E bike (Electric bicycle)

[c54fun]

I recently bought an E bike. WAY to fun to ride. Wanted to get back into bicycling and cant stand my regular bike. Riding the new e bike is fantastic. Big hills, wind are no longer a concern. Bad knees, overweight also not a problem. There are lots and lots of different types out there. I bought a cheap one and a middle\ highish one. When you first ride it on high setting you cant help but to smile. It feels like someone is pushing the bike forward as you pedal. You can turn down the assist to the point it feels like a normal bike but if you get tired or need to climb a hill just increase the assist power. Read about a story of a kid who had some kind of health problem and just didnt have the strenght to ride long. His parents bought him an e bike and he can now ride anywhere the parents can.



The first picture is the cheap one and the bigger bike is the not cheap one.

 

[BubblePopScott]

What's the difference between the two?

 

[c54fun]

Expensive bike has a mid mounted motor vs rear hub motor. 500 watt motor vs 350 watt. Bigger battery. Hydraulic disc brakes vs cable disc brakes. 29 inch tires vs 26 inch tires. Cheaper bike has a thumb throttle and assist. Expensive only has assist. Expensive has very nice gear shifter, cheaper "works".
All in all a nice bike for the money. I let a friend ride it tonight. 50 years old. Cant remember the last time he rode a bike. He loved it and is bringing his wife over to try it.

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

I'm from bicycle country. Around here we get raised on those things. If you can't ride one before mid school, you'll probably have to walk.
E bikes are something different, I like them, but after cycling daily for 23 years, they still feel like I'm cheating. Like doing a marathon on rollerblades.

I would consider investing in good mud skirts or whatever those things are called. With tires like that, you will get stuff in your eyes if you ever look down while riding at a good speed.

Some people around here disconnected the front brake on these kind of bikes, because you might do a flip if you use it too generously. It's one thing to be hit by a car, it's another thing to fly head first into crossing traffic, and your bike flying after you.

 

[LanceMac10]

Any way to get a person on a bike works for me!

 

[c54fun]

Any way to get a person on a bike works for me!

Thats one of the biggest good points of e bikes. Gets people riding.
Around Dallas even some of the hardcore "real" cyclist ride them. They will do a 100+mile ride on the normal bike and then the next day when they need recovery they ride the e bike. Gets the blood flowing without the intense strain from a normal bike doing a lot of miles.

Couple pictures from a night ride. Night rides are great. Less traffic, cooler.

 

[Bonsai Nut]

I love the idea of them - and I'm sure one day I'll be riding one.

What I DON'T like is when they are kitted up like a mountain bike - and the manufacturers conveniently forget to tell people they have to follow the same trail rules as any other motorized bike... ie NO NON-MOTORIZED TRAILS.

I have lost track of the number of times I have seen these things back in the mountains on trails where they aren't allowed. Recently, the rangers in a county park by my house set up a road block at the bottom of one of the trails, and started ticketing every e-bike that came down. $180 tickets to each person who decided they were going to ignore the "no motorized bikes" signs.

A moped by any other name is still a moped - even if it has an electric motor instead of a gasoline engine. Some of the younger folk think this is a new thing... but mopeds have been around since the 1950's.

 

[LanceMac10]

$180!?!? yikes!!! I do agree, however, with barring them from such trails as they see fit.

……..the rogue in me...…...no, no electric. Eddy Merckx would scoff at you, and you can't have that!!

 

[Colorado]

Some people around here disconnected the front brake on these kind of bikes, because you might do a flip if you use it too generously. It's one thing to be hit by a car, it's another thing to fly head first into crossing traffic, and your bike flying after you.

I’m sorry but this is definitively and objectively very poor advice! There is no reason to ever be purposefully using only one brake. It should always be an equal, balanced application of braking force to both brakes. And balanced body weight distribution on the bike.

Uneven brake pad wear, uneven tire wear, uneven brake fluid/brake cable wear, unsightly skid marks on pavement, trail destruction from a locked up rear wheel....not to mention a greater potential for injury!

The solution is proper form, not removal of 50% of the bike’s stopping power!

/end rant

 

[Bonsai Nut]

I’m sorry but this is definitively and objectively very poor advice!

Agree completely. This is part of the problem with e-bikes in terms of people getting in over their skill level. A couple of times when I've been high in the mountains, I have had to ride out using just my front brake. 4500 feet, downhill, using just the front brake... and I was moving pretty fast. It isn't magic - it's about center of gravity and not doing something stupid, like braking while you expect your front wheel to be guiding you around a turn. You can drag your back brake and it won't hurt you even if it isn't what you should be doing... but if you don't pulse your front brake you are asking to get launched.

And when I say I see people in the mountains beyond their ability level... in California it can be serious. My full suspension enduro mountain bike, with 2.4" mountain tires and 29" rims weighs 27 lbs. Some of these e-bikes weigh 60 lbs. Equipment malfunction? Run out of charge? You're gonna be hiking. I can't imagine pushing 60 lbs of bike on some of the trails I ride. Next water? Keep hiking. Cell phone coverage? Nope. Friendly rider? Not during the week... and not after 3PM on weekends.

From three weeks ago... I was alone on the peak. 100% pedal power.

 

[Colorado]

Pedal power for me as well:


....and sometimes a bit of help from the chairlift ?

 

[Bonsai Nut]

Pedal power for me as well...and sometimes a bit of help from the chairlift ?

That looks awesome!

 

[Colorado]

That looks awesome!

It’s a lot of fun. Trestle Bike Park in Winter Park is even better.

Sweet Santa Cruz, you’ve got there, by the way! 27 lbs....that sounds quite nice. My Nomad is older, I think 2014 if I remember correctly. Weighs in somewhere in the low 30s.

Can’t imagine having to pedal out a 60 lb malfunctioning e-bike ?

 

[Bonsai Nut]

Sweet Santa Cruz, you’ve got there, by the way! 27 lbs....that sounds quite nice. My Nomad is older, I think 2014 if I remember correctly. Weighs in somewhere in the low 30s.

Can’t imagine having to pedal out a 60 lb malfunctioning e-bike ?

I just built the Santa Cruz this spring. They were having a nice sale on the 2018 Hightower CC frames I'm not above buying a year-old frame if I can get it for 35% off.

If you've got an e-bike with a dead battery and it is a question of whether you can walk it out or not, stash the 10 lb battery and come back for it later. Then stash the 50 lb bike and come back for it later when you are packing water and an overnight kit

Joking aside, e-bikes are allowed back in the Cleveland National Forest on all the trails that allow dirt bikes. It is pretty hard to get lost in good weather because you are more or less surrounded by civilization, but you CAN get 12+ miles away from the nearest trail head, and if the clouds roll in, it is easy to get disoriented. Last mountain biker to die out there went out for a birthday ride by himself, and got caught in bad weather high on the mountain and died from exposure. A couple of weeks ago I was on my way back into the back country, and got passed on an uphill by three e-bikers. They didn't look like they would be able to walk out if they ran into trouble - eBike or no. I caught up to them at mile 9, and then turned around and smoked them on the downhill At least they were biking in a group (albeit on a trail they shouldn't have been on) so the odds that all three would experience mechanical difficulty at the same time was pretty low.

 

[c54fun]

@Bonsai Nut You may like this read
https://pvcycling.wordpress.com/2018/03/17/i-hate-your-e-bike/

 

[amatbrewer]

I picked up a pair of e-fat tire bikes for my wife and I from https://biktrix.com
I got the Jugg Clasic and she got the Stunner-X.
I got mine for commuting to/from work as well as for use on the groomed nordic ski trails (I am on the ski patrol). She got hers because...well, because she fell in love with the color.
They are WAY too much fun! Screaming along the ski trails is enough to get a grown man giggling like a 10yo. [You are just going to have to trust me on that, as I deleted the video.]
My ~3 mile commute to work takes me under 10 min, and I have done 20 mile trips (mostly paved flat ground) that did not even use 1/4 the battery charge.
My only regret is I could not afford to step up to the model that has the torque sensor motor. Riding an e-bike with torque sensor makes you feel like the Bionic Man!

As I understand it the laws vary some from state to state, so it is a good idea to check what your state allows before purchasing.

 

[c54fun]

I picked up a pair of e-fat tire bikes for my wife and I from https://biktrix.com
I got the Jugg Clasic and she got the Stunner-X.
I got mine for commuting to/from work as well as for use on the groomed nordic ski trails (I am on the ski patrol). She got hers because...well, because she fell in love with the color.
They are WAY too much fun! Screaming along the ski trails is enough to get a grown man giggling like a 10yo. [You are just going to have to trust me on that, as I deleted the video.]
My ~3 mile commute to work takes me under 10 min, and I have done 20 mile trips (mostly paved flat ground) that did not even use 1/4 the battery charge.
My only regret is I could not afford to step up to the model that has the torque sensor motor. Riding an e-bike with torque sensor makes you feel like the Bionic Man!

As I understand it the laws vary some from state to state, so it is a good idea to check what your state allows before purchasing.

They are way to much fun. Glad your enjoying them. My bigger bike has the torque sensor and is a class 1. Legal fo most trails. My cheaper is a cadence sensor class 2 and not ok for most trails. The technology in the upper end ones are crazy. A high end mountain bike now weighs 48 to 53 lbs. Each year they get lighter.

 

[Bonsai Nut]

@Bonsai Nut You may like this read
https://pvcycling.wordpress.com/2018/03/17/i-hate-your-e-bike/

I've seen similar editorials. I'm not against e-bikes (I'm probably going to buy one, if not two), just like I'm not against dirt bikes, and I'm not against motorcycles. I've always had a dream to own a big 4-wheel drive rock crawler since my days off-roading with a Jeep in the Army. What I'm against is ANY vehicle being operated where it's not supposed to be. Therefore what I'm against is irresponsible e-bike owners

Class 1 AND Class 2 e-bikes are allowed on the following trails in Orange County:

• Coyote Creek Bikeway in Buena Park, La Mirada, La Habra, and Los Alamitos.
• Santa Ana River Bikeway.
• Bay View Bikeway at Upper Newport Bay in Newport Beach.
• San Diego Creek Bikeway in Irvine and Newport Beach.
• Peters Canyon Bikeway in Orange and Irvine.
• Hicks Canyon Bikeway in Irvine.
• Aliso Creek Bikeway in Lake Forest, Laguna Hills, and Aliso Viejo.
• Salt Creek Bikeway in Dana Point.
• San Juan Creek Bikeway in Dana Point and San Juan Capistrano.

They are also allowed in Cleveland and Angeles National Forests on all motorized trails where you can ride a dirt bike or drive a four-wheeler. You would think it would be pretty easy to figure out, right? Perhaps it simply isn't an issue in Texas.

Here in California we have all kinds of problems with people refusing to stay out of wilderness areas (where even regular bikes are prohibited), stay out of burn areas, stay on legal trails and not carve new ones, etc. It's a total free-for-all. There was even an e-bike store up by Angeles National Forest that was advertising e-bike tours on trails where they weren't allowed - until someone notified the rangers who showed up for one of their scheduled tours. Oops!

I am actively looking for an e-bike for my wife so she can join me on some rides. How is it so difficult that when we go riding in the National Forest we stay on authorized trails? THAT is the problem. And though this thread is about e-bikes, we have many similar issues here with dirt-bikes... and skate boarders. Funny huh? Skate boards are not allowed on the paved bike trails... but you see them there all the time. The last accident I had on my bike was when I was literally tackled by a skateboarder on a paved bike trail. I ended up prone in the street and all I can say is thank God a car wasn't coming.

 

[Potawatomi13]

Like doing a marathon on rollerblades.

NOW you're talking!

 

[Potawatomi13]

until someone notified the rangers who showed up for one of their scheduled tours. Oops!

HaHaHA! Hope their bikes were confiscated along with a huge fine!