Anyone into electric cycling? Electric Bicycles

My Nissan Leaf Forum

Help Support My Nissan Leaf Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
LeftieBiker said:
Great review. One question, though: I always carry water with me (in the panniers, plus an open "sport cap" bottle in the frame holder to repel dogs), and stop at least once on longer rides to rehydrate a bit. Can't you do that? If you're concerned about not getting enough exercise, as seems to be implied, I'd like to note that while I use a lot of assist with my EZIP, I still lost about 10lbs with it, and use it to help keep my blood glucose down. You can enjoy the assist and still get lots of aerobic exercise! I envy you having Regen to use on downhills: my brake pads are pretty much shot, and I'll need better ones than those that came with the bike. I use the throttle a lot, although my hands hurt enough to limit it.

One more point about Regen and exercise. My most frequent ride includes a long, fairly gradual down hill portion, so I usually Regen down that hill. Here's the beauty part: you can pedal against that Regen force to add more exercise and also increase the energy regained. So I often pedal while in Regen down hill for those reasons.
 
Boomer23 said:
LeftieBiker said:
Great review. One question, though: I always carry water with me (in the panniers, plus an open "sport cap" bottle in the frame holder to repel dogs), and stop at least once on longer rides to rehydrate a bit. Can't you do that? If you're concerned about not getting enough exercise, as seems to be implied, I'd like to note that while I use a lot of assist with my EZIP, I still lost about 10lbs with it, and use it to help keep my blood glucose down. You can enjoy the assist and still get lots of aerobic exercise! I envy you having Regen to use on downhills: my brake pads are pretty much shot, and I'll need better ones than those that came with the bike. I use the throttle a lot, although my hands hurt enough to limit it.

One more point about Regen and exercise. My most frequent ride includes a long, fairly gradual down hill portion, so I usually Regen down that hill. Here's the beauty part: you can pedal against that Regen force to add more exercise and also increase the energy regained. So I often pedal while in Regen down hill for those reasons.

I'm happy enough being able to move my legs constantly - no interest in increasing the effort! I find that as long as my legs are moving, I'm burning glucose and at least maintaining muscle. BTW, if you ever get tired of having just 11AH to work with (not that it seems extremely likely in your case) Ping Battery makes great packs. Expensive, but little works of art, with Battery Management and long life. I have a relatively huge 20AH Ping pack strapped to the OEM battery rack, under the panniers. I could probably recharge it every third ride, if I wanted. His 15AH pack is the perfect size for E-bikes...
 
Wow Boomer, 2500 mi in a year is pretty damn good!
I've only got ~6k on my e-bike after 5 years. I can work at home more lately so don't ride or drive as much.
I have the Bionx system which I added to my mountain bike as a kit.
I love my e-bike because it gets me to ride. I have a pretty significant hill to get to work
and the combo of the hill and my torn ACL, reconstructed achilles and other weekend sports injuries conspire to keep me
sedentary. But the e-bike makes the 12 mi ride a pleasure without getting to work in a sweat.
On the way home I can push it and feel like I've gotten some exercise for the day.
I also like regen because it reduces (slightly) the cycling on the battery as well as the brakes.
 
I thought I'd post my e-bike. I took a 1960's Huffy Corvair and added a simple 250W hub motor to the front wheel. The battery is a 24v Li-Ion, and is mounted under the seat in back. Before I added the motor, I took the bike all apart and had it sandblasted and poweder-coated. I put it back together with new handlebars and seat, and left off the chain guard and back rack. I kept the tank, which houses some LED lights.

This project was more for fun, but I have used it to commute to work a few times, which is 10 miles each way. I use the motor as pedal-assist up hills only. It takes me about the same time to ride into work on this as it does on my regular road bike... but it's real fun!

138141888625957.jpg
 
ampitupco said:
I thought I'd post my e-bike. I took a 1960's Huffy Corvair and added a simple 250W hub motor to the front wheel. The battery is a 24v Li-Ion, and is mounted under the seat in back. Before I added the motor, I took the bike all apart and had it sandblasted and poweder-coated. I put it back together with new handlebars and seat, and left off the chain guard and back rack. I kept the tank, which houses some LED lights.

This project was more for fun, but I have used it to commute to work a few times, which is 10 miles each way. I use the motor as pedal-assist up hills only. It takes me about the same time to ride into work on this as it does on my regular road bike... but it's real fun!

Very cool project and a great looking retro bike. Nicely done.

Thanks for sharing your project.
 
sparky said:
Wow Boomer, 2500 mi in a year is pretty damn good!
I've only got ~6k on my e-bike after 5 years. I can work at home more lately so don't ride or drive as much.
I have the Bionx system which I added to my mountain bike as a kit.
I love my e-bike because it gets me to ride. I have a pretty significant hill to get to work
and the combo of the hill and my torn ACL, reconstructed achilles and other weekend sports injuries conspire to keep me
sedentary. But the e-bike makes the 12 mi ride a pleasure without getting to work in a sweat.
On the way home I can push it and feel like I've gotten some exercise for the day.
I also like regen because it reduces (slightly) the cycling on the battery as well as the brakes.

I've got planar fascia damage from standing on a round-rung ladder for two hours a few years ago (funny how such seemingly inconsequential things can ruin your ability to walk and run), leg muscle soreness from medical issues, bad back (don't even ask) and a bad knee I got from long rides on my mountain bike in the early '90's. I'll hobble up to the E-bike like a dying man, get on it - slowly, painfully - and then ride off like Lance Armstrong after a steroid shot. ;-) The bike really liberates me to enjoy some fresh air (when the diesels and Harleys allow) and keep in what now passes for "shape." It's kind of a loud bike when the motor is on, but for $365 (and a $450 battery pack, now) it's one of the best investments I ever made.





 
LeftieBiker said:
sparky said:
Wow Boomer, 2500 mi in a year is pretty damn good!
I've only got ~6k on my e-bike after 5 years. I can work at home more lately so don't ride or drive as much.
I have the Bionx system which I added to my mountain bike as a kit.
I love my e-bike because it gets me to ride. I have a pretty significant hill to get to work
and the combo of the hill and my torn ACL, reconstructed achilles and other weekend sports injuries conspire to keep me
sedentary. But the e-bike makes the 12 mi ride a pleasure without getting to work in a sweat.
On the way home I can push it and feel like I've gotten some exercise for the day.
I also like regen because it reduces (slightly) the cycling on the battery as well as the brakes.

I've got planar fascia damage from standing on a round-rung ladder for two hours a few years ago (funny how such seemingly inconsequential things can ruin your ability to walk and run), leg muscle soreness from medical issues, bad back (don't even ask) and a bad knee I got from long rides on my mountain bike in the early '90's. I'll hobble up to the E-bike like a dying man, get on it - slowly, painfully - and then ride off like Lance Armstrong after a steroid shot. ;-) The bike really liberates me to enjoy some fresh air (when the diesels and Harleys allow) and keep in what now passes for "shape." It's kind of a loud bike when the motor is on, but for $365 (and a $450 battery pack, now) it's one of the best investments I ever made.

Really cool to hear. Ride on!
 
I've recently seen and ridden e-bikes equipped with a new mid-drive system by Bosch. I guess that bikes equipped with this system are for sale right now in Europe, but they'll be introduced in the USA next year sometime.

The new Bosch mid-drive system mounts on the pedal crank and drives the rear wheel through a regular derailleur. The drive system has a geared mechanism, so it is noisier than a hub motor. The system is said to provide more torque going uphill than a hub motor and it doesn't get hot and force the computer to "de-rate" the motor like a hub motor can on very long uphill rides. The whole system is much lighter than high powered hub motors like my Stromer's, so the bikes can be lighter. Most of the bikes I rode with this system are about 40 pounds, whereas my Stromer is over 60 pounds.

Besides the lighter weight, I like that both the front and rear wheels are normal bike parts and so working on the wheels and tires is the same as working on a regular bike. Also, with the battery pack on the downtube and the mid-drive design, the bike is well balanced. Riding the bikes reminded me how heavy my Stromer is, since these Bosch-equipped bikes were lighter and more responsive. A different riding experience. I still love my Stromer, but it would be fun to have a couple different options of e-bikes for different riding conditions. At these prices, though, that's a pipe dream.

All of the bikes I saw were going to be priced in the mid $3,500 and above price point, so again, a luxury item. E-bikes are evolving rapidly and it's fun to watch.

Here's a picture of a HaiBike (a Curry product) that I took at Alt Car in September. I also rode bikes from Cannondale, BH and Felt at the Solar Decathlon in Irvine today.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_3131s.jpg
    IMG_3131s.jpg
    74.8 KB · Views: 25
Boomer23 said:
I've recently seen and ridden e-bikes equipped with a new mid-drive system by Bosch. I guess that bikes equipped with this system are for sale right now in Europe, but they'll be introduced in the USA next year sometime.

The new Bosch mid-drive system mounts on the pedal crank and drives the rear wheel through a regular derailleur. The drive system has a geared mechanism, so it is noisier than a hub motor. The system is said to provide more torque going uphill than a hub motor and it doesn't get hot and force the computer to "de-rate" the motor like a hub motor can on very long uphill rides. The whole system is much lighter than high powered hub motors like my Stromer's, so the bikes can be lighter. Most of the bikes I rode with this system are about 40 pounds, whereas my Stromer is over 60 pounds.

Besides the lighter weight, I like that both the front and rear wheels are normal bike parts and so working on the wheels and tires is the same as working on a regular bike. Also, with the battery pack on the downtube and the mid-drive design, the bike is well balanced. Riding the bikes reminded me how heavy my Stromer is, since these Bosch-equipped bikes were lighter and more responsive. A different riding experience. I still love my Stromer, but it would be fun to have a couple different options of e-bikes for different riding conditions. At these prices, though, that's a pipe dream.

All of the bikes I saw were going to be priced in the mid $3,500 and above price point, so again, a luxury item. E-bikes are evolving rapidly and it's fun to watch.

Here's a picture of a HaiBike (a Curry product) that I took at Alt Car in September. I also rode bikes from Cannondale, BH and Felt at the Solar Decathlon in Irvine today.
Is the curvature in the seat tube in the photo real, or just some weird distortion due to the lens? And are those really the shift levers pointing directly rearwards? I cringe just thinking about what could happen in a rapid stop! :eek: :cry:
 
GRA said:
Is the curvature in the seat tube in the photo real, or just some weird distortion due to the lens? And are those really the shift levers pointing directly rearwards? I cringe just thinking about what could happen in a rapid stop! :eek: :cry:

I believe that seat tube is curved, which would limit the downward adjustment

Yes, I guess those are the shift levers, but I don't think they're a problem. They usually tuck into the area around the hand grip and they would flex in an accident.
 
I'm on the edge of dropping my bonus check into a Prodeco Phantom X2 (12Ah LiFePO4, 500W motor). I've just been gaining weight at an alarming rate and I need something to encourage me to get out more and shed off this fat. Cycling is the only exercise that I enjoy, but I have AFib, which makes it really frustrating. Electric assist is the crutch I need. The only thing that sucks is I've only really seriously started considering ebikes just this past month or so, and winter is just around the corner...

My requirements in a bike:

1) It has to fit easily in the back of my LEAF, so I'm looking at folding models.
2) I need a 500W+ motor because I'm a fatty.
3) I want as long of a warranty as possible (these things aren't cheap).

::edit:: I pulled the trigger on the Prodeco. :)
 
My EZIP was the bike I bought during the horrible, long, stressful period while I was trying to get the X2 Phantom that I first bought, and that arrived broken, returned and refunded. You can read all about that at endlessphere.com...
 
kubel said:
I'm on the edge of dropping my bonus check into a Prodeco Phantom X2 (12Ah LiFePO4, 500W motor). I've just been gaining weight at an alarming rate and I need something to encourage me to get out more and shed off this fat. Cycling is the only exercise that I enjoy, but I have AFib, which makes it really frustrating. Electric assist is the crutch I need. The only thing that sucks is I've only really seriously started considering ebikes just this past month or so, and winter is just around the corner...

My requirements in a bike:

1) It has to fit easily in the back of my LEAF, so I'm looking at folding models.
2) I need a 500W+ motor because I'm a fatty.
3) I want as long of a warranty as possible (these things aren't cheap).

::edit:: I pulled the trigger on the Prodeco. :)


Big congrats to you, kubel. Enjoy your new toy. Please post here to let us know how you are doing.

BTW, I got out on mine today after two days of not riding due to rain, full schedule. I enjoyed my ride immensely. Great fall weather and that real feeling of freedom in the outdoors.
 
Most people get them delivered fine. I would still suggest you check the battery rack/BMS unit carefully when you unpack it. When there is damage, it always seems to be there.
 
I went for a 14+ mile ride today, on a Hillier version of my usual route. Normally my 24 volt, 450 watt EZIP geared motor and chain drive handles hills well, but there were a couple of long uphills that slowed the bike a *lot*. There are regearing options that will make the bike climb better, but they also slow it down, and 17-18MPH assist cutoff is a bit too low as it is... So I was thinking: I have this humongous 20AH Ping battery pack, so why not add a (geared?) front hubmotor and set it up so I can run either motor alone, or even both at once? (The latter would require some heavier wiring, though.) If the rear motor were geared for climbing hills, and the front one for a 25MPH top speed, I'd be pretty happy, I think...
 
LeftieBiker said:
Most people get them delivered fine. I would still suggest you check the battery rack/BMS unit carefully when you unpack it. When there is damage, it always seems to be there.

I have read that they are pretty much guaranteed to break within the warranty, but I also read that the battery rack was redesigned for 2013. I'll still give it a thorough check though.
 
The other area that can be touchy is the disk brakes. Mine, ironically, were fine, but many of the Phantoms arrive with warped or misadjusted brakes. They usually work ok, but they squeak, squeak, squeak...
 
Interesting article on the "Copenhagen Wheel" (replace the back wheel with this product and you have an electric bike). Now available to order with shipment in first quarter of 2014 for $699. Be sure to watch the video:

http://insideevs.com/video-mit-backed-copenhagen-wheel-on-sale-now-gives-your-bike-30-miles-of-range/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Pre-order here:

https://www.superpedestrian.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
 
Stoaty said:
Interesting article on the "Copenhagen Wheel" (replace the back wheel with this product and you have an electric bike). Now available to order with shipment in first quarter of 2014 for $699. Be sure to watch the video:

http://insideevs.com/video-mit-backed-copenhagen-wheel-on-sale-now-gives-your-bike-30-miles-of-range/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Pre-order here:

https://www.superpedestrian.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

It uses a small but heavy lead-acid battery. That equals low range (30 miles would be like the Leaf's 100 mile range), high weight, and lower performance. This thing seems to be a solution in vain search of a problem.

Speaking of bicycling, I picked up another EZIP that was acquired from an estate sale. Mine is down with broken spokes, and I decided it made sense to have a backup bike. This one came with four battery packs, for $300 total!
 
Back
Top