e-Bikes – Let’s talk

[dasgeh]

Very awesome!

@run/bike 55794 wrote:

Anyway, if you see me out there please say hi. I might even let you try out the Stromer for a quick test spin

I’ll definitely say hi. You’ll recognize me as the sweaty girl on the road bike (because it’s faster) drooling over your bike. It’s so pretty…

[jnva]

@run/bike 55794 wrote:

After contemplating it for a few months, and reading a lot of the back and forth on this forum I finally decided to purchase an e-bike (specifically a Stromer ST1) and become a full-time cycling commuter. 2 days in and it has been absolutely amazing. I’m shaving about an hour total off my regular round trip commute by metrobus, and I’m arriving non-sweaty at work (which is key due to lack of shower access).

I am riding on the trails (Custis) and I know some take issue with this. However, based on my admittedly limited sample of the past two days I’m really just about average for speed on the trail. I would say I was passed about as many times as I passed others. I know if I was on my Jamis road bike I’d be much quicker, albeit much sweatier.

As dasgeh also pointed out, I’ve also noticed that the incentive to run stop signs/lights, or make less-than-safe passes is totally gone. And I have way more confidence on the road as well since I know I can accelerate and keep up with traffic flow much better.

Anyway, if you see me out there please say hi. I might even let you try out the Stromer for a quick test spin

[ATTACH=CONFIG]3134[/ATTACH]

Cool! You now have the “e-bike grin”! Don’t worry about what others think about cheating, as long as you are traveling at a safe speed there should be no issue. I’ve been commuting on the custis for a couple of years now and have had no problems. I’m the guy wearing long pants when it’s 100 degrees. I’ll definitely say hi if I see you!

[americancyclo]

@run/bike 55794 wrote:

Anyway, if you see me out there please say hi. I might even let you try out the Stromer for a quick test spin

Did I see you on Pimmit and again on barbour yesterday? I had my little one in tow, so you totally beat me on the hill up Pimmit. If not, there’s another stromer out there!

[runbike]

@americancyclo 55864 wrote:

Did I see you on Pimmit and again on barbour yesterday? I had my little one in tow, so you totally beat me on the hill up Pimmit. If not, there’s another stromer out there!

Nope, not I. My commute ends in the Westover neighborhood of Arlington.

Darn, and I thought I was going to be the only one with the cool new toy on the streets of NOVA!

[ShawnoftheDread]

@run/bike 55871 wrote:

Nope, not I. My commute ends in the Westover neighborhood of Arlington.

Darn, and I thought I was going to be the only one with the cool new toy on the streets of NOVA!

Saw a woman on one on the WOD westbound this evening. So there may be three in the area.

[KLizotte]

So how much pedaling do you do on it? In other words, are you getting power for the entire ride? Is it much heavier than a normal bike?

[runbike]

@KLizotte 55924 wrote:

So how much pedaling do you do on it? In other words, are you getting power for the entire ride? Is it much heavier than a normal bike?

Depends on the bike. The Stromer has no throttle so there’s no motor assist without pedaling. You can dial 4 different power settings and with the highest boost it doesn’t take much pedaling to get up to speed and stay there.

It IS a heavy sucker…62 pounds. On the Custis downhill into Rosslyn I’m pretty much on the brakes the whole way to keep it from running away on me. The motor provides boost up to 20mph and then cuts out, which you definitely notice because you’re suddenly pedaling a tank.

[83b]

@KLizotte 55924 wrote:

So how much pedaling do you do on it? In other words, are you getting power for the entire ride? Is it much heavier than a normal bike?

Similar to the Stromer, mine weighs in at 50-60+ lbs when fully loaded with a wood basket, rack and other sundries. Also similar to the Stromer, I’ve got a 500 watt hub motor running 36 volts, which will assist up to about 22 mph (I turned the limiter off, but it was running pretty close to its peak as it was). A 14 amp battery will get me about 22-23 miles per full charge when going heavy on the throttle in stop & go city traffic. It can stretch a good deal farther if you’re judicious with the throttle and doing less stopping and starting.

Unlike the Stromer, mine is set up with a thumb-actuated throttle. You could conceivably do no pedaling and only suffer a minor lack of acceleration from a full stop. However, it feels pretty awkward to be riding around without any tension in the pedals, so I can’t say I’ve ever really done it. I like the throttle for being able to adjust the amount of assist on the fly. It’s especially useful in low traction situations like when starting on the Penn Ave pedestrian islands when it’s wet.

On days like today, when DC is showing off all of its swampy summer glory AND I have to travel to an off-site meeting in a suit, an ebike is especially awesome.

[jnva]

here are my 2013 mileage statistics. This is all commuting miles on my electric bike.

I took a photo last year of my odometer:
[ATTACH=CONFIG]4378[/ATTACH]

And here is this years photo:
[ATTACH=CONFIG]4379[/ATTACH]

so, total of 5,868 miles and 368 battery recharges. I charge twice per day for each leg of my commute, so that is about 184 round trips to work. I think i drove about 5 or 6 times, and worked from home the rest of the time.

Biggest problem with my bike is spokes breaking on the motor wheel. After a few times it’s pretty easy to repair now and i learn to avoid large bumps and pot holes.

No major problems with the battery so far, other than the connectors needed to be changed since i disconnect and reconnect so often to charge. I am pretty happy overall, and my commute is awesome now.

[jabberwocky]

@jnva 73067 wrote:

Biggest problem with my bike is spokes breaking on the motor wheel. After a few times it’s pretty easy to repair now and i learn to avoid large bumps and pot holes.

What kind of spokes? I realize the motor probably stresses the spokes more than a normal wheel (and the additional weight of the bike and batteries doesn’t help) but I’d think you should be able to find spokes that hold up. Have you tried a heavy duty straight gauge spoke (like the DTSwiss Champion)?

[jnva]

I’ve been using sapim single butted spokes. The only time they break is if I hit a pot hole with all my weight. The last time it happened was when I hit the bump at the beginning of key bridge on the Rosslyn side. I could hear the spokes popping! I’m just more careful now until I get a rear suspension.

[hozn]

Butted spokes should be much stronger than straight-gauge (Sapim’s strength ratings confirm this). Straight gauge would be stiffer, but at expense of strength. (@jnva, I assume by single-butted, you mean the 2.0/1.8/2.0 Race model?) Sapim’s thinner 2.0/1.5/2.0 spokes are stronger than the Race, but may not be stiff enough (and aren’t recommended for disc brakes; the CX Ray spokes from which these are based, though, /are/ recommended for disc brakes and are stronger still, but now we’re getting into money at $3/spoke.). Sapim also makes a spoke called the “Strong” specifically targeting tandems and e-bikes. I assume Sapim dealers can special order that if it isn’t stocked on our side of the pond.

[jnva]

I bought a set of sapim “strong” single butted, 2.0/2.3.

$1.65 at wheel builder.com

[jabberwocky]

I know that theoretically butted spokes make for a stronger wheel, but in practice I find that straight gauge spokes are probably stronger. The CXRay is supposedly a much stronger spoke than most of the double butted ones, but I’ve broken several on both my MTB and road bikes. I run champions on my DJ bike and they’ve been absolutely solid. Rim strength plays a large role in overall wheel strength, obviously.

DT makes a version of the Champion that is a larger gauge specifically for e-bike wheels, which is why I mentioned them. Obviously the spoke holes on your hubs would need to be large enough to accommodate them. I think they are 2.4mm.

[hozn]

I should comment that spokes breaking is usually an indication of tension imbalance. You may have already done this, but it is probably worth having the wheel rebuilt by a good wheelbuilder. Not sure how many spokes in the wheel, but I would think that a 32+ spoke wheel should not be regularly breaking spokes due to a motor or extra 30lbs. After all, disc brakes should torque the hub more (unless you can break traction with the motor).

[Author]

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