lporch

So, I've got an 18-mile round trip commute to campus every day and a 40-mile daily round trip commute to work during the summer. Both commutes are very hilly and will (most likely) take place on two major roads because the bike trail is so poorly maintained, but both roads have large shoulders.

My round trip to campus is doable by bike 3 - 4 times a week, but the time commitment is beginning to push it. I'm in decent shape, but with the hills I'm doing I end up averaging about 10-11 mph. When I include the time I take to shower, I'm spending a little over 2 hours doing commute-related activities every time I bike to campus.

Biking to work right now is an absolute no-go. I can't spend 4 hours a day commuting. With that in mind, I've been seriously considering doing an ebike conversion with the Bafang BBSHD 1000w mid-drive motor and a big Dolphin battery. This would be great for work because I can bring the bike inside with me to my office, but my primary concern is possible theft on campus. I was thinking I would detach the battery and store it in my locker during the day, but I'm a little worried about the motor itself.

I've seen some pretty nice bikes on campus before and I don't think we have very big problems with theft, but I haven't seen any ebikes there. From watching install videos of the motor, I know it wouldn't be an inconspicuous or easy thing to steal, but I'm sure a determined thief could do it.

I'd be leaving the bike locked (and largely unattended) from about 8:30 am - 4:30 pm while I'm in class and it would be in a high traffic area. The campus has been making changes to be more bike friendly and I know that security staff patrols the campus during the day.

Does anyone have experience with keeping an ebike on a college campus? If so, have you had any problems?

I looked around on the forums, but I haven't really found any good threads on ebikes and college campuses. If I somehow missed one, I apologize, and please post the link.

CrankyOne

What college are you talking about? Some are more thefty than others. Do they have a secure bike facility like many uni's do?

DiabloScott

There's really no difference in protecting an e-Bike from theft than from any other bike, except you have a much more attractive and expensive piece of loot. So all the suggestions on locking a regular bike will still apply; most importantly - multiple locks of various types, and a good location.

noglider 

ebikes are common among delivery people here in NYC. Some owners take their batteries with them when they park, as they are easily removed. They look like heavy batteries.

Reacker

I don't know if this is heresy to say here, but you might be better served by a small motorcycle or a relatively powerful scooter. You're already contemplating making your bicycle into a speed-limited easily-stealable motorcycle for use on the poorly-maintained shoulder of a major road. Why not just go fully motorized? Just because you can solve a ton of transportation issues with a bicycle doesn't mean it's necessarily the best option.

I spent six months doing a 25 mile round trip commute by bicycle (no engine) with occasional 35 mile days and while it's definitely doable, and usually enjoyable, I did frequently have days where for whatever reason I lamented that I was forced to spend nearly 2 hours a day every single day on a bike with no other options. With a motorcycle you can still bike on the days you want without being forced to do so on the days that you're say injured or pressed for time.

lporch

@CrankyOne, it's George Mason University, in Northern VA. Unfortunately, I don't think we have a secure bike facility. When I went to the transportation office to ask, no one really knew, and they haven't responded to any of my emails about it.

@DiabloScott, I have two U-locks (got one for free from the school) and have been contemplating a chain, but I'm wondering if that might be a little overkill (although that's not necessarily a bad thing).

@noglider, that makes a lot of sense. If I didn't have a place to store it during the day then I probably wouldn't consider getting one, since the batteries are so heavy and easy to remove.

@Reacker, I have considered a motorcycle, but it's too expensive for now and I already have a car. On the days that I can't or don't feel like biking, I've been driving part of the way to campus and then taking the bus the rest of the way there (parking passes are $500 and entire lots are often taken up by events at the school). The reason I'm so interested in doing an ebike is that it really wouldn't be adding very much time to either of my commutes. If I leave any later than 6:30 am for work, it easily takes me 60 - 80 minutes to drive there anyway. Getting to campus by car + bus is only 10 minutes shorter than biking there right now, so having an ebike would actually save me time. Unfortunately, whether I take a car or an ebike to work I'm still stuck with close to a 2 hour commute.

wphamilton

It looks like you've thought it out and know what you want, but this forum is more about bicycles than e-bikes. We'll be more inclined to recommend just biking the 9 miles to campus, and we usually advise taking a beater to high-risk campuses where theft is predictable. It depends on the campus - I don't think there's much risk at my son's GSU perimeter location for example because I've never seen another bike there, but GSU in Atlanta I'd be surprised if a bike wasn't pilfered over the course of several years.

I don't understand your schedule from what you've written here (8:30 at the campus vs 8 am at work) so I'm thinking of the campus leg in isolation. Nine miles isn't that far for a bicycle commute, and you might be selling yourself short assuming that it's a non-starter due to time or difficulty. For example I do my 7.8 miles in 22-25 minutes, and when it was 10.5 miles it took 30-35 minutes. A lot of us don't begrudge the time because we like the ride itself so we're not much help on that issue. I can acknowledge that some routes are more difficult than others and you don't have my commute obviously, yet is is possible that you could make yours in significantly less time on a regular bike than you give credit for. Just for your consideration; I don't intend to start an argument or discussion of what's better for you especially since that's not what you've asked. I can definitely understand the allure of the e-bike for hills and hot weather.

Be that as it may, the security question that you did ask is the same for a bike or e-bike. Again it depends on your individual campus. The only thing I can suggest is leaving solid u-locks and/or chain and locks at the rack so you don't have to carry them, locking up both wheels and the frame with different locks and removing the battery and whatever electronics you have with it. I wouldn't put much reliance on security patrols because a bike thief can make off with it in a minute, and a security patrol might not even question someone messing with a bike. You can only make it difficult for them and require several different tools to defeat your locks.