e-bike story opening in Clarendon

[83b]

@Tim Kelley 62110 wrote:

Fascinating. About putting a 1000 watt rider on top of that 500 watt motor? Do you think that the weight & “non-aeroness” would still be too much to overcome?

I think probably so. The motor + battery probably adds 40lbs to the bike. At 36 volts a 500 watt motor is going to top out at 20-ish mph. You could run a 48 volt motor and push that to 25-ish. Even assuming they have the gearing to do it, I think that a person is going to have a lot of trouble putting enough energy into the system to get the bike up to your 30+mph sprint. At that point you’re losing a lot to the wind, the weight, and I think drag on the maxed out hub.

If you point it up a 6% grade, suddenly your max via the motor hub drops to ~15mph, but it’s a lot easier to put more energy into the system to keep you closer to 20mph overall. At least that’s been my experience up Capitol Hill and tracks ebikes.ca’s simulator.

But maybe we should bolt this thing to someone’s tri bike and find out for sure. You know, for science!

[NicDiesel]

@dasgeh 62113 wrote:

Why the hate?

It strikes me as one of the plethora of solutions in search of a problem

[DismalScientist]

@83(b) 62116 wrote:

. The motor + battery probably adds 40lbs to the bike. .
But maybe we should bolt this thing to someone’s tri bike and find out for sure. You know, for science!

Tim is not going to be happy that he has a lower power-to-weight ratio than an e-bike motor.

[Steve]

@dasgeh 62113 wrote:

Why the hate?

But to answer your question, there are a total of 35 miles (? just a guess, based on the fact that the Loop is 17) of trails in Arlington.

Plus a big part of the loop, the MVT, isn’t Arlington, at least I don’t think. Some of the trails have speed limits. Those aren’t exactly followed either. The safety concerns about possibly having slightly faster ebikes on the trail seem to be completely overcome by the safety benefits associated with ebikes putting more cyclist out on streets. After all, most trail rides begin and end with some street riding.

[hozn]

@NicDiesel 62117 wrote:

It strikes me as one of the plethora of solutions in search of a problem

Well, it’s not *too* hard to find a “problem” here. How about simply that not enough people ride bikes (or use alternative transportation). If you think the cycling ranks are full, then I guess that’s a fundamental disagreement. As dasgeh says, if ebikes means more people on bikes (and it obviously does) it’s good for all of us.

I don’t know why there is so much insecurity about ebikes. I can only surmise that this is what it is given the whining about ebikes being “cheating” or whatever. To those that think this way, they should perhaps consider that the race is only in their mind: this mythical snickers-bar-eating guy (really?) doesn’t actually care that he blew by you on the climb out of Rosslyn.

[jnva]

@hozn 62124 wrote:

To those that think this way, they should perhaps consider that the race is only in their mind: this mythical snickers-bar-eating guy (really?) doesn’t actually care that he blew by you on the climb out of Rosslyn.

Well said!

Actually though I do care. I know how hard it is to climb up that hill and I totally respect those that can do it on pedal power. By the way, it’s really impossible to eat a candy bar, use the throttle and handle a bike going 20+ mph uphill in traffic!

[MattAune]

Maybe this will put to rest the e-bike Strava discussion.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_Nnj4RZzu4

[americancyclo]

@Drewdane 62093 wrote:

Doubling down:

“I love the numbnuts ([insert unflattering description of cyclist’s dress, diet, hygiene, and/or sexual predilections]) I see on the [insert trail name here] on the [insert bike type here] that doesn’t bother to call passes and rides like a complete assclown at all times.”

Let’s cut to the chase people:

“I love the assclown at all times.”

[jnva]

Lol. I would have liked to see the watt hours used by his battery. My hunch is that it’s nearly depleted, and that he hauled the bike home in his SUV that he parked at the summit!

[consularrider]

@jnva 62114 wrote:

I actually look forward to the day I get cited for riding a motorized vehicle on the bike path so that I can go to court and prove the legality if what I was doing.

Be careful of what you wish for …

[dasgeh]

@NicDiesel 62117 wrote:

It strikes me as one of the plethora of solutions in search of a problem

Just a personal example: I was pregnant, and even the effort of climbing a flight of stairs made me puke. I was a bike commuter, with no good alternatives (with the hills between my office and bus and Metro stops, it would have meant 2+ hours each way). An ebike was a solution.

But I don’t think ebikes should be limited to people who “need” them. Everyone gets to choose how they get around, and ebikes are a choice. eBikes look just like pedal bikes to cars (and 99% of all people, I’d venture to guess), and more people on bikes makes drivers more aware that bikes are out there. Drivers don’t actually try to hit cyclists — they hit us when they don’t expect us to be where they’re driving (often because they didn’t look).

Moreover, it’s easier on an ebike to honor the rules of the road/trail. You don’t have the same investment in your momentum, especially on the low-speed-end. So slowing down for a slower cyclist, ped, etc and stopping for a sign or light is less of a chore. And the biggest benefit of the motor is at the low speeds. So it will help someone go from 0-5mph without much effort. Getting to 10mph or 15mph requires MUCH more effort, getting much past 20mph uphill or on flats is often impossible. It’s so easy to pedal on at 15mph, and so hard to go much faster, it’s easier to stay under the speed limit.

Anyway, I hope you’re reading with an open mind and not just trolling. And I hope you’ll try an ebike to see what I’m talking about.

[rpiretti]

IMO eBikes are just an annoyance. The problem is inherent. They are faster than a bicycle and slower than a car, until there are more of these bikes out there the riders of these vehicles won’t get the recognition they want. So, since they are slower than a car they go on the trail. The trouble is the “newness” factor, just like anything else new out there, it takes people time to adapt but unfortunately in this case an eBike on the narrow bike trails takes into account people’s well-being and I dare say lives. Usually there is some sort of noise from a speeding bike, I’ve been the victim of eBikes making no noise at all and go zipping past me UPHILL!

[runbike]

Seriously, can we make this E-bike meetup a reality? Perhaps we can designate an upcoming coffee club (II? since many e-bikers are in NOVA) or Third-Thursday HH to bring our sweet rides out for show. I can offer Stromer test rides!

[jabberwocky]

I agree that I’d much rather see people on e-bikes than in cars. I think a lot of the pushback is from purists, who feel if you aren’t doing all the work yourself you shouldn’t be doing it at all, but that seems silly given that we want people to see bikes as vehicles and transportation devices as well as recreation. If riding an e-bike is what gets you out of a car and onto a bike, I think thats awesome.

I have much more fixed feelings about e-bikes on bike trails. I totally sympathize with the fact that trails are often simply the best way to get from point A to point B in this area, and current e-bikes (mostly) don’t offer that much of an advantage over a good road bike. I also recognize that our resident e-bike riders are likely considerate and polite on trails. My concern is the rapid pace of advancement in motors and battery tech (and the dropping price of both of them). More powerful bikes are certainly becoming more common, and will become cheaper and more common still in the future. Motor power limits are a nice idea but essentially unenforceable (even if you could get police to patrol trails, which is unlikely, how is a cop supposed to know how powerful a motor is if he catches someone?)

There is probably some inevitable user conflict in the future on the issue. I don’t know what the solution is, but hopefully we can find one.

[NicDiesel]

@dasgeh 62165 wrote:

Anyway, I hope you’re reading with an open mind and not just trolling. And I hope you’ll try an ebike to see what I’m talking about.

I don’t see me ever wanting one but I could definitely see some folks finding them useful. Having said that, I don’t really see it as a way to get people out of cars the way that some of you do, though I can see why you would think that. Folding bikes I could definitely see getting people out of cars and away from four wheeled transportation; eBikes I just can’t see having a serious impact. A lot of that has to do with price.

[Author]

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