E-Bikes - A Great Way to Get There

E-Bikes have arrived, and at 69-years-old, I'm going to get one! A pedal-assist, with a 60-mile electric battery range. That will satisfy almost every trip I take, and I can pedal for exercise however much I want. It has a top-speed of 28 mph, so trips should be under an hour.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/dec/22/ebike-boom-america-sales

It feels very fun and freeing’: US sees ebike boom after years of false starts

This year could be considered “the year of the ebike”, according to John MacArthur, a transport researcher at Portland State University. Ebike sales in the United States leaped by 269% between 2019 and 2022, with the market size expected to have grown further in 2023, to be worth $2.59bn.

 

I have been looking into something like that. But I got this 18 horse mower engine. Also been thinking about petrol. It's a new world of bicycle technology out there. I saw a bunch of motorized scooters scrapped for aluminum already.

 

What I've seen with e-bikes is that you've got to spend a lot of money, like more than $3000 to get one that's probably going to make most people happy. This is especially true if the rider weighs more than about 170 pounds and is riding on anything but pretty flat terrain.

I have a friend who weighs about 230 pounds who bought a $1200 bike and he got rid of it three months later. Battery didn't last long at all and if you get out in car traffic you won't have enough power to get out of situations where you can get run over.

 

Suggest you don't store it in your home as they have been prone to fires.

 

sadly yes, new battery technology is badly needed that doesn't go up in flames as easy

when it comes out, all old cellphones with this old battery type will be banned from planes almost instantly

 

I don't feel particularly safe in a car in our area so I am definitely not going to get out on a bike.

 

I did some checking on this. It may be some of the older E-Bikes. There are precautions with buying UL Listed bikes, which cost a little more. One manufacturer had precautions against overcharging. Others talked about Smart Chargers, where the bikes can be left plugged-in. I've emailed one manufacturer with some of these questions. I also live in a rural area with about 3 miles of gravel road, so I want to find one that handles that well.

 

Lithium batteries come with a fire risk, of all types, all devices, which are most devices, cell phones, laptops, EV's, etc....

 

I have a Volt car, a lawnmower, tools, phones, laptops, etc., and I've never had a problem.

 

mostly I do not with cells and laptops too, but I have had some batteries in both laptops and cellphones bulge, lithium has an increased fire risk compared to other batteries - but as of right now, the best we can mass produce, but sounding like they making progress

I have set a phone batter on fire with a ice pick, all it takes is a little air geting to the battery

 

Excellent ! A friend of mine has one and loves it.

 

It is in the cities these will have most impact. Especially Asia where air quality is having a huge impact on health and life expectancy. A lot of Asian countries are transitioning to EVs

 

I got this answer from Lectric Bikes, one of the larger US manufacturers.

Not all ebike batteries are created equal. Most ebike fires are caused by low-quality aftermarket batteries and misuse. Our batteries are protected against deep discharge, overloading, overheating, and short-circuiting by Electronic Cell Protection (ECP). In the event of a fault, a protective circuit switches the battery pack off automatically. Proper maintenance, charging, and storage are key for battery safety and health.

 

Ah, a pyromaniac. LOL. Good thing these batteries weren’t a thing when we were kids, eh?

 

Which are all good protections to have, but does not change the dangers of the lithium battery, a simple pinhole in the battery would set it ablaze, as expose to air or water cause the reaction

we all accept the risks though, in our cell phones and our laptops and other rechargeable devices

 

Electric bicycles are very popular in Germany. You can see people riding them easily even on mountainous terrain down in the Alps. But e-bikes like that are very, very expensive. You get what you pay for.

 

Yeah, I agree. I'm going to cough up some money and get a good one.

 

Good for you!! Keep us posted as it would be nice to hear abut your personal experience with it. Good luck !!

 

That is fine, I don't have a problem with you and other choosing to own them, what I object to is the governments mandates FORCING everyone else who doesn't want to own one to buy it or have no car at all as ICE cars are being forced out.

I remember my friend who lived across the street from me back in the early 1970's mowing the yard every week with an electric mower with a long extension cord and it worked fine.

 

That has also been my experience with an e-bike of about $1,000.

I'll stick to my KLX 230 dual sport or my recumbent bicycle that is completely human powered.

I went outside today with my fat ass and took the tarp off of the recumbent bicycle and made sure everything was oiled and rode a mile or so and put the tarp back on.

I used to ride that bicycle 15 to 20 miles a day but since getting my motorcycle and my minivan a few years back, I don't ride enough and my weight is showing it

 

My parents have those. They pedal until they're tired, then come back using the battery. Keeps em in pretty good shape.

But they really don't seem like they'd be all that useful beyond recreation. Might be good for people that live in a city I guess.

 

Electric motorcycles are becoming a thing. But they're incredibly expensive compared to conventional.

They've got some e-bikes that straddle the line between electric bicycle and electric dirt bikes that are very interesting and produce a lot of power and a great power to weight ratio with tons of suspension that could give any regular dirt bike or run for the money but you better be prepared to Shell out 12 to $15,000 just to get in that game

 

You can get a Surron for around 5 grand but they still suck hind tit compared to a 250 cc dirt bike.....but ....about 40% lighter than the aforementioned 250. I'm sure it would be lots of fun off-road. This is what I mean about straddling the line between an electric bicycle and a dirt bike. ultralight electric dirt bike or bicycle? It doesn't have pedals so I guess bicycle it's not but I'm not sure I would call it an electric motorcycle either.

 

But that has to be licensed, doesn't it?

 

Really I'm not sure but as far as the law around here.... I do believe it's not supposed to be able to go more than 20 mph on flat level ground.

I know for a gas motor anything 49cc or less in the State of Florida requires a valid driver's license and anything 50 CC's or larger requires a motorcycle endorsement.