Electric Bikes - eBike videos

How fast can the average person pedal on flat ground with no wind? Say a mountain bike with 26" tires. How fast could the average person expect to pedal, going as fast as they can, on flat ground, with no wind?

I have no concept of what 30 MPH (or any speed, for that matter) actually looks like on a bike. I wonder how fast I can actually pedal? With this 5 lb motor system I could pedal with the motor easily at these speeds, But it's fast enough without. You can see the bike rider as I slowed down a bit to keep him in view longer, But he seemed to be pedaling as fast as he could go, about 47 mph on flat land.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4798286533935376595&q=ecyclemaui&total=9&start=0&num=10&so=1&type=search&plindex=3

With this 5 lb motor system [...]
It's next to impossible to get an idea of speed from that clip because:

1. You filmed the bicyclist off your motorcycle while in motion.
2. We don't know how fast the bicyclist was going.

How fast can the average person pedal on flat ground with no wind? Say a mountain bike with 26" tires. How fast could the average person expect to pedal, going as fast as they can, on flat ground, with no wind?

I have no concept of what 30 MPH (or any speed, for that matter) actually looks like on a bike. I wonder how fast I can actually pedal?

Well, there are other factors to consider over "average + mountain bike", but usually most people won't hit that speed.

30MPH on a mountain bike is a big sprint. It also depends on the "average persons" mountain bike, and their tires. Rigids deliver more power than hardtails, which deliver more power than full suspension. Balloons/slicks/hardpack tires deliver more than knobbies. Many other factors can be involved including gearing, clothing and so on. In the end though, 30mph is much beyond the comfortable limit of speed on an average mountain bike without any assisting factors involved.

In contrast, a rider on a faired recumbent may use up less than half that energy in order to reach the same speed, which under favourable conditions would fall within the sustainable limits of an athletic cyclist.

Under the same exertion levels:
My Fuji 2 rides slower than my rigid mountainbike, which rides slower than my Peugeot PX-10, which rides slower than the Bacchetta Strada I tried out in the store the other day. Zoom zoom. Bloody uncomfortable bike though, for a recumbent.

more good videos

http://www.ebikehub.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=7

It's next to impossible to get an idea of speed from that clip because:

1. You filmed the bicyclist off your motorcycle while in motion.
2. We don't know how fast the bicyclist was going.We don't know how fast this bicycle was going either, but it was at freeway speeds.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7331260168161702093

We don't know how fast this Motorcycle with a bicycle digitally superimposed and used in an ad campaign was going either, but it was at freeway speeds.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7331260168161702093

Fixed.

We don't know how fast this bicycle was going either, but it was at freeway speeds.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7331260168161702093

WOW!!! This might be the greatest bicycle video I've ever seen!

This guy was passing cars on the freeway! He was in a freaking high speed chase with the police, on his bike! And he freaking got away!!!

I don't think it was an ebike either, was it? Looked like he was all pedal power.

With this 5 lb motor system I could pedal with the motor easily at these speeds, But it's fast enough without. You can see the bike rider as I slowed down a bit to keep him in view longer, But he seemed to be pedaling as fast as he could go, about 47 mph on flat land.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4798286533935376595&q=ecyclemaui&total=9&start=0&num=10&so=1&type=search&plindex=3

You must be really stupid if you think the cyclist you passed was pedaling at 47mph.

We don't know how fast this bicycle was going either, but it was at freeway speeds.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7331260168161702093

It's a good thing he's in hiding or he might be polluting bikeforums.com with tall tales.

We don't know how fast this Motorcycle with a bicycle digitally superimposed and used in an ad campaign was going either, but it was at freeway speeds.

Sam Whittingham (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Whittingham) can pedal his bike at freeway speeds.

The video of the guy being chased by the cops as noted by AllenG, is an ad for specialized. Its not real.

And Sam Whittingham is an excellent athlete, but his bike isn't exactly standard stuff either :)
I don't think he would've been able to maneuver his Varna Diablo between those semis like that either, but I could be wrong on that part.

Actually I think bikes like the Varna Diablo have almost no ability to steer beyond what they need to stay upright.

Yeah, most of the footage i've seen of those full canopy lowracers indicates that they've got steering enough to keep you going down a relatively straight highway and thats about it. Never know though, there might be one out there with a decent turning radius. At any rate, that specialized movie is indeed fake, and rather obviously so.

I'd like a Varna Diablo too :)

WOW!!! This might be the greatest bicycle video I've ever seen!

This guy was passing cars on the freeway! He was in a freaking high speed chase with the police, on his bike! And he freaking got away!!!

I don't think it was an ebike either, was it? Looked like he was all pedal power. He was definatly pedaling faster than 47 mph.

Yeah, most of the footage i've seen of those full canopy lowracers indicates that they've got steering enough to keep you going down a relatively straight highway and thats about it. Never know though, there might be one out there with a decent turning radius. At any rate, that specialized movie is indeed fake, and rather obviously so.

I'd like a Varna Diablo too

There's a guy (might be Warren Beauchamp) who built a commute-worthy bike which looks similar to the Varna Diablo. Unlike the diablo, it's a bike you can get in and out of without help, and can put your feet down to stop without falling over. And, of course, it can handle the turns of a normal commute. If I remember right, the bike went about 55mph on the same flat/straight course where the Varna bikes went up to 81mph. Most of the racing streamliner bikes are totally useless for commuting though.

We don't know how fast this bicycle was going either, but it was at freeway speeds.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7331260168161702093

Hate to break it to ya, but this was a GGI production for Specialized in a marketing program on their website originally ;)

"by the time you get to 20+ MPH typically over 70% of the overall power you deliver to the pedals will be consumed by air drag!"

http://www.bacchettabikes.com/support/bacchetta.htm[/quote]Before you get to 20 mph the BIG HEAVY hub motor efficiency is well below 50% but not bad for a heavy motorcycle.

"by the time you get to 20+ MPH typically over 70% of the overall power you deliver to the pedals will be consumed by air drag!"

http://www.bacchettabikes.com/support/bacchetta.htm Before you get to 20 mph the BIG HEAVY hub motor efficiency is well below 50% but not bad for a heavy motorcycle.

As usual, the facts prove you wrong again. 50% efficiency at 8mph, 75% at 20mph. I think it's funny how you call an X5 hub motor big and heavy, yet you ride a piece of junk, heavy assed Huffy boat anchor. Surely a power system as wonderous as you claim deserves to be mounted on a real mountain bike? Perhaps your bike and power train are more alike than you'd have people believe.... junk mounted on junk.

http://img144.imageshack.us/img144/134/5304fn8.png (http://imageshack.us)

Randy, the X5 motors do not even get warm at these (~1kW) power levels. I also have run various motor and rim combos including 504/26, 5304/20, 5304/24, 5303/20, and some with several different diameter tires. The current setup is a 5303/20 at 90v, and with the current turned down to minimum, it looks like this:

http://img208.imageshack.us/img208/1263/5303sd4.png (http://imageshack.us)

50% efficiency at 8mph, and 76% efficiency at 20mph, with a peak of 82% from 30-40mph. Again, your arguments fall short. Can't you come up with something better?