Electric Bikes - Electric bikes for commuting?

For many years now I have seen plenty of "Racoons" by Honda here. I assume they are ok because of the number of them getting around. Are they in the US?
http://world.honda.com/news/1998/2980220c.html
Steve.

Just wanted to put my opinion on the electric bikes. I really do not like them and I do ride a lot. I am a bike officer and I ride almost 30 - 35 miles a 8 hour shift. The added weight really sucks and when you are doing aggressive riding the added weight is also a pain. I have lost the back end quite a few times and dumped the bike in hard cornering quite a few times.

My personal opinion is that they are great for communting on dry roads but take them off road or in the wet and watchout. Plus they only got for for an hour tops before the battery dies... at least on my model.

Just like any vehicle, the electric bikes being designed today aren't designed for police who chase bad guys.

For the most part, electric bikes are an alternative to mopeds. I would like to see more people using any kind of energy efficient two wheeled vehicles. In addition to using less fuel, they take up a lot less space and could help the USA get out of it's real-estate gobble gobble. It is just amazing to me to see a super store surrounded by acres of paved parking. It is just insane.

We are finally starting to be concerned with the fuel related costs of automobiles, but few people realize how much land we dedicate to motor vehicles. Imagine if most of out residential streets could be half as wide or if all the parking spaces could be reduced. There would be more room for other things like trees or afforble housing or ANYTHING besides blacktop.

Welcome to the forums Pete, I have enjoyed reading your posts today. I hope you will stick around to share your opinion on these forums :)

Im not sure where i read this, but over 75% of car trips, are less then 3 miles from the home, and of those, over half only have one person in the car, the driver! Could you imagine how much money people would save, how healthy people would be, how clean the air would be, how quite our cities would be if these people would ride a bike? I think this is where the use of electric bikes will really shine, there's a huge market for it, if people do the math, the bike would basically be free after a year of use! Im seriously considering selling my truck so I can purchase a new road bike... it will save me $4,000.00+ a year. The only downside to not having a car / truck for me, is dating, and the occasional big trip to Salt Lake City (50 miles away). And the fact that I couldn't use the Carl's Jr drive thru. As of right now, the only reason I have a truck that i can think of, is social status! How pathetic is that? If i can find a job within 15miles of my house, im going to sell my truck, and purchase a new road bike, my mtn bike is just too much work to commute with :)

Sorry for going off topic ...

This is exactly why I started riding to work at the beginning of this year. I was saving up to buy an electric. the funny thing is...Now that I've been riding pretty steady for the last 9 months...i don't want the electric all that much any more...I think I'm gonna get a bent instead.

This is exactly why I started riding to work at the beginning of this year. I was saving up to buy an electric. the funny thing is...Now that I've been riding pretty steady for the last 9 months...i don't want the electric all that much any more...I think I'm gonna get a bent instead.

It was just the opposite for me. I started off commuting on a Trek hybrid but because of the heat and hills, I began to hate it. So I got the electric bike and even though it's still pretty hot (104 today on the way home!) it is much more bearable having the power assist. I'm doing the entire 12 to 17 miles on a one-way commute now and I can see doing the full round trip when my schedule changes in January. There is absolutely no way I would have psyched myself up to riding today if I had to pedal it myself!

It was just the opposite for me. I started off commuting on a Trek hybrid but because of the heat and hills, I began to hate it. So I got the electric bike and even though it's still pretty hot (104 today on the way home!) it is much more bearable having the power assist. I'm doing the entire 12 to 17 miles on a one-way commute now and I can see doing the full round trip when my schedule changes in January. There is absolutely no way I would have psyched myself up to riding today if I had to pedal it myself!
After riding the "up and over' route the last two days, I'm ready for an electric too. My LBS just got a LAFree. I rode one of those a few months back in Seattle...pretty cool bike. And I might be able to set it up so that my wife could use for her trips to the grocery store, too

a few questions:
Do you have a place to plug in at work?
How long does it take to charge?
What's your battery life?

After riding the "up and over' route the last two days, I'm ready for an electric too. My LBS just got a LAFree. I rode one of those a few months back in Seattle...pretty cool bike. And I might be able to set it up so that my wife could use for her trips to the grocery store, too

a few questions:
Do you have a place to plug in at work?
How long does it take to charge?
What's your battery life?

The LAFree sounds like a good bike, from what I've read. More expensive than mine but lighter and probably better built. I wish I could have checked it out locally. Good luck!

Since I've only been doing a one-way commute, I recharge at home but when I started, I was doing a park-and-ride commute and I charged at work. The battery comes off and I just carried the charger with me and recharged in my office. Mine takes up to four hours to charge but I've noticed the green light come on in just a couple of hours. I've read that you can get 200 or so charges on an SLA battery so I expect it to last about a year. But it's too soon to say from my own experience. The lighter batteries (Nimh and Nicad) are more expensive but also are supposed to last longer.

I also don't know my maximum range but I've gone 20 miles in these hills (with lots of pedaling) and still had battery left. I got an extra volt meter that has five LED lights, two green, two yellow, and one red. If both greens go out, then I'm supposed to stop riding soon. Well, the longest route of my commute is 17.5 miles and I've still had both greens when I'm done, though one has started to fade.

Range was my biggest concern at first so I'm relieved that I have plenty of battery. I've also had occasional thermal cutouts of the motor due to the extreme heat but it finally cooled off today so maybe that problem is behind me until next spring. I also got a bad battery pack initially but it was still under warranty so no problem replacing it (another reason I'm glad I bought locally.) So with those kinks worked out, I really enjoy riding an electric bike!

I'll look forward to hearing about yours if you decide to get one!

The LAFree sounds like a good bike, from what I've read. More expensive than mine but lighter and probably better built. I wish I could have checked it out locally. Good luck!

Since I've only been doing a one-way commute, I recharge at home but when I started, I was doing a park-and-ride commute and I charged at work. The battery comes off and I just carried the charger with me and recharged in my office. Mine takes up to four hours to charge but I've noticed the green light come on in just a couple of hours. I've read that you can get 200 or so charges on an SLA battery so I expect it to last about a year. But it's too soon to say from my own experience. The lighter batteries (Nimh and Nicad) are more expensive but also are supposed to last longer.

I also don't know my maximum range but I've gone 20 miles in these hills (with lots of pedaling) and still had battery left. I got an extra volt meter that has five LED lights, two green, two yellow, and one red. If both greens go out, then I'm supposed to stop riding soon. Well, the longest route of my commute is 17.5 miles and I've still had both greens when I'm done, though one has started to fade.

Range was my biggest concern at first so I'm relieved that I have plenty of battery. I've also had occasional thermal cutouts of the motor due to the extreme heat but it finally cooled off today so maybe that problem is behind me until next spring. I also got a bad battery pack initially but it was still under warranty so no problem replacing it (another reason I'm glad I bought locally.) So with those kinks worked out, I really enjoy riding an electric bike!

I'll look forward to hearing about yours if you decide to get one!

Well, we probably will get one.

The difference between the LAFree and the one you have is that, as opposed to a thumb throttle like you have, the LAFree is pedal activated. It's called an electric assist. There is a throttle of sorts, but it only works if you pedal first and activate the motor, then you can use the throttle and stop pedalling. It's around $900. I think.

Well, we probably will get one.

The difference between the LAFree and the one you have is that, as opposed to a thumb throttle like you have, the LAFree is pedal activated. It's called an electric assist. There is a throttle of sorts, but it only works if you pedal first and activate the motor, then you can use the throttle and stop pedalling. It's around $900. I think.

ACtually it does not have a throttle at all, just a high/low/off switch. You have to pedal to get power. It gives power proportional to the force you put on the pedals. No pedal, no power.

My opinion, http://bikeengines.com/redmax25info.htm

Or http://abc.eznettools.net/D300013/X300109/eBike1.html

My son has an electric scooter and he rides it to and from school. It goes 4 hours on a charge and 8-10mph. he can go 10 miles on a charge and it goes up hills with ease. Wish i only wieghed 82 lbs. It's not much, but he bought it for $99.00.

Smart boy age 10.
He also bikes, that's my boy*

ACtually it does not have a throttle at all, just a high/low/off switch. You have to pedal to get power. It gives power proportional to the force you put on the pedals. No pedal, no power.
Maybe I used the wrong term, but the one I rode had a feature that, when you get up to speed by pedaling, you could activate and stop pedaling...not very fast, but it would power you down the road.

We're going this Saturday to test ride a LAFree. well, my wife will ride it, I've already ridden one. If she likes it I will be coming home with it...after LBS guy gets it all set up for me to ride to work and her to ride to the store.
No wire baskets, though! That's where I draw the line.

Maybe I used the wrong term, but the one I rode had a feature that, when you get up to speed by pedaling, you could activate and stop pedaling...not very fast, but it would power you down the road.

You're right, my mistake. I was talking about the LAFree Lite. It does not have a throttle.

check out www.urbanmover.com

Does anyone have any experience with the Birdy BionX?

I like the feature of being able to fold it, along with the electric assist so I'm not spent when I get to work.

I haven't been able to get a grasp as to whether they:


Will accomodate panniers? (maybe front?)
Water bottle cage?
How about a trailer?
Accept a dynamo hub for front and back light?

Any other set-up's out there anyone would recommend with some or all of these features???

For many years now I have seen plenty of "Racoons" by Honda here. I assume they are ok because of the number of them getting around. Are they in the US?
http://world.honda.com/news/1998/2980220c.html
Steve.

Honda and most Japanese e-bike makers have not elected to market in the much smaller US e-bike market, particularly given the Japanese e-bikes are designed to comply with the more restrictive 250 W & 20 kph requirements over there. There are some Panasonics sold here and Sanyo has sold motors over here. Panasonic scaled up their motor for the US market on their folder rather than use the lower powered system sold back home.

Now that the EU has a new similar 250W 25 kph requirement, would expect Japanese makers might be focussing on the EU which would accept their debugged (vs. downsized or newly pedelec compliant EU manufacturers) albeit slightly slower units without modification. The EU is a much larger e-bike market than the US.

Does anyone have any experience with the Birdy BionX?

I like the feature of being able to fold it, along with the electric assist so I'm not spent when I get to work.

I haven't been able to get a grasp as to whether they:


Will accomodate panniers? (maybe front?)
Water bottle cage?
How about a trailer?
Accept a dynamo hub for front and back light?

Any other set-up's out there anyone would recommend with some or all of these features???

That would probably a first rate e-folder combo mating a high end Birdy folder and the high end Bionx (formerly EPS) electric drive.

Did a search and found NYCEwheels and Electric Vehicles NW have it. They may have done the conversion in house as both have on many other bikes and given their experience and background are probably the first two US dealers with access to the Bionx.




Birdy is a very good Airline-travelling folder, particularly when it's out on the road given it's performance, suspension, light weight, and small folding size. It doesn't fold as quickly as many of the commuter folders, so something like a Dahon Bionx might make a better electric folding commuter.

I notice Bionx is listing both BirdyUSA and ArnimalUSA as bike partners, although neither shows electric versions of their bikes on there sites.

You can surely find a place for a water bottle cage.
I have seen Birdy's with paniers front and rear.
No need for a dyno hub, the Bionx has regenerative braking so just tap off the battery system and or put the Bionx in charge mode to generate your power.

Do any of this bikes use the coasting momentum to partially recharge the batteries while coasting, braking, or going downhill?

Do any of this bikes use the coasting momentum to partially recharge the batteries while coasting, braking, or going downhill?

Bionx.

The Zap DX model did as long as you were travelling at least 15 mph but they no longer market that feature so they may have eliminated it on the newer models.

Bionx does, not sure about many of the others but most do not. The Bionx seems to be a particulary elegent high end solution which also makes it fairly expensive. It does appear to be well reviewed in everything I have read. Systems like the Currie and Crystalyte seem cheap and clunky by comparison. However the other systems are much less expensive especially given thier power.
Craig

I was thinking on recomending one to my Uncle - retired in Florida - since he needs to get
in better shape. He could have a little peace of mind knowing that if he feels too tired, or it is too hot, he can turn on the motor and rest for intervals whilst still getting to his destination.
My father used to have a 2 stroke motor that worked by friction on the front wheel. I always wondered if a similar setup could be done in a regular bike.

.... off to research

I built a 2-stroke 48cc motor on an old cruiser. It works real well, up to 30 mph, and I have about 300-400 miles on it so far. The kits are around $175 online. Much cheaper than an electric, faster, and unlimited range. It does use gas though, and probably pollutes a little more than an electric does (at the power plant). I'm getting somewhere near 140 mpg on it though. I use it mostly for picking up groceries with a BOB trailer attached.

I havent found an electric bike that uses regen. braking to generate power. I purchased an electric bike kit from a distributor in Ill. It was reasonable, about 300 USD, but I have had numerous problems. The motor has more than enough power, Im not dissatisfied with that part of it at all. Its originally made in China, and like most things made in China, the quality isnt what you would get if it was made in the USA or Japan. I have had the following problems:

1. The power cable that connects to the battery pack and the controller was shorting because of a weak solder connection. This was blowing my fuse. After removing the insulating sheath, I found the broken connection. The soldering job was poor and the solder looked substandard.

2. The batteries (SLA) are heavy, cheap, and they leaked. The leaking caused corrosion, which ate away at the terminals, breaking them off latter. These batteries must be recharged immediately. They bike doesnt charge them like a cars generator charges its batteries. Also, a cars generator takes over after the battery has been used for cranking over the engine, the electric bike uses the batteries almost constantly. My batteries now are useless, and I must purchase 3 more SLA batteries locally or go for the NiMH batteries, another investment.

3. If the bike is left outside, water or condensation builds inside the motor, especially after a heavy rain, even if the motor is sealed up. This shorts everything out inside the motor and causes rust. Ive had to open up the motor casing and remove rust/water so many times. That usually clears up the pulsing problem I had.

4. I mounted my motor on my aluminum GMC bike frame. The aluminum frame is light, so this worked out great until I was riding along and the motor snapped off the cast aluminum ends of my forks. The tourque of the motor, Im guessing, was too much for these aluminum fork ends. I went through 2 forks at about 100 USD each before changing over to a steel frame. Havent had the same problem since.

I love the bike, now that Ive figured out most of the problems with it. Once I get the batteries replaced, Im going to use it again. I has incredible power and flies. The drawback is the weight of the batteries, they shift around and are a pain to haul around. I welded up a special box for the batteries, but it adds weight to an already heavy bike. Hopefully the NiMH pack will solve the weight issue.

Honda and most Japanese e-bike makers have not elected to market in the much smaller US e-bike market, particularly given the Japanese e-bikes are designed to comply with the more restrictive 250 W & 20 kph requirements over there. There are some Panasonics sold here and Sanyo has sold motors over here. Panasonic scaled up their motor for the US market on their folder rather than use the lower powered system sold back home.

Now that the EU has a new similar 250W 25 kph requirement, would expect Japanese makers might be focussing on the EU which would accept their debugged (vs. downsized or newly pedelec compliant EU manufacturers) albeit slightly slower units without modification. The EU is a much larger e-bike market than the US.

At the moment I live in Japan. I have a 400 watt bike kit that doesnt use peddle assist. I put everything together and took it over to the Japanese police to look at. They all came outside and started looking at it and wanted to ride it. They said as long as my motor didnt get up to 1000 watt I was ok. That was awhile ago, I think that rule has since changed, you have to have signals etc on the bike. Riding anything in Japan is taking a risk, so I stay off the roads as much as possible, but it comes in handy for climbing hills. There was alot of peddle assisted bikes by bridgestone here, now alot of other makers are in the market with some really nice bikes. Japanese always make great stuff, but I havent seen a bike like mine, where u throttle it and go. Everything is peddle assisted. Ive got side baskets on my bike and it looks heavy duty, if I painted it camoflague and did some more tweaking, I bet the US military would show an interest in it.

I'm new to the forum and more importantly, electric biking.
I'm surprised at all the resistance and misconceptions!
At 58 years old I feel renewed on my Giant LaFree Lite. This is (unfortunately) the last year of the 4 year production of this model. I pedal it all over and turn on the pedal assisted juice when bucking a headwind or climbing a tough hill. Using it like this gives me a nice workout, saves the knees and the battery will last 30 miles.
I wouldn't care to purchase a really heavy 'moped' type hybrid with a lead-acid battey or even a hub motor drive due to the limitations.
I'm constantly amazed how I don't miss all the gears on my Cannondale or worry about loading it up with weighty items.
My 13 mile rountrip commute is fun again and so far I've only had one person realize what they were looking at as I went by them!
My Prius is in the driveway quite a bit more these days.
To all you naysayers; try this specific model but be careful, you might crack a smile.

I'm new to the forum and more importantly, electric biking.
I'm surprised at all the resistance and misconceptions!
At 58 years old I feel renewed on my Giant LaFree Lite. This is (unfortunately) the last year of the 4 year production of this model. I pedal it all over and turn on the pedal assisted juice when bucking a headwind or climbing a tough hill. Using it like this gives me a nice workout, saves the knees and the battery will last 30 miles.
I wouldn't care to purchase a really heavy 'moped' type hybrid with a lead-acid battey or even a hub motor drive due to the limitations.
I'm constantly amazed how I don't miss all the gears on my Cannondale or worry about loading it up with weighty items.
My 13 mile rountrip commute is fun again and so far I've only had one person realize what they were looking at as I went by them!
My Prius is in the driveway quite a bit more these days.
To all you naysayers; try this specific model but be careful, you might crack a smile.

Hey ebiker!

It's good to hear that you like your bike. I am thinking about getting my wife one. How long have you had yours? How many times have you charged it? What's your top speed?

Thanks.

I have only had it about a month. There is maybe 20 charge cycle on the battery by myself and the previous owner. The battery should be good for 500 cycles. Top speed is well over the 17mph where the motor cuts out. My computer says I hit 27mph on some hill. I average >12.5 including hills and traffic lights. They make a womens version too but the smallest frame is 18" If I had the $ I would buy another before they are all gone, There are very few used on the market for good reason:)

I'm new here, so please forgive me if I state the obvious or revisit old disagreements.

I'm 60 and I bike to work year round. It was easy when I only had 8 km's to go. My next job was 12 km's away, and that was okay too. For the last 3 years I have been working 21 km's from my house and that is just too far to travel 5 days a week, year round.

I've been supplimenting my commute with public transit which I really hate. There is something about transit riders and me that just doesn't compute. Why do they insist on pushing their way onto the subway coach before others have had an opportunity to leave?

Last week I had an epiphany! (and it's not even January 6th yet.) I fell on an icey patch on my way to work and although there were no serious injuries thanks to my safety equipment, there was pain.

When I got to work, I started researching adult tricycles and electric hubs.

To be continued...

coolness i want one
especially now legal where i am from

I just ordered one of the $280 (well $370 with shipping and tax) walmart electric bikes.

From what I've seen here and on another sites on electric vehicles/bikes, these
cheap models aren't worth much.

The main reason I want to get it is that I want to get a little extra biking exercise,
but I'm pretty lazy and find my job a bit of a chore. This exacerbates my tendency
to procrastinate, so even though my commute is only 3.25 miles each way, I am always
a little rushed to make my usual car trip in, (9-10 minutes) instead of riding my bike
in (12-13 minutes, plus 10-15 minutes sitting around to stop sweating).

I figure this way I can buzz in on electricity (probably about the same time as
riding but without the 10-15 minute sweat window) and pedal home, taking the long
way back on good days (70 lbs of bike just means it's that much better of a
workout) and having the electric option otherwise.

It's cheap enough that I don't have to worry much about theft or vandalism -
although these aren't really too much of an issue around here, and if it doesn't
work out, its not that much of a problem. If the strategy works well except for
issues with the cheapness of the electric bike itself, I won't mind spending more
to get a better electric bike.

I can't make a case for it economically or environmentally, even if this cheap
bike works great and lasts for years, unless I imagine it will insprire others to
ride a bike more, or at least get an electric bike for the (other) lazy
procrastinators. These are not my main motivations for this purchase.

I'm in decent shape and in my (ok late) 30's so I don't see that the time to bike
in or the sweat window is going to change significantly regardless of how much
more fit I could be. I live in Florida, I happen to sweat alot, I don't think
that's going to change.

I do have a Specialized road bike that I ride for pleasure and triathlons.

Will you biking gods on this forum bless this purchase?

It's all about getting a little more biking time in, without needing to give up
anything else, right?

Got the Mongoose tonight. Pretty minimal assempbly required. 6-8 hrs to charge her up.

25 MPH is a good clip, and if it could hold that pace for 30 miles and I had the option to recharge it at work, I'd go for it. I have a 60 mile RT so I do the Home->Bike->Bus->Bike->Work->Bike->Bus->Bike-Home thing.

There's a good stretch of MUP that starts a mile from my apartment and ends about 12 miles from work, give or take. At 25 MPH though, I could take surface roads all the way in and skip the MUP, without angering the cagers. I could also spend about 2-2.5H total on the road per day, instead of the 6-8H that I would spend pedalling.

That said, I have yet to see anything that goes 20 or faster for 60 miles on one charge, that isn't a freeradical conversion or a trailer for the 250 pounds of batteries that it would take to perform that feat.

Mongoose update:
I thought there was a bit more play than there should be with plugging in the battery to the charger last night.

Looking more closely today, I see the male "socket" side of the plug is broken and pushed into the case of the battery.

Quality electric bikes:1, Mongoose:0.

I took it apart - just a few screws holding the plastic battery box together. I stopped by Radioshack but they didn't carry the socket needed to replace the boken one.

I'm epoxying it now.

25 MPH is a good clip, and if it could hold that pace for 30 miles and I had the option to recharge it at work, I'd go for it.
I have the Giant Lite/Twist. It's one of the lightest electric bikes @ around 50 lbs. It'll go 18 mph for 25 miles with panniers.

Mongoose update:
I got the battery plug socket epoxied and soldered back on.
There is no water protection for battery, connections and motor, so I'll have to do something about that at some point.

Took it out for a test run this afternoon.
First impressions:

It is quite heavy - 74lbs by my scale with battery. I wouldn't want to carry it anywhere, but since I will be just driving it into the garage, not too much of an issue.

Pretty comfortable to ride. There is something to be said for fat tires, suspension fork, wide rubber ball mounted saddle.

I didn't care much for the hand/wrist position, but for a short ride, shouldn't be a problem. I suppose I could get cushier gloves.

Pedaling performance:
My legs are pretty tired from running this morning, so I just went a couple blocks at a comfortable pace. 12-14 mph. Seemed like similar effort to 15-18 mph on road bike. Fatest speed pedaling + power = 22mph.

Rear derailler could use a little adjustment. I didn't do anything with it yet, just rode it like it came out of the box. There is no front derailler. Gear range (7 speed twist shift derailler) seemed adequate, but all my riding will be flat anyways. Front brake needs to be adjusted so pads are closer to the rim. Rear is good out of the box.

Powered performance:
I rode it to work and back, under electric power only, no pedalling. 3.8 miles each way (if I take a busier road it is 3.25 miles), full throttle all the way. I had to stop once or twice for traffic each way. Average speed was 16 mph going, 15 mph returning. I think this was more due to a slight headwind on the return more than the battery going flat. It has 4 LEDs for battery status, still had all 4 on when I got home, but who knows how accurate that is.

Mildly annoying buzzing sound while under power.

Motor was moderately warm at the end of the trip, but didn't seem unduly so.

Acceleration was decent.

It did feel slightly boged down on one small hill, but speed dropped minimally. I don't even see the hill looking back at my gps speed graph, must have just been a bit noiser more than slowing down much.

Overall better performance than I expected (top maintained speed no wind was 16-17 mph, just over 18 where I had a following wind. Web site said top speed "up to 15 mph (rider weight and terrain contingent)", which makes you think that that speed might be achievable only in a free fall from a plane.

Main concerns: weather protection of electircal bits and durability/ rechargability of battery packs. I think the brouchure said 100 charges or 3 months. Currie lists the battery packs at $140, and $80 for 2 batteries. Perhaps batteries could be sourced somewhere else. If I did need to pay almost $1 a day of battery life lost, this would be slightly more than I pay for gas to drive.

Mongoose update:

First real commute with the bike this am. I didn't charge the battery overnight to get a better idea of range after the riding I did yesterday.

Distance came out as 3.98 miles in 17:16. Spent almot a minute and a half at one light though. Average speed 13.8 mph. Basically a constant 16 mph cruising speed (full throttle), except when slowing to turn etc. The small hill just before I get to work did drop the speed to 11mph and acceleration was noticably sluggish by the time I got to work.

I forgot to turn the power swith off during the day, I'm not sure how much juice that wastes. Probably not much. The battery meter was at 2 of 4 lit LEDs when I left for home.

On the way home, I went about 1 mile at 16mph, then 0.7 miles at 15 mph, then over the next 0.8 miles, speed dropped to 10 mph, at which point I thought it would be prudent to end my range testing and just pedal.

Pedaling at a comfortable pace was about 13-14 mph. I pushed it to a blistering 18 mph for a couple blocks, but again my legs are not fresh due to running yesterday. Still, I figure I would be going at least 23 mph with a similar effort on my road bike.

I did have someone flag me down to ask about the bike - said he had seen me in the morning, so I talked with him for a few minutes.

Powered range was therefore about 14 miles at mostly about 16 mph with about another mile possible before going below 10 mph.

The web site ad says range "up to 25 miles with normal pedaling" whatever that means. The bike box said 18 mile range. Overall, not too far off, I guess. It will be interesting to see how this is affected as the battery ages.

Mongoose update:

Charged battery for about 12 hrs overnight Charger says it takes 6 - 8 hrs to charge. Bike instruction manual says never charge more than 24 hours. There is a LED on the charger that starts out red when you plug in the flat battery, and was green in the morning. Does that means the charger turned off or converted to trickle mode? I don't know. I bought a lamp timer last night so I can charge for a selected length of time without too much hassle. I haven't plugged it in yet though.

Going to work - all electric powered. Distance 3.94 miles. Time 16:24. Avg speed 14.4 mph. Max speed 18.0 mph.

Had a friend at work ride around the block on the bike. He's probably about 200lbs. His top maintained speed was in the 14 mph range, versus the 15-16 mph that I had been going at that point with a similar charge level. I weigh about 155 lbs. So, not too bad of a performance drop with the extra weight. I tried to get a lighter woman to ride it, to get another data point, but she said she hadn't ridden a bike in years and didn't want to do it.

Rode home on all muscle power - I tried to ride pretty fast. Distance 3.95 miles, time 16:53, avg speed 14.0, max speed 17.6 mph. Obviously quite similar to my powered times.

We have an electric bike shop in town. I have seen these bikes around. People seem to like them. I don't think they cost $1400. I think they're closer to $500. Not too bad in my opinion.

Personally, I need the exercise because I'm too fat.

Mongoose update:

Chraged about 14 hrs overnight. The LED was on green (starts on red when plugged into flat battery). I don't know if this is overcharging it or not. I'll have to hook up that timer to prevent overcharging.

There was a moderately strong headwind going to work this morning. I decided to pedal with a gentle "walking" level of exertion. I anticipate I'll probably do that most of the time, rather than just sitting there and letting the motor do all the work, as I have been doing. Distance 4.06 miles, time 15:24, avg 15.8 mph, max 17.5 mph.

I took a shorter route home. Got out of work pretty late. Basically no wind now. Kept it on full throttle and also pedalled pretty hard the whole way. I'm not sure exactly how this works - at times I was going along and let off of the throttle and kept pedalling, and didn't feel any different than when I was pedalling with it on full throttle. I'm pretty sure the motor was doing some of the work at least on the minimal hills. Distance 3.35 mi, time 11:29, avg 17.5 mpg, max 21.3 mph.

Couple of words of caution about ebikes, especially when it comes to the expected cycle life of SLA batteries and advertised range.

Number of cycles you will get greatly depends on how deeply you drain your batteries, (non deep cycle) SLAs don't like being taken much below 60% of their capacity, any more and you put a big dent in the number of useful cycles you will get. Even the deep cycle SLAs (AGM) suffer from the same problem but to a lesser extent. Hight temperatures > 30 degrees celsius will also drasticly reduce cycle count.

Actual range is very much dependent on battery current draw and to a lesser extent temperature (.6% capacity drop for each degree celsius below 25)

From personal experience you will start to notice a drop in range after 15 to 20 cycles and its all down hill from then. 100 cycles is about all you should expect at best, alot less if you regularly take your batteries below %60 (around 30 if that is the case)

I was really keen on ebikes until the SLA battery reality hit home. Nimh and Lithium Ion/Polymer batteries are supposed to be alot better but very expensive.

Anyone else have similar experiences with SLA batteries?

Derek

I could also spend about 2-2.5H total on the road per day, instead of the 6-8H that I would spend pedalling.

I keep hearing you say this... are you really only averaging 8-9mph on the bike?

Mongoose update:

Didn't bring the gps today. Full power + walking exertion on the way in. Full power + moderate exertion home.

Maybe security will be a bigger issue than anticipated. A co-worker apparently heard someone at the back office door mucking about with the 'Goose. The perp apparently ran away when she opened the door, but I didn't get a chance to ask her exactly what was going on.

I had been parking it behind the office with a thin cable, about 1.5 ft long, designed to keep your quick release seat from being lifted. Just locked with a combination lock around rear wheel and triangle, not to any solid object. Yes, basically the weakest possible security scenario. The office is next to a restaurant parking lot, where it could be easily lifted into a truck. Or just cut the cable, it is thin enough that even a beefy pair of scissors could cut it with minimal work, but no need to hurry, noone ever goes behind the office.

Maybe I'll leave a heavy chain around one of the benches in front of the office, and keep it there instead. I really don't want to have to lug around a heavy, bulky lock/ chain.

Mongoose update:

I got a thick cable bike lock with combination lock and am leaving that attached to the bench in front of the office.

It should stop the casual, spur of the moment, opportunist thief. Still the battery is easy to walk off with.

This location does afford good rain protection with a fairly wide roof overhang.I haven't decided if this more visible location will be good for business or not. I could see it going either way.

I still need to think about doing some waterproofing of the bike for commuting in the rain. I need fenders too. These wide tires will throw a skunk stripe up with just a little sprinkler overspray on the road. At least no rain this week. I did see a poncho at that human powered machine website that looks like it would protect the bike itself somewhat as well.

I need to get something that can carry a little cargo. Maybe a rack, and maybe some of those fold out grocery type panniers. I'm glad this bike is so heavy already. A few more pounds of lard doesn't seem so tragic.

Took the 'Goose on my first non-commute errand. Only 2 miles to a local 5k foot race, but normally I would drive. "Need to save the legs".

Mongoose update:

First full week of commuting - 7 of 7 days.

Wore the gps today. Coming in 3.97 miles, 14:48, avg speed 16.1 mph. Full throttle +slightly above walking effort pedaling.

Going home (shorter route) 3.43 miles, 11:30, avg speed 17.9. Full throttle + fairly strenuous pedalling.
A rear view mirror would be nice.

It would be slick to wire some lights to the battery pack rather than having to deal with separate AA's for them.

Mongoose update:

Second week of commuting - took electric bike 6 of 7 days.
Drove one day because of wet roads, but not even raining.

I had a seatpost rear rack that I had bought for another bike and wasn't using, that I put on, in hopes to keep the tire spray down, but doesn't help that much. Gotta get some fenders.

It has 4 allen bolts holding it on, so it does provide a measure of security to the battery pack, which can't be removed now without removing this rack.

Used motor only today, no pedaling, to get a reading of battery performance, after 14 charges (mostly from about 30% discharged state I'd guess).

Going in 3.81 mi, 14:07, avg 16.2 mph, max 17.8 mph
Going home 3.84 mi, 15:05, avg 15.3 mph, max 18.1mph
This shows no loss of speed from initial test runs.
I've heard that it is total range that is affected most as the battery ages, however, so perhaps not much can be deduced from this.

I keep hearing you say this... are you really only averaging 8-9mph on the bike?
About 11 MPH average on a recent 20 mile ride that's about as hilly as my commute would be. I'm pretty sure over the course of 60 miles it would probably be slower. Remember, I'm on a hybrid-ish bike (or maybe a hardtail cheap MTB, not sure how to classify it) and I'm still an out of shape clyde.

Please see below.

I've just put together an eTrike. I decided to go with a brushless front hub. I commute 42 kms a day and don't own a car so I'll be using it for shopping too.

I have more info in an article on crazyguyonabike (http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/?o=lt&doc_id=2173&v=2r)

Mongoose update:

Rode 4 of 5 days last week. Two for two so far this week. Relatively cold here now, 39 F yesterday am. Didn't notice any drop off in performance, but didn't bring the gps.

I put on a mirror, but it is on a flexible stalk that gets bent out of alignment pretty often.

Stokell-
Good looking bike. How about some performance numbers for us?

I heard those hub motors were noisy. True?