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PAToyota

PAToyota

Red Skull Member
Joined
May 27, 2020
Member Number
1545
Messages
1,525
Loc
South Central Pennsylvania, USA
I found a number of comments in other threads about ebikes, but couldn't find a dedicated thread.

There may be advantages to using an ebike for my daily commute. It's only a few miles, but going home at the end of the day is literally uphill nearly the whole way and at the end of the day I can't say I'm up for that with my mountain bike. Granted, if I did it regularly I'd probably work into it, but that climb after dealing with a day of crap would just be more reason to not take the bike the next day.

So, any recommendations? Seems like anything out there is going to be Chinese, but like a lot of things there are different levels to what is out there. I don't want to spend a lot of money, but also don't want a piece of crap. Where is the middle ground? And I'm a bit hesitant about the various news articles about battery charging fires from questionable batteries.
 
DUI Ducati
Liquorcycle

The white white trash ones will hold 2 24’s on the deck
 
36FD6560-E9D2-45A7-A5B2-FFB3CA32291A.jpeg



I want to get my wife a rad wagon, I’ve heard they’re the shit.


But she’s also not a grown ass heterosexual American man :flipoff2:
 
No, just buy an eeeb, get nice carbon wheels fully setup for MTB duty. Throw some Schwalbe Thunderburts on for commuting and switch the MTB wheels for actually biking. Profit. :smokin:

:flipoff2:
 
My brother in law has a Talaria it’s fun to ride and he says it can go about 35 miles on a charge. But at $4kish it’s too rich for my blood.
 
Do it. My brother was given a guest ride piece of e-bike dope and he loves it. He couldn't ride for 6 weeks cuz knee surgery and was complaing the whole time.
Charge in on the companys' time while at work.
 
Buy a kit and convert a regular bike..

I have Rize bikes...was the best bang for the buck when I got them. I have done 65 miles on a charge but was peddling alot.

I believe they all come out of the same Chinese factory,just built different for all the retailers.

Fuckers are heavy
 
If you are on a budget then DIY is your best bet. I've built 2 over the years and I came out a cheaper than if I bought an equivalently powered name brand one. The down side of DIY bikes is most bike shops wont touch them. So you will have to know how to do all your own adjustments and repairs (derailer adjustments, wheel trueing... etc... etc...).
 
DFW Rusty said:
So you will have to know how to do all your own adjustments and repairs (derailer adjustments, wheel trueing... etc... etc...).
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Buy $50 used Walmart bike. Drop $500 of EV shit on. Run the bike itself into the ground. Lift all your EV stuff off and transplant to the next $50 used bike. :laughing:
 
arse_sidewards said:
Buy $50 used Walmart bike. Drop $500 of EV shit on. Run the bike itself into the ground. Lift all your EV stuff off and transplant to the next $50 used bike. :laughing:
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It's not worth it.

Most of the parts are so garbage it's not possible to get them to stay in tune in any way.


Once you ride a decent bike you can't ever go back. I bought my kids Konas just so they would get hooked and not discouraged. :smokin:
 
Chevy_man said:
It's not worth it.

Most of the parts are so garbage it's not possible to get them to stay in tune in any way.


Once you ride a decent bike you can't ever go back. I bought my kids Konas just so they would get hooked and not discouraged. :smokin:
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With electric power the couple extra watts it takes to overcome the friction of everything being shitty basically doesn't matter anymore and frankly the whole thing will probably live longer than it takes for him to wad it up in a bad wreck and scare himself away from the hobby. :laughing:
 
I bought 2 Hebb ebikes off Craigslist 6 years ago. I don't ride them a lot, but when I do they still work fine. They are front hub motor suspension fork 26 inch wheel bikes with a Shimano 7 speed internal rear hub. Ones a stepthru that I never ride, but I use its battery some.The batteries slide out pretty easy. I charge them outside if I am leaving them unattended most of the time but I have charged them inside with no issues ever anywhere.
Its kinda nice to haul ass uphills like Lance Armstrong on steroids. They would not be worth 4000 each to me though. These ones were 2500 each when new back around 2015. Fat tire e bikes look cool but are only needed if you are going to ride on a snowmobile trail or a LOT of dirt IMO, mine have 26 x2 mountain bike tires and do fine on dirt and pavement.

I still see good deaals on them on Craigslist now and then, bought one for 400 that I resold for 650 since my daughter didn't want it. It had a pretty cool Constant velocity rear hub and was mid drive but skinny tires so I passed it along.

I think mid drive is the best but that's just me.
 
I got one earlier this year thinking the wife would tote the kids around. I cruise it very rarely but it's comfy and quick. I'll sell it to you half price.
 
I like them and see a surprising amount on the trails.

I don’t own one. I did ride one once and think it’s a good move based on your situation. I’d say do it
 
or get one of these...:flipoff2:

egopowerplus.com

POWER+ Mini Bike

The EGO POWER+ Mini Bike with Peak Power™ technology combines the power of any two EGO POWER+ 56V ARC Lithium™ batteries to deliver quiet acceleration from its powerful hub motor with top speeds up to 28 MPH. Get up to 20 miles of range on a single charge with two included 56V 7.5Ah ARC Lithium™...
egopowerplus.com egopowerplus.com
 
Dad has 2 ebikes, He's in his 70s and says it's like he can ride like his 30's again. He was still riding a regular bike, but he likes the ability to ride faster and also the ability to just cruise home when he gets tired. He lives out about 5 miles from town and been using them for Dollar store commutes. He has a Himiway fat tire which is comfy and pretty fast and a Heybike step through. The step through is easier to ride, but slower and slightly cheaper feeling. The Himiway feels more like an electric motorcycle. Its pretty fun even if you don't feel like pedaling. The way he rides, he's putting in about 50% of the effort and lets the battery do the rest. Don't listen to the naysayers, They are fun, "some" exercise, and they get you outside... nothing wrong with that.

Himiway Ebike

Heybike
 
Friend lives in Alb. on a tight budget has one with a spare battery says he can go from one side of Alb to the other and back on bike trails.
 
larboc said:
This is the issue I have. Why is an electric powered 2 wheel vehicle fine to use on these trails, but not a gas powered one?
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If gas powered vehicles were below 3 hp and quiet, they probably would be allowed too. But really its a grey area, when the ebikes get too annoying, they probably will get banned too.
 
Juztyn00 said:
If gas powered vehicles were below 3 hp and quiet, they probably would be allowed too. But really its a grey area, when the ebikes get too annoying, they probably will get banned too.
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So I wonder what would happen if I head down a bike trail on my Batavus regency (under 3hp, quite, has pedals).

I just am annoyed at these things being called "ebikes", they are just mopeds.
 
larboc said:
So I wonder what would happen if I head down a bike trail on my Batavus regency (under 3hp, quite, has pedals).

I just am annoyed at these things being called "ebikes", they are just mopeds.
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Depends how they are ridden, they have the option of pedal only, pedal assist, or twist throttle and go. It's like being mad that an electric wheelchair is basically a go cart.
 
larboc said:
This is the issue I have. Why is an electric powered 2 wheel vehicle fine to use on these trails, but not a gas powered one?
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Because they're limited to 1.006hp, no throttle, and assist speed limited to 20mph.... They're definitely not mopeds or motorcycles, catch a punchy climb in the wrong gear and you'll find that out real quick.

It just makes a fit person into a top flight athlete or let's an unfit person keep up with his fit friends uphill. :flipoff2:
 
Ride Monday, Wednesday Friday Drive on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

No pain no gain:flipoff2:

I pedaled 4 miles to work for 3 months, some days it was quicker than driving and half the time of the bus.

No DUI just too many stupid driving violations.
 
RusM said:
Because they're limited to 1.006hp, no throttle, and assist speed limited to 20mph.... They're definitely not mopeds or motorcycles, catch a punchy climb in the wrong gear and you'll find that out real quick.

It just makes a fit person into a top flight athlete or let's an unfit person keep up with his fit friends uphill. :flipoff2:
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This... My wife cycles religiously, does multiple day rides/centuries/races etc. I don't but I can ride the Ebike and keep up with her, or annoy her by passing her going uphill. Or in my Dad's case, it lets an older person ride with some security of being able to make it back home .
 
Put some good miles on a Trek Powerfly when I visited my brother. Was like 4k. I like the power assist because you still get exercise but you're climbing steep hills at 15 mph.
 
We rented RAD Power Bikes in Longbeach, Wa this summer. They were a blast but the range for a 230lb guy pushing the speeds is questionable. I was down to 25% battery after 1-2 hours of use. I don't see them lasting all day for me and my kids to use while camping or racing. I wonder if the lithium batteries would like intermittent charging and use throughout the day?

Previously I tried an Ariel Grizzly at a U-4 race. The range and capability on the Ariel was better (2 batteries) and they're more compact, so easier to cram into a race trailer. They have two batteries and they have 1 or 2 wheel drive (selectable) so they will climb a decent dirt path, the RAD bikes wouldn't do that without significant momentum and pedaling. I couldn't stuff a quad or a dirt bike in my race trailer with two race rigs and all the crap that goes with them.
 
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