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Re: (ET) OT: another small Apollo-era EV (Solo Electra)



I am a big fan of ebikes. I built a DIY bike using a 2008 Trek 4300 mtn bike turned commuter bike, and a Bafang BBSHD unlocked sourced from Lunacycle. 48V 14AH battery.

I have close to 4000 miles on it.

Rode it Saturday to the local HS to help sell concessions at my teenager's HS play. ~12 miles round trip via the convoluted route I take to avoid fast traffic.

Controller can be programed via a PC with a special cable. For example I reduced the speed in PAS (pedal assist system) in the lowest boost setting b/c it was too fast to mix with anyone.

I have my bike setup not for top speed but for crawling hills which we have many here. So the low gearing might have contributed to why it wanted to go too fast in PAS 1.

I have a Lunacycle charger with a knob that limits charges to 80/90/100%. I always charge to 80% and then once every month or six weeks, I charge it to 100% and immediately go for a ride.

Its ~9 hilly miles to work and I ride to/from occasionally. I have inside parking there and I can charge as well so that's been nice. Keeps it from being stolen or damaged.

(A lady at the grocery was lecturing me about the importance of locking up my bike b/c of thieves as I was unlocking it the other day. Yes ma'am, yes ma'am. You can see this lock - right? No, I didn't say that part out loud). ;)

I'd likely carry the battery in with my just to reduce the bike's value anyhow. Lady did not understand the bike was a higher value ebike. I think to her a bike is a bike.

I ride it all over town. A quick run to the market (~3 miles each way). Haircut @ lunch (~1 mile each way). Pay our monthly bills (~2 miles or so each way).

Bike is very much over powered (unlocked). 1500W is top limit but I use that power wisely. Mostly reserved only for the steepest hills.

Add a little more power to maintain 10+ mph even on hills so I don't get squashed like a bug by inattentive drivers on blind curves with no shoulders and hills where I'd otherwise be walk pushing the bike up.

When riding a bike path - I either switch off the PAS entirely or use level one and limit my speed around pedestrians to ~5 mph. When the path is empty, I might ride 10-15 mph.

I don't like talk about outlawing ebikes entirely on bike paths or in a particular place. Not all of us are wild outlaws with malicious intentions.

Most of us just have one all purpose bike. I'd like to see cities reorganized to make space for separated bike paths and limit the access of car and truck traffic to crowded spaces.

The more crowded, the more sense it makes to create walking and pedal only areas of shops and restaurants mixed with apartment living.

Chris in TN

On 10/30/23 08:26, Darryl McMahon wrote:
I was one of the lead proponents for legalizing e-bikes in Ontario. (Yes, they were illegal here.)  As a result, I did a fair bit of research on the state of the technology back then (over 20 years ago).

There were several camps on the function and form of e-bikes.  I was campaigning for e-bikes in general, but was leaning towards e-bikes that looked like conventional bicycles and cargo bikes that would not be out of place using existing bicycle infrastructure (racks, lanes), and would be recognizable by motorists as having bicycle-like performance characteristics. Within that space, there were the 'motorcycle' mindset group and the 'assistive' mindset group.  The Europeans were promoting the 'assistive' design (you have to pedal for the the e-drive to kick in), while the Asian products were mostly of the 'motorcycle' design (no pedalling required, just twist the throttle and go).

As the Asian machines were cheaper (simpler design, generally lower quality components), the North American businesses (e.g. Schwinn) put their weight behind the Asian approach.  The results were predictable: lots of cosmetic plastic, low quality parts, no replacement parts supply, manufacturers that popped up and then disappeared while the basic design and components were incorporated in the same frame and instantly available from another corporate entity for import.

A saw a lot of these ebikes get scrapped by frustrated and disappointed owners.  I sold a few replacement chargers to people who understood that their batteries were murdered by the use of the cheapest possible charger supplied by the manufacturer.  (Same issue for early cordless mowers and yard tools.)  I tried refurbishing one scrapped e-bike, but the failed parts were unobtanium (usually burned out motors and controllers).

On 2023-10-29 7:26 p.m., David Roden wrote:
On 29 Oct 2023 at 18:14, Darryl McMahon wrote:

The pedals are functional for moving the bike, not vestigial like most
of today's e-bikes.

As they are on all European E-bikes.

For some reason, EU law requires that the rider pedal for the bike to go.
There's no speed control; it goes as fast as you pedal.  It's just that
it's a lot easier to pedal.  I guess you'd say that it's rather like power
steering on a car.

All the E-bikes that I've seen so far have had multiple boost levels,
typically 3 to 5 levels.


David Roden - Akron, Ohio, USA

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