New Electric Bike

Looks like a great commute vehicle. I like that it can go on the bus or in the trunk. Too bad it will not be sold in US right away.

 

Interesting design and great that you can fold it up and take it with you, but distance on a charge is pretty short.

 

Geez. Get an electric bike if you roll like Paul Blart, Mallcop. Otherwise, just pedal and get some exercise in the process. Electric bikes are utterly pointless.

 

Neat how they're are coming out with different things like this

 

I used to think that, too. For people fit enough to cycle, I agree, adding the weight of a motor and batteries isn't all that helpful. But there are many for whom they're a great idea, and if they can be used instead of a car, or give people mobility they wouldn't otherwise have, then there is a market for them.

 

You call that an electric bike? THAT's not an electric bike ... now THIS is an electric bike:




Finished last summer, it 27hp ... Top speed, 100mph ... and charges off 110 volt house current.

 

27 HP? Sounds like there's a digit missing.

Cool, bike, though I find racer styling far more appealing than a chopper. Those handlebars look several feet too long.

 

I'm thinking more Italian than East coast/West coast. Something more like this:

 

I hear Paul Hogan's voice now...

 

"Paulie,, your idiot brother Mikey forgot to plug the @*+&%#@ing thing in! Where's Vinny?"

 

Also, let's say you have a 22.6 mile commute each way. You kind of like the idea of cycling it occasionally in summer but your commute has lots of small hills and you'd like electric assist to take away some of the strain. Better lazy on an e-bike than lazy in a car.

 

Cool! 10 km range, 20 kph max speed, 20 minutes for an 80% charge, and 10 kg weight for when you put it in its pack to carry it inside so thievs cannot take it. But 4,000 euros is pretty steep.

For all those comparing it to a motorcycle, motorcycles do not fold up into a knapsack weighing 22 pounds.

However, I would not be able to ride it. I can't even stay up on a regular bike, and that thing... forget it.

Some folks are building electric trikes around here, though. And I've pondered getting a velomobile trike. Those tend to be even more expensive, though, I think from $6,000 to $8,000. And that's without an electric motor.

 

As an old side hack driver, trikes are crazy dangerous! Probably not as funky as a side car, but damn close!

 

Actually, my Xebra (which is technically a trike) is surprisingly stable. There's a big difference between a trike, which has the odd wheel between the other two, and a motorcycle with a sidecar, which has two wheels in line and a sort of outrigger.

 

The "ideal" trike would be like the old Morgans,,, the rear being the single. The physics of true trike are better than a side hack, but I would rather corner on two, or four wheels.