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

[wheelbender6]

I still pedal a lot and did an MS-150 in 2009. I like doing errands on my motorized bike. Errands became a hassle on my pedal bike. When I'm on a pedal ride, I want to stay in the drops and not worry about hauling cargo.
I also like to get out on the motorized bike when I'm sick or nursing a sore knee.

 

[robin bird]

I still pedal half to one quarter of my trips but before the engine the bike would sit in the garage for days.Yesterday i met 2 girl athletes doing a super steep hill i was pedalling too but whizzed up the hill --had time for a 1/4 mile detour to a winery for water and came back just to meet them at the top of Secrest hill --one said i need a defibulator the other said that sure is how to get up the hills --i have a Subaru 35cc Staton setup

 

[KevinK]

I still pedal half to one quarter of my trips but before the engine the bike would sit in the garage for days.Yesterday i met 2 girl athletes doing a super steep hill i was pedalling too but whizzed up the hill --had time for a 1/4 mile detour to a winery for water and came back just to meet them at the top of Secrest hill --one said i need a defibulator the other said that sure is how to get up the hills --i have a Subaru 35cc Staton setup

Mr Bird,

With all due respect when some one is actually pedaling a bike up a long climb its not at all about having a motor on the bicycle! its about pedaling the bike over the distance.
It is what it is man. I can pedal a bike over 100 miles in 5 hours. So what. Put a motor on that bike and its less than 4 hours.
Does this mean that we are any different out on the road? They see you they talk on their cell phones and they kill you. Does it really make that much of a diff?
I have friends that can pedal 200 plus miles in 10 hours or cross America on a pedal bike in 10 days or less.
There is a huge advance in bike tech the last few years.
When motorizing a bicycle you need low tech of some years past in my most humble opinion. And Walmart bikes are well something to be avoided.

Kevin

 

[KevinK]

you have a marvelous "1 4 all & all 4 1" attitude...

while i appreciate the kudos for my past accomplishments, there are many dawgs 'round here way more "top" than i...you are in good hands with this group.

safety, yes! strong wheels, real brakes, real helmet, real LIGHTS!! browse the various areas and jump into any topic that catches your eye...looking forward to getting some phone time with you

Well,

I can spot a top dog.
I ain't no dummy.
You seem to be the real deal riding around on your motorized bike.
You should blog. use photos to get your message across.
Use youtube.
Use diary software for your personal thoughts then post the best to the web.
Photo and video its all open on the net.
I ain't no genius.
Wright it down some ware and post it some ware.
Just to show you what ya can do with a blog I will go out and take some pics of my towns tornado damage of a month ago and post photos with out one comment that will simply get the message across.
It is still heartbreaking one month later dog.
There ain't no change bro...

Kevin

 

[robin bird]

Don't worry ive got a $1500 bike--all i'm saying is a motor will get you out there every day--but at my age if you have to pedal you won't--many guys my age will give up altogether ! an engine get you out there and still can give you exercise.

 

[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

It took me awhile to get my act together but I have a build coming very soon.
I am a big fan of GEBE. Well not to disparage any other enterprise. Let me elaborate...
I went all over the net searching sites and looking at the various ways to motor assist a bicycle.
Then I came upon GEBE. I looked at all the angles and concluded that I am a pedal pushing kind of guy and that GEBE keeps the pedal pushing in the equation. Is this right or wrong? Don't know just yet but my inkling is that a power assist bicycle is a necessary addition to my transportation mix.
I am looking at a commute of 70 miles per day to work. I could pedal that distance but that would be problematic. So, I looked into motorizing an old mountain bike I had laying around and I decided to go with GEBE and a four stroke engine kit.
Is this the best that is out there? I simply don't have any answer to that question. Is Carbon fiber the best frame material for a tour De France race bike?
I am not into tinkering but into riding. With that said GEBE simply has done a lot of tinkering before I hit upon this notion of motorizing a bicycle.
So in the works in this mass of choices out there I am going with the GEBE Robin Subaru kit with a new beefy 105g GEBE rear wheel.
My bike is an old 1989 Gary Fisher CR7 mountain bike frame set.
I think that this will be an interesting build for a lot of folks. I certianly am interested in this project.
Bicycle motor assist has caught my interest.
This I believe is cutting edge stuff in the cycling world.
Just an opinion that I have for the moment. I will post pictures and comments probably on my blog or maybe here. I have a lot of reasons for the choice that I have made.
Of course opinion is like the wind....

Kevin

 

[reb1]

I am early fifties also and looked at the GEBE first. It is my understanding from reading there literature that it is a bad idea to coast for very long. I read somewhere that you should remove the belt if you are going to pedal only allot or coast down a long grade I am motorizing a 20 year old MTB tandem for me and the wife. I can still pedal the tandem 20 to 40 miles by my self and most any distance with my son. But 10 miles with the wife and I am done for. She had a tumor removed from her heart a few years ago and pushing her to hard is not an option.
I really need the 48 spokes in the rear wheel with two people. I am going to go with the Staton chain drive setup. I am tempted to go with the axle mount and the heavy duty clutch. This setup will only add about 20lbs. Staton told me he was coming out with an add on to the current gearbox in the near future. It will give three ranges. I think is is for the rack mount setup. I will probably gear the drive fairly low if possible.
I want to take the wife out for two months camping like I did when I was younger. I am going to purchase a two wheeled bicycle cart that has optional automatic brakes for all of our camping gear and the dog.

 

[Skyliner70cc]

what's with folks bragging about how much their bike costs? who cares? I pedal a 199.00 bike and my MB bike was $169.99.

Kind of reminds me of snooty bike shop mechanic who was ragging on a bike suspension fork I brought in to get some work done on it. The mechanic ragged on my fork the entire time he was working on it and him and his buddies made fun of me for having "old technology". They then, of course, began openly discussing their multi-thousdand dollar bikes. I'm happy with my rides and spend my spare money elsewhere.

 

[flashstar]

Kevin,

Although I'm mainly a fan of gas-powered bikes instead of pedal bikes, that's partially because I can't really afford a nice pedal road bike. Mountain bikes only ever go so fast with pedal power. It's a shame that good pedal road bikes are so expensive.

Anyway, if you are looking for a good commuting setup, I would consider going with a Huasheng 50 CC motor and either a 4G or Thatsdax transmission. The 4 stroke Huasheng (aka Thatsdax titan) is an excellent motor if you are looking for a trouble-free commuting setup. You don't need to mix gas and oil and the engine is relatively smooth compared to 2 stroke happy times. I would just call up Duane at Thatsdax and he'll get you set up.

Good luck.

 

[KevinK]

what's with folks bragging about how much their bike costs? who cares? I pedal a 199.00 bike and my MB bike was $169.99.

Kind of reminds me of snooty bike shop mechanic who was ragging on a bike suspension fork I brought in to get some work done on it. The mechanic ragged on my fork the entire time he was working on it and him and his buddies made fun of me for having "old technology". They then, of course, began openly discussing their multi-thousdand dollar bikes. I'm happy with my rides and spend my spare money elsewhere.

I would have ragged to if I would have had to work on that bike.
Sorry, the "suspension" you are getting on that 169 dollar Walmart bike is kind of a joke.
These cheap bikes are designed to be road maybe once a week around the block at best not at 30 plus mph with a motor.
I am sorry about this type of opinion but that is about the facts as I see them.
It is a real safety issue. But to each his own right!
The cheap China bike frames to really worry about are the ones made out of aluminum. At least ride around on a steal frame man!!!
You can motor around on whatever you want to but I am going to motor around on a high quality and high strength frame with a very bullet proof set of wheels.
And to the issue of bragging? Motored riders are not really cyclists. A cyclist pedals his/her bike right?
My new kit from GEBE that is coming soon with its 4 stroke Robin engine will motor along at 30 mph right out of the box on the flats with out hardly a pedal. It is a pedal assist kit I guess with hardly a pedal needed in reality.
I am buying it because I need it to get to work and back cheap simple as that!
Since I am a cyclist I simply wanted to post that even a lycra clad weekend warrior would be interested in one of these motorized bikes.
My personal opinion is that power assisted commuter bikes are cutting edge stuff.
I think that you should open your mind up a little just like I have about cycling in general and with the addition of a motor on a bicycle in particular.
As always just my personal opinion.

Kevin