . As an indian I actually respect that Vidyut means electricity in Hindi and dhruv means stars If I remember correctly. Dhruv is a very common name in India , One of my 5th standard classmate was named dhruv , Like dhruv rathee is a youtuber. As an indian I appreciate this project. I suppose I have seen it on the Indian shark tank as well but I am not sure!
- __rito__ 2y agoDhruv, rather its variation- Dhruv-ak means "constant" in mathematics in many Indian languages. Dhruv Vidyut could be constant electricity, or Dhruv may just be the name of one of the founders or a relative of one of them. Dhruva also means the Pole Star in many Indian languages. It could also come from Indian mythology [0]. [0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhruva https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhruva
- Imustaskforhelp 2y agoOooh didn't knew that Dhruv also means constant! I had always thought it from the indian mythology part or the pole star. But pole star is also considered as constant to sailors etc. , so yeah.
- joe_the_user 2y agoI'm mystified at the multitude of "this is great" comments on an essentially unspec'd and implausible product. Is this elaborate joke that everyone's in on? HN has been an engineering-oriented forum and bicycles are "real engineering". Every kind of modern bike is engineered for it's intended use and the idea you can add power and weight without consequences should be suspicious to the engineering mind. Note: The video shows a USB cable for a charger, which couldn't charge a large-ish battery in an acceptable period, at one point it seems to show power imparted direct to the tire (which would lose a lot of power) but really, how this thing works at all is hard to tell, it's kind of silly to take seriously, even but jeesh.
- nickkell 2y agoDo you believe it's fake? There are many kits on the market to turn old bicycles into e-bikes. As to the USB charging - that's an outlet for charging things like mobile devices, not for charging the battery on the bike.
- xandrius 2y agoIf you were as attentive as you might think you are, you would have noticed that the USB plug being inserted was the host side, so it's the side generally which charges the connected device.
- Saris 2y agoUSB-C does 240W, what makes you think it can't charge an E-Bike battery? Most are under 500Wh and would take at most 2 hours. Also it looks to be a USB source, for charging your devices, not the other way around. It's a nice bit of engineering, making it an all in one package that can bolt onto a frame with minimal effort is quite neat. I'd love to know why you think it's implausible, from all my work on ebikes it looks legitimate.
- NegativeLatency 2y agoSure there are tradeoffs to not having a nicely integrated system, but there's nothing wrong with having other options for people to pick from.
- 2y ago
- vq 2y agoIt reminded me of the Sinclair Zeta[0][1]. I hope their product work out better. [0]: http://rk.nvg.ntnu.no/sinclair/vehicles/zeta.htm http://rk.nvg.ntnu.no/sinclair/vehicles/zeta.htm [1]: https://www.grantsinclair.com/vehiclehistory https://www.grantsinclair.com/vehiclehistory
- LeoPanthera 2y agoClive Sinclair is mostly remembered for his computers but he was incredibly ahead of his time in the electric vehicle and personal transport industry. Too ahead of his time, unfortunately, because the battery technology to support his vision just didn't exist, and consumer sentiment wasn't really there yet. I'm sad he didn't get to see his visions come true.
- aanet 2y agoWhat the what?! This is so cool. I love everything about the demo. No (spoken) words, just a cool functioning product, in its intended uses cases, in different situations -- on fire, soaked in water, soaked in mud. Even if the product actually did nothing useful (which is not the case here), the video itself a great marketing copy. <3 As a product person, this excites me. However... I'm curious. This was launched ~2 years ago (per the YT video [1]). What happened? Is this still working? How is the company doing? Any ideas?? I don't see any other videos on their channel. I see some action on their Twitter [2] but sporadic. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFsnS0Yb1Bs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFsnS0Yb1Bs [2] https://x.com/dhruvvidyut https://x.com/dhruvvidyut
- araes 2y agoInteresting observation looking even a little bit beyond the superficial marketing copy. Peel back even one layer and find out there's only a single video, empty Youtube channel, 5000 subscribers (in India), and a product that seems like it never went anywhere. For all the stuff that gets crazy valuations, seems like there's so many of these that might be unicorns that end up falling through the cracks of investment.
- tim333 2y agoThe twitter has >Manufacturing or manufacturing at scale for Bharat requires decisive trajectory and a whole another level of preparation & execution. >After months of testing and streamlining DVECK... pilot orders I guess making things is hard. Also having been in developing countries, people tend to buy the cheap Chinese stuff you see advertised on eBay and the like so they are competing with that.
- Eric_WVGG 2y agoHe should be the next Billy Mays
- zamalek 2y agoThe mortality rate for amazing ideas is higher in developing countries, for more reasons than incompetent or corrupt governments. For example, there are fewer networking opportunities by virtue of the network being small, or the poverty rate would put a product like this well into the disposable income/toy space. I would bet this thing would be a mad success if the inventor had won the birthplace lottery.
- yeureka 2y agoI did this to my road bike using a comercial kit: https://boostbike.uk/ https://boostbike.uk/ It completely changed my commute.
- slackr 2y agohttps://youtu.be/Hkzreg-m3PY?si=vUMc7mTHEspxIW07 https://youtu.be/Hkzreg-m3PY?si=vUMc7mTHEspxIW07 Video includes a tear down
- xcskier56 2y agoAm I missing something... it looks like the chainring is able to spin independently of the pedals, as if they moved the freewheel from the rear hub to the bottom bracket. Without that this would never work like he demonstrates. I've never seen the freewheel on the chainring/bottom bracket on a bike in the US, is this a common in other parts of the world?
- phkahler 2y ago>> it looks like the chainring is able to spin independently of the pedals, as if they moved the freewheel from the rear hub to the bottom bracket IMHO that would be a safety hazard if they removed it from the rear hub. Without that, the chain will always be moving when the bike is moving. If your pants or anything else gets caught in there it ain't stopping. Leaving it in the back AND putting it in the front as well is probably viable if a bit redundant.
- ghist 2y ago> Without that, the chain will always be moving when the bike is moving. I have a much simpler kind of bike where this is also the case :)
- SamBam 2y agoI was very confused by that as well. I studied the video, and the only thing that I can conclude is that he simply unbolted the pedals from the chain ring. The pedals would therefore not be doing anything at all except support the rider's feet. The site says "pedaling recharges the battery." This would require re-bolting the pedals back on. It's hard to see angles that can really make this clear. Maybe there are some freewheels that let the chain ring spin independently of the pedals, which makes no sense to me.
- analog31 2y agoShimano Front Freewheel System (FFS) for a while in the 1980s. The only bike I know of that had one was the Schwinn World Tourist. I only know about it because I found a World Tourist in the trash and rode it for many years but with a different drivetrain.
- redfern314 2y agoThis is an interesting alternative to existing kits where you need to replace a wheel (hub-drive) or do surgery on your bottom bracket (typical mid-drive). It also appears to not need an external charger (the charge port appears to be a universal C14, the same as a computer) which is very convenient. On the downsides, I have severe doubts over the battery cell quality at that price point, and it looks significantly heavier than other options from the metal case alone (I don't see actual specs for weight). Love the demo video. The mud and fire scenes made me cringe, which I'm sure is exactly what they were going for (as the motor keeps spinning regardless of the foul treatment)! I will keep my standard mid-drive conversion kit (I've used TSDZ2 and DM-02 in the past) but always love to see alternatives coming online for other segments of the market.
- xingwu 2y agoEvery bits of the demo video is awesome. I want to make friends with you.
- nkingsy 2y agoThe chain is spazzing out in every shot like it's tightening and loosening over and over again. Mid drives already wear out chains quickly. Seems like this is just asking to snap a chain
- CitrusFruits 2y agoI think readers of hacker news That find the original post interesting might enjoy this as well: https://bimotal.com/ https://bimotal.com/ It's a different product for a different market, but a really cool idea and the people who have been working on it are super smart.
- jayrot 2y agoAnyone particularly excited about this concept might be interested to know that it already exists (for a little less than $400). PikaBoost[1] It works. But not nearly as well as an ebike, of course. Here's a youtuber doing a fairly in depth review and test of one [2]. [1]https://livall.com/products/livall-pikaboost-2-electrify-your-rides-with-ease https://livall.com/products/livall-pikaboost-2-electrify-you... [2]https://youtu.be/m_wVzoNrDL8?si=gCwvHZgrsV3klZ49 https://youtu.be/m_wVzoNrDL8?si=gCwvHZgrsV3klZ49
- yallpendantools 2y agoI'd have to forego my saddle bags and maybe my mudguard for that one.
- prmoustache 2y agoThere is also that extra small friction system from velogical which has the advantage of allowing you to use a mudguard: https://www.velogical-engineering.com/velospeeder/product-information/?lang=en https://www.velogical-engineering.com/velospeeder/product-in...
- ninininino 2y agoFor readers, see also Zehus hub motor, I've seen it used in higher end e-bike conversions.
- monetus 2y agoRemember to get a strong frame, as a hub motor can shear a weak frame surprisingly easily. The front fork snapping off in a turn is no fun. Edit: I said hub motor by accident, but it applies to these motors too.
- yallpendantools 2y agoCool hack if I've ever seen one in this place! I love how "steampunk" it looks (for lack of a better term). Though I feel like if they're gunning for global appeal they would have to streamline the looks a lot. This is so awesome I might have to watch "3 Idiots" again.
- yesbabyyes 2y agoI got a Zehus Halos [0] for my racing bike, a Commencal Stewart; I ripped out all of the gears and replaced the rear wheel with a wheel from Nfixed [1] who builds wheels with the Halos. Conversion couldn't have been easier -- just replace the rear wheel, take away the gears and replace the front blade. The result is an amazing bike, fun, easy, beautiful. I still haven't pushed the range to the max, but with break regeneration and moderate assistance, it seems like the range would be 50-60 km, which is more than enough for me. I highly recommend it! [0] https://www.zehus.it/product-categories/all-in-one https://www.zehus.it/product-categories/all-in-one [1] https://nfixed.com/products/gen3-0-zehus-halos-all-in-one-smart-wheel-large-electric-conversion-kit https://nfixed.com/products/gen3-0-zehus-halos-all-in-one-sm...
- analog31 2y agoLove it. I want my product to have a video like that.
- slaw 2y agoTongsheng tsdz2 750W mid drive torque sensor motor conversion kit is $310 on aliexpress.
- tim333 2y agoIn another video it says expected price 15000 - 20000 rupees which I guess is like £150 or $200. Quite cheap as these things go. (vid, not in English https://youtu.be/HoTucoz1Uro?t=111 https://youtu.be/HoTucoz1Uro?t=111)
- dylan604 2y agookay, the 20 mins of pedaling charging the battery to 50% is a nice feature. there's plenty of time I'm pedaling my bike without pedal assist that could be recovering some of the battery on all of my trips.
- ricardobeat 2y agoHow are the pedals not moving with the chain? Not even this would be incredibly dangerous (pants caught on the chain? the motor won’t be stopping at all), but it would make it an illegal e-bike in much of the world since it doesn’t qualify as pedal assist, it’s now a flimsy motorcycle.
- titaniumtown 2y agoI would think the pedals would stay in the same position because of the back ratcheting. Think of when you're going down a hill and you hold your pedals still while accelerating down. I'm no bike expert though, I may be wrong haha.
- hengistbury 2y agoFor most bikes this ratcheting mechanism is in the back wheel, so when going down a hill the pedals, the chain ring, and the chain are all staying in the same position. In the demo the chain ring and chain are moving under the motors power, but the pedals are remaining still.
- titaniumtown 2y agoThanks for the clarification! The more you kbow I guess haha.
- sedatk 2y ago8 crore = 80 million.
- neilv 2y agoThat's neat retro styling, maybe part Flash Gordon?
- mattmaroon 2y agoThat looks a lot less robust than a lot of the ones on the market but also a lot easier to install. Might be a solid approach because the install is off-putting to very many people.
- foco_tubi 2y agoMisleading title - this won't work on a recumbent.
- jppope 2y agoReally cool product. Great Demo video. This guy is doing it right
- Refusing23 2y agothis wont work on several lady bikes because how their frame is designed
- rldjbpin 2y agoIANAEE but is the frame itself enough to dissipate heat of the internals while being sealed shut like this? love the concept and would like them to succeed. just feels like that the relative ease of installation also means it might be easier to steal, especially with the battery integrated inside the kit.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- cassepipe 2y agoHere is a HNer that made his own e-bike : https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29198205 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29198205
- pcdoodle 2y agoThe design is beautiful. Looks like you only need to replace the chain with a slightly longer one (easy peasy). Take my money.