E-bike anyone?

alfanator · Jul 10, 2020

Lifetime cyclist here. Outfitted an old mountain bike with an electric pedal assist system to commute (pre quarantine).

Holy smokes, it is a ton of fun. I find myself riding way more just for the joy of riding. Mostly on gravel trails. Great socially distanced activity.

Anyone else have one of these?

And my non e-bike, still ride it, though less now.

funkright · Jul 10, 2020

I have a nice carbon fibre road bike, but lately mostly on a nice spin bike inside the house. What was the brand, how much was it and how hard was it to install the e-bike assist motor?

JimInOz · Jul 10, 2020

I think @dsio built a bit of an ebike beast?

rob#1 · Jul 10, 2020

Hmmm, I have an old Softride mountain bike that I gutted when the cables exploded, so I might have to look at adapting to an eBike it when I get around to rebuilding it 😎

alfanator · Jul 10, 2020

funkright
I have a nice carbon fibre road bike, but lately mostly on a nice spin bike inside the house. What was the brand, how much was it and how hard was it to install the e-bike assist motor?

It is a 750watt Bafang mid drive. Install took about 2 hrs. You need some specialized tools to remove crank and bottom bracket. Full kit costs about $1000 in the US. Way more fun than spinning indoors.

dsio · Jul 11, 2020

JimInOz
I think @dsio built a bit of an ebike beast?

Nope that was @Trev

eugeneandresson · Jul 11, 2020

My better half has an eBike. Much fun to ride...but boy is it heavy compared to mine...wouldn’t want to pedal it when the battery dies. What’s the extra weight of this add-on?

alfanator · Jul 11, 2020

eugeneandresson
My better half has an eBike. Much fun to ride...but boy is it heavy compared to mine...wouldn’t want to pedal it when the battery dies. What’s the extra weight of this add-on?

It is about 25 lbs with the battery. Yes, got to watch the battery level. Had to do half a mile of 4% grade at the tail end of a 50 mile ride when i first got it and looking for its limit. I found its limit the hard way 😀

kippyk · Jul 11, 2020

I have a Specialized Turbo Vado 4.0 for about a year. These are a blast to ride. They are heavy and weigh 50 lbs. If you turn off the assist, the bike feels like it is restricting your effort. I typically will run at 15% assist level and then increase the assist depending upon hills and traffic. Highly recommended for transportation purposes and general fun. I live on top of a small mountain/big hill and there is no way I would bike for simple errands without an e-bike. I would feel comfortable going out for a 50 mile biking trip just for fun on one of these.

https://www.specialized.com/us/en/turbo-vado-4-0/p/170303

Stripey · Jul 11, 2020

Friend has a Van Moof: https://www.vanmoof.com/en-NL

Tried it out, and was impressed with the build quality (and the security features), but I must say that I like the exercise of a normal bike, the light weight and the simplicity. I'm a bit mad though, having borrowed a colleague's fixed gear bicycle from my organisation's garage (with his permission) for the entirety of the lockdown period - fun controlling it down hills!

DSotW · Jul 11, 2020

Electric bikes are great for those of "reduced mobility", or for those who do not want to break a sweat when pedaling uphill, or fast on a flat (this last bit is known as cheating).

Seriously, they're great for around town commuting or for day trips, but I wouldn't have one personally.. They weight a tonne!

eugeneandresson · Jul 11, 2020

DSotW
Electric bikes are great for those of "reduced mobility", or for those who do not want to break a sweat when pedaling uphill, or fast on a flat (this last bit is known as cheating).

They are also great if you have longer commutes, that you would prefer to do daily (vs sitting in public transport or burning gas). Cycling 35+ km every day, with about 350m elevation can become quite exhausting...an eBike can make that feel more like a shorter commute, whilst still allowing for some exercise.

alfanator · Jul 11, 2020

eugeneandresson
They are also great if you have longer commutes, that you would prefer to do daily (vs sitting in public transport or burning gas). Cycling 35+ km every day, with about 350m elevation can become quite exhausting...an eBike can make that feel more like a shorter commute, whilst still allowing for some exercise.

That was my original plan for this conversion, then COVID happened. I have a 15 mile round trip commute with 1000 feet of elevation gain. Not my cup of tea to do on a regular bike daily. With an e-bike it is like riding those miles on a flat route.

Now my commute is 15 feet, and I take the e bike out on 20-40 mile gravel rides up and down the foothills of the Cascade Mountains on a lark.

BlackTalon · Jul 11, 2020

I have to admit these were not on my radar until I saw this post. It definitely caught my interest. I would like to bike a bit, but it's pretty hilly around here and I found out about 2 years ago that my heart is no longer fond of pedaling up long steep hills.

Fritz · Jan 15, 2023

Working at a bike shop I get to play with a lot of cool stuff and my first crack at a quality e-bike was quite eye opener. Now the problem is... which one to add to the collection!

(hint... avoid the cheap stuff... nasty!)

E-bike anyone?

alfanator

funkright

JimInOz

rob#1

alfanator

dsio

eugeneandresson

alfanator

kippyk

Stripey

DSotW

eugeneandresson

alfanator

BlackTalon

Fritz

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