Any suggestions of best Bicycle for hills?

Recumbents DO tend to be heavier, perhaps 2-10 lbs ?, but I don't care. The relaxed seating position allows me to enjoy the view for hours, and get exercise too. I'm not into racing, just relaxing.


BUT,... I'm suddenly rather excited again. Electric bikes are apparently pretty good now, using modern motors and batteries, just like the Prius. AND some are regenerative with multiple regen rates !

I read and believe an argument that electric bikes are better for exercising because you always have the OPTION of pushing, and as hard or as gentle as you want, even going up hills...

So now I'm psyched to get one of these upgrade kits with wheel and motor, battery and controller for my bike.

Apparently, in Ontario there is a pilot program that allows these electric bikes, up to 20 MPH (you can go more with feet!) to use bike paths, and we have MANY of those here in Ottawa. I could commute 20 miles over the Ottawa River, with at least 15 miles of that on bike paths, rest on surface streets. Would take me an hour, instead of half an hour, but it would be fun, more relaxing and would only cost a penny or so in electricity !

So I'm off to my "lab" to build a Hybrid Bike. Perhaps I could fill the bike trailer with an old Prius HV battery

 

I have three bikes with Curry Pro-drive motors on them. They are great. The small motor assembly has planetary reduction gears built in it and there is also an over-running clutch. You can ride the bike in a normal way, ride it using the motor, or a combination of both. I guess they are true Hybrids. Last Sunday, I rode one from South to North with a tail wind for about four miles using the motor very little. On the way back against the wind, I got lazy and used the motor about 90% of the time.

The motor drives the back wheel on the side opposite to the regular chain and doesn't interfere with it's operation at all. Two 12 volt batteries in series provide the necessary 24 volt power.

They are full size mountain bikes. One can fold and has fat tires. The other two have been converted to skinny high pressure tires and are very easy to peddle, in spite of the additional weight.

I bought the folding bike as a complete factory assembled unit several years ago. The other two, I converted using components purchased on Ebay. I love em.

 

I'm no expert (although I just finished another century ride in western Virginia), but I'd recommend going to your local bike shop and talking to them about it. If they don't have a good bike recommendation for you, they can always regear any bike to your needs. As mentioned, a smaller ring up front with the proper matching cassette in the rear would likely be sufficient.

 

Yes, I agree. Take some test rides on the types of hills and other terrain you expect.

I did some reading last night, and electric seems pretty cool, but it can get expensive. Like $1000 or so for a good upgrade kit (eg BionX) for an existing bike. Could be $1500-$2000 or more for a really good (IMO) system like ecodrive.

"Hybrid" with regen braking is apparently not worth much. Electric bikes can't get much advantage as bike power is more about overcoming aerodynamics and less about recovering a small amount of momentum from a lightweight bike-rider package.


Electric bikes seem to make more sense financially if you are looking for a way to save on commuting costs, and if you have a good bike commute path. I already spent $2000 on my bike. I COULD spend $2000 more on a really cool electric upgrade, but I can't justify that cost if it's only a "toy". I COULD justify it if I commuted, or ran to the store regularly in it, and it saved me gas costs.

Yes, the batteries and other components will break or wear out eventually. So you might not be able to recoup costs unless you used it regularly and saved much gas cost, IMO.

OTOH, if you can replace a vehicle, there are often NO insurance or registration fees to pay, and maintenance can be done more easily and cheaply IMO than on a small car.

 

What Brad said. I put about 4K miles/year spread among three road bikes, half of it uphill (though it always seems like more). Gearing and fit is everything. My touring bike has a 34T cluster and 19T chainring for a 19" low gear = I can go up anything...slowly.

Whatever you decide on, invest in an hour fitting at your local bike shop. It'll add tremendously to your comfort, efficiency and endurance.

And please give your body and saddle time to break-in. It takes me about 1K miles on a trainer doing intervals in Jan/Feb to prepare for road riding season here. It makes a tremendous improvement in speed, stability and safety on the open road. Have fun!

 

Real relaxing pushing one of those up a hill. Weight matters, alot. It is the difference between making the hill, and not making the hill. It is the difference between pain, and no pain.

2-10 lbs? The recumbants I have ridden were 15-25 pounds heavier than a decent bike. For the money a recumbant costs they are very, very heavy.

On top of that, they KILL my back. All of you weight is on you back. If you have back pain at all they seem to be the worst possible thin you can do. Proper comfort involves spreading your weight between the legs, back, and arms, not forcing it all onto your lumbar region.

 

Please don't do electric assist for bikes unless you are physically handicapped. The enviromental cost of the batteries is too much for the gain.

 

Try a tandem. In a group of cyclists, tandems usually go faster uphill than solo cyclists. At least riding a tandem will mix it up for you. Credible bicycle shops will let you take test rides on any bicycle. Gear ratios (number of teeth) in the front and rear sprockets can be changed to make pedaling easier. Bottom line: just ride your bicycle more.

 

Rubbish.

 

Sorry to take so long to get back to answer your questions. First, I don't know if Curry Pro-drive kits are still available. I bought the ones that I have several years ago on Ebay. One of them is an older style and uses double reduction chain drive instead of a planetary gear set-up. Therefore, the mounting plate is larger to accommodate the extra chain. The cost of the kits, not counting batteries, on Ebay was around $200 to $250.

The second part of the question was how long the batteries last. I didn't really have a good answer till today since I usually only use the motor in very short bursts of maybe 1 to 5 seconds for a little boost when pedaling gets hard. (saves a lot of shifting). I had never run just on the batteries for any extended time to see what the range would be.

This morning after riding about 10 miles with my neighbor, I decided to see how far the bike would go on battery power alone. I rode it for 10 miles at speeds between 14 and 20 mph on the motor. At the end of the 10 miles on battery power only the two 12 volt, 12 ah sealed lead acid batteries in series were beginning to show weakness, so I would say that this bike has an easy 10 mile range on battery only power.

I really like these bikes and don't agree with the poster that said that the batteries do too much harm to the environment. A couple of pictures are posted here.

 

Any bike will do if it has 27 tooth chain wheel.

 

The benefits to a hybrid human-electric ebike: People who are older say that there are times when they don't feel as energetic and are borderline on whether they want to go for a ride, and if they don't have electric assist, they may decide to just stay home. Those that have electric assist are much more likely to head out on a bike ride. The benefits of electric assist are that you only use it when you need it. It is possible that you could go on an entire ride without ever using the motor. Great! It means you are having a good day.

Image: Blue LE eBike pictures from cars photos on webshots

 

I am also looking for a good hill bike.
I was looking at the Schwinn tourist street bike. It's very light and has 24 speeds. 3 gears in the front and 8 in the back. Thin HP tires too. I've seen it for around $200 plus shipping on a few web sites.

I regret that recently the state of PA has changed it's laws reguarding electric assist bikes.
Since 2005, I have used a Currie Mongoose 7 speed electric assist. I had to replace the LA batteries once a year for $60.00. Not bad. It worked great on the hills in my area.
In July of 2008. I was on my way to do food shopping and was pulled over by the State police and cited with a warning.
The state of PA now considers any bike with a motor powered with gas or electric a moped. Before 2008, A moped was defined as a bike with a gas motor.
Even if you turn the motor off or remove the battery. The bike is still called a moped by the state of PA. If I had deep pockets, I would have gone to court over this. But no Joy!
In anycase, I suggest you make sure by adding a motor to the bike is legal in your state. I know the state's of Ohio and NY also now require registration and Insurance of these electric assist bikes.

In PA. In order to use an electric assist bike, Or as they are now calling it a moped. Requires a Class C drivers Licence, Registration with PENDOT $9.00/year and Insurance $30.00/year.

Just wait. Pretty soon, We will have to register non electric bikes or even our feet.


Ron

 

Compared to, say, driving a car instead?

 

Don't know about the electric bikes and did not read all the other comments, so apologies if this is repeating what others have said.

For hills - go with as light of a bike as possible, with fairly smooth, somewhat narrow tire tread (too narrow and you might not feel comfortable with it). Also make sure your front chain ring has 3 gears. Go to a good shop - they will be able to help you. Just don't be talked into a lot of stuff that won't help your riding hills but will just add cost and weight (like disc brakes and a front & rear suspension). If you are riding paved roads you don't need the suspension and the disc brakes, while nice, are much more costly and weigh more. A lighter bike will be so much easier to power up hills and low gearing will make it a breeze.

 

RON2008: "Just wait. Pretty soon, We will have to register non electric bikes or even our feet."

That reminded me of this:

If you drive a car, I’ll tax the street,
If you try to sit, I’ll tax your seat.
If you get too cold I’ll tax the heat,
If you take a walk, I’ll tax your feet.

"Taxman" by the Beatles 1966 I can hear it playing now!

 

Revolver. Bloody brilliant album.