Walmart has ebikes for $350 complete!!

[Lazarus]

Originally Posted by markw365

I think these e-bikes are kind of neat, but man 70lbs. How's it do on the hills? I'm old school human bike power. I need to google these, it may be an interim for someone not used to propelling themselves yet. Oh, here's some data for you. 25mph on a road bike requires about 425-450 watts. On a recumbent you need about 250watts. Aerodynamics are everything, have you thought about going aero, or using the propulsion system off the ebike in a more aero design? 23mph fully upright tells me you probably have around a 1/2-3/4hp motor?

I used to think like that and evolved to the e-bike. If you are doing lots of miles and can't get free batteries I would not do it. I would end up spending 300-400 a year in batteries(SLA).

Hills no problem just give it the gas. Your data is way off from my personal experience. For me at 160 pounds 290w+/- gives 25 mph in the drops on a standard road bike when it' calm.

I prefer the upright position and manuerverbility of a road or mountain bike. The main reason for the e-bike was to cut the time down on the commute. It great for short hops in the TX sun with out ending up soaked in sweat and when the wind is blowing a gale. It's like eco-driving you have to take compromises. It neither a great bike or a great e-scooter but it does a very good job in the middle. YMMV

[Joe_Bloe]

Originally Posted by markw365

Ok, I'm just kind of curious. What type of range is everyone looking at riding a bike? I live in east county San Diego and was bike commuting 20 miles each way without electric.
Faster than public transportation, and kept me in good shape. If your commute is under 10 miles, go for it with a standard, but decent road bike. You'll be amazed at how fast you can do it. I went down this bicycle road long ago, starting with MTB's, then mtb's with slicks, then road bikes, and now I have a full blown performance recumbent.
20 miles takes about an hour in hilly terrain, after you've been doing it for a month. You just have to get out and ride.

My commute through downtown DC is about 15 miles each way, rolling hills for much of the way. The bike paths are in fair to poor shape, so a hybrid or mountain bike is called for. I've biked the trip, but it's hard on me, because I'm overweight and out of shape. I also don't have access to a shower at work.

I'm looking for a way to bike to work that leaves me less tired and sweaty after 90 minutes on the bike. I hope to gradually lose weight and improve stamina, and expect to be able to contribute more and more to the human/battery power mix.

[markw365]

Originally Posted by Lazarus

I used to think like that and evolved to the e-bike. If you are doing lots of miles and can't get free batteries I would not do it. I would end up spending 300-400 a year in batteries(SLA).

Hills no problem just give it the gas. Your data is way off from my personal experience. For me at 160 pounds 290w+/- gives 25 mph in the drops on a standard road bike when it' calm.

I prefer the upright position and manuerverbility of a road or mountain bike. The main reason for the e-bike was to cut the time down on the commute. It great for short hops in the TX sun with out ending up soaked in sweat and when the wind is blowing a gale. It's like eco-driving you have to take compromises. It neither a great bike or a great e-scooter but it does a very good job in the middle. YMMV

Yeah, that's about right, I was talking on the hoods/more upright. Drops got you down around 300w. I'm cruising around 23-25 at 200-250ish on my Bacchetta High Racer. I'm also looking a rear disk/404 front for the bike. Side winds with a disk just push you along. I'm in San Diego, and the roads are actually pretty nice for riding, providing you stay off the main arterials. I couldn't be in the drops all day on the road bike. However I haven't been commuting since my new job is 27 miles 1 way. But I've found a route so that will change.

[88CRX]

Originally Posted by Joe_Bloe

... and they're already out of stock. Bummer, I wanted one.

If you don't mind riding a girls version, it is in stock. It's probably lighter too... paint the pink parts black.

[Bill Tarling]

I ended up buying one of the ebikes that looks like a scooter -- bad knee from old injury, so I have a lot of trouble peddling without it giving out in pain all day if I do (plus, at just over 6'5" and size 18-19 shoes, I find standard bicycle frames just don't fit me well).

I'm in BC (Canada), and mainly use it for getting back and forth to work, and for running [no pun intended] into town. I'm kinda in the middle of nowhere (barely any street lighting in my area), and most of the trip is hilly.

So far I'm pretty pleased with how the bike is running. Handles the hills (including a few steep ones) without any trouble.

I added in additional flashing brake lights and side running lights [or rather, the guys at work hooked them up for me -- I'm a computer geek, but useless at anything mechanical]. That's made the biggest difference in riding in traffic -- the cars notice me pretty well now, and I've noticed them giving me a lot more riding room on the road.

I always ride the bike with the running lights on (so my side lights are visible to the traffic), and the bike seems to hold up pretty well on a charge. I had a lot of errands last week, and after a little over 45 miles, the charge was still quite a bit over 70% left [and that including running my front hi-beams quite a bit too]. That surprised me because the manufacturer specs only rate the bike at 50 miles on a charge.

I have no idea how far the bike can fully go on a single charge (I never come closer to draining the battery fully before running a quick recharge).

Main thing is, I bought the bike to replace our old 2nd car that died. Seeing the difference in fuel savings already [huge!], I figure the bike will end up paying for itself pretty quickly.

[aerohead]

I think Wal-Mart also regularly carries the Schwinn 750-W,36-VDC scooter,rated at 15-mile range at around 15-mph at the same price.It's pretty heavy also, due to the valve-regulated lead acid batteries.It is a full horsepower, and the "innards" could be implanted into something else.Ed Begely Jr. was on PBS' NOVA the other night,doing his grocery shopping on a solar-powered version of something like the Schwinn.So now,his neighbor,Bill Nye"The Science-Guy" has to come up with something better!

[almightybmw]

Our local Wally got one of these. Heavy, crappy components, even with the battery pack removed it still weighed over 45lbs. The motor is the only good part of it that I saw, and even so you could get a better motor for the same price or less.

Not to downplay, but I wouldn't spend money on them.