Electric Bikes - Is there a such thing...

As a sub 40lb e-bike that can go 30mph and have a range over 25mi?

...or is that not possible yet? How close have people come? Weight is the biggest issue of the 3.

"As a sub 40lb e-bike that can go 30mph and have a range over 25mi?"

Yes, there are sub 40 lb ebike.
No, there is no legal ebike doing over 30mph because the legal limit is 20mph in most places in NA.
Yes, there is no problem for range over 25 mile.

"As a sub 40lb e-bike that can go 30mph and have a range over 25mi?"

Yes, there are sub 40 lb ebike.
No, there is no legal ebike doing over 30mph because the legal limit is 20mph in most places in NA.
Yes, there is no problem for range over 25 mile.

So is there a way to externally modify it so that it goes faster than 20, while keeping it under the 40lb limit?

Lastly, can they look like normal bikes (no trailer, no huge things sticking out of it)? Any pics?

Thanks

Start with an aero TT bike like this: http://www.velonews.com/tour2007/tech/articles/12886.0.html
Add a Puma geared hub motor, 20 amp controller and 1kWh of lipo cells and you'd still be under 40lbs. Depending on voltage, you could go well over 40mph.

Consider that the pros can ride a bike like that at over 33mph with 500(?)W of input power, and the Puma motor can easily put down 1500W.

So is there a way to externally modify it so that it goes faster than 20, while keeping it under the 40lb limit?

Lastly, can they look like normal bikes (no trailer, no huge things sticking out of it)? Any pics?

Thanks A heavy Huffy bike weighing 45 lb equiped with a 5 lb motor and 14 lbs worth of batteries can go 40 miles at 18 to 20 mph WITHOUT pedaling.= 64 lbs. A 25 lb aluminum bike with the same motor/battery system= 44 lb ebike for a 50 mile range at 20 mph+ with NO pedaling for 50 miles.The motor would be behind the chain wheel between the pedals mounted to the front of the seat post on top of the bottom bracket at the bottom of the frame triangle.This would be lighter than the Huffy bicycle without any motor system.The huffy can go up ANY hill or go 47 mph on the flats so the lighter bike will just do it faster or with less batteries.If I didn't slow down and I had this Lycra racers bike I would have passed the truck aproaching 50 mph.I passed it anyway at the next light.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3461469945722451879

As a sub 40lb e-bike that can go 30mph and have a range over 25mi?

...or is that not possible yet? How close have people come? Weight is the biggest issue of the 3.

A few important questions: What kind of bike do you want to start with (road, hard tail mountain, FS?), and what kind of riding are you looking at? Flats? Hills?

A few important questions: What kind of bike do you want to start with (road, hard tail mountain, FS?), and what kind of riding are you looking at? Flats? Hills?

I'm looking to build one for my family. They live 5 miles from work, and there's a bike path leading right to it, but they refuse to ride a bike because of getting "sweaty." That, and they're extremely lazy. This would be my best attempt at getting them out of the cage.

The bike won't be a road bike -- either a hardtail or rigid mtb/hybrid. The reason I want it to go that fast/far is for when I want to make 50mi (round) trips to chicago and there are some roads that are too dangerous to go slow. No hills in Chicagoland. I don't mind pedaling a little bit if the speed is at like 35mph and just needs a little boost.

Thanks,
James

I'm looking to build one for my family. They live 5 miles from work, and there's a bike path leading right to it, but they refuse to ride a bike because of getting "sweaty." That, and they're extremely lazy. This would be my best attempt at getting them out of the cage.

The bike won't be a road bike -- either a hardtail or rigid mtb/hybrid. The reason I want it to go that fast/far is for when I want to make 50mi (round) trips to chicago and there are some roads that are too dangerous to go slow. No hills in Chicagoland. I don't mind pedaling a little bit if the speed is at like 35mph and just needs a little boost.

Thanks,
JamesYou can probably go 50 miles on a round trip with 35 mph average speeds with a hub motor on flat land with a X lite hub motor of the right size but you will need about 50 ah worth of EXPENSIVE lithiums.That's about 50 lbs of battery weight alone.If you can get 33 mph on motor alone that would mean pedaling vary hard against the wind to get 2 mph faster.Ducking the wind at that speed will get you about the same without pedaling,Try doing both and you will find out that it is vary dangerous!

I can sprint to 40 on my road bike and have gone over 50mph many times, so I know how it feels.

50lbs of batteries is unacceptable. What if I settled for 35-40mph, how light can I get it? Any recommendations on setup?

I can sprint to 40 on my road bike and have gone over 50mph many times, so I know how it feels.

50lbs of batteries is unacceptable. What if I settled for 35-40mph, how light can I get it? Any recommendations on setup? Going from 35 to 40 mph you may need at least 1/3 more batteries to maintain a average 40 mph speed for 50 miles.Even if you are ducking.. 50 pounds of a set of lithium batteries would cost at least two grand for a cheap set.

Go here and have a play with the calculator to see just how bad trying to keep a MTB or road bike at those speeds is. http://www.kreuzotter.de/english/espeed.htm
Your best bet is to moderate your speed on longer runs or go to a more efficient bike at high speeds.