Maybelater

A interesting article discussing the design issues with current e bikes...

What?s*Wrong*With Electric Bicycles

CliffordK

Most of the cells are pretty standard, so I could imagine a solderless battery carrier, somewhat like any flashlight or radio.

One of the issues with battery packs is that the entire pack is only as good as the worst link. So, if you have a 5 year old battery pack, and replace 2 or 3 cells, the entire pack is still a 5 year old pack. With simple parallel/serial stringing batteries together, one might also damage the new cell, although I think modern controllers essentially have a charge/discharge controller for every cell, and thus can protect the new cells. One still has the weakest link problem with the old packs.

I am sure there are pros and cons with just about any motor and battery placement.

I like the idea of a Rohloff internal gear hub, or similar, but they aren't cheap. So, the motor and cranks use the same chain, gearing, and drive-train? Does the crankset coast as was done in a few bikes like the Autobike?

tds101 

This is a nice ebike. It can even do fenders. I'm interested,...

And the internal hub is a NuVinci N360. I didn't like it on my Xootr Swift, so I'd opt for the single speed.

350htrr

Really? The only way I would consider a single speed is if I wanted a moped, that "looked like" it could be pedalled...

tds101 

I can do about 15mph on my single speed bike (on average, as I can go faster when in the mood), so I'd only be using the bike for added distance and hill climbing ability. The NuVinci N360 had way too much drag for my liking. The hub choice they give is good for the drive system, but I'm not a fan of it otherwise. Besides, I have an 8 speed IHG I'd use if I decided to go geared.

Don't knock single speed - human OR ebike.

350htrr

Sorry, but since my 1st 3 speed (IGH), 50 years ago, I just can't go back. I loved my 3 speed, loved my 21 speed indexed shifter more, I love my 27 speed indexed shifter even more than that... E-Bike on top is the icing on the cake, Going backwards in technology/usefulness of my equipment just don't work for me...

350htrr

I do think that building the battery to enable easy cell replacement is a step ahead...

vincent713

This bike is great in that you can replace the battery cell instead of the whole battery. What I question is the mid drive motor, I've never owned a mid drive but have read experts prefer rear hub geared drive motors. Any thoughts?

350htrr

Hub drive is as simple as it gets, and works well. Mid drive starts to complicate things but works better up hills as it can utilize the gearing thus allowing for a smaller motor doing more...

vincent713

With that being said I think I prefer geared hub motors, I have no problem going up hill with mine. I also go up curbs a lot and looks like I can potentially damage a mid motor.

350htrr

Yes, geared hub motors can almost be equal to mid drives but, 7 gears, 27 gears whatever, even 3 gears... There is a difference, IMO...

efireclrd

maybe the battery cells for battery pack is not good enough
need use imported battery cells

BikeForMoi

I happen to have a rear hub drive eBike, but mid drives are climbing monsters, with a lot more torque and really shine when there are hills to climb. They make use of the gears as they are integrated in. They are the real deal in pedal assist as the cyclist goes no where without cycling. They can also get a longer ranger, depending on the design of the bike and size of the battery. I see a place for both hub drive motors and mid drive motors. I would love to own a mid drive motor eBike.

FlatSix911

vincent713

Most definitely makes a different with more gears, I opted for a rear geared hub motor with 7 speed. This offers me good PAS options and torque.

heywood

Arrggg!! Started reading this thread on Monday, it's now Wednesday and still on "Bike Snobs" blog....good blog..hilarious.

chas58

If you like the blog, you should read his books!!!

(FYI, that article in the original post is just a puff piece to market bikes. My hub motor is about the sized of the hub on that bike, so I'm not sure how it is ruining my handling. Any bike can have a low mounted battery. But yeah, it is a good looking bike and if you are comparing it only to the ugly stuff on Alibaba, yeah it is a step up.

gregf83 

It's a nice looking bike except for that battery. Seems a shame to design a new bike and have a non-integrated battery pack that looks like an afterthought. Not sure there's a big advantage to replacing individual cells if they're Li-Ion. The failure rate of cells isn't that high, generally they just slowly deteriorate over time.