CrosseyedCrickt

I think they are pretty novel and a cool idea.
I'd never own one... well, I say that now, but who knows.
Still, it's a cool funky little thing to have.

jamesdenver

To each his own. If you like it, and it doesn't take up the huge footprint of an enormous car, why the hell not. A kid on my commute I see sometimes goes to school and back on an electric moped. At relaxed speed I still go faster, and so could he on a bike. Plus their whiny mini-weedwacker engines are obnoxious. Ok so I judge, but I voice my opinion sparingly

bsut

Not that it matters, but batteryspace.com and all-batteries.com are both DBAs of AA Portable Power Corp., 2700 Rydin Road, Unit C, Richmond, CA 94804. I have purchased headlight bulbs and a water bottle battery through batteryspace.com and was mostly satisfied with the goods.

donnamb 

There's this woman I see in my neighborhood on an Xtracycle with one of those Stokemonkeys on it. She's got 2 kids on the back and is usually carrying bags of groceries or some other big load. We've got some hills around here. She does this without using a car, and I think that's great.

vrkelley

To the OP...we just don't see 'em around here. Not sure why.

banerjek

10-20% sounds awfully high except under certain conditions -- when you use your brakes to generate electricity, you're going to lose most of the energy in the conversion process. Unless you brake a lot and tend to pedal to accelerate, I can't see those types of gains even though the regen would be handy for speed control and wet braking.

I've thought about electric assist for years, but there's not enough cruising range and by law in the places I've lived, an electric powered bike can only go 20mph with assist. Also, I'm not yet willing to sacrifice part of my ride since any work I don't do won't improve my endurance or strength.

Other products like stokemonkey might technically not be legal in many parts because of the speeds they allow you to attain.

Gabbo

WRONG. I've been riding and restoring old Vespas and Lambrettas since 1984 and get tons of unprompted waves from tons of motorcyclists from v-twin riders to sport bikers. Why? B/c they've actually been riding for a while and realize it's a big wide, two-wheeled world. My favorite thing to do is pull up to a supposed biker bar on a scooter and see who's game to talk. The interested folks? Veteran riders. The dorks who try and talk sh1t? THe wannabes. (Which is especially funny when their girlfriends get interested in the scooter.)

It's especially funny considering that I ride M/Cs as well, nearly all the guys in my club ride and restore M/Cs, I used to work for the MIC and MSF, and I still assist a club of retired motorcycle racers who are always curious to hear what I'm wrenching on. Meanwhile, what are the Joe Cool RUBs doing? Posing at their local bike night. Yawn...

Anyway, from an OG scooterist and daily bike commuter who's dealt with on-the-road prejudice for longer than he cares to remember, I'd say this to the original poster: Ride what you want. Let your freak flag fly.

adamtki

10-20% is just my rough estimate based on experience. I should test it out one day. However, you can read about one guy's report on his velomobile here, https://www.waw-bionx.blogspot.com/. He reports a 43% increase. I just stayed conservative considering mine's not a velomobile.

hairytoes

20mph! You're lucky. In the UK they are restricted to 15mph.

banerjek

I'd heard that. Unfortunately for my electric bike aspirations (but fortunately for me), I can still hold 20mph cruising speeds for long periods of time with pedals alone, so the assist would be useless for me unless I'm dealing with wind, hills, or hauling gear. Weight of the batteries and short range is also an issue. However, I imagine I would probably get bionx for my velomobile if I did a lot of shorter hauls in a city with steep roads.

I never could understand why velomobiles are so rare because they are quite practical if they're designed so you can haul a modest amount of cargo and can get in and out easily enough. I get stares wherever I go and people overwhelmingly think it's cool. My neighbors tell me they just love to watch me ride.

BTW, in addition to stokemonkey, you can simply install an electric motor that powers your drivetrain directly. This can give as much power and speed as you want while still letting you provide pedal power. However, adding too big a motor and too much battery weight could cause handling issues.

n4zou

I've put electric motor kits on bikes for some of the neighbors and they love them. Instead of cranking up a 2-ton vehicle for Wal-Mart 3 miles away they just jump on the e-bike and don’t pedal at all. One of them commutes to work 8 miles to a job dealing with the public requiring a suit and tie. Needless to say arriving sweaty is not going to allow commuting on a regular bike. Several years ago a law was enacted to promote e-bike use so electric bicycles complying with the terms of the law are to be treated the same as any other bicycle. For most states this means you can use the MUP and you don’t need a license, tag, title, insurance, or anything else the state can come up with to suck more money out of you.
https://www.cpsc.gov/businfo/frnotices/fr03/low.html
E-bikes have their place and are great for the people that have a need for this product.

I personally have an antique Raleigh Beach Cruiser with a Chinese bicycle engine of the 2-stroke Varity. It's fun to get out and cruise around town on it. Everyone that sees it thinks it's an original motorbike from the early 1900's due to the way I have it built. I am always invited to parades and dress the part of an early 1900's motor biker. I use synthetic 2-stroke oil and there is no smoke and dripping oil from the exhaust pipe so I very much doubt it's polluting more than your typical Hummer or other large SUV. I have different bicycles for differing types of riding. A road bike for running with the other roadies. A time trial bike for the Saturday 19-mile time trial loop. A café bike for breakfast runs. And a touring bike with racks and bags. The motorbike is just another bike for a purpose as is an electric bike for its intended purpose.

Wulfheir

Last year, at the age of 63, my father, who has been an educator all his life, no manual labour, decided he's going to bike commute until his retirement. And get this, he does it year round, in Calgary. I give him the biggest praise for getting out there and doing it. He's dropped 25 pounds to boot. I'm ultra proud of him, and no amount of ignorant anti-electric sentiments are going to slow him down.

newbojeff

For what I use bikes for (transportation, fun, and exercise [and maybe helping the environment as a by-product]) I don't like electric bikes. You shouldn't care. The best arguments I've read here for them is if they replace a possible car on the road.

Codex

Because the reason I ride IS to sweat. And feel the burn through my lungs, heart and throat. To be going at 30MPH, beating cars and knowing that YOU just did that.

For me, it's a lot more fun than sitting on a machine pootling along at a steady 10mph...

Then again, I wouldn't give anyone grief for having an electric bike - different reasons!

phoebeisis

Electric assist on bikes,especially with regen braking, sounds like a great idea to me. How much weight does the electric system add-20 lbs maybe??Once you are up to speed on a level surface the added weight hardly matters.
What did it cost? How tought was it to add to the bike.
I have a couple of old mtb frames coming in; maybe one of them would be a good starting point for an electric bike?
Thanks,
Charlie
PS I like everything with wheels-bikes,MCs,cars,trucks,scooters,mopeds,hybrid cars- I had a couple of Puch mopeds during the gas crunch in 1979-80.They got an honest 100 mpg in pure city riding.!!!Wish I still had one!!

ModoVincere

If it gets you where you need to go, you enjoy it, and it keeps another cage off the road, then I have nothing against it.

gpsblake

Walmart is now selling these electric assist bicycles.

https://www.walmart.com/catalog/produ...uct_id=5391437



$279.46 plus shipping.

Real transportation for pennies per charge! This Comfort Series electric bicycle has a unisex low-standover-height design with suspension fork and removable battery box. It reaches a top speed of 15 MPH with a range of 18 to 25 miles with normal pedaling. For young adult to adult up to 240 lbs.

* 450W of power from a DC earth magnet Motor
* Plug and Play battery box design with easy-access charger port
* UL-listed Currie Smart Charger with 1-color LED status display
* Top speed: 15 mph (rider weight and terrain contingent)
* Range: up to 25 miles with normal pedaling
* Alloy linear pull brakes
* 26-inch alloy rims
* High-rise handlebars with adjustable rise stem and Krayton grips
*
* Shimano 7-speed gearing with twist throttle
* Comfort design saddle with alloy Post
* Aluminum comfort frame, unisex
* Alloy cotterless crankset and custom chainring with dual sided pedals
* Total weight: 90 lbs

al-wagner

A bicycle with a motor on it regardless of how big or small the motor is. Is a MOTORBIKE. When I see someone with a motor on a bicycle one word comes to mind LAZY..LAZY, just LAZY.

bsut

This seems pretty informative on the BionX. Looks pretty easy to add: build a wheel around the motorized hub, hang the battery on the frame, and run the wiring to the handlebar controller. The advantage of the motorized hub is no structural changes to the bike - move the wheel to whatever bike you happen to be riding today (so long as they share the same rear wheel size).

I like the idea of using power assist to overcome the weight of a fairing or full enclosure, up hills and accelerating to speeds where the aerodynamic advantage kicks in, then cruise under pure pedal power or with only tiny assistance.

adamtki

Remember, this is the commuting forum. Nothing wrong with going to work or the local Safeway a little faster, a little safer, and a little less sweaty and still not clog the roads and spew out all that planet killing CO2.

adamtki

Mine added 16 lbs. It cost an arm and a leg, but it was worth it for me. It was easy to install -- it was about as tough as changing a flat.

DamianM

Sorry, I don't think you're going to win this one. If you wanna wuss out, you have to grow a thicker skin

Daily Commute

I mostly agree with these points. If an electric bike works for you, fine. I'm happy you found a useful form of transportation. I won't sneer at you on the roads or in these forums. But once you put a non-human motor on a two-wheeled vehicle, it is a scooter, a moped or a motorcycle--not a bicycle.

Anything that involves a motor will always be an oddity in a forum devoted to cycling. Oddities are fine (heck, I commute to work by bike!), but I think I would get a similar reaction if I started a discussion on bicycle commuting in a forum devoted to scooters or motorcycles.

Sammyboy

I don't own, or want, an electric bike, but I can't imagine caring that somebody else does. If the choice is between them driving their energy consuming, polluting car, or a much lighter, smaller, lower consuming bike, then I'm thrilled that they're on the bike. As far as "why put pedals on it at all", well, it seems to me that sometimes you might flatten the battery? Surely being able to get the thing home in those circumstance is a bonus? Plus, some people probably use the electric power just to climb hills or whatever. These aren't people who have thrown over their cycle commute to use electric, they're people who would otherwise be driving cars, and for my money an electric bike is WAY better than a car.

grolby

I simply don't see what all the fuss is about. Electric assist makes a lot of sense. I don't want it on any of my bikes, for a number of personal reasons. Other folks may have personal reasons for deciding that they do want it - more power to them. If electric assist gets more people riding a bike who otherwise would not choose to cycle, it sounds like an excellent idea to me. I believe that it does do this! That sounds like a win for bicycling and for reducing the environmental impact of how we recreate and/or get to work everyday.

And for what it's worth, if I purchased an Xtracycle or other cargo-hauling bicycle and was using it to haul a couple of children and a few bags of groceries around town on a regular basis, you can bet your butt that I would be throwing some kind of electric assist on there. Living car-free and performing many of the tasks for which we would usually choose a car is difficult to do on human power alone. What's more, calling the use of electric assist "cheating," is discouraging to people of smaller size and strength or reduced physical fitness due to injury, handicaps or illness. Changing the world can't happen unless we make alternatives accessible to everyone without making them feel as if they are lesser human beings for choosing electric assist. It's a big part of what makes car-free or car-lite living possible for many people, and that's not something to sneer about. It you're concerned about people "cheating" by not making the push on physical effort, you're in the wrong forum - that kind of sentiment might be appropriate in the Road Cycling forum. But we're in Commuting, here. It's not about a race, it's not about best times, it's not about getting a good workout. It's about getting to work and back on a bicycle and how to make that possible for as many people as possible.