discuss electric bikes

Monkey Soup

Angry Wanker
The funniest part of this whole thread is the debate around something that no one here is actually ever going to buy, but since we cyclists all seem to be contrarian by nature, this is fun.

So far it seems that no one would actually buy one of these to ride on trails because of concerns to trail damage/access. This group also seems to actually care about fitness and wellness as well, which is one of the reasons we ride bikes in the first place, so an ebike pretty much defeats that purpose.

As for commuting (excluding NYC or other urban areas), why the hell would you want to commute on one of these? You’re not getting any exercise, you can’t keep up with traffic (dangerous), and these things ain’t cheap. Why not buy a used motorcycle instead? You’ll have more fun also.

I found that a bike trailer for kids is the biggest waste of money ever. By the time your kid is 2, they’re pedaling behind you already, so paying $3k for an ebike plus a trailer on top seems ridiculous, unless your last name is Vanderbilt or Rockefeller.

I’d say the best market for this is probably DWI-guy. Since you’ll be riding your bike everywhere for the next 6mo, maybe a good investment. Then you can sell it to city commuting guy, or save it for your second offense.
 

Pearl

THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING
some people commuting aren't in it for the exercise doe
used motorcycle has additional costs, license, insurance, gas, place to store it, etc
DUI guy is best bet.
 

THATmanMANNY

Well-Known Member
the trailer is good! My kid almost 3. No interest in pedaling yet. But we still like to and she enjoys the ride. We use it on our beach vacations every day while we are there. All the towels and toys get thrown right in. And it moves the slow walking kids faster. Pulling a beach cart, HA. Then it doubles as a double stroller. (the burley with the 2 wheel kit)
 

Kaleidopete

Well-Known Member
nice review

I've pulled the Burley trailer a few times now on road rides with wife and friends. Its cool to still be able to ride with my wife and friends and bring my kid along.

my main use is commuting. I have 2600 commuting miles now since I got mine now. Paid for itself in savings (train fares, gas, tolls, parking etc)

only thing I ever done was new pads and chains

my hardtail may be a little lighter but cant maintain over 20mph either
What kind of ebike do you have?
 

UtahJoe

Team Workhorse
Team MTBNJ Halter's
The funniest part of this whole thread is the debate around something that no one here is actually ever going to buy, but since we cyclists all seem to be contrarian by nature, this is fun.

So far it seems that no one would actually buy one of these to ride on trails because of concerns to trail damage/access. This group also seems to actually care about fitness and wellness as well, which is one of the reasons we ride bikes in the first place, so an ebike pretty much defeats that purpose.

As for commuting (excluding NYC or other urban areas), why the hell would you want to commute on one of these? You’re not getting any exercise, you can’t keep up with traffic (dangerous), and these things ain’t cheap. Why not buy a used motorcycle instead? You’ll have more fun also.

I found that a bike trailer for kids is the biggest waste of money ever. By the time your kid is 2, they’re pedaling behind you already, so paying $3k for an ebike plus a trailer on top seems ridiculous, unless your last name is Vanderbilt or Rockefeller.

I’d say the best market for this is probably DWI-guy. Since you’ll be riding your bike everywhere for the next 6mo, maybe a good investment. Then you can sell it to city commuting guy, or save it for your second offense.

id consider buying a less expensive one for my wife after after that ride, she had a blast.

With regards to the trailer...I get a ton of use out of my weehoo...but it has pedals/single rear wheel so I can take it on the trails...Not ringwood, but lewis morris/tourne are no problem.

As far as commuting...I get it if you are using it as actual transportation and not a work out...Makes more sense to me. I wouldnt commute to work via bike because its a gigantic waste of my time...Having to get ready twice, shower twice all for 2 ~40min bike rides. Id rather just do 1 90 min ride with the very limited free time I currently have. However, if I lived in a place were I could get around traffic, get to work and not be sweaty gross...I suppose it could be useful.
 

Ironjunk

Well-Known Member
I have an iron horse SGS with mid drive GNG gen2 and sette reken with a BBS02.

I first bought an geared ebikekit back in 09 that I ran with 48v. It recently lost a bearing after probably 3000 miles on it. I used to run it with SLA batts but recenetly started using lipos and a lithium pack.

I ran both ebikit and bbs02 on my commuter with a Y connector one batt for two systems. It would pull 2000 watts but got pretty hot. I used the ebikit to cruise and the bss02 for hill and power. I don't like the BBS02 because it runs on the chain. Everytime I use it I feel like i'm putting too much wear on the chain.

If I were to do it again i'd probably get a MAC geared motor.

Right now I have a calibike pack with a blown BMS cause the dumb circle connectors can be plugged in backwards.

With an ebike keep it simple. Mine feel like hack projects.
 
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Steve Vai

Endurance Guy: Tolerates most of us.
Still riding ours around town. I'm definitely faster on a normal bike but it's nice to be super lazy. Still don't feel it's a viable option as a commuter in my area as it's too hilly. With it on Eco Mode there's not enough assist and you end up pedaling a 70 pound bike uphill. Technology is getting close.

20170901_122934.jpg
 

stb222

Love Drunk
Jerk Squad
When Does it become a motorcycle? I.e. when can you no longer Ride it in a bike
Lane or on trails?
 

Kaleidopete

Well-Known Member
Today by chance, I took a demo ride on an Electric Haibike. My wife was out to lunch with a friend, I got the yard work done that I wanted to and I just decided it was such a nice day I’d go back to Wawayanda park and see what’s going on. When I pulled in at 2:20 PM there was the Haibike manufacturers truck and all their junk set up. They were just banging it up, but still offered me a demo ride after asking me if I knew how to ride a bike. So off I went on a full suspension semi-fat tire electric mountain bike. This is pedal assist only, no throttle. It was explained to me that “class 1” is pedal assist only, if there is a throttle involved it’s a different class. I said “it’s still a motorized vehicle and not allowed in the state park”. They said “oh yes it is, it’s class 1”. They had already checked with the state park on this point. It has 4 push button assist levels, I just put it on 4 (high) and left it there. It was a hard ride, because I’m used to my Fatty. I wasn’t about to check tire pressures and all. It rode really well and handled good, I got used to it rather quickly. It zoomed me up hills and trails that I could never make without the assist. The front end would bounce up pretty easy and I had to do the lean forward move to keep it down. The motor is a 350 watt. I found I picked my way along the trails more than with my Moonlander, that just rolls over anything. This was fun to do though, picking a good line through and around stuff. No way is this bike going to rip up trails either, it has no more adverse effect on trails than any bike, at least not in my hands. All in all it was a fun ride and I’m glad I did it. The dealer is in Montclair, NJ. Diamond Cycle, since 1912. Kinda looked like this, but I don't remember the model.

Haibike15.jpg


Haibike_2018_XDURO_Nduro_100.png
 

Fire Lord Jim

Well-Known Member
10% of my bikes are ebikes.
I still get a great workout riding them, it is just the pace and average speed are higher. I once had 100 lbs of weight in a trailer and biked 12 miles of pavement with a 16+ avg. Speeds were no lower, but battery duration suffered.
Alas, these bikes are now too common. I used to like dressing like a Fred and chasing down roadies.
 

JimN

Captain Wildcat
Team MTBNJ Halter's
I rode an E-bike for thirty seconds at JORBA Fest yesterday. It was fucking awesome! Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! I don't think it would be that great on the trails, because it weighed like 60 pounds, and it would probably be hard to control in slow speed areas. As the tech gets better, bike weights will get better though. I would say it would be great for commuting, increasing the distance you could commute from. I won't be buying one anytime soon, but yeah it was great and I do kinda want one even though I have no use for it. A couple of us reluctantly tried it out, and none of us could wipe the smiles off our faces or stop laughing about how awesome it was.
 
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