Electric Bikes, had a go on one.

[potsy]

Did anyone see the one they tested on The Gadget Show a few months back,proper looking drop bar racing bike with a small pedal assist for the hills,think the whole bike was less than 13kg too.
My only problem would be I know I would rely on the power too much and it would not help me get muuch fitter.Colleague of mine has one and does the whole commute (1.5 miles) on the power.

 

[2Loose]

Therefore removing a moton from his box and onto two wheels - success!
If anything it has helped congestion, even if in a small way.

 

[chap]

The test of an electric bike is if one can happily peddle it without electrical assistance. If it is bulky and heavy - as they normally appear to be - then there is an issue when the batteries run out.

Interestingly, the Economist had an article about how we're all going to have to chip in for these electric cars since they certainly shall be power hungry.

Running out of juice

 

[fossyant]

Forget electric powerer...you want one of those jet equipped ones !! Even Clarkson tried one......

 

[jonny jeez]

J4CKO,

I really think the best application for electric bikes (and the best route for their short term expansion) is to attract those who would not "normally" consider riding (especially to work...for which these bikes seem perfect)

By that I mean those who feel they either live "too far" from their offices to cycle in or those with some pre-existing health or physical issue.

For these, an elec-assist bike is a perfect way to get over both obstacles and gain lots of exercise that would not normally have been achieved.

I am guessing that if you commute, say 40- 50 miles a day (20-25 each way) on one of these, you would get as much exercise a person riding 7-10 miles on an unassisted bike.

And at 20+mph you would make the journey in very quick time compared to getting to stations, using trains and tubes...or busses, or god forbid even driving!

does anyone know the facts on this

 

[RedBike]

Electric mopeds have been around for a while
Here's a link to a 2000w one.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Electric-scoo...ewItemQQptZUK_Motorcycles?hash=item2a04726822

The problem with a 1000w bike is it will need to be "road worthy" and the owner would need to have insurance on it and wear a crash helmet while riding it.

I suspect they might take off in the conjested cities; but most of us are just going to feel like a right burk riding an electric scooter at 20mph wearing a crash helmet.

Now if someone produced one capable of the sort of performance a 125cc bike can achieve then I would seriously start to look at one.

 

[trickletreat]

The test of an electric bike is if one can happily peddle it without electrical assistance. If it is bulky and heavy - as they normally appear to be - then there is an issue when the batteries run out.

Interestingly, the Economist had an article about how we're all going to have to chip in for these electric cars since they certainly shall be power hungry.

Running out of juice

Check this one out, and the site

http://www.cytronex.com/models/capo.html

 

[RedBike]

OMG. There is an electric scooter capable of the performance of a 125cc
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ELECTRICYCLE-...ewItemQQptZUK_Motorcycles?hash=item2a042cb03f

Still not tempted at that price though.

 

[BrumJim]

Interestingly, the Economist had an article about how we're all going to have to chip in for these electric cars since they certainly shall be power hungry.

Running out of juice

Would be nice to know how that translates to the UK, since:
a) we DO have 240v domestic power supply
Power is gridded across the country, meaning that off-peak electricity generated in Nottinghamshire IS being fed direct to London/SE.

 

[J4CKO]

There used to be petrol mopeds with pedals, cant imagine that was much fun or any quicker than pushing it.

I think the electric bike has a long way to go yet in terms of acceptance and technology , or at least getting it down to an acceptable price as currently a decent one is more than a reasonable car.

I wonder what the equivalence in MPG is for an electric bike, anyone good at maths ?

 

[RedBike]

For the bike above its a 40kw battery. To charge that up will cost you about £3
Petrol is very roughly £1 / litre or £5 per gallon.

So charging the bike is the equivalent of putting 3/5 of a gallon of petrol in.

It has a range of 50miles.
So it would do a maximum 'equivalent' of about 85mpg.

That would be good for a car but it's not that impressive for a 125cc
scooter.

(All very rough figures and probably highly inaccurate)

 

[J4CKO]

Redbike, cheers for the effort but it seems a bit on the low side compared to this,


1512 MPG !

http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthre...cycle-efficiency-1512-mpg-equivalent-604.html

 

[MacB]

Redbike, cheers for the effort but it seems a bit on the low side compared to this,


1512 MPG !

http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthre...cycle-efficiency-1512-mpg-equivalent-604.html

that made my head hurt

 

[XmisterIS]

I looked into buying one of those electrified bad-boys, but the thing that put me off was that the ones I looked at have no dynamo - so you can't re-charge the battery by pedalling while going downhill. That seems like a huge waste of energy!

I would consider getting one if it did indeed have a dynamo with a switch on the handlebar so you could engage it when going downhill.