antokelly

what ever keeps the legs turning

Benjamino

1C is very, very fast charging, at least for LiMn 18650s. 0.5C is a safe amount for the long-term health of a battery. Allcell has a pretty neat heat management system, for ebike sized batteries, but I would still not recommend pushing past 0.5C. I've seen as much as 15% regen, but that was riding the regen down Seymour Mountain in Vancouver, definitely not your typical usage.

I agree with your sentiment. Who cares what anybody else is doing? If all these ebikers are sharing the road like jack-asses, then sure. But that's a jack-ass problem, not a cyclist problem. I really don't understand the hate.

As an ebike owner, and a fit young-ish person, all of my touring is planned for my un-electrified touring bike, because I'm able and it's a fun challenge and a slower way of travelling. If someone else has a different way of doing it, all the more power to them. I'll even help them set it up.

imi

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_Dylan_controversy

350htrr

But you missed my point. I have to pedal to go anywhere... I usually pedal 80Km out of every 100Km. That make it a bike, an E-Assist bike for 20% of the time... I do agree any E-Bike with a throttle IS A MOPED.

EDIT; After re-reading my post I need to explain... I still need to pedal the whole 100 KM to go 100 KM... It's just that my "effort" is equal "about" 80KM worth out of the 100 KM actually done.

Doug64

Yeah, I really don't care what others do or ride. I do care about getting people outside, and enjoying themselves. If e-assist or e-bikes make that possible, I'm all for it. I'm not sure where my "negativity" came from, but I'll try to do better

Bicycle365

My current build (yellow) , expected to be complete tomorrow. My "usual" ride (blue) in the background. Just noting that "The times they are a changin"

DropBarFan

Was that in Oregon? Folks there seem to be trendsetters in cycling. In DC area I only see a few e-bikes & their users are not usually that very old or fragile. Like a friend of mine who rides one occasionally for exercise--he's just too lazy to pedal up the few short hills on local bike path. I doubt that e-bikes will become super-popular since most locals of any age going for fast-food use the drive-thru vs a grueling 30-meter walk. E-bikes could be nice for commuting esp on hot days where one might not want to get all sweaty.

Doug64

No, it was in Germany. When we crossed Germany, coming from the Czech Republic heading for Belgium, we rode the Main River Route to Mainz and then the Rhine River Route as far as Cologne before heading west into Belgium. Both routes see a lot of use. There were literally hundreds of folks on e-bikes. I believe a lot of them were rentals.

I actually saw my first e-bike in Oregon last Friday in Bend. A gentleman in a suit, riding a cargo bike, whizzed past us going up a slight hill. He did not even pretend to pedal. I assumed, because it was about 8:00 in the morning, that he was commuting to work. That is the type of situation where I think e-bikes would work really well.

mstateglfr 

Well thats the most absurd thing ive read today and it isnt even from the typical poster here.

A bicycle with a motor that helps a rider for a small part of the ride is not a motorcycle.

If the person rides the bike on a flat paved rail trail for 10mi without e-assist, its a bicycle. If they ride 50mi on rolling road and use the e-assist 14 times for 10% of the total ride distance, its a bicycle.

Its not a bicycle in one instance and a motorcycle in another instance.

Furthermore, recumbent trikes are considered bikes even though they have 3 wheels, they are for all intents and purposes a bike.
Bike/bicycle is a genera lcategory description. A 'bent trike is included. An e-assist is included too.

antokelly

heafty looking motor i like the hidden one meself.don't forget to post the finished bike looks like a n awesome job.

antokelly

heafty looking motor i like the hidden one meself.don't forget to post the finished bike looks like a n awesome job.

saddlesores

thanks! now i gets it! doesn't matter what components
go into the contraption, it's how the thing self-identifies
at the moment.

if i ride my goldwing 100 miles uphll it's a motorcycle.
if i roll downhill with the motor off, it's a coaster bike.
if it broke down and i gotta push, then it's a harley.

BigAura

huh? I am a very consistent poster in the Touring forum. In the nine years that I've been posting I can only recall one or two posts asking for build or touring advice for motor-assisted touring. I do grant you, that we do have some posters utilizing human-powered recumbents & trikes.

my position: I have nothing against e-assist-bikes or those who enjoy them. In fact I think they are excellent and elegant form of transportation. Nothing wrong with touring on them either. BUT they are, by definition, motorized and therefore not truly human-powered.

my opinion: A coast-to-coast-us tour on an e-assisted-bike is not equivalent to same tour done exclusively under human-power.

Walter S

There's nothing wrong with touring on a ebike if that's what floats your boat. I prefer human power. Also I save a ton of money by stealth camping. No place to charge a bike like that.

antokelly

UCI reveals technology used to detect mechanical doping | Cyclingnews.com

This only apply's to the pro's not freds like us lot.

Squeezebox

Bicycle365's yellow bicycle with the external BB motor is very interesting. If I had the money, I would consider a cargo bicycle with the extra big rear triangle, for around town errands, like enough space for groceries. The external motor and battery makes more sense for cooling issues. Maybe a dirt guard over the motor. Lockable battery cage. Extra battery option. Maybe a tandem rear crankset, motor on the left side, triple crank on the right side. juice for good lights. Great commuter bicycle. Somebody could get 100 of these made in China and see what happens. But no way as a touring bicycle.

DropBarFan

Oh, I see. Germany seems to be a bit unique in that they have a large # of seniors that like weekend bike tours w/o necessarily being hard-core bikers. Perhaps since cycling as transport is so common there, most older folks have biked regularly at some point in their life so they're not intimidated by being out on the road even though they no longer have the fitness to climb hills easily. But in the US it's a tough sell to get a non-biking senior on even an e-bike. Only Americans I know that even tried e-bikes already were doing at least a bit of riding currently.

Surprised that it took so long to see an e-biker in Bend: WaPo Travel did a feature on bend 3 years ago incl their bike culture, mentioning the pedal-powered beer-pub.

BigAura

Sad that they are following the rest of the world: Obesity in Germany has been increasingly cited as a major health issue in recent years.

fietsbob

Electric Bike Kits - Lectric Cycles My LBS Sells a lot of these.
[and does the conversion and handles any warrantee claims]
the most powerful 1000w Motors is what Hunters want , to get back a long ways past the locked gates,
across steep gravel roads, into logged company Lands (elk like grazing clear cuts, a few years old )

Happy Feet

While touring the gulf islands last summer I noted several groups who were moped touring via the B&B scene. They seemed to be having a good time.
We may quibble for fun about what is and isn't legally defined bicycle touring like the olympic committee but most people don't care about artificial definitions and just set out for adventure.

BigAura

True, bicycle tourists do not have a exclusive lock on fun & adventure. In fact for me personally the adventure-travel aspect of bicycle touring is what drew me to it. Other forms of fun adventure-travel that I've engaged:

• backpacking
• hitchhiking
• canoeing
• kayaking
• rafting
• sailing
• motor-boating
• snowshoeing
• cross-country skiing

I might want to add moped-touring to my list someday too.

Happy Feet

I had a really good visual reminder of that last weekend when I did my ride up the Fraser Canyon.

Upon return to the Hope tourist info center I ran into a young strong looking guy who had just ridden out from UBC (Vancouver) for about 100km. He was looking at info to go up the Coke Hwy to Merritt (includes a non stop 50km hill to the summit). He was riding a suspension dept. store bike, had a hand mirror duct taped to his helmet and was carrying all his camping gear in a huge backpack on his back! No panniers. Kinda reminded me of my youth when I didn't have means or know any better but had tons of desire and just went for it with whatever was at hand. He looked crazy crazy but from his POV was totally in the zone and digging his adventure.

slo

Did they say that belgian was using the motor during the race? Was there word of any batteries in the bike or how a throttle would be activated?

I don't think that Gruber Assist would be of much practical benefit to a loaded touring cyclist. Seems to be a high-end German "slimline" kind of style device with limited power for the urban chic on flat roads, especially if the batteries are limited to what fits inside the tubes.

I think this is a neat article by a regular cyclo-tourist who meets an ebike (really should be called a b-bike imo, "battery bike," not like there's an extension cord hooked into a wall while you're riding it, just a cheap chinese battery rattling around). Scroll down and you'll see a pic of a regular-looking older gent using a Bionix system to help with the long, desolate headwinds and endless climbs of the Southern Rockies
https://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/page/?o=Sh&page_id=132527&v=44

pretty clean looking setup imo. Can be done cheaper with a lower-end kit but maybe less reliable and more diy involved. for those who need a little help for old knees, back, etc. Probably have to charge in a hotel or such at night, credit card tour, unless you have the knowledge to rig a solar panel or don't mind poaching juice on the sly, good luck

fietsbob

Likewise AntoKelley I/(we?) await to seeing your new Hidden Motor Touring rig..

https://www.vivax-assist.com/en/unternehmen/index.php

Wilfred Laurier

I believe the bike was found in the pits, not while she was riding it. The presence of the bike in the pits (bike changes are often once-per-lap in CX races so there are multiple bikes prepared for each rider) was itself enough of a breach to result in a suspension. If I were a pro bike racer and a syringe of EPO was found in my bag, that would be enough to get me turfed from the race... they don't need to see me inject it.