Electric Bikes

I was recently in the Bay area and tried these e-bikes from Lyft.

When you're finished you are expected to return them to a docking zone as opposed to ditching them wherever you finish. These parking locations are all over the place and easy to find.

They get the job done and the bike is fairly pleasant to ride on flat surfaces. Hills aren't recommended. The city is bike friendly in most areas with bike lanes all over.

If you're looking to get around and the weather is good, I'd recommend giving them a try if you're in SF.

And there are lots of other sizes too, such as the huge 40135 (40mm x 135mm)

Some cities allow electric scooters and bikes on trains and subways, but some are strict about preventing this. What is it like in your city?

It seems like this is the ultimate combo to get around any big city these days. You get the best of both worlds - convenient last-mile mobility and traffic-free movement across larger distances.

Dreaming of sunny blue sky days

The shift to electric bikes and scooter isn't just about sustainability—it's about quality of life. Anyone living in a city knows that traffic, parking, and noise pollution can be overwhelming. Electric bikes and scooters offer a practical long term alternative.

Ladies and gentleman I give you the Watt Wagons Hound. this may look alot like an Aniioki or Eahora. But what makes this different is the fact that the battery can be hooked up directly to a public car charging station. Charge time is rumored to be 2-3 hours. Which is a big difference of the 6-9 hours of the other mentioned brands.

This is good because it means increased range for people who are serious about it. But it could be bad because think of the current line-ups you can have at charging station right now. I've heard of some wait times of up to an hour or more for people with cars. Now imagine throwing ebikes into the mix. I can see fights breaking out for sure.

I think the future of ebikes is amazing. but we all have to put thought into the infrastructure right now to prevent headaches in the future.

I live in Vancouver Canada so our prices are different from those in America and elsewhere.

I am probably going to buy this. It the Ancheer sunshine and in canada I can get it and two half decent bike locks for less than 1000 CAD with taxes and everything all in.

Now the bike I am currently lusting after is the Eahora Romeo Pro which has a 1600w motor and a HUGE 48 to 52V 60aH Battery. This would cost me right now just under 3600 CAD. You get alot of bike for that price.

But then you get listing like this one which is local to me. Your basically paying for the frame. and while they do have cheaper alternatives. The reason I chose that listing is it it roughly the same price as the romeo pro. and it has a basic 250w motor with a 600w peak and only a 10.2 ah battery. I understand this is a brick and mortar store which has larger costs involved in selling their stock. But at what point are you just throwing your money away?

Now I understand that the Romeo pro is NOT for everyone. and something like the Lundi shown above would work perfectly fine for most people but you can find similar spec'd bikes on amazon for much cheaper.

It seems to me the sweet spot for us Canadians anyways is 2k or under. You get fairly quality parts at that price point. Which is why I don't understand people selling ebikes locally for an average of around 4k CAD. Although I do understand that Vancouver is a city where the local population has a larger degree of disposable income than most places.

I dunno. what are your thoughts on the subject?

My situation is a little bit different from most people. I caught COVID in 2020 and it messed me up good. Got both my heart AND my lungs. I'm now on disability and no longer have my drivers license. (I let it lapse since I can't afford a car any more.)

An E-bike would be my main method of transportation. So for me Range is king. it is the be all and end all for me personally. Plus, where I live (Vancouver) the law is an ebike can only go at a max speed of 24 kmh. Which is fine for me since I'm not in a hurry. Plus at my age (52) I'm pretty sure any accident at a higher speed would kill me.😂

So here's my dilemma. I want to build a bike that can do 150 Km's on throttle only. now I could go out and buy something like the Eahora Romeo Pro, but where I live it would come out to 4k CAD with taxes and delivery all in.

Or I could build an ebike from scratch. I'm sure it would be cheaper. but it would take longer. I was thinking of getting a cheap amazon 48v 500w bike and build off of that. I was thinking of going with a Bafang BBSHD, two 48v 30ah batteries and a geared hub like the Shimao Alfine 8-speed internal geared bicycle Hub.

One of the other problems is my local transit is very bike friendly so to increase range I could use to local transit system to get close to where I want to go and then use the bike as end of destination travel. But the bike can only weigh as much as 50lbs. any heavier and they won't allow it on the front bus rack.

So I am torn. do any of you have any recommendations or suggestions?

Any ebike Grus here?

I have a new controller which has 3 wires in the two brake leads. My old controller had only 2 leads in the 2 brake leads. Testing my brake levers cables shows they create a closed circuit when the lever is pulled .

Testing the 3 leads in the controller cable I can easily identify the 2 leads which disconnect the power to the motor.

When I connect these 2wires to the brake levers wires and actuate a brake the motor does cut out as expected , BUT , it stays cut out till I either turn the control panel off or disconnect the battery.

The spare unused wire in the controller brake leads has no power on it but also if connected does not disconnect the motor.

Any idea why the controller stays off and a solution?

This bike has a 10ah battery in the seat post and a 7 gear derailleur. Top speed is limited to 25km but I think it can be reprogrammed to remove the limit.

Are you doing anything to protect yourself or your home from the risk of a fire?

I like my e-bike a lot, but cleaning the gears and keeping them calibrated can be a PITA. The wheel hub motor is nice because my chain just keeps on giving even after 2300 miles, but I don’t think I’ve ever heard of an internal gear hub combined with a a wheel hub electric motor.

Hopefully as micro-mobility takes hold, more and more cities will create spaces for parking and charging electric vehicles.

Bafang 750w

Solid state ceramic batteries may greatly advance the future of micro-mobility. They promise higher energy density and less susceptibility to thermal runaway and can be used in a wider temperature range.

E-bikes are not bicycles

The article makes a strong assertion that e-bikes are something entirely different than regular bikes and should be regulated separately.

Do you think e-bikes should always be allowed to follow the same paths and rules as regular person-powered bicycles? Or should communities treat them as something different?

This creative way to increase the adoption of micro-mobility is similar to the tax credits offered by the US federal government around electric cars.

Is it likely to draw more interest from the community? Would you be more encouraged to purchase an e-bike if you could get a voucher?