squirtdad

title says it all do you think electric pedal assist will ever be considered C&V?

personally I don't think they should.

This popped up this morning after a guy passed me on the morning commute.....he was on clearly pedal assist bike as he was pedaling, but the bike was small almost like scooter with 16" wheels, with big tires and large battery pack...looked kinda like a folding bike on steroids.

Dude was doing about 19 mph.....

While not my cup of bike, I think this segment of bikes is going to grow massively as commuters and in general (good friend uses a pedal assist mountain bike.....but getting the sucker home if it dies is a pain)

thoughts?

noglider 

Who cares? In 20 years, maybe this section of bikeforums will be renamed C&V unmotorized and there will be a C&V motorized section as well. So what?

SJX426 

I actually don't get it. If you want to ride a bicycle, ride a bicycle. If you want to ride a motorcycle (gas or electric) ride a motorcycle. They are as much a danger to bicyclists as bicycles are to peds. I question if they should even be on a MUP. Scooters are also a bit of a problem on either a MUP or the road.

The infrastructure really doesn't support the wide range of transportation options.

ThermionicScott 

Sure, in about 15-20 years.

The stigma of riding power-assisted bicycles is lifting, and I wouldn't be surprised if pros started using them in training at some point. Like they used to do with dernys to practice high-speed riding.

55murray

I don't they should either, of course the second a bike gets a motor I don't consider it a bike.

jefnvk

Yep, one day they will.

Whether they will ever be as desirable as an old PX10 or Olmo or whatever your grail bike is, though, I have less faith. Then again, maybe in 30 years the topics will shift from sourcing old skiptooth cranks to what newly manufactured battery fits

KonAaron Snake 

I don't think so...there's no prestige with them...or races. Kids aren't dreaming of being the cool guy on an...ELECTRIC BIKE?!? They're a utility vehicle that makes sense for a narrow band of the population. That's not getting you classic status. Those goofy old Puch gas bikes aren't a hot collector's item, are they? Asking...not rhetorical.

At the same time, I'd rather see a thread about a Puch Moped than another 3 speed, or varsentinal. I guess it depends on if you want C and V or only old.

dweenk 

Maybe. Older mo-peds were pretty cool. I still have my radar out for a good one to restore that is nearby.

CliffordK

Why not? Time changes everything.

No doubt there are some highly coveted vintage motorcycles, and motorized bicycles. I'm seeing a number of vintage motor conversion kits for bicycles.

The issue with the EVs is that technology will be rapidly evolving, so we'll no doubt be getting better battery packs for cheaper, as well as better motor controllers. That will make the old ones "obsolete", but also leave some room for upgrading the first generation EVs to work better.

Oh, and for those of us that become vintage ourselves... perhaps there will be a benefit of dropping a Femke bottom bracket motor into our vintage bikes sometime in the future

Wildwood

I've got a Vintage 70 yo brother, new-this-year-again to cycling.
He swears his pedal assist bike is Classic.

He says, "it's more fun to cycle at 20mph than 10mph". I get that.
More power to V&C cyclists. Overcome and banish the couch.

Given the breadth and intelligence of Social Media and the Internet, here's hoping e-bikes get a new name, that is rapidly adopted.

KonAaron Snake 

By that logic he should be on a scooter. And by that logic he should be on a motor cycle.

I think I agree with Tom...who cares and it's off topic.

RobbieTunes 

If there's a teenage group of nerds who like them now, well, they'll be C&V eventually.

Isn't that kind of how a lot of us ended up here?

KonAaron Snake 

I don't see teen aged nerds on those bikes in my area. It's delivery guys and folks who probably lost their D/L.

Wildwood

He has a model that requires the rider to pedal, or so he says.

At least he's outdoors and pedaling. For me, that's the biggest and best part of cycling.
Personally, I hope to remain in the non-motorized category, forever. The effort is more important than the speed, but then it's just my lifestyle.

Future plans are for him to 'motor-pace' me at 25mph for speed training - if I ever get back to Nashville.

Vrooom, Vvrroooomm, Vvvrrroooooommmm

55murray

Here is a candidate from my local craigslist:

https://tippecanoe.craigslist.org/bi...241757869.html

KonAaron Snake 

I can savvy that...but it's still not a bicycle, or C/V

nlerner

Well, I think e-assist bikes are already C&V, depending on your perspective. A riding buddy of mine just outfitted his 80s Fuji commuter with a Copenhagen wheel. It allows him to shorten his commute by nearly half, arrive far less sweaty (and his profession requires that he's constantly interacting with others), and continue to ride the kind of bikes he wants to ride. I took it for a spin last week, and it's a pretty weird feeling, like the bike wants to accelerate far more than I was ready for!

Wildwood

+1
Maybe a new name for e-bikes = mini-moto-mojo. MiMoMo or MiMo
As in, 'Honey, i'm taking my MiMo over to Moe's for a Mojito, wanna come along on your old bike?'

Cute Boy Horse

Pedalecs are for cowards

noglider 

So if they were called something else, you'd be cool with them?

gioscinelli 

After years in the saddle, this could be an alternative as an assisted cycling. Even the road bikes at the pro tours are now checked for these sort of mechanisms as a substitute to drugs! Here is the website:https://cyclingtips.com/2015/04/hidd...how-they-work/

davester

It's a moped, not a bicycle. Mopeds (and their relatives the scooters) have been around for many decades, though most of them have been gasoline-powered. There are in fact C&V mopeds and scooters out there (including sexy Italian designs) so I suspect that the same will be true of the newer electric versions. That said, I have yet to see a modern electric moped that had any style.

I don't understand all the opposition to these machines. They allow less-abled folks to be able to avoid use of a car for local trips in cases where they might not be able to use a bicycle. They also allow a bunch of folks where I work (in the rather steep Berkeley Hills) to use them instead of a car for a long commute that would take far too long on a bicycle. One of the best uses I've seen for one was when I encountered a Swiss couple who were bike touring, he on a regular bike and she on an electric moped, a great equalizer.

jyl

The ebike enthusiasts are jonesing over bigger motors, not cool frames and components. So I don't see C&V status in the cards.

crank_addict

Have one of these but never laced it to a wheel or old bike.

Anyways, this thread topic is

Road tested a fancy pedal assist and thought it pretty neat. Fancy one with a large integrated bottom bracket motor along with a Nuvinci hub or whatever its called. Though heavy, guessing it was 50 lbs+, quick and had sufficient torque. They absolutely have a practical market.

repechage

Lots of money and interest I those old Schwinn framed Whizzers...