Hybrid Electric Bicycles

[justlurkin]

Originally Posted by MikeSF

However at over $2k for a bike? I'll drive to work

LOL, my bike costs $2K.. It's a carbon-fiber road bike.



What I want to know is, how much does that bike with the electrical assist weigh? If it's a heavy steel-frame bike, pedaling it uphill with the electrical assist probably isn't much easier than doing it unassisted on my light carbon fiber roadbike.

[efusco]

Originally Posted by justlurkin

What I want to know is, how much does that bike with the electrical assist weigh? If it's a heavy steel-frame bike, pedaling it uphill with the electrical assist probably isn't much easier than doing it unassisted on my light carbon fiber roadbike.

85lbs + the battery (?20lb)....but the thing is more of an electric moped than bike and even a steep hill it will pull itself up even without pedaling.

[qbee42]

Originally Posted by justlurkin

LOL, my bike costs $2K.. It's a carbon-fiber road bike.

I paid more than twice that much for one of my bikes, but then it's a tandem, so I suppose we get twice as much bike, sort of. There is a real premium for tandem bicycles. I suppose they don't make many of them, at least at the higher performance levels.

Tom

[efusco]

I may be straying now from the original bike referred to in the OP, but I thought it was close enough on topic to continue. I'm still waiting for my hybridfest photos to (unusually slowly) upload to flickr so I don't have any to post at the moment, but will get some up soon.

Anyway, I've got some more information/details on the e-bike and e-scooters as I dug up the literature we picked up a HF08.

E-Bike World is the seller of this product (link shows a picture of an e-bike) with James Devine being the seller (and apparently the only one selling this particular product). In short, from what I can gather from the literature, ebike-world selected one of 3 Chinese companies to manufacture an americanised version of an electric bike that's apparently quite common in China. A web search on my part where the only similar bikes were in China. They say they selected 2 models (the ebike and escooter), upgraded the suspension, brakes, and controller that would better suit (?fat) American's needs.

These hybrid electric bikes use a 350 watt continuous (1100 watt peak) motor. The rear brakes do regen, there's a 48v (?pb acid) battery pack that is chargable on the bike or it's very easily removed for off bike charging (nice since you could have 2 batts and always keep one charged if you're riding this thing a lot). They claim up to 30 mile range. It's a low watt charger (takes ~6 hours for a full charge) that's removable...it can be kept on the bike or at home as it's pretty small. Top speed is about 20mph (max legal to keep the bike in the 'bike' class...otherwise it requires a license).

The bike is very similar in design to mopeds...it has turn signals, head light, tail light. There's a motorcycle style twist throttle. You can pedal or not..pedalling actually starts the electric motor (whether you want it to or not) when the bike is turned on, though it can be pedalled when the bike is off. Or you can just put your feet up, ignore the pedals and ride it like an electric moped. They have running lights, brake lights, rear-view mirrors, shocks, and a horn.

The e-bike has a more traditional bike style seat, the e-scooter a more motorcycle-like saddle seat. Women tend to like the styling of the e-bike, men the e-scooter. Both have a front basket available and a rear lockable cargo box (just a little too small for a helmet). The wheels on the e-bike are 18" and 16" on the e-scooter.

There's a 6 month limited warranty and they give you a free 'check-up' at 90 days (not sure I'll be able to take advantage being so far away).

The brand name on these electric hybrid bikes is EZride...but I haven't been able to find any pictures/links on google. I will post photos from HF as soon as they get uploaded. As I said above, I don't yet have my e-scooter...it's expected sometime in August...ours will be red (go Razorbacks!) and I'll post pics and a full review once we have that on hand.

[CraigCSJ]

One year ago I purchased an ElecTrec bicycle which is an eight speed bicycle with a 24 volt electric assist. I live in a rural area, and use it to travel about a mile and a half from my house to a wilderness preserve where I walk for an hour or two most mornings. It saves use of my Prius, and costs nothing as my electricity comes from photovoltaic panels on my house.

If one thinks of an electric bicycle as a mode of transportation, rather than an exercise tool, then an electric bicycle makes a lot of sense. The biggest problem I see with electric bicycles is that many car drivers do not respect bicycles, and our public entities do not make roads with enough paved shoulder to accomodate bicycles. As a mode of short transportation, my ElecTrec bicycle is great. It cost me a little over one thousand dollars.

[efusco]

Originally Posted by CraigCSJ

One year ago I purchased an ElecTrec bicycle which is an eight speed bicycle with a 24 volt electric assist. I live in a rural area, and use it to travel about a mile and a half from my house to a wilderness preserve where I walk for an hour or two most mornings. It saves use of my Prius, and costs nothing as my electricity comes from photovoltaic panels on my house.

If one thinks of an electric bicycle as a mode of transportation, rather than an exercise tool, then an electric bicycle makes a lot of sense. The biggest problem I see with electric bicycles is that many car drivers do not respect bicycles, and our public entities do not make roads with enough paved shoulder to accomodate bicycles. As a mode of short transportation, my ElecTrec bicycle is great. It cost me a little over one thousand dollars.

And that's exactly how we plan to use ours...although we hope to get a little exercise benefit from it...not our entire exercise regemine mind you, but if we're pedaling much of the trip at least it's more exercise (and less gas) than if we were driving.

[efusco]

Got my flickr photos to successfully upload finally.

This is the E-Bike (200lb capacity top speed 19mph)


This is the E-Scooter (the one we bought, 225lb cap., 20mph top speed)


And a couple photos of myself and my wife taking our test ride...remember, ours will be RED



*Note, we will wear helmets when riding, they just didn't have any out there for us to use at the time.

[tochatihu]

E-scooters are extremely common in Chinese cities. Out in the sticks where the routes are 10 km or more and hilly, petroleum fuel still presents advantages.

Keep those tires pumped waaay up to get maximum battery range.

[efusco]

Originally Posted by tochatihu

E-scooters are extremely common in Chinese cities. Out in the sticks where the routes are 10 km or more and hilly, petroleum fuel still presents advantages.

Keep those tires pumped waaay up to get maximum battery range.

Wilco...I think they said they could take pressures b/w 35-65psi. Seems a broad range but I'll probably go with or just above the sidewall ratings.

My mind is already toying with ideas about replacing the controller for one that'll allow higher speeds and maybe the battery with some sort of Li or NiMH version for extra range and power.

[efusco]

Just to fluff out this thread, I found another seller in the US for electric bicycles similar to the one I ordered.
Veloteq

Very nice web site, lots of different models and a lot of information on each model with complete technical specs and all...everything but a price!! Found some via google and they seem to MSRP right about the same price point as the one I bought goes for at MSRP...$1250+. They have some very luxurious ones as well complete with stereo and iPod integration and such. There are several US distributors located around the country listed. They have a nice link covering applicable laws as well...basically they're treated exactly the same as a bicycle by the law in most states though some require a valid driver's license.