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I think the issue with electric bikes is that until you try one out you have no idea what you are missing out on. Recently I was able to test a direct drive (Th

by awjr 12y ago

I think the issue with electric bikes is that until you try one out you have no idea what you are missing out on. Recently I was able to test a direct drive (The motor is in the bottom bracket and assists you pedalling). It's phenomenal. I could easily go up very steep hills without a lot of effort and I weigh 270lb. I could even vary the help it was giving me and choose to have more of a workout. What I would suggest is that if you are on the heavy side or intend to carry heavy loads, direct drive is the best for you. One negative side to the e-bike legislation is that in the UK, it's speed limited to assist up to 15MPH and on 250W motors. To a certain extent I have no issue with the assist cutting out at 15MPH (20 would be nicer), however the 250W limit reduces torque and if you had a load of shopping with you, this could be an issue. The issue I find with the Copenhagen wheel is that it is trying to think for you and you control the wheel through your phone. When riding, I prefer not to remove my hands from the handle bar. Most if not all ebike configurations place the motor control near a thumb as if you were holding on to the handle bar. My criticism may be unfounded, but you need control sometimes at a moments notice. The other issue is one of battery charging. Most people that I know that have an ebike, have bought two chargers, one for work and one for home, and charge their batteries at both ends by removing the battery from the bike and leaving the bike locked up in the parking lot. The copenhagen wheel doesn't seem to support that idea.

schrodinger 12y ago
I don't think you need the phone to control it while you're riding; rather it senses the amount of assist desired but how much you're pedaling. The phone is just used to give it a general idea of how aggressively you'd like it to assist overall.
participle 12y ago
The kind of ebike you're recommending is called a mid drive, not a direct drive. Mid drives connect to the bike chain so it combines your bike's gears with the motor, that's where all that great hill climbing ability comes from. Direct drive is just a regular hub type that sits in the center of the wheel. They're not so good since they do not use the bike's gears, you end up with cogging when pedaling, it distributes the bike's weight unevenly and low power restrictions make it fairly useless for hills. There's also geared hubs these days which look similar but work a little better. Course, any of these types are better than the copenhagen wheel. Personally my dream ebike would be a Bosch mid drive connected to a nuvinci internal shifting hub via a gates carbon drive, all mounted on a full suspension carbon fiber frame with the battery mounted in the center triangle.
- dzhiurgis 12y ago
  This. I hope by carbon drive you mean a belt instead of chain. And don't forget brakes in hub, a la Gazelle style. Utility frame, obviously. Forget the carbon as for this to be remotely successfully, the prices must be as low as possible. Currently the majority of the price is the battery. Add carbon frame and it will cost as much as a reasonably new car. As for the controls - I believe there shouldn't be any so it feels as natural as possible. Forget the smartphone control bullshit. You could pair it once via BLE so you'd get some statistics at most. Tech shouldn't be intrusive!
- barkingcat 12y ago
  How are these? http://www.stealthelectricbikescanada.com/bomber-electric-bike.html http://www.stealthelectricbikescanada.com/bomber-electric-bi...
  - participle 12y ago
    I am not a fan of it. You will go faster walking the bike than pedaling due to cogging so those pedals are mostly for show (or stealth.) And the $10,000 pricetag is just crazy, you could buy an electric zero fx for that. For reasonably fast speeds I would go with a kit like this from em3ev http://em3ev.com/store/index.php?route=product/product&path=45&product_id=186 http://em3ev.com/store/index.php?route=product/product&path=... Select the largest battery and fastest speed option, pop that onto a hardtail MTB from craigslist and you've got a fast ebike with the same range for about $1700. Plus this is a geared motor so you don't have any drag from cogging, it just freewheels which makes pedaling and coasting much more fun.
Shorel 12y ago
I ride a moped, and the motor has an accelerator just like a motorcycle. I don't see any reason to change that basic design. May be add a cruise control button to fix the accelerator at some speed, but that's it.
holri 12y ago
I am regular bicycle driver. We won a weekend trip with e-bikes on a contest. Although the electric motor increases the average speed, range and hill climbing I did not like the handling and additional weight and complexity of the electric bicycle. This was the first bicycle I had to pedal downhill (electric motor off). So the mechanical efficiency seems to be bad. Since my fitness allows enough speed and good range on a traditional bike (also with a trailer) I do not need the electric assistance. It adds unnecessary complexity, weight, costs and maintenance for me.

by awjr 12y ago

schrodinger 12y ago

I don't think you need the phone to control it while you're riding; rather it senses the amount of assist desired but how much you're pedaling. The phone is just used to give it a general idea of how aggressively you'd like it to assist overall.

participle 12y ago

The kind of ebike you're recommending is called a mid drive, not a direct drive. Mid drives connect to the bike chain so it combines your bike's gears with the motor, that's where all that great hill climbing ability comes from. Direct drive is just a regular hub type that sits in the center of the wheel. They're not so good since they do not use the bike's gears, you end up with cogging when pedaling, it distributes the bike's weight unevenly and low power restrictions make it fairly useless for hills. There's also geared hubs these days which look similar but work a little better. Course, any of these types are better than the copenhagen wheel. Personally my dream ebike would be a Bosch mid drive connected to a nuvinci internal shifting hub via a gates carbon drive, all mounted on a full suspension carbon fiber frame with the battery mounted in the center triangle.

dzhiurgis 12y ago
This. I hope by carbon drive you mean a belt instead of chain. And don't forget brakes in hub, a la Gazelle style. Utility frame, obviously. Forget the carbon as for this to be remotely successfully, the prices must be as low as possible. Currently the majority of the price is the battery. Add carbon frame and it will cost as much as a reasonably new car. As for the controls - I believe there shouldn't be any so it feels as natural as possible. Forget the smartphone control bullshit. You could pair it once via BLE so you'd get some statistics at most. Tech shouldn't be intrusive!
barkingcat 12y ago
How are these? http://www.stealthelectricbikescanada.com/bomber-electric-bike.html http://www.stealthelectricbikescanada.com/bomber-electric-bi...
- participle 12y ago
  I am not a fan of it. You will go faster walking the bike than pedaling due to cogging so those pedals are mostly for show (or stealth.) And the $10,000 pricetag is just crazy, you could buy an electric zero fx for that. For reasonably fast speeds I would go with a kit like this from em3ev http://em3ev.com/store/index.php?route=product/product&path=45&product_id=186 http://em3ev.com/store/index.php?route=product/product&path=... Select the largest battery and fastest speed option, pop that onto a hardtail MTB from craigslist and you've got a fast ebike with the same range for about $1700. Plus this is a geared motor so you don't have any drag from cogging, it just freewheels which makes pedaling and coasting much more fun.

Shorel 12y ago

I ride a moped, and the motor has an accelerator just like a motorcycle. I don't see any reason to change that basic design. May be add a cruise control button to fix the accelerator at some speed, but that's it.

holri 12y ago

I am regular bicycle driver. We won a weekend trip with e-bikes on a contest. Although the electric motor increases the average speed, range and hill climbing I did not like the handling and additional weight and complexity of the electric bicycle. This was the first bicycle I had to pedal downhill (electric motor off). So the mechanical efficiency seems to be bad. Since my fitness allows enough speed and good range on a traditional bike (also with a trailer) I do not need the electric assistance. It adds unnecessary complexity, weight, costs and maintenance for me.