I ride a 3000 dollar pedal racing bike but....

[KevinK]

Hi,

I just joined your group. I am a very experienced cyclist. Yet the notion of motorizing a bike is very interesting.
I plan on using one of the kits that are out there to motorize a 20 year old rock solid Gary Fisher bike for commuting to work and back a distance of about 70 miles or so.
I know little of your community here but am very very impressed with what I have seen on this site.
Some very creative and innovative people who's posts I have read about motorized bikes.
I saw a post on one of your forums kind of ridiculing the traditional racing culture that I must admit I am much a part of. I see no point in that. Look at it this way: gas is 3 bucks a gallon and motorizing a bike makes just so much sense. The two just don't matter. In cycling race culture the line is that "its all about the motor". A human motor like Lance Armstrong can produce at most 3/4 of a horse power for one hour. The average Joe can do just a fraction of that. So I see no problem motorizing a bike for basic transportation. I personally believe in power assist motors. I believe in pedaling a bicycle at least part of the time. I believe that these power assisted bikes should be loosely regulated and should not need insurance nor any operators drivers licenses. But of course that is just my opinion.
I have looked around on this site and searched the net. I have a 70 plus mile commute so I plan on using one of the vendors to modify one of my bikes to do this. I must point out that from the bicycle came the auto and our vast road system in America. Just seems like things need to just get a little simpler in the future to get from point A to point B.
Its all cycling as I see it.
Ride your bike and have fun...

Kevin

 

[SimpleSimon]

Welcome aboard, and I congratulate you on your rationality and your open-mindedness. I've known a lot of bicyclists in my life (I grew up in the Portland, OR area at the beginning of the cycling culture there in the late 60's - early 70's) and far too many of them have been aggressively chauvinistic about it - it is refreshing to encounter your attitue.

Feel free to jump in the pool and join the party, you are very welcome.

 

[G-Superior]

Welcome!

Hi Kevin and welcome to MBc
you will sure find some people like you here(not sure about the 3000 dollar pedal racing bike but anyways)
motored biking is probably the most efficient way of transport and you will sure enjoy it, it is so nice to get pulled up a hill with no more than effort than twisting the throttle plus you will never get tired
Good luck with your projects and hope to see you riding with more style than ever soon! :helmet:
G-Superior

 

[G-Superior]

Again!

Why does some one always reply before me!
its my second or third time now
G-Superior

 

[SimpleSimon]

The early bird gets the worm. In my case that is doubly true - my surname is Early.

 

[beast775]

welcome

i ride even though i have a torn acl.i have a mitsu 43cc staton and a 36v 15ah batt bike also.its fun around here been here quite along time and will continue.enjoy and welcome.i have some expensive bikes but there old timers some from the 1800s.

 

[Happy Valley]

Welcome dude, long time cyclist here also but just having age catch up with me, a little power assist is a good thing as the grades seem to be getting steeper these days.

Take a good look before choosing what you want would be my advice, and ask all the questions that come to mind, there can be a lot of difference in systems and some better for your needs than others.

 

[ibdennyak]

Kevin....welcome

I am in a bike aware area (Juneau, Ak) and appreciate your attitude. Most bicyclists here are vary from *love it to Hate it* with the majority being admiringly curious. There are a few who treat me with scorn, but very few. Probably like any other interest.

My attitude has been that everyone gets a chance to express his/her opinion, and my reaction is taken from there attitude. So far, the experience has been predominantly positive.

Again, thank you and welcome.

 

[KevinK]

Thanks all of you for the very warm welcome!
I take lycra racing culture with a grain of salt but now in our racing group I am in with the older guys. I quit racing when I turned 40 but still do fast training rides with some of the young studs. As now I am in my very early 50's with cycling gaining so much in popularity I am now having trouble keeping up with the fast women(no problems with fast women) so its just the way life goes. Trust me there are just some phenominal women athletes getting into cycling! And I know some ladies who like me would absolutely commute on a motor assisted bike to save a few bucks.
Cycling has some really great people involved in the sport. I absolutely see no problem with power assisting a bicycle.
I am going to outfit my project with a rack mounted Golden Eagle belt driven engine. My bike will also have all derallilures taken off and ran as a single speed. I can align the chainline better with a single speed and eliminate a lot of moving parts that get gunked up in bad weather. Also, I already have a set of very sturdy planet bike fenders already on the bicycle.
As a side note I tool around on a Surly Steamroller fixed gear single speed bike for training. This is pure simplicity. So, I am still a pretty strong rider and with a good motor assist that I can help along I hope this will work out OK.
I know I am a newbe so if I am nutty with this line of thought please let me know.
And as to Surly? What a great company. www.surlybikes.com. The company sells great frames with horizontal drop outs so that bolt on wheels just work great and one can tension a single speed drive train up with out any problems.
Check out there solid steel frames. The problem as I see it is the lack of good inexpensive quality steel frames in the age of high tech carbon fiber. I personally believe that steel frames would probably be the best answer for motorizing a bicycle. Again I must stress that I am a newbe but I am trying to use what I know of cycling to build a great problem free commuter bike.
As in the movie Alice in Wonderland Alice has her dream and tells her dad that she thinks that she is going mad. And her dad replies "all the best people are".
And methinks that I might be going a little mad with this motor bike thing....

Kevin

 

[KevinK]

Hi Kevin and welcome to MBc
you will sure find some people like you here(not sure about the 3000 dollar pedal racing bike but anyways)
motored biking is probably the most efficient way of transport and you will sure enjoy it, it is so nice to get pulled up a hill with no more than effort than twisting the throttle plus you will never get tired
Good luck with your projects and hope to see you riding with more style than ever soon! :helmet:
G-Superior

Hey G-Superior,

My Orbea carbon wonder machine weighs in at 17.5 lbs. I am 52 years old and am reasonably fit. I pedal that bike on 40 mile rides and average between 18 and 22 mph on some very rural roads. This is a very striped down racing machine with low spoke count wheels and boy I can fly down hills well over 40 mph. Its a rush and it keeps me fit.
But,,,,,,,
That is not commuting in all kinds of weather and carrying a few things to go to work. That does not take into account the fatigue of a long ride and then a day on the job. That does not help stinking because you have sweet dripping off of you when you hit the office!
That does not take into account stop lights and cars and the whole nine yards that we cyclists put up with. A bike that can go 30 mph in my opinion is just a huge advantage! Thanks for a great site.
I am very pumped up to get rolling on this conversion!

Kevin