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Asus Bike Booster
- deleted 2mo ago[deleted]
- kiddico 2mo agoThat might be the easiest ebike retrofit/conversion I've ever seen. I have concerns about the grip in wet conditions but this looks like a great way to get that ebike I've wanted and not put my perfectly good frame to waste.
- deleted 2mo ago[deleted]
- fwipsy 2mo agoSimilar friction drives have existed for a while. The battery is very small compared to a regular ebike (typically they start at about 300wh.) Also, IIRC the friction drive is not very efficient.
- itomato 2mo agoLike when wet. Or icy or both.
- davidw 2mo agoI think the number of people who want to use something like this when it's icy out is pretty small. You'd want studded tires, for instance... and it's generally those who are really committed who ride in those conditions. This looks more like 'dipping a toe in the eBike water'.
- SoftTalker 2mo agoLooks more like a "hill assist device" to me.
- cowsandmilk 2mo agoThis one is 158 Wh
- fwipsy 2mo agoI saw. Most entry-level ebikes have at least 10ah * 36v batteries; a few lightweight models have 7ah. So this has about half the battery capacity of the cheapest ebikes.
- kelnos 2mo agoGiven the size of it and the significantly less weight it adds to the bicycle, I'd say half capacity is pretty fantastic. (Of course, "capacity" is misleading, as this will be less efficient than a real e-bike.)
- loeg 2mo agoGet a Bafang kit or a hub motor replacement rear wheel instead. At least those systems work well.
- mongol 2mo agoHave a look at Bafang or Tongsheng kits
- deleted 2mo ago[deleted]
- gedy 2mo agoSo ah, can we buy it? What's the price? Not seeing unless ad blockers are hiding something.
- VoidWhisperer 2mo agoAccording to articles like this one[0], they haven't shared pricing yet - so I guess it can't be bought quite yet. [0]: https://www.digitaltrends.com/outdoors/asus-made-an-e-bike-conversion-kit-compact-enough-to-slip-into-a-backpack/ https://www.digitaltrends.com/outdoors/asus-made-an-e-bike-c...
- numpad0 2mo agoHow do these things work legally? Wouldn't the bolt on process count as manufacturing or modifying a motorcycle, depending on where you are?
- deleted 2mo ago[deleted]
- IshKebab 2mo agoThere's no restriction on manufacturing e-bikes anywhere that I know of, as long as they obey the speed/power limits. (That's why it says 500W "peak" power - the continuous power limit in the UK at least is 250W but manufacturers just make the "peak" last for a very long time.)
- walrus01 2mo agoIn most jurisdictions it's only a motorcycle if it can exceed a certain speed or has a motor over a certain power in kilowatts. Or some combination of both. recent news: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c89nyk4pz74o https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c89nyk4pz74o
- dsr_ 2mo agoIn the USA, there are more than 52 jurisdictions not including towns and cities and counties, but most (not all) states think of ebikes as being slightly restricted bicycles rather than motorcycles, as long as: - they have functional pedals (otherwise it's a motorcycle of some kind) - they require pedal assist at all times and have some kind of power or speed limitation (anyone can use this, or at least it is least restricted) - they have pedal assist available and have a different, higher power or speed limitation (usually reserved for 16+ or something similar) - they have a power or speed limitation that makes them suitable for adults only but doesn't require a driver's license or inspection There are efforts to regularize these, and also efforts to make things more chaotic. For example, New Jersey decided that all ebikes require a new ebike license and vehicle registration. Across the river in New York, no ebikes require a license or registration, and may be operated on any street which has a 30mph speed limit or less... but cities are allowed to make their own rules. California's laws are mostly regarded by bicyclists as being sensible, at least in every discussion I've seen that didn't feature a twelve year old trying to convince his parents to buy him a 70mph electric motorcycle. See https://thecyclistchoice.com/resources/california-ebike-laws/ https://thecyclistchoice.com/resources/california-ebike-laws...
- bri3d 2mo agoFriction drive e-bike conversions were popular years ago. They generally: * Wear tires surprisingly quickly * Absolutely suck in any form of weather or terrain condition (dirt, rain, etc.) * Have ~20% less efficiency than any other drive form. But, they are easy, and they do work.
- StopTencent 2mo agoTires wear out super fast. It's hard to say there is a market for this other than the uninformed.
- calmbonsai 2mo agoYeah. I don’t see weather or theft addressed in this design. I recall a wheel-mounted rotor system from a few years back that did address theft, tire-wear, and weather, but it suffered from far too little torque and very limited battery life.
- rtkwe 2mo agoIt looks like their solution is to make it easy enough to install and remove you take it with you. My thought would be security bolts so the pool of thieves is at least limited to people with the right bolt head. Also it has a big battery built in so
- SoftTalker 2mo agoThieves will just take the whole bike.
- Gigachad 2mo agoTbh solving this is one of the actual use cases for things like flock cameras. Simply bolting things down harder is still defeated by a battery powered grinder.
- jvuygbbkuurx 2mo ago
- singpolyma3 2mo agolol. A friction drive in current year?
- mannanj 2mo agoAll these sites have hype about AI features like AI Chat. however I use the chat, and it wastes about 3-10 seconds just to load, then I ask for the price, and it fails to understand even the page we were on (edit: "I don't understand what product you're referring to, please tell me the product"). Then I literally paste the page's product from the page into the chat, and it finally wastes my time more and sends a whole essay blob about why it can't tell me the price. Is this what investors sell to the board about how they are using AI for greater efficiency? Just to waste consumers time even more?
- mohamedkoubaa 2mo agoIt's fashionable and it takes strong leadership to avoid fashionable things even when they make absolutely no sense
- probably_wrong 2mo agoI asked for the price too, it told me "you seem to be asking about repair prices, you should go to <other website> instead". I gave the answer a thumbs up, of course.
- chrisjj 2mo agoYou are not the target audience. The "AI" label is intended to attract stupid people.
- angry_octet 2mo agoIf I'm carrying around a giant battery I ought to be able to charge my devices from it, but it is silent on that front. The design doesn't work if you have a mud guard or pannier rack. Also unclear how easily it is detached. Do I have to take it off everytime to prevent casual thievery? How do I take it off to charge inside? Does it have anti-theft bricking? I'm struggling to understand who the target market is.
- rahimnathwani 2mo ago"How do I take it off to charge inside?" It has a removable battery so it seems the mechanism is designed to be left on the bike.
- angry_octet 2mo agoAnd if I go into a shop am I compelled to remove the battery, or is it locked? Is there a key or an app to release the battery?
- amazingamazing 2mo agoSimilar things are on amazon today 300-500. Not worth it imho. If you are going to keep it on, convert your bike with middrive or hub motor once.
- windsweptabove 2mo agoPeople really owe it to themselves to try an ebike from an recognised road bike brand. They've been at it for a decade or so now, and even early 20's efforts are a different class in terms of riding experience, refinement and practicality. Summers ending, watch your bike dealers for deep discounts!
- UltraSane 2mo agoThese suck, just buy an e-bike they are awesome.
- rumblefrog 2mo agoThese would be great for many places that have storage restrictions on e-bikes, but not normal bikes. So you can easily detach and bring with you before storing it.
- saghm 2mo agoThe idea of being able to quickly switch a bike back and forth between a regular one and an e-bike seems cool. They lost me at the "smart" though...
- dominotw 2mo agoany particular one you recommend in usa my costco has magnum melody
- UltraSane 2mo agoPretty nice bike. I bought a Evelo with a belt drive and a automatic CVT transmission that is really nice to ride.
- windsweptabove 2mo agoSpecialized Vado SL 5 would be my entry level. But anything with a Bosch/Shimano Steps/Giant (same mfr as Specialized) mid-drive. Smooth as butter, and these brands still ride like a normal bike.
- dominotw 2mo agowow that looks so good. i do want a regular looking bike because i want to mostly bike like i do but also want to go farther.
- LeoPanthera 2mo agoClive Sinclair designed one of these in the 90s. It actually sold reasonably well, but was limited by the available battery technology of the period. https://rk.nvg.ntnu.no/sinclair/vehicles/zeta.htm https://rk.nvg.ntnu.no/sinclair/vehicles/zeta.htm
- willtemperley 2mo agoYes my grandfather had one. It worked well on flat terrain. I think it used a motorcycle battery so batteries were easy to find and charge.
- urbandw311er 2mo agoGreat piece of knowledge - thanks!
- pranav_tech26 2mo ago[flagged]
- yazaddaruvala 2mo agoOuch, love to see a great product like this. However, hate to see that bike theft wasn’t discussed at all. “Easy installation” with two screws seems like a benefit to customers except when they come back to their parked bike only to find their expensive mod also had a hidden feature: “easy uninstallation”.
- emdash 2mo agoThey could ship it with a pair of those bolts where the heads break off during installation
- loeg 2mo agoIn addition to the theft concerns, it's also not a great product.
- ls-a 2mo ago[dead]
- user- 2mo agofor the non bikers, to help us understand, whats wrong with it?
- UqWBcuFx6NV4r 2mo agoThey aren’t reliable or efficient.
- NegativeLatency 2mo agoLimited power delivery, horrible in the rain, prevents using fenders
- lostlogin 2mo agoWould you need a fender with it there?
- d--b 2mo agosome bike vendor told me that the biggest problem with regular to ebike conversion was that regular bike frames were not strong enough to support the additional forces that the electric bike imposed. And it was why the ebikes were much heavier than regular bikes. Does anyone know if that’s true and if that applies to conversions like this one?
- justsomehnguy 2mo agoWeight 3.7 kg (including battery)
- NegativeLatency 2mo agoDepends on the bike and motor combo. Something like a mountain bike from the last 20 years would be fine, but I wouldn’t try and put one on like a road bike from the 70s or something. Basically anything that’s well built sturdy steel is going to be ok with the common sub kilowatt motors, but there are like crazy ones that will output considerably more power than that. Also that’s going to be more applicable with a mid drive or a hub motor than something like this.
- theendisney 2mo agoInteresting point. That might be the only thing this thing has going for it self. The angle of force is perfect even for the most fragile frame.
- analog31 2mo agoIt's less of an issue for this device. The reason is that the motor is further from the axle than a hub motor would be. Thus, there's less force on the frame for a given amount of torque.
- mkl 2mo agoA lot of extra force when slowing down from faster speeds though, no matter where the motor is added.
- 2mo ago
- tokai 2mo agoI love bicycle tech. Almost everything was invented in the 1890s, and every couple of decades someone tries another old idea. https://onlinebicyclemuseum.co.uk/tour/cyclemotors-motorcycles/ https://onlinebicyclemuseum.co.uk/tour/cyclemotors-motorcycl...
- kaladin-jasnah 2mo ago> Almost everything was invented in the 1890s, and every couple of decades someone tries another old idea. What about wireless shifting systems like Di2?
- calvinmorrison 2mo agoThey aint new. I had one that was driven by a honda gx35 4 stroke there was another company named "bee" something that did these (gas as well 2 stroke) and many early scooters, conversions, that all followed the friction style
- Zigurd 2mo agoA couple other people here mentioned that theft is an issue. That's yet another reason why folding bikes seemed like the best use case for this. Not as good as a folding bike that's made for being an E bike, but if you've already got a good folding bike and a bit more zip on your commute is what you need, this seems like a interesting product.
- uwagar 2mo agoi have a folding cycle and a fat bike. my only two devices still analog and keep me reasonably fit. i dont wanna e-bike them. but if i wanna long distance, this could be nice.
- arjie 2mo agoHaha, I like all these adapter designs though my favourite was the Copenhagen Wheel[0]. I saw someone ride one near Mission and S Van Ness and loved it. Sleek device. This particular one in the OP is definitely built for safe societies, right? Definitely not for the North American market, haha! 0: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copenhagen_Wheel https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copenhagen_Wheel
- TylerE 2mo agoIt went on sale in the US before the EU. Did you even skim the wiki page you linked?
- arjie 2mo agoI see. The way I spoke made it seem like I was talking about the Copenhagen wheel with the phrase “this particular one”. I was talking about the OP device. Obviously since Mission and SVN is in the US I would have assumed it was not the CW but I can see that I was unclear so I have clarified. The Copenhagen wheel is pretty integrated. This one is a thumb screw and off you run with a valuable battery. I wouldn’t buy it here and I bike every day in the city. People who don’t bicycle in North America won’t quite get it. It’s not exactly Taiwan. Theft is rampant and it’s societally sanctioned in most major cities.
- antonvs 2mo agoBasically, the Copenhagen Wheel moved all the complexity of setting up a hub motor drive system - motor, battery, controller, sensors, computer - into the hub shell itself. Which made it seem neat and clean, but meant it had serious reliability issues, couldn't handle wet conditions[], wasn't really repairable, and was expensive compared to more reliable alternatives with better battery life, etc. [] The manufacturer apparently stated that "[...bad bearings] can occur when the Wheel is repeatedly exposed to wet conditions. Due to the nature of the problem, this cannot be repaired": https://forums.electricbikereview.com/threads/known-issues-problems-with-superpedestrian-copenhagen-wheel-products-help-solutions-fixes.13214/ https://forums.electricbikereview.com/threads/known-issues-p...
- dalmo3 2mo agoAm I missing something or that thing can be trivially stolen?
- theChaparral 2mo agoBicycles in general can be trivially stolen.
- Zambyte 2mo agoFUD. Cars in general can be trivially stolen if you don't lock them. Lock your bike and it can't be trivially stolen. The problem here is this device can be easily removed even from a locked bike, and it itself cannot be easily locked to the bike.
- NDlurker 2mo agoIf I ever convert my bike to electric, I'll probably go with this https://www.swytchbike.com/ https://www.swytchbike.com/
- Bjorkbat 2mo agoI actually bought one of these and love it. My road bike is indistinguishable from any other normal road bike with the exception of it being much easier to get around now. From experience I can say that it seems like a lot more common sense to simply replace the front wheel of your bike with a wheel containing an electric motor, rather than attaching whatever Asus is selling to your bike.
- Toutouxc 2mo agoNote that this is the most common and cheap approach: a hub motor, battery, controller, Hall-effect cadence sensor. There are renowned Chinese companies that sell those and you can find great deals if you shop around.
- urbandw311er 2mo agoCare to share a few brand names or links?
- andrewshadura 2mo agoBafang?
- darrenchiu 2mo ago[dead]
- righthand 2mo agoAnything for the world to actually avoid the health benefits of riding a bike. What is wrong with a standard human powered bike? I expect a global obesity epidemic in 10 years as people begin buying/building WALL-E-style beds.
- askvictor 2mo agoPeople with knee problems, areas with hills. An ebike is still active movement; sure you're not getting any cardio, but it's immeasurably better than driving. If this (or any ebike) is a thing that gets someone on a bike that otherwise wouldn't be on a bike, it is a good thing. For some it might be a stepping stone, for others it allows them to ride where they can't/won't ride at all.
- speedgoose 2mo agoI also noticed that some people who used to pedal switched to e-bikes due to laziness.
- askvictor 2mo agoThat would include me, except for the fact I'm e-cycling a lot more than I would have pedaled previously (and driving a lot less)
- mikestew 2mo agoFound the person who lives in Kansas. Sometimes I just want to ride to work without having to deal with that 2km hill on the way. And my bike is still human-powered, with electric assist. Do you not know how e-bikes work, perhaps? Signed, former Cat 2 road racer
- dreamcompiler 2mo ago> Do you not know how e-bikes work, perhaps? I suspect not. Even though ebikes are common now, I often hear this comment. Ebikes assist your pedaling; they don't pedal for you. (Well some can pedal for you but you learn quickly that if you let the motor do all the work you'll run the battery down and then you will have to do all the work pedaling a 65-lb bicycle home.) Lots of people seem to think if a motor is present, then the motor is doing all the work. Ebikes are not motorcycles. What the motor actually does is make the hills less steep and less long. It's a lowpass filter for terrain.
- low_tech_punk 2mo agoIt is decoupled from drivetrain. So, without torque sensor, how does it know when the rider wants to speed up vs. slow down?
- analog31 2mo agoIt says it has a wireless cadence sensor. With that said, torque sensors were an improvement over cadence sensors. To elaborate a bit, friends of mine have had bikes with both cadence and torque sensors. And I've tried their bikes out. Agreeing with one friend, the bike with the cadence sensor seems to decide how fast it wants to go. The bike with the torque sensor behaves a lot more like what you're used to from riding a conventional bike. After all, the control input to a conventional bike is torque.
- Perseids 2mo ago> The bike with the torque sensor behaves a lot more like what you're used to from riding a conventional bike I agree, but would like to point out that sometimes this might not be what you want. I had a bike with a front motor and a cadence sensor that I used for my commute for a few years, and was very happy with the motor just pulling me along while I lazily pushed the pedals with ~zero torque, barely enough to let the bike know I'm there. Basically like pressing a throttle. If all you want is to get from A to B comfortably, I've found this to be superior to a torque sensor, and it was also dirt cheap.
- Zambyte 2mo agoWith a torque sensor you can just raise the assist level and drop your gear to get the same effect, no? Seems like a torque sensor would be the best of both worlds.
- Toutouxc 2mo ago> the bike with the cadence sensor seems to decide how fast it wants to go Well yes, because there’s no other input. It’s an on/off switch, the bike just knows that you’re pedaling. Usually there are multiple power levels you can switch between with a button, and those decide roughly how much of a push you get from the motor, but the power curves are all “hardcoded”. It doesn’t feel great for active riding, but it’s adequate for commuter bikes. Torque sensors are actually kind of expensive on their own.
- Helmut10001 2mo agoThis would be great to add to my 9 year old's bike. We couldn't do long bike tours anymore because he would stop biking after 100m, telling is he is completely exhausted and must go home. I was looking for something like this!
- squidgyhead 2mo agoA follow-me tandem (which couples a kids bike to your bike) is a much better solution than giving a 9yo a poorly controlled motor.
- fragmede 2mo agoNo it's not, it teaches the child dependence on the adult instead of giving the child agency.
- Helmut10001 2mo agoYes, we already have this (Follow-Me - the swiss company). However, my 9yo and his bike is too heavy for that. I was able to carry/drag his bike from about 3y till about 6yo.
- Toutouxc 2mo agoI’m pretty sure I’d have preferred a poorly controlled motor over staring at my dad’s ass at 9 years old. Luckily we didn’t have either, we used a dog leash for towing.
- theendisney 2mo agoThey should turn it into a phone lan gaming platform with dedicated games. That would make it instantly awesome.
- amoorthy 2mo agoI just bought a Boost conversion kit from the UK and am excited to install it in a couple weeks. If anyone has installed this kit would appreciate a comment on the experience. (I'm in the US and have been unimpressed with the kits available here. The Boost one looks compact and well designed).
- Lwrless 2mo agoI have to say, this looks really well designed and easy to use, I want one! But why Asus? I really want to know how they landed on this.
- mswphd 2mo agoASUS does make power banks, and the vast majority of the cost of any ebike is in the battery.
- JsonDemWitOster 2mo ago> I really want to know how they landed on this. RAM prices.
- camkego 2mo agoThe web page doesn't seem to load correctly in the Safari browser for macOS 26. Seems like something they might want to fix.
- dreamcompiler 2mo agoIf I bought this I might want a brake upgrade. Even though it probably provides only about 150W (I always assume ebike power ratings are inflated), the extra weight alone warrants disc brakes IMHO.
- speedgoose 2mo agoWhen I see obvious out of shape ebikers passing me uphill while barely moving their legs, I’m assuming that the power rating of their ebike is about right and the torque curve might be weird to stay legal. I agree that rim brakes on an e-bike is extra bad.
- moezd 2mo ago10 km Sports and 50 km Eco range is a no go. Plus they explicitly deny carbon fiber bikes, bikes with suspension, and tire choice is rather limited. You could've invested in a decent trekking bike with a standard motor instead, at least you get that hind wheel storage space free.
- Animats 2mo agoNo price. No order form. No delivery date. Vaporware. Come on, ASUS. You're a real company, not some kickstarter scam.
- cube00 2mo agoTheir AI bot is just as grim Me: when's the bike booster available to purchase? ASUS AI: For the most accurate and up-to-date product release information, we recommend following our Facebook and Instagram channels. We share all our launch announcements there first, along with exciting product previews. Hilarious advice given both Meta products are notorious for not showing everything from the accounts you follow.
- Animats 2mo agoIs ASUS trolling to see if there is a market for the thing? If they were serious, it would be in WalMart at $279.95. If you want something like this, there are very similar items on Amazon, Alibaba, etc.[1] [1] https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/Mountain-City-Road-Bike-Modification-Electric_11000035481726.html https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/Mountain-City-Road-Bi...
- sjaak 2mo agoFunny, a modern version of WWII era technology https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V%C3%A9loSoleX https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V%C3%A9loSoleX
- Galanwe 2mo agoSolex got used much longer than post WWII, the engine is very easy to service. I had one when I was 15, and most of my friends did as well. Everyone in the village had either a "solex" or an old "mobilette".
- analog31 2mo agoSomehow when I was a kid, the local Schwinn dealer got a bunch of Solex bikes. I remember their primary use was trying to get the motor started.
- claiir 2mo ago> Motor Power 250W (Rated) / 500W (Peak) A 4090's TDP!
- Aperocky 2mo agoIt feels like a great product but targeted at a surprisingly transient customer base. The cycling guys won't buy it, they want the watts from their legs. The commuters will just get an ebike eventually. The getting started crowd will eventually become one of these 2 or stop riding a bike altogether. Since I didn't see how much this cost, if it cost as much as a commuter bike, I really don't know who would buy something like this.
- YPPH 2mo agoHah, my dad made something like this for me when I was a kid using a weed eater engine, with a makeshift lever as a clutch to engage/disengage it. This looks about as makeshift, I wouldn't trust it for serious use.
- jmtulloss 2mo agoEveryone is hating but this is a hack and you love to see it.
- Gabrys1 2mo agoFenders, anyone
- pranav_tech26 2mo ago[flagged]
- Someone 2mo agoReminds me of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V%C3%A9loSoleX https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V%C3%A9loSoleX: *“VéloSoleX is a moped, or motorised bicycle, usually just referred to as 'Solex', […] originally created during World War II and mass-produced between 1946 and 1988, came in various iterations, while keeping the same concept of a motor with a roller resting on the front wheel of a bicycle”* This powers the back wheel, though. I think that’s better for propulsion but it seems you’re giving up carrying stuff or a child on the back of the bicycle. Can’t even have a rack there with this contraption.
- donperignon 2mo agoNo price. This is just sensing the market, i doubt the have anything other than a dirty PoC
- selfhoster1312 2mo agoA smartphone app to change motor speed, really? Not even talking about your motor getting hacked (with the S in IOT standing for security and all), getting out a fragile device that captures all your attention while biking is really dangerous for you and the device. So they say there's a button on the thing itself which is not so much more practical. If they insist on wireless controls, the cost of a waterproof battery-powered button to stick on the handlebars sounds worth it.
- DonHopkins 2mo agoThrottled motors on ebikes are terribly unsafe, compared to pedal assist central motors. I just got rear-ended by an illegally hot-rodded fat bike with a throttle, when the asshole lost control of his bike after hitting my rear wheel trying to pass at illegally high speed without bothering to ring his bell, and he flipped over and spilled onto the bike path. I was fine, but surprised he so carelessly and thoughtlessly sneaked up on me and tried to pass when I was already going fast downhill off of a bridge over a canal, on my legal eBike with 25 kph maximum assist. Pedaling makes you pay attention and gives you direct control over the speed, and the assist drops out once you're going >25 kph. The asshole who hit me from behind probably didn't have time to find the throttle with his hand, and was never really in control of his bike or paying much attention up to when he freaked out and hit me. What to do about fatbikes endangering our safety? https://www.reddit.com/r/Netherlands/comments/1knza1c/what_to_do_about_fatbikes_endangering_our_safety/ https://www.reddit.com/r/Netherlands/comments/1knza1c/what_t... Fatbikes in the Netherlands 2026: What You Actually Need to Know https://bikefair.org/blog/fatbikes-netherlands-guide-2026 https://bikefair.org/blog/fatbikes-netherlands-guide-2026
- Galanwe 2mo agoThis drives me mad as well. Electric bikes should be limited to 25kph and non throttled in Europe, yet half the bikes I see are both, and drive recklessly.
- tgv 2mo agoThe other day I was passed by one which kept up with the cars on the main road, which has a speed limit of 80km/h. Most cars don't go full speed there, but will reach at least 60km/h . On it were two young boys without helmets. It's insane.
- AbuAssar 2mo agowould be better if there is an option for manual wired buttons to engage/disengage the booster positioned on the handlebars
- DonHopkins 2mo agoI absolutely would not give up my double panniers and rack. I put a small Tom Bihn Bag "Daylight Backpack" with my laptop in one, and the bike charger and food and other junk in the other, empty my pockets into the zipper bag, and then I'm totally unencumbered for riding and have unlimited distance since I can plug in and charge the battery if it gets low. Riding with a backpack on my back or even stuff in my pockets is a drag. The panniers are also great for grocery and other shopping. https://www.tombihn.com/products/daylight-backpack https://www.tombihn.com/products/daylight-backpack
- mvdwoord 2mo agoIt seems to me this is a product for almost no one. Inefficient delivery of power, bulky, "smart" detection in stead of reliable operation and most importantly, the only target market I could imagine cannot use it. Not sure about other places and climates, but over here, most bicycles have fenders. Bicycles without fenders are typically used for specific recreational activities and those sure as heck do not want this clumsy thing attached.. If they want any form of electrical assistance they would want it a lot more sleek and efficient. Other than that, it reminds me of the Spartamet, a Dutch piece of tech from 1985 which added a small combustion engine to an otherwise regular city bike. https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spartamet https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spartamet
- anthropic-dario 2mo ago[dead]
- u1hcw9nx 2mo agoIf the road is even little bit wet like after rain or morning mist, the dirt from the road ends up in your backside without fenders unless you drive very slowly. Find a bicycle without mudguards and ride very slowly, or just ride on clean roads on a sunny days.
- tgv 2mo agoWhen it's wet, the engine will have less traction too.
- veunes 2mo agoI can see one audience: someone with a bike they already like who only occasionally needs assistance and wants the whole thing removable
- jwr 2mo agoOnce you try a (good!) electric bike, you don't really want to go back. Life is just so much better. For urban commuting, you no longer think about heat (getting sweaty), distance, inclines, wind, etc. Obviously I'm talking about good electric bikes, with mid-mounted engines that detect pedaling strength. These feel great, unlike electric motors strapped to bikes, which feel like, well, electric motors strapped to bikes.
- anthropic-dario 2mo ago[dead]
- timonoko 2mo agoI see winter version of this. You need custom roller with holes for a particular stud pattern. So there is no slipping and no tire wear. And maybe the roller is made of metal so the snow does not stick to it.
- PeterStuer 2mo agoI remember those from 50 years ago. Back then it was a small petrol engine typically mounted on the front tyre. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V%C3%A9loSoleX https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V%C3%A9loSoleX
- ryzvonusef 2mo ago[dead]
- veunes 2mo agoI kind of like this. Not because it's necessarily the best way to electrify a bike, but because it's removable enough that your bike can still just be... a bike
- dorte 2mo agoIt looks like you have to remove your rear fender thought. I would rather just use the rye bread engine a little more, than not being able to bike on wet roads (or being sprayed with mud).
- akarshhegde18 2mo ago[flagged]
- leemailll 2mo agodisappointed to see no tire brand listed as a partner or sponsor
- sigio 2mo agoSo, this won't work on any regular bike that has a fender, which is most 'regular' bikes people would use for city-driving/daily commutes. (At least in area's that get rain occasionally.
- 4ndrewl 2mo agoYou could replace your regular fender/mudguard with an "ass-saver" type that sticks out parallel to the ground. But in any case wet tyres would have a negative impact on the ability of this device to efficiently drive the tyre.
- esel2k 2mo agoSeems like a “ohh ebike is becoming big” management decision to somehow do a quick and dirty thinking it would be useful. Unfortunately ASUS brand is not getting better with these actions.
- boesboes 2mo agoThis might be the dumbest thing I've seen this.. well.. week tbh. Don't you guys have mud guards?
- pvillano 2mo agoIs it compatible with the AMD mountain bike?
- yetanotherjohn 2mo agoFor a second I thought it must be April Fool’s Day.
- artemonster 2mo agoWhy model names for consumer electronics are so stupid? E250G1. Wtf. or have you seen what bosch siemens morons come up with, like ki96nvfd0?
- stcg 2mo ago> Oxiis is a universal, friction-drive motor system that transforms any conventional bicycle into a smart e-bike. Its name fuses the Greek Oxis (agility) and Axis (pivot)—perfectly reflecting how its high-performance drive core delivers ultimate acceleration and instant, nimble responsiveness right to your ride. This sounds like LLM-generated to me, but I find it difficult to point out why.
- altern8 2mo agoMaybe the em dash and the fact that it says "its name" instead of "it's name"..? :-D Seems like normal text to me, I don't think we need to scrutinize every sentence, now. Who cares if they used AI?
- guytv 2mo agowhat about my mud-guards?
- codeduck 2mo agoeasy on, easy off, easy to fence.
- haute_cuisine 2mo agoWould it make a seat tube a load bearing here? I imagined setting it up on a carbon bike
- zyvop1 2mo agoThe friction-drive approach is interesting, especially at 3.7 kg. I’d be curious how the drive wheel affects tire wear and performance in wet conditions over time.
- pranav_tech26 2mo ago[flagged]
- adev_ 2mo agoIf some of you ever have the occasion to go to the Toyota commemorative Museum, in Nagoya (Aichi), you will find this: https://www.tcmit.org/english/research/car/car01 https://www.tcmit.org/english/research/car/car01 This is the last century version of the item that Asus is presenting here... but with a Gasoline engine. The Engine is fixed on its own wheel and attached on the side of the bicycle. This was apparently was a thing. It was used to motorize Japan at its industrialization debut. On century later, electrification is now a thing and the same device is back with a battery. The loop is done. PS: I do recommend the museum for anybody interested in industries and industrial processes.
- soapdog 2mo agoGonna be stolen from any parked bike in the UK…
- imnotr0b0t 2mo agoFunny little gadget but I feel like ASUS is about 5 years too late. With so many alternatives for the same money a friction drive just looks like a solution to problems that don't really exist anymore I can see who might actually buy this: some guy with an old Specialized that he can't bear to throw away, but who doesn't want to show up at work all sweaty. Strap it on, ride in. Take it off, toss it in a backpack. There's something cool about that. But 3.7 kg in a backpack... yeah, no thanks. I'd probably just get a proper city e-bike instead of messing around with this contraption
- windsweptabove 2mo agoI'm some guy with a Specialized E bike, you can imagine my attachment is profound. I can't even look at this device without cheering myself on for buying the complete package, rather than messing around with gizmos.
- ChrisMarshallNY 2mo agoI remember these, from when I was young: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNtHBEdZDYs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNtHBEdZDYs
- trentor 2mo agoReminds me of the best mechanic class in high school we were just five guys and the teacher let us rebuild two old velo solexes.
- UK-Al05 2mo agoThere used to be a few products like this in the early 2000s. Not a new idea at all.
- yeahyw 2mo agoTheir slogan should be “Reinventing the wheel” and then apply the device to all kinds of stuff
- mekpro 2mo agoIt’s interesting in terms of the economics of development. This product takes advantage of advancements in lithium-ion battery technology driven by phones and cars, benefiting from improvements in both performance and cost at scale without requiring extensive additional research. Looking forward to trying it.
- flimflamm 2mo agoExcellent unless you have a mudflap in your back wheel in countries where it rains.
- orsenthil 2mo agoWhere is the buy now button in that page ?
- Purity9 2mo agoFrom the FAQ: > ...rated IPX4 for water resistance ...suitable for use in light rain, but it should not be exposed to heavy rain or submerged in water. A bike part you can't use in more than light rain seems like a pretty big drawback to me.
- fulafel 2mo agoGood find. Most people can probably live with not using it in heavy rain, but the text implies it can break even if exposed to heavy rain when parked.
- Configure0251 2mo agoAlso doesn't look compatible with a rear fender
- elAhmo 2mo agoAs a cyclist, I thought this was a joke. Cycling is very efficient mode of transport, if anyone needs this kind of assistance (like those people on the stock photos), they are insanely out of shape.
- einaralex 2mo agoDo you live where it’s mostly flat?
- wosk 2mo ago« This kind of assistance » allow one, even in shape, to go to work by bike in many places where your employer has no shower, or you don’t want to be drenched in sweat twice per day. Not all the word is flat. My work place was 540m elevation lower than my house, and before good electric bikes it was quite hard do that by bike.
- woodruffw 2mo agoWait until you hear how many people drive a car every day. But less facetiously: there are large demographics that might ride bicycles more if it was slightly easier for them, including older people and people with mobility issues. I don’t have opinions particular to this product, but expanding the feasibility of cycling seems like a generally good thing to me.
- amelius 2mo agoASUS manager: "now memory is scarce, does it even make sense to produce more motherboards"? ASUS employee: "maybe not, but I hear that electric bikes are hot"
- theflyingelvis 2mo agoSince no one can afford ram, they had to find other markets?
- Retr0id 2mo agoIt looks very stealable, which is amusing given "boost" is slang for "steal".
- windsweptabove 2mo agoCycling product announcement as we enter the last two weeks of summer, LOL.
- ufocia 2mo agoI totally thought this was about bike theft.
- ck2 2mo agomaking a regular bike an e-bike is not too hard as long as caliper brakes and not disc just replace the front wheel I did that 20 years ago with a brushed motor and wow that thing had torque, could go up the steepest hills at speed no matter what I was carrying
- convolvatron 2mo agonot really interested in this weird thing, but does anyone know what kind of bike is in the top picture? steel frame, machined brake calipers, really looks very attractive and light for a commuter.
- snorrah 2mo agoSeems like an odd pivot, have Asus made any other (successful) non-computing products before?
- hny6epwg93 2mo agoBeen burned, can confirm every word
- hereme888 2mo ago"The noise is higher than a conventional e-bike motor and is high-pitched, similar to an RC car, although quieter than some other conversion kits they had tested." https://www.frandroid.com/marques/asus/3158393_meme-asus-se-met-au-velo-on-a-roule-avec-son-assistance-electrique-tout-en-un https://www.frandroid.com/marques/asus/3158393_meme-asus-se-...
- mchusma 2mo agoI really think ebikes, and things like this, would have a much better reputation if they really only supported up to maybe 10 km/h or 6 mph. This is a normalish running/jogging pace. Basically, they helped up hills and when tired but were not "motorcycles-lite". At least around us, in an area with lots of kids, people want to have them but there are so many injuries and problems that sentiment is generally very negative. And I think all you need to "make biking easy" is low speed assist. You don't need support up to 20 mph for that.
- unethical_ban 2mo agoIn that case I would support promoting 20+ mph e-bikes as e-scooters, make them easy to get, cheap/free to license and call it a day. "Bikes" with 20-30mph speed are awesome, much healthier than gas vespas, and much cheaper and more sustainable than cars.
- emil-lp 2mo ago> I really think ebikes, and things like this, would have a much better reputation if they really only supported up to maybe 10 km/h or 6 mph. Where is it ebikes don't have a good reputation? Where I'm living, they have a very good reputation, and very many have them. The motor shuts off at 26km/h.
- virtualneuro 2mo agoYou sound like you might not ride bikes often, or you're from an area where bikes are mostly used by kids? I commute daily on one of the most popular commuter paths in the country and I would say most commuters I see are averaging about 15 mph (while moving) with or without an electric motor. Plenty of people commute at the 20 mph max legal speed that pedal assist bikes allow, and I also see a lot of people on acoustic bikes hitting 20-25 or faster. Many commuters on e-bikes are people who otherwise would be driving a car, so e-bikes that help people commute to work in a timely manner are critical. At the end of the day people are going to do the thing that is competitive on time and if we want to reduce the crush of car traffic around the country then we need the people who can bike to go out and do it.
- iqihs 2mo agoincredible that this got green lighted, it's just an inferior version in every way to many other products on the market
- myself248 2mo agoThe only feature I care about here, is that it charges over USB-C PD, which every ebike battery for the last 12 years could have done, and should have done, yet here we are. Is it the very first? I have no idea. But it's the first that I've run across, and I'm ecstatic that it exists. Proprietary power bricks for anything are stone-age and should be shunned by the market. Maybe the ebike market will start doing so.
- alanfranz 2mo agoI don’t think it would have been possible for the last 12 years. But should be possible now. Only the 2021 spec for usb pd supports 36v (common bike battery voltage) and more than 100W delivery. My bosch ebike charges at 36v 4A. I also think that a small usb c connector could easily break when used in an ebike. But this should not prevent standardizing a “bigger usb c” to be used in ebikes.
- mmanfrin 2mo agoI have only ever had nightmarish experiences dealing with ASUS products being DOA or broken. They might make good tech that is good when it works, but genuinely half of the things I've bought from asus (>10) have had issues and their support is genuinely the single worst support I have dealt with across any product domain.
- syphia 2mo agoAs someone who just converted a bicycle to ebike (via hub motor kit installation), it's not really that hard to do a traditional conversion. The worst part was filing down the metal brake assembly so it didn't rub the hub motor on the rear wheel. I assume that was a very unique compatibility issue. Besides that, it was no more difficult than assembling a computer, just a bit of screwing and wrenching which any bike owner would be able to do (add in some spitting and cursing if you've never worked on a bike before, as I hadn't). Done in a weekend. The second hardest part was figuring out what to buy. The most straightforward option is a full hub motor conversion kit, which should work for any commuter application. Trying to individually buy parts (likely from aliexpress) is cheaper but a hassle to coordinate, since there's no standard for ebike part compatibility. Then there's also the choice between PAS and torque-sensing, throttle, etc. I ended up buying the minimal throttle conversion kit from Grintech (~$1200 total) and installing it on a used hardtail mountain bike I got for $200. The bike goes ~26mph on a 48V battery, 30mi range, works like a charm.
- ElijahLynn 2mo agoReally cool product! * cadence sensor, looks like an optical sensor that has wireless connection to the main unit and/or app * app to adjust the mode * USB-C PD 100W - (improvement would be to allow for 2 inputs, charge at twice the speed, like new Anker Prime power bank) * removable/swappable batteries, love this * built in brake light, very nice
- wlecometo 2mo agoall bikes in the video do not have mudguards. kind of impractical for city bikes.
- vanrohan 2mo agoReminds me of this low-tech solution https://wiki.lowtechlab.org/wiki/V%C3%A9lo_%C3%A0_assistance_%C3%A9lectrique/en https://wiki.lowtechlab.org/wiki/V%C3%A9lo_%C3%A0_assistance...
- deleted 2mo ago[deleted]