electric bikes?

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pishta

I know I'm right....
Joined
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Tustin, CA
Anyone rock an E-bike? I was just offered one for free from a customer. I only saw the 20" front rim peeking out from under a tarp,, I thought it was an old moped. IT had a drum brake so I think it's an older commuter style, Not the cool modern style cruiser adaptation. Very lucky on my part as my high schooler was just asking g about making a hub motor E-bike out of his old cruiser...they guy said it was broken.." only had a 10 mile range". Well I can fix that with new batteries. Do lipo batteries retrofit to older GMA lead acid battery systems if the voltage is the same? I won't be able to pick up until June 26 so I have no specs on it yet.
 
Like anything else there is a wide range of bikes with what they can do and how much they cost.
My neighbor buys kits and builds his own. Voltage also have a wide range. Bought one for my wife a year ago.A Specialised Vado I think it's 36 volts. I recently got a Revi Cheetah and believe it is 58 volts.
We have a paved trail loop of 38 miles near us and we can do the whole loop on 1 charge.
Look up Bolton Bikes. They have lots of info and YouTube videos. I learned allot.
 
Not a fan of them. I guess if you need one they do help to keep you riding but a healthy person should not need one. In my opinion it kind of offsets the reason people ride a bike. In georgia they are not allowed on a lot of the trails we ride on, but they are often allowed on paved trails. Here they are considered a motorized bike, kind of like a motorcycle.
 
Unbeknownst to me, most of the college communities in cities are now offering electric scooters that you can rent through your phone. Each has a gps link and the municipalities gather them up in the middle of the night to put them back on charge. They unbelievably rent these without helmets and they are death traps. My daughter who is attending college in Detroit rented one and got thrown from it when the front wheel got into the trolley rail. She woke up on the pavement and had broken two bones in one ankle that required surgery. In my opinion she was very lucky as it could have been much worse. Since then she has found out that these incidences are quite common and usually result in a traumatic head injury. I find it very hard to believe in our “super safety conscious and litigious” society that this is going on.
 
Unbeknownst to me, most of the college communities in cities are now offering electric scooters that you can rent through your phone. Each has a gps link and the municipalities gather them up in the middle of the night to put them back on charge. They unbelievably rent these without helmets and they are death traps. My daughter who is attending college in Detroit rented one and got thrown from it when the front wheel got into the trolley rail. She woke up on the pavement and had broken two bones in one ankle that required surgery. In my opinion she was very lucky as it could have been much worse. Since then she has found out that these incidences are quite common and usually result in a traumatic head injury. I find it very hard to believe in our “super safety conscious and litigious” society that this is going on.

This could be the case with either electric or regular bikes. Here in georgia I see kids and adults riding bikes all the time with no helmet on. You can easily get mortally hurt on either if you fall wrong.
 
Here is something I put together.

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Well for us we are in our mid 60's and live in a mountainous area not much flat.
We did ride regular bikes up until now. When you got knee problems, I have had a hip replacement (the other will be replaced soon) they allow us to have fun and still be on 2 wheels.My wife and I were avid Motorcycle riders for years so this keeps us in the wind now.Arthritis is no fun.
 
Not a fan of them. I guess if you need one they do help to keep you riding but a healthy person should not need one. In my opinion it kind of offsets the reason people ride a bike. In georgia they are not allowed on a lot of the trails we ride on, but they are often allowed on paved trails. Here they are considered a motorized bike, kind of like a motorcycle.
That would be true if you don’t pedal.
 
What are those, like $3500 a pop? Very nice but a little steep for me. @trapster that is a nice rig, about what I was thinking but using the front tire as the motor and just leaving the rear as a 6 speed. They got crank motors now that bolt up to the bottom bracket area or specialized frames for them, looking more like a motorcycle that a pedal bike.
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I can make a 48V 18650 Li-po battery pack for ~$1.20 a piece in an order of 24 or more. Some nickle strips, a resistance welder and some Kapton tape...wire it up, shrink wrap it and put it in a 5" piece of galvanized so if it blows, it'll be like a rocket instead of a bomb. Ill get some pics when I pick it up, probably some granny bike with a basket....:rolleyes:
 
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It is somewhat irritating when you are returning from your 30+ mile hilly ride on your conventional road bike, totally bushed and pretty slow, and an electric bike zips past you with a rider having a smug look on his face, as if he thinks he's in better shape than you are. I don't like them. I think if you can't pedal a normal bike, you should get a motorcycle and stay on the road, not on the bike trails.

Edit: This is just my personal feeling, but I don't want to impose it on anyone else. Therefore I don't think they should be banned from the bike trails or anything because mo personal freedom is bettah.
 
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That would be true if you don’t pedal.

I understand that, but that is how they see it here. We also share a lot of our trails with horses and we have to be respectful to them as well. Anything with a motor is considered a motorized vehicle and is not allowed on many of our trail systems.
 
Well for us we are in our mid 60's and live in a mountainous area not much flat.
We did ride regular bikes up until now. When you got knee problems, I have had a hip replacement (the other will be replaced soon) they allow us to have fun and still be on 2 wheels.My wife and I were avid Motorcycle riders for years so this keeps us in the wind now.Arthritis is no fun.

I understand, I am 60 myself with psoriatic arthritus and knee and back problems, but I still ride when I can. I did have to move up to a moots titanium full suspension bike to take long rides. Everyone is different, I am not knocking what anyone else does. If it keeps you out exercising then its all good.
 
What are those, like $3500 a pop? Very nice but a little steep for me. @trapster that is a nice rig, about what I was thinking but using the front tire as the motor and just leaving the rear as a 6 speed. They got crank motors now that bolt up to the bottom bracket area or specialized frames for them, looking more like a motorcycle that a pedal bike.
View attachment 1715752485

I can make a 48V 18650 Li-po battery pack for ~$1.20 a piece in an order of 24 or more. Some nickle strips, a resistance welder and some Kapton tape...wire it up, shrink wrap it and put it in a 5" piece of galvanized so if it blows, it'll be like a rocket instead of a bomb. Ill get some pics when I pick it up, probably some granny bike with a basket....:rolleyes:
Currently $1699.
 
Rans Stratus XP XL Recumbent Bike (Blue) | eBay not the one I have but simular $900 ish but if you look around you can find a used one cheaper.
26" 48V 1000W/1500W Electric Bicycle Front/Rear Wheel Ebike Motor Conversion Kit | eBay 1500 watt rear wheel $260
48V 20AH 1000W Hailong Ebike Battery with USB for Electric Bike Li-ion Battery | eBay 48 volt 20Ah ebike battery $250

Scary fast and fun as heck at almost 30 mph Dont know the range but it is probably 20 to 30 miles. I added off road knobby tires and it can go just about anywhere.
 
It is somewhat irritating when you are returning from your 30+ mile hilly ride on your conventional road bike, totally bushed and pretty slow, and an electric bike zips past you with a rider having a smug look on his face, as if he thinks he's in better shape than you are. I don't like them. I think if you can't pedal a normal bike, you should get a motorcycle and stay on the road, not on the bike trails.
If you’re pedaling a 80+ lb bike with 4 inch wide knobby tires for 30 miles up and down steep hills you definitely need electric pedal assist. Conventional bikers yell at us, “Why don’t you fu<king pedal!” We are pedaling as hard as we can the whole time. Unless you try it, you won’t understand it. 95% of the time we ride on asphalt. I do notice the youngsters hardly ever pedal the electric bikes—different generation.
 
If you’re pedaling a 80+ lb bike with 4 inch wide knobby tires for 30 miles up and down steep hills you definitely need electric pedal assist. Conventional bikers yell at us, “Why don’t you fu<king pedal!” We are pedaling as hard as we can the whole time. Unless you try it, you won’t understand it. 95% of the time we ride on asphalt. I do notice the youngsters hardly ever pedal the electric bikes—different generation.
You are creating your own problem here. You bought a bike that is heavy and now you have to rely on the electric assist to stay rolling. I have been involved in mountain biking for decades, and I have seen it all. They have their place for sure, but a lot of states will not allow them on their trail systems. If you are older and have health issues and it keeps you exercising then I am all for it. But personally I will never ride one.
 
This isn't about if you like to pedal or not, its about electric bikes. You drive your car to get coffee? Why don't you just walk...you ride a motorcycle to the store to get a pack of smokes....why don't you just pedal a bike? heck you can walk too, but it takes TIME.....Goes both ways. My son's venture is to hang out with his friends at the beach but its a 20 mile round trip and on a pedal bike, it will take the enjoyment out of getting there and back. 2 of his other friends have E-bikes too so its a social thing. No trail riding here, just streets.
 
You like motorized bikes? Why not get your license and buy a motorcycle? And no matter how people try to spin it, it is about peddling. And there are already vehicles out there that are motorized and do not require you to pedal. It goes both ways. Playing the devils advocate here. Bikes were built to get places and get your exercise while doing so.
 
The Wife and I bought our eBikes in February and they totally rock. We are in our 60s and we get out at least once or twice a week for 30-40 km rides on all kinds of terrain.

Until I had ridden one I didn't understand how pedal assist actually works. We do our own peddling all the time and basically use PAS to turn shitty hills into level ground. Simple as that.

Rad Rover 5 for me and Rad City for the wife.

Don't knock them till you've tried them.

PS. I still ride my Yamaha TTR 230 in the bush around our Cabin. These ain't that.
 
You like motorized bikes? Why not get your license and buy a motorcycle? ... Playing the devils advocate here. Bikes were built to get places and get your exercise while doing so.
Tell that to a 15 year old......No 15 year old drivers in CA. Don't forget Motorcycle insurance, registration, riding test.....This is a ~25mph bike. You can do that on a road bike in the bike lane for free...heck you can use the whole friggin lane in CA now. That pisses me off as they dont pay any kind of registration/road tax and stop signs are invisible to them in packs.
 
Tell that to a 15 year old......No 15 year old drivers in CA. Don't forget Motorcycle insurance, registration, riding test.....This is a ~25mph bike. You can do that on a road bike in the bike lane for free...heck you can use the whole friggin lane in CA now. That pisses me off as they dont pay any kind of registration/road tax and stop signs are invisible to them in packs.

Its the same here in georgia. If its 50cc or under you don't need a license. You should see some of the cobbled up junk these people are riding here. The issue here, besides the unsafe scooters, is that the riders often don't understand the rules of the road and just do whatever.
 
..Ill get some pics when I pick it up, probably some granny bike with a basket....:rolleyes:

Oh how right I was ...dark pink, basket and all.....:rofl:

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2013 receipt for $1199! Actually in great shape structurally, triple tree is rusted pretty good but everything is straight, never been dumped. Rear tire has a little wiggle in it but its not the rim..? Brakes work, electrical is good: LED headlight is bright, brake light functional but left blinker seems to make both blink. Thing has an alarm on it with (2) key fob clickers! Guy had all receipts. Its a "3 speed" but its actually just a 3 step limiter for the max speed. Its a little 3 position rocker 1-2-3 but I don't think its smart enough to do anything except limit the voltage to the motor. Motor states its a 450W 60V (sticker still on the hub) --thing has very little miles on it from what I can see, no odometer as it resets whenever you turn it off.
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and the whole 50 lb battery box(!) comes off the frame with the ignition key turned to 'release' (in Chinese) position. I about hurt my back trying to figure out how to get that pack off the frame, yanking it and trying to determine how it was secured.
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It sits on there pretty good but makes a hell of a lot of plastic squeaking going down the road. Once I got it off and apart, I realized why the guy was only getting 10 miles to a charge. Batteries were wasted. 5 12v 12aH screw terminal batteries puffed up like dead rats. At $25 piece....?

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Over charged...hot...old? Whatever...I knew they were bad from the start so out with the old and in with the new! 12v 8Ah AGM cells.
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I lost 33% capacity but they were available 'no charge' as well as the bike so I'm out nothing, 'cept the .99 pool noodle I cut up for battery support! I may wire up 3 more in parallel off the back Swiss army knife 'cargo carrier' to get my current 40Ah up past the stock capacity of 60Ah


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researching this model seems to indicate its a workhorse "heavy load" cargo type model with a 150Kg load rating and no rear suspension, yet it does have a swing arm but its supports are welded to the seat post. They had a model with a 600W motor and a sidecar! published 45-55Km range with the 12Ah batteries so Im thinking 30Km maybe with these new smaller cells. Thing weighs 100Kg (260 lbs) so I could possible ditch that 50 lb cargo carrier and make a 18650 battery pack at about 8 lbs to save some weight? I told the boy "I don't care if its pink and has a basket on it, you thank them for it". Well I wasnt far off with that assumption! When the guy met me, he shook my hand and said "I already like you" He said the way I handled the initial fax line trouble call and the soft inquiry about the "moped" with my offer to fix it for him or buy it off him made his mind up to give it to me instead of scrapping it. "I'm glad it is going to someone who can repurpose it properly". You got that right!
We thanked him profusely, got it loaded up and we left. We caught a red light and I had a chance to look at my boy. His eyes were slightly teared up and he said, "Dad...this thing is....AWESOME!" Damn, now I started to well up. :rolleyes:
 
Lets just say they have come a long way! Nowadays, this option weighs 9 lbs. and is fully integrated with a 30 mile range battery and installs in 2 minutes on the seat post of about any bike.
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