Heck that’s more than the price of that or a used 250cc proper motorcycle which is quite fuel efficient and great for commuting.
ETA: I just had a peek at craigslist and yeah, a 150cc twist and go is way less than that used and for city streets that is plenty of power and probably the smallest displacement I would want to use at least where I live. Crazy ass drivers doing 50+ in a 30 zone.
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I like the idea of electric bikes, just still a little too rich for my blood. But it’s only a matter of time. In the meantime imma gonna get a tuktuk.
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Agree with this assessment.
I wanted to like the concept, but moving from chain/belt to an alternator to transfer power from the pedals to the wheel is going in the wrong direction from a design standpoint. The specs on the website list a 28m range limit when pedaling - I don’t want to buy a bike (even an e-bike) where I can’t do more than 28miles without having to stop and recharge.
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I would prefer you not to. Have you ever looked at one of those things?
I went to our plant in India, the technical director took me out in a tuktuk. Then he said “Now you’ve done that, you can say you’ve been in one. But don’t do it again, too dangerous.”
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but they are FUN! when I worked in a hospital with a large compound the IT dept had a Piaggio Ape for carrying stuff around. wheee!
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Fine, I’ll just splurge on a Reliant Robin.
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I suspect it is also not legal for use on the road in the UK, where motors must be pedal assist.
The logical best way to meet current requirements is the motors which include a bottom bearing so that they fit onto the bottom bracket with their own pedals. Thus the rear wheel gearing continues to work whatever sort it is, freewheel works, but the legal requirement of pedal assist also is met. Also the weight is low down behind the front wheel which, as every biker knows, is the ideal position for weight distribution.
The result is a design which can easily be serviced by an ordinary bike shop since the derailleur or planetary gears are functioning normally, and the chain is normal type.
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That’s a rather special use case. In traffic at European speeds it’s rather different.
If I ever manage to persuade my wife, I want one of those three wheeled Piaggos with two tilting wheels at the front. (What I really want is one of those Morgan Aero lookalikes with a Guzzi V-twin at the front, but they really are not very practical.)
And, when it comes out, the Brabus version of the new Smart. About the same power to weight ratio as the original Porsche and probably equally good at winding up the drivers of large cars.
But, electric bikes…like I say, 40kg and 1500W and I might think about it. 50kg and 2500W, probably a sale.
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It’s definitely fishy for the reason you mention.
Without a means of powering itself sans e-battery, this isn’t an e-bike in many jurisdictions. Also it isn’t an e-bike in a technical sense since that term is coined to mean electric bicycle, and this has no bicycle component unless that alternator can power the whole beast with a 0% charge.
But people who whinge about being made to exercise might get one (and then typically garage that thing and forget about it and the notion of bicycling) and hopefully move to a bicycle one day.
I wonder if that amazing (for a unit that small) range is 60 km with the rider pedalling furiously the whole time. I think it must be.
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Those are awesome. A little pricey but really sweet. Sadly WA state requires a 3 wheel endorsement for them which is a different and extra test over the 2 wheel endorsement.
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This? I’d quite like one - although I still like the idea of building my own Caterham. Sadly, they don’t sell the cheapest, slowest one in the US.
As far as electric bikes go, I remember this (Seattle designed) one winning an award, then going nowhere. Although the website now says it’s coming next year. And as others have pointed out, it’d just get stolen anyway.
I like the idea of commuting by bike, but I keep finding excuses not to. Laziness, certainly, but also not wanting to get killed south of downtown Seattle, which is more likely than I’d hope, but it seems that Seattle is only interested in bike routes to downtown from the commuter areas in the north.
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Want. So. Bad.
But I’d need to buy a new hat and goggles. (I am open to that suggestion)
Edit
Oh god its even right side drive. I shall sashay down to the tailor for a newly minted tweed, so I may fly with style in that minx.
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pfft, just like markets, transportation planning is all in the margins. If you get a bump in a mode that reduces congestion by 1% you rejoice cause that shit is rare. Likewise if you get a 1% bump in congestion people immediately start bitching.
That effect is X by density. NYC’s public transit is it’s saving grace, but pedestrians, cyclists, people who rely solely on service vehicles and people who manage their lives to live where they work and work where they live all make life much better, or even possible, for the remainder who can’t or won’t abandon private cars.
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I knew I’d seen it (and Hammond probably has one), just completely forgotten about it.
When last I visited there was a tailor in Yeovil that made bespoke tweed suits. They cost about two off-contract iPhones.
It was said that on the original Aero Morgan not only did you know if you had run over a penny, you knew if it was heads or tails. This is not true. You would never distinguish a coin from all the other bumps and vibrations.
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but you have to prove that adding a bike lane to crowded streets or worse - cyclists on sidewalks even when there are lanes -actually doesn’t increase congestion. separated dedicated bike lanes wouldn’t do this - but hard to do in older cities with the building closer together.
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Vespas come in two varieties; almost unused because the hipster owner discovered that those things are heavy and skill is required to use them safely; and so heavily used that you can hear the piston slapping sideways as well as the usual up and down.
As a former biker I don’t trust anything on two wheels where the wheels have less than 22 inch diameter, preferably 24 inch. When I see a Vespa with those little wheels, the thought of them hitting a pothole is deeply scary.
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In a failing system proving they don’t is the better option.
If you make bad worse in a failing system you’ve drawn the situation closer to that point at which a greater solution is forced while introducing the notion of change.
If you improve the failing system you’ve improved the failing system.
If fossils can’t get out the way we should burn them for fuel.
You may be interested in Clever Cycles’ Stokemonkey, an aftermarket assist motor designed with cargo bikes in mind. It doesn’t fit every bike (especially those designed for narrow tires) and it’s the opposite of inconspicuous.
It was out of production for a while and if I recall correctly the new version is throttled at 30 mph, but it still provides far more torque than any other assist motor system that I know of.
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