[phog]

The utmost in the “stealthiest” bike category would be type that have not only the batteries hidden in a slender frame, but eschew the hub motor in favor of a miniature, high performance motor built into the seat’s down tube. In either case, it is an engineering challenge to pack a powerful motor, and the amperage to drive it, into a small package… and a premium is being paid for the “stealth” part.
IF a cyclist is determined to use the boost only in the “startup” and “hill climb” exclusively, AND the regenerative braking charging circuit is very efficient, it may be able to carry on without an external charge.
The weight is a problem; with it pushing 30 pounds, you may have better results riding an exquisite, lively, lightweight $3,000 non e-bike than this $4000+ bike.
For my money, I’d rather leave my ego at the door and get an e-bike at a fraction of the cost, and not try to fool anyone. The cost of the power to charge an e-bike battery is negligible.
I like the innovation though, equipping a bike with a quality, light frame with lightweight, efficient e-bike componentry could provide the best of both worlds.
That hub and the beefier spokes aren’t going to fool the critical eye though, if that’s the game here…..

[phog]

Your wife will probably kill you if you do this, but you could mount a bicycle carrier onto the back of a motorcycle, ride in free on I-66 to wherever you want to dump the MC and connect with the trail. “2×2 cycles” makes a custom bike mount for motorcycles. I use a homespun bike rack, made from a Park Tool repair clamp (vice grip, not for exotic carbon or and fancy bikes that you care about! For those use the 2×2 cycles or modify a setup meant for carrying bicycles on the roof of a car. For pics of my bike see the post by phog, here:
https://www.stromtrooper.com/dl650-dl650a-2004-2011/268809-bicycle-clamp-mount-wee-strom-2.html

I’m lazy, if confronted with your commute, I’d just take the MC all the way from Fairfax to Bethesda.

On days when I want to do a bit of cycling on my commute from West Falls Church to the Capitol, one option for me is get off at the Spout Run exit off of I-66E, park the motorcycle on the ample (for a motorcycle) street parking on the corner of Kirkwood and Lee Hwy (Lyon Village) and bicycle in from there on the Custis trail/MVT.

[phog]

To the fella with the “#9” racing tag on the corner of the back of his shirt, heading West on the W&OD in Arlington… I had to slow down for that dog walker because the retractable leash was allowing the dog to randomly span the breadth of the trail. The only safe thing to do was to crawl past. I know it meant having to scrub off hard-earned momentum.
My dinky Schwinn e-bike conversion was smoking you on the hills, too, even at half-throttle; that must have been insufferable, though you were riding faster downhill and on the straights, and insisted on cutting in front of me at West Falls Church. I wasn’t racing, so I figured “screw it, let him <>.”

[phog]

The driver of the car was previously charged with reckless driving. Since the alleged reckless driving has resulted in death, an additional charge of manslaughter should be added.

[phog]

@Steve O 189530 wrote:

So did you leave your motorcycle strewn about?

Lol no, I work at the Library of Congress near the Capitol, and there is ample motorcycle and bicycle parking for anyone who wants it (cars are king, very competitive to get car parking. So I usually keep a bicycle at work, even on motorcycle commuting days, and the bike rack on the MC allows some commute flexibility.
About those scoots dropped everywhere, I’m not kvetching about them, I think they’re OK, but it is really novel and amazing to see them all. I guess my mind is not used to seeing something of value unsecured. Lithium batteries are expensive! Any enterprising thief could cut them out in seconds with cutting tool (powered by lithium batteries, natch). I don’t know how a scooter abandoned on a path like the MVT after dark stands a chance of lasting long enough for a contractor to tend to them before a thief takes or fillets them, or a cretinous vandal tosses it into the Potomac.

[phog]

I rode a motorcycle to work on I-66 with a bicycle clamped to the back, took the bicycle home. In the PM: Too many to scoots tp count scattered across The Mall, one broken in half at the Washington Monument, plenty more all along Memorial Bridge,and MVT. Almost none once I got to the Custis Trail in Rosslyn.
Are any of these companies actually profitable yet? I don’t see how it is possible….

[phog]

Talk about making a nuisance of oneself! He wants to go full-tilt on it at all times; whatever it CAN do, that’s what he wants.
Heading up toward Roosevelt island on that trail, there are ruts, waterlogged mud pools, and asphalt swells caused by root heaves that will in turn swallow a scoot wheel, capture it whole, and send a scoot rider airborne.
A rented e-scooter must live a hard, brief life.

[phog]

Hi John,

What’s your opinion of the Vertex WX-D Glove? Is it worth $50.24? ($65- $19.50 (30%) + 4.74 S&H).

[phog]

That’s good to hear and I’m glad that both parties have softened their stance, but I wouln’t be too keen on having employees who have had a talking to by the big boss prepare my food. Kind of awkward to go back there, don’t you think? Even with the ties no longer severed, I’d move on.

[phog]

Overpriced crumpet shop.. they’re lucky to have any customers at all. What is it, three bucks for a cup of hot water and a tea bag…?

[phog]

Regardless of whether the cyclist on the trail has the assistance of an electric motor, the limits of safety primarily come down to the skill of the rider, the traffic congestion on the trail at any given juncture, the condition of the trail (and weather-related trailway conditions), the severity of a curve, limited sight lines (caused by curves, darkness of night, and hill crests), and vehicle speed, given those factors. I still think trails should have a speed limit, and certain sections should have lower limits (“safe speeds”) posted. This does not mean that that speed is safe when there are adverse conditions or there is heavy traffic on the trail, or when overtaking a pedestrian.

As for the earlier observation that e-bikers are undeterred by hills or head winds, I don’t see why the fact that an ebike can (and probably will) overtake a conventional bicycle on an incline is a problem, if done safely. As I noted earlier, with an e-bike I no longer seek to build speed downhill to “make” the next hill; I just coast. I happily slow to a crawl when passing (unpredictable) pedestrians, particularly pedestrians with meandering dogs, because It takes so little effort to get back up to speed with an e-bike. I’m not scrubbing off hard-earned momentum. Obviously for some time there has been issues with bikes on the trail in general, particularly in recent years; but I don’t think that the emergence of e-bikes are at the root of it.

I used to bike to work every day on those selfsame trails in the late 1980s, but have been flying wild on motorcycles for the last 35 years. Re-introduced to bike commuting more often via an e-bike build, for me it’s merely a once-a-week venture, but the trails are more crowded in general. Not that anyone would miss me, but I wouldn’t do it anymore on a regular bike. West Falls Church to the Capitol is an exhilarating 25 minutes on my motorcycle, a pleasant and invigorating one hour on my e-bike… but on a regular bike it wrecks me, I can’t do it two days in a row. And it takes longer, because of the hill crawls. I don’t go breakneck speeds, I don’t think that I scare/anger anyone on the trails, … unless it hurts the pride of high-tier bicyclists if they get passed on those infernal Arlington hill climbs on the Custis/W&OD. I don’t know why it should; a one horsepower electric motor does not lessen their accomplishment any more than my hundred-horse Suzuki does when I catch a glimpse om ’em on the path, while I’m flying up Route 66.

In the 80s I biked every day, thousands of commutes, five days a week. I had legs like steel bands. Over the last 30+ years of motorcycle commuting, I still managed to knock out a bicycle commute once a month, and on Bike-to-Work Day when it came into being. So, in later years, that’s maybe 300 conventional bicycle commute round trips, 9,000 miles. In these recent years I’ve seen “elite” cyclists blasting past pedestrians, “shooting the gap” when passing a pedestrian with a bike oncoming, seen all kinds of reckless behavior. Countless cyclists executed passes of my bike no matter how hard I was pushing it, not that I minded. So, high performers of the trail, don’t bemoan the fact that today you get passed by some e-bike on steep climbs simply because the technology is there, as long as the pass is not reckless. Besides, the thousand (or two thousand) dollar conventional bike is similarly high-tech, perhaps more exotic than the e-bike.

[phog]

Ever since I cobbled together a homebrew/kit e-bike last year, I’ve re-entered the bike commuting fray (just once a week). All other days I ride a motorcycle on the highway, as I have for 30 years of commuting bliss. I rarely drive a car anymore. The little Schwinn is capable of running at 28 MPH for five miles on straights with no assist, so it would probably be outlawed on trails, even with new definitions in place…. but I pass bicyclists on hills only, otherwise I drop back and keep pace. I actually go slower down hills than I used on a standard bike- I needed momentum to take the next hill. I pedal assist just about everywhere, generally don’t use any assist on the straights, but on the Mount Vernon Trail it’s so bumpy that I sometimes stand with bent knees and ride the whole stretch with assist only. I slow way down when passing any pedestrian; even slower than I would if I was riding a regular bike. Since I can whack the throttle afterward and get back up to speed with no effort, I have no skin in the game in regards to scrubbing off hard-earned momentum. My riding style is way different, but may be even safer than before. But the commute time is shorter because I’m going “on the straights” speeds up hills, even steep ones. That’s where the difference lies, not in top speed or a higher cruising speed.
My feeling is as long as the conveyance isn’t taking up an entire lane or emitting obnoxious sounds or noxious fumes, the restrictions should simply be a speed limit for any given trail, or section of trail, that is posted.

[phog]

A well-worded policy from NOVA/FX county parks authority could be a precedent setter, a model for other jurisdictions in Virginia and beyond. Yesterday I got an email from WABA (Katie Harris, Trails Coalition Coordinator) inviting comments.
Thursday, Feb 7, Jean R. Packard Center, Occoquan Regional Park, 9751 Ox Road, Lorton VA
Written comments: to Parkmail@fairfaxcounty.gov and NOVAParks@nvrpa.org.
The hearing is jointly hosted by the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority Board and the Fairfax County Park Authority Board.

[phog]

Thanks for the pics- when I went by at 5:00pm Saturday things were looking a bit sparse. Got a shopworn Fuji Velo saddle take-off (2012 Fuji Tahoe?) for $5 and two spare inner tubes for $1.39 each.

[phog]

LOL Zero motorcycles has a major product announcement coming out next month… and they already have a model (the SR) with blistering performance (0-60 in 3.3 seconds) for 16K. And plenty of cheaper models. That Harley nameplate had better be made of ten ounces of solid gold!

[Author]

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