[Dewey]

@Dewey 177890 wrote:

I spoke too soon, Gov. Ducey vetoed the ebike bill along with other unrelated legislation in protest about funding teachers pay.

The ebike bill has now been signed into law in Arizona.

[Dewey]

Cute product placement, a kickstarter business gave New York City video blogger Casey Neistat a fat tire Class 2 ebike. One of the folks in the comments owns a pedelec ebike shop in Brooklyn and pointed out New York’s pedal assist law requires the rider to remove the throttle. The skid into the crosswalk by helmetless Casey followed by the line “and most importantly you have to obey traffic laws” maybe not the best advertisement for ebikes but at least he stopped for a red light.

[Dewey]

On Reddit one of the affected customers reported there were 11 cases. SRAM stopped making the 2-speed automatix IGH so the bike has not been sold for a couple of months but you can still buy the Sladda bicycle trailer at IKEA.

[Dewey]

The IKEA Sladda has been recalled due to cases of the belt by Continental snapping.

[Dewey]

@lordofthemark 178562 wrote:

I made TWO seperate attempts to climb Meridian Hill on the Jump Bike, and failed both times…I guess Jump Bikes are heavier than regular Class 1 ebikes)

When it comes to Class 1 250w motors opinion is divided on the merits of different types of electric motors for climbing hills. My limited understanding of ebike motors is that a geared hub motor that uses internal planetary gearing will always outperform a direct drive hub motor that has none but tends to build up waste heat to the point the motor cuts out to preserve the mosfets from burning out, although in defense of direct drive motors I’ve read that ferrofluid can bridge the gap between the stator and the rotor to help dissipate waste heat, whereas a mid-drive motor powers the front chainring possibly giving it a mechanical advantage over the other two motor types hence the popularity of mid-drive motors on higher end European and Asian pedelecs and Class 1 ebikes. I chose a 250w mid-drive kit motor to convert my bicycle because ebike riders in the UK, which like the EU has strict power and speed limits, were saying it was the best type of 250w motor to climb hills. You might like to email JUMP about your experience riding their ebike up hills in DC and suggest they look into adopting a higher power rated direct drive hub motor with ferrofluid and hubsink cooling fins. It is unlikely they would consider a mid-drive motor due to the increased wear and tear on the drivetrain.

[Dewey]

@dplasters 178546 wrote:

I feel like ebikes should come standard with a dynamo front hub.

Some manufacturers do, Spanish company BH EasyMotion usually put them on their city ebikes like their Atom Diamond Wave, Evo City, and Evo City Wave models, the Canadian eProdigy Banff has one as well, and Dutch manufacturer Workcycles keeps the front dynamo hub when they motorize their FR8 and KR8 cargo bikes. The others could learn from Workcycles who wire up both the front and taillight to the dynamo because on the EasyMotion and eProdigy ebikes the dynamo hub only powers the front light which means you still have to change batteries on the rear which is silly when they could just wire both lights to the dynamo hub or into the main battery pack. Some 2018 Electra Loft Go! ebikes have a front dynamo hub but it is not connected to anything because someone at Trek or their supplier made a mistake when ordering parts and they just kept the dynamo hub anyway.

[Dewey]

@huskerdont 178521 wrote:

Now, these flames of which ye speak, they are an asset, correct? Because I would totes film one of those moving down the trail in the dark.

You may scoff but an advantage of an ebike battery and usb port in the display is you can plug in Christmas lights, run a longer lasting standlight, and front and rear lights running off the battery, on my DIY lash up I use rechargeable battery lights and in winter I’m charging them every 3 days so one far off day when I have the money to buy a pre-built ebike with such a feature it would be a helpful upgrade. I like the German pedelec ebike lights Peter White sells but most of the lower power 6v ones I would want require wiring in some sort of step down power converter and I am wary of touching the solder job I did on the battery connectors, plus I don’t know the way to Tosche station.

[Dewey]

@DrP 178512 wrote:

Decided to wait until the rain tapered off a bit last evening to leave work. It was a great ride and watching the power in that water was amazing.

I don’t blame you it was torrential, there a video on Reddit of the flooding along the W&OD of some cyclists wading through water.

[Dewey]

@bentbike33 178497 wrote:

You may be the rare exception on rule 9, but no one riding an ebike can be obeying rule 5 by definition (unless the battery is entirely dead or disconnected rendering it temporarily not an ebike).

Utter bilge, pish, tosh, nonsense, splutter etc. Evidence. You’ll be telling me next riding an ebike involves no biomechnical effort or count as active transportation.

[Dewey]

@bentbike33 178490 wrote:

Let me set the record straight. Ebike riders are not famous for following rules 5 and 9.

Change the record. I rode an ebike in the rain which sort of negates both slurs. I didn’t feel I was putting my unmentionables in danger from sudden sparks emitting from my battery like a fire breathing dragon, I grant you battery fires can happen if using shitty quality LiPo cells – see Youtube videos of exploding e-skateboards ad nauseum. Actually the fire risk thing is a problem for shops that have customer ebikes in for service that have been subject to wear and tear, I can think of two that have gone up in smoke because of battery fires, Hybrid Pedals in Arlington, and Crazy Lenny’s in Wisconsin, both are still in business in new locations and I think Lenny built a bunker to store batteries after his experience. Individuals can buy a fire-resistant fiber bag or a repurposed ammo can for battery charging, safety first.

[Dewey]

Sorry I thought Rule #5 was about encouraging biomechanical effort, doesn’t really apply to an ebike unless(until) the battery runs out or an electrical gremlin or a vandal decides to cut wires. Rule #9 no arguments from me, I am very happy the weather has improved.

[Dewey]

@bentbike33 178482 wrote:

They must have been hiding from the rain for fear of a short circuit.

It is true that ebikes are not waterproof, but for the most part they can be made water resistant. Ebike journalist Court Rye posted information about this on his website. For my part I did not ride to work in the heavy rain last week except on Saturday morning when I picked up a loaner ebike and rode it from Tenleytown to Alexandria in the rain. On my DIY conversion I used heat melt shrink wrap and liquid duct tape to seal my crappy soldering job on the battery connector wires, the HiGo electrical signal connectors to the controller, display and sensors, are reasonably water resistant, but some people suggest applying dielectric grease on electrical connectors which I’ve found worked in the past on auto headlamp connectors.

The biggest water problem I’ve read about isn’t riding in the rain but eMTB riders power washing their muddy ebike and the pressure forcing water plus dirt contamination inside wheel hub motors, so the advice generally is to wipe down. Also I wouldn’t recommend charging a battery outside in the rain.

[Dewey]

@rcannon100 178246 wrote:

Next question?

Will the Fire Dept and Sheriff continue the formerly known as Arlington Police block party now ACPD are withdrawing participation? Loved going to that event last year with Kidical mass Arlington.

[Dewey]

That bonus is helpful with suspension seatposts, the vertical travel often requires lowering the seatpost a couple of inches of height, a bike with 24″ wheels can make a difference. My wife is 5’7″ and the 24″ wheeled Pedego ebike she sat on had a Cirrus BodyFloat Kinekt seatpost but she was able to sit while stationary with both feet on the ground which she prefers.

[Dewey]

The Post reports that DDoT is extending the DoBi trial by 4 months through August.

[Author]

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