Better Bike PEBL

[NeilBlanchard]

This is a new start up with a vehicle called the PEBL: A fully enclosed, four season, hemp based, pedal electric vehicle designed and tested in the demanding New England climate.

better.bike

They have just begun a Kickstarter campaign, to raise $20,000:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects...dal-electric-v

Price starts at ~$5,500, so right about what I'd expect. They are located in Leverett MA, which is relatively close to me, so I may be able to go see this for myself.

25 mile electric range standard, with up to 3 additional batteries, for ~100 mile range. Two seats, stowable doors.

[oldtamiyaphile]

Too wide to be a bike...and illegal in most of the world.

[Stubby79]

I'll take one. Just not at the price it would have to be to be profitable for them...

[wdb]

Cute. I expect to see them in trendy seaside areas and college towns.

[NeilBlanchard]

Originally Posted by oldtamiyaphile

Too wide to be a bike...and illegal in most of the world.

No wider than any other trike. Trikes are legal bikes; and so are quadricycles.

They answered my question about how tall the driver of the PEBL can be - basically my height of 6'-4" is the tallest who can fit without mods. They have sold all the prototypes they built so far, and they are building another that they hope will be done by September.

I am thinking about pitching in for their Kickstarter campaign, because I like their approach and design, and it is better in many ways than the Organic Transit ELF. PEBL has longer range and better materials.

[Frank Lee]

They don't want us to know how much it weighs or any dimensions, as the "specs" area on their site contains no specs.

[Stubby79]

Originally Posted by Frank Lee

They don't want us to know how much it weighs or any dimensions, as the "specs" area on their site contains no specs.

Works fine for me...?

Base specs:

6061 corrosion resistant aluminum frame with rear suspension
Hemp & soy composite body
Vinyl doors with zip up windows
Full flooring with removable heel well inserts
Impact resistant polycarbonate windows
Programable 48v 750W power system
16ah Lithium Ion battery
Fully adjustable cockpit (pedals, seat, handlebars)
20mph top speed
25 mile range (without pedaling)
5 Amp integrated charger (plugs into any standard wall outlet)
Full street lighting (headlights, brake lights, turn signals, running lights)
Reverse
Cruise control
Regenerative braking
Horn
USB charging port
Keyed power switch
Sturmey Archer 8 speed rear hub
Sturmey Archer 90mm drum break front hubs
Avid BB7 rear 200mm disk brake
Oversized 2.3" Kenda K-Rad tires on Alex DM 24 alloy rims and heavy duty spokes
6 cubic feet of rear storage
Transformable passenger seat for 4 cubic feet more rear storage
6 Standard Colors: red, orange, yellow, blue, green, white

Dimensions:

Length: 99"
Height: 54"
Width: 44"
Track width: 42"
Weight: 195 lbs

Options:

600 watt heater
Battery warmer wtih dashboard mounted temp sensor
Additional USB/12 volt power ports
110W roof top solar panel
Up to 3 more additional 16ah batteries for 100+ mile range per charge
Interior lighting
Wider tire and wheel options
Custom coloring

[oldtamiyaphile]

Originally Posted by NeilBlanchard

No wider than any other trike. Trikes are legal bikes; and so are quadricycles.

44" works out to 1120mm, the maximum legal width including any load of a bicycle is 660mm (local laws based on EU practice). Most trikes seem to be under 800mm wide (and probably technically illegal).

Bike lanes are a minimum of 1200mm wide, so that leaves 40mm per side. Dual purpose paths are narrower still.

On a side of the road bike lane, you'll be constantly swerving into traffic to avoid drains and debris (not to mention always running on all the curbside broken glass), may not fit past the bollards that control access to dedicated bike paths, can't maneuver past stationary traffic (will have to sit there with the exhaust in your face). You'll likely get a lot of abuse if you try driving it like a car on the road, which is really your only option.

I'm not opposed to this sort of thing at all, but it seems like a weekend fair weather toy.

[Frank Lee]

We live in the land of big- no worries.

[NeilBlanchard]

660mm = 26 inches

There is no way to have the maximum width be just 26" on a trike for adults. I did a quick Google search and got 864mm width or 34", and 826mm or 32.5".