Anybody got an electric bicycle?

Just swapped some XS parts for this.

No NOT the statue
Put about 40 miles on it so far, pretty nice to have some help on the long hills here in the Baraboo Bluffs and against headwinds.
Then Allison had to try it, Guess who had to try 'n keep up on his pedal bike ........
Anyone else messing with these?

been thinking about buying this, I like the functionality:

https://www.radpowerbikes.com/products/radwagon-electric-cargo-bike

I've just been to Sorrento, Italy, where the traffic is intense and scooters rule the roost. Over there though there are loads of electric bikes, mostly variations on these:



What was a bit scary though is that these things are quite capable of keeping up with the traffic and nobody wears a helmet when on one!

Also, it seems a scooter is transport for the whole family, woman on the back, bloke on the front, and child standing in front of Dad, holding on to the bars. Child? Any age from 4, by the look of it! If a small enough crash hat is available, then off you go .....

Yeah a rear rack and panniers is in my future, a run to town for errands, grocery fill in is not out of line with this help against headwinds and the steep hills 'round here. Allison sez we need TWO, Hot rod, SERIOUSLY fast electric "bikes" are a THING!

google “Vintage Electric” they are in California.

Machine said:

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google “Vintage Electric” they are in California.

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Style'n!

... but needs a front fender!

My good friend in town has one. He's been riding bikes/motorcycles as long as I've known him. He loves it. I forgot what brand it is,
he says the RAD bikes are very good. I'm thinking about one in the Spring.
You could keep it in the family though.
Yamaha Power Assist Electric Bicycles | Yamaha E Bikes

Gary, just revisiting this.
I’ve been reading about electric bikes and I didn’t realize there was so much variation on a theme. Could you tell me more about your Schwinn? Is it pedal assist only? How the drive operates? Range?
Signed Mr. Curious

Must be something in the air? Glenda mentioned getting a electric assist bike this morning. I passed on a 1 year old Schwinn at a garage sale last summer for $400.00. She has no idea of what they really cost or I`d never hear the end of it. She hasn`t seen the Chinky 2cycle conversion kit on my watch list. I did buy 22 bikes at garage sales last summer, all $2.00 or less, some were free. I sold a lot of 18 last week on CL.

They are breeding.. now his and hers.
Both schwinns, kinda entry level, 250 watt rear hub motors, 36 volt batteries. Mechanical disk brakes, front suspension and suspension seat posts, comfy seats,high handlebars for a reasonable riding position. Weight and aerodynamics are not as much of an issue with "magic pedals". My bike has front and rear derailleurs, hers; rear only. Rear gears only with a wide range gear set is prolly enough. The size/ratio difference between 1st and 8th gear is amazing compared to old school gear sets. with battery assist the need for super low gears is greatly reduced.
Both now have fenders, racks, panniers, and lighting.
I did 30 miles in the baraboo bluffs and still had battery for the long final hill to the house. When temps were down in the 30's range was quite a bit less had to pedal the final hill but since I've been biking more, the pedaling wasn't so bad. Range is very dependent on how much your pedaling assists the battery. These are pedal assist only, top motor assist speed is about 20MPH I would say an average speed of 12 to 15 MPH is a reasonable estimate. They are quite a bit heavier than pedal only bikes these weigh about 55lbs.
With pedal assist when you start to pedal it activates the motor, it's a fairly gradual ramp up in power. The handlebar control/display. lets me select 5 levels which basically are the cut off speed for the motor assist. It ranges from about 6MPH up to 20MPH, assist gradually tapers off as you approach the selected top speed. You also go fast as you wish to pedal, 30MPH down our hills is pretty common. About half the time no motor assist is needed if the rider is contributing some pedal power. Rear hub drive is not as versatile as the more expensive mid drives, which pull through the same chain as the pedals, so benefits from your gear selection. Most rear hub motors are single speed. These motors do not have regeneration ( battery charging as a brake force) this is usually not a significant amount of regained energy so prolly not a big deal to have. So these run the gamut from what we have to near motorcycles with liter class acceleration and top speed. You may want to check the local laws. The legal classes by power and assist mode open and close places you can ride. There will be a lot of change coming in the bike laws cuz the hot rodders are going to get into crashes and violate speed laws. Naturally the gummerment will want to get tax revenue out of them.
The field is rapidly changing innovation is going on everywhere. Battery life is a concern, how you handle battery charge states helps life Hot is hard on batteries and cold saps range. City, touring and mountain/trail/fat tire are the three main classes. As usual I started conservative to get some seat time in then may upgrade as I understand the choices better. Always easy to find buyers for entry level equipment, IMHO expensive bikes will depreciate rapidly as technology changes.
Theft is/will be a big issue, they are small portable and expensive, batteries are really high buck brick size theft targets.
Whoosh if you need more info ask away but I'm just a newby!

Thank you for that thoughtful reply! My wife and I have talked about them, I’m just learning, but I kind of thought Schwinn would be a good entry point bike. You have yours nicely set up I see, they really should come with fenders, c’mon now! They look like lots of fun. I have also considered theft of the batteries to be a real cause for concern, especially in city environments where low life’s will steal anything. The batteries should have a built in keyed lock to attach to the frames.

My bad, they (and most) do have a substantial key lock, battery to frame connection. Serial numbers on major parts also. Still, overall, parts are small, light and valuable. No doubt van based "chop shops" will be a thing.

Factory is boring, a failed kit, with some tweaking and a few mods it made it around the country block today. 1000 watts throttle control held a 15mph average over 5 miles, lots of hills. Just proof of concept so far not really a suitable bike for electric. Need bigger frame better parts gotta have disk brakes.

At what point does an E Bike quit being a bicycle with no regulations and make the leap to being an electric motorcycle? As E Bikes become faster and more powerful legislators are taking a closer look at do they need to be licensed? Should there be age restrictions? Their prices are no joke, you could buy a decent motorcycle for what they’re asking for these.

The Vanmoof , capable of over 30 mph ( 31-37 depending on the source )
https://www.vanmoof.com/en-US/vanmoof-v


The Bakcou claims a top speed of 35 mph.
https://bakcou.com/products/storm?variant=40588170887324

Yup lots of moped/tiddlercycles with pedals pretending to be bicycles.
Still riding and liking our 250 watt electric bicycles, not as much as we should? Mainly use the electric as "from a stand still, and hill assist".

Here in the retirement community that I live in, where there are nearly as many golf carts as there are cars, I’ve been seeing more and more electric bikes on the road. Makes a lot of sense here really, there are grocery stores within a couple miles and the roads here are nearly flat. I see geezers hauling groceries on their bikes a lot nowadays.

Grimly said:

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Whatcha got there?

Mailman said:

Whatcha got there?

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A thirty year old Claud Butler MTB (only pushbike I ever bought new), fitted with a cheap 750W hub motor and Marzocchi forks. Battery pack is a mashed together 36V 15Ah Bosch tool pack collection.
I'd thought about the step to discs, but I find the v-brakes adequate, and better than the original side-pulls.