Like Dylan in ‘65-I’ve gone electric

[Thxcuz]

From the depths thousand other bike projects I didn’t complete in the past 12 months comes the ebike I always wanted.
In April I ordered it from China and of course it didn’t arrive until earlier this month. But here it is….I’ve ebikeified my townie. This this is zippy to say the least. The speedo says it’s hauling my fat tuchas at 30mph (though I question the validity of that) the only this that’s wrong with it is that I can’t get the pedal assist to work. It’s great with the throttle but I don’t get squat when I pedal. Everything is set properly on the display. I wonder if my pickup is faulty. Maybe a little soldering will fix it. I dunno.
I may never go back to gas again!

 

[DAMIEN1307]

I may never go back to gas again!

And the cost of this little beauty is how much ???...DAMIEN

 

[Thxcuz]

More than I care to say. Shipping killed me. But can you put a price on Mother Earth?
(Though it was shipped from a nation that is pretty much a environmental nightmare, on a leaky boat then on a exhaust belching truck)

 

[DAMIEN1307]

a environmental nightmare, on a leaky boat then on a exhaust belching truck)

See how much you just added to the polution of Mother Earth !!!...lol...DAMIEN

 

[Thxcuz]

Oh, by the way, I’m still a moron and mounted the pedal sensor disk backwards. I took the pedal off again, flipped it and voila…everything works as it should. This bike is still dangerously quick.
I wouldn’t have it any other way

 

[JerryAssburger]

The Electric Bug is a Temptress, to say the least! I love my cheapo MTB with equally cheapo hub motor. It zings! It's quiet! Maintenance is almost ZIPPO. Cops don't give you a second glance! I can push it into the grocery store when I go shopping (I don't trust leaving it unattended).

BUT!!!.... Damien touched on this... the battery COSTS! AND... the performance immediately starts dropping as you ride it from a fresh charge. The first 2 miles...HOTROD! After 5 miles, yup... slowing down. 10 miles, it's a dog. If any of the gas-bikes acted this way, the owner would have the thing apart, trying to figure out what was wrong with it.

I think the Devil with E-Bikes is in the Batteries, and if you want decent range/performance, take out a loan.

Too bad, huh?

 

[DAMIEN1307]

I think the Devil with E-Bikes is in the Batteries, and if you want decent range/performance, take out a loan.

Too bad, huh?

The battery power situation is what i believe is the real problem with e-bikes...When they get that much worked out as well as bringing the price down to reasonable levels, Then heck, i would even buy one, but not at its present state of design...Maybe they should get Elon Musk's Tesla crew to design one for them...lol...DAMIEN

 

[JerryAssburger]

The battery power situation is what i believe is the real problem with e-bikes...When they get that much worked out as well as bringing the price down to reasonable levels, Then heck, i would even buy one, but not at its present state of design...Maybe they should get Elon Musk's Tesla crew to design one for them...lol...DAMIEN

AGREED! I think the LiPo-18650 batteries satisfy the Weight/Size/Energy-Density pretty well, but since they've been so standardized and in production for a while now, I was expecting/hoping that the prices would fall in line. That hasn't happened, and me suspects that in this Post-Plan-demic Economy, production is being held back to boost prices. (on a LOT of things- not just batteries) But that's my cynical side talking.

 

[DAMIEN1307]

But that's my cynical side talking.

I had said in another posting yesterday that "Cynacism and sarcasm are two of my favourite forms of humour"...lol...DAMIEN

 

[Thxcuz]

I put 11 miles on it today. So much fun. Is it better than a gas bike? Well in my opinion it’s a whole different animal so you can’t compare the 2. I love motorized bicycles with HT engines. I love mopeds, I love scooters. I love them all
Ht bikes are zippy, fun to build and disposable, scooters are dependable (even the Chinese ones, contrary to Vespa snob’s opinions) but are harder to work on due to putting style over functionality. Mopeds are just plain cool but it’s getting harder to find ones that haven’t been modded, hacked, rattled canned or kitted. Ebikes are a blast but still in their infant stage & kinda expensive