[HN Gopher] Long Range E-Bike (2021)
___________________________________________________________________
Long Range E-Bike (2021)
Author : birdculture
Score : 93 points
Date : 2026-02-26 13:41 UTC (3 days ago)
(HTM) web link (jacquesmattheij.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (jacquesmattheij.com)
| adrianN wrote:
| I would be a bit worried that the extra weight compromises the
| structural integrity of the frame. 2kWh are heavy
| elcapitan wrote:
| I would be more worried charging that huge home built battery
| pack. I'm sure OP knows what he's doing, but I wouldn't want to
| bet my house on it.
| BizarroLand wrote:
| high quality heavy 18650s weigh about 2 oz. 190 of them would
| weigh about 24 lbs. Throw in another 6-10 lbs for bms, wiring,
| casing and errata and it's not that bad.
| Forge36 wrote:
| Bikes typically have a weight rating. Mine has 150lbs of cargo
| capacity (is a cargo bike).
| analog31 wrote:
| I don't know if this figures into the engineering formulas,
| but an e-bike needs to be stronger due to the higher speeds
| and power levels. On a human powered bike, if you're hauling
| 150 pounds, you're probably going pretty slow.
|
| My friends who have e-bikes go through a lot more
| "consumable" parts such as chains, tires, brakes, cogs, and
| bearings.
| oulipo2 wrote:
| That's why at https://infinite-battery.com we designed a
| fireproof and waterproof casing for our repairable batteries
| stevenhubertron wrote:
| It does feel like this is such an untapped market. Think
| commuters, credit cart tourers, tourism around a spread out city.
| Something that is safer than a motorcycle and faster than a bike.
| adrianN wrote:
| It's only safer than a motorcycle if you have bike friendly
| infrastructure.
| tim333 wrote:
| The fact they are kind of slow and you can take them on
| trains helps compared with motorcycles.
| nicbou wrote:
| In Germany at least the routes are a lot prettier because they
| go through forests and villages. It's what got me to cycle more
| and ride my motorcycle less.
| golson_kindmind wrote:
| Respect: that's a beautiful pack.
|
| I'm a total sucker for ebikes and built my first ebike around
| 2006, powered by 40lbs of lead acid motorcycle batteries.
|
| I recently outfitted a trailer with a large battery made for an
| efoil (my other obsession) where the non-battery components went
| bad, the company went out of business, and "Hey, this would make
| a bitchin' ebike battery.
|
| Here's me cruising around the Oregon back country with said setup
| last summer: https://imgur.com/a/lmvJSBW
| sriacha wrote:
| Wow. What is your total capacity and range with that setup?
| jdboyd wrote:
| In my city, travel habits and condition, I find I wish for more
| torque and lower speed. Every place I want to go has significant
| hills that the motor can't handle, and easing climbing hills is
| the main reason I want an ebike. My ebike's minimum speed for the
| motor is 15kph, which is ok by myself, but my family likes to go
| slower, so I have to go fully manual with them. When I look at
| ebike ads it feels like nobody else cares about these two areas
| of performance. When I talk to local ebike shops they are
| unprepared to talk about torque and minimum speed.
| rsingel wrote:
| It was too early and a bit of a dangerous design, but the
| StokeMonkey was built for torque and worked great at low
| speeds.
|
| Some pedicab folks in Austin used to use them.
|
| Hill climbing video YouTube
| https://share.google/iLrHXvjAKMO4esAux
|
| Design info https://share.google/iLrHXvjAKMO4esAux
| pmyteh wrote:
| I fitted a Bafeng mid-drive motor to my city bike and it's
| fabulous for hills. Because the power goes through the existing
| drivechain you can get high torque simply by switching to first
| gear. No minimum speed, power kicks in after half a turn of the
| pedals. Coupled with hub gears you can change at rest it's a
| marvel.
|
| Even at the European street legal limit of 250W it makes
| acceleration trivial.
| tokai wrote:
| Doesn't it help changing gears? You can even get sprockets
| changed to lower the gearing for more torque.
| kibwen wrote:
| Depends on the bike. On some bikes the motor is mounted in
| the rear wheel, in which case there's no gear between the
| motor and the wheel. On other bikes the motor is mounted
| between the pedals and sent to the rear via the chain, in
| which case shifting works as you expect. But the latter style
| (a.k.a. mid-drive) demands custom frames (because mid-drive
| motors are nonstandardized), which increases costs and
| decreases repairability. In contrast, rear-wheel motors can
| fit on literally any frame, so they're much more accessible.
| Mashimo wrote:
| Huh, it's you bike have a hub motor? The thing inside the
| wheel?
|
| Mine sits between the pedals. That means I can just go down in
| gear and the motor helps with going up the hill.
| Gigachad wrote:
| Exchanging torque and speed is like the only function of the
| gears on your bike.
| WarmWash wrote:
| Sort of a hijack, but it rides on the awesomeness that e-bikes
| can bring about. They truly are incredible if you have never
| gotten to ride one.
|
| _E-bikes with throttles should not be refereed to as e-bikes_
|
| E-peds, e-motos, electric motorycle, whatever. Just don't call
| them ebikes.
|
| The problem is people (especially kids) getting what are
| essentially electric motorcycles, thinking they are ebikes, and
| then causing all sorts of chaos on roads and bike paths. This
| inevitably leads to the public hating "e-bikes" and the
| government passing totally confused laws about "e-bikes". This
| also leads to kids getting killed because mom and dad bought them
| an "e-bike" and let them loose on the roads with it.
|
| Pedal assist ebikes are incredible, and really just turn weak
| cyclists into strong cyclists, while still providing exercise.
| It's a revolution for society, but we have to be careful to not
| totally fumble it with electric motorcycle death machines.
| Aurornis wrote:
| I agree. I thought the electric motorcycle problem was
| overstated by people complaining online at first. Then they
| became popular around my house and I agree it's a huge problem.
|
| I'm fortunate enough to live around a lot of walking and mixed
| use trails for bikes and pedestrians. Recently they're unsafe
| to use in the evenings because you have to be ready to jump out
| of the way of groups of kids (plus a few adults who should know
| better) going 45mph on electric bikes with throttles. They
| don't even pretend to be e-bikes any more.
|
| The big problem is that there is zero enforcement. If there was
| at least a chance that someone breaking these laws could lose
| their bike or have to pay thousands of dollars in fines I think
| we'd see a lot less of it. Right now everyone knows that
| they're not going to get caught, so it's a free for all.
| estebank wrote:
| I believe this to be growing pains. Legislation hasn't yet
| fully adapted, some of the legislation I've seen makes the
| mistake of conflaing these, and enforcement is nonexistent in
| most places. I suspect that as time passes, we'll find ways
| of allowing ebikes to flourish. Around me the biggest thing
| I've seen is parents on cargo bikes taking their kids, and
| that's a demographic that elected officials tend to listen
| to.
| Aurornis wrote:
| We have the laws. What they're doing is illegal. I think
| they need a higher tier of penalties for the repeat
| offenders, but that would require anyone getting caught
| first.
|
| It's an enforcement problem.
|
| The riders know they're riding where police cars can't get
| them. They also know that the bike cops aren't allowed to
| ride ultra powerful electric motorcycles. They also know
| they can just drive off across some grass into a park if
| anyone tries to stop them.
|
| It's a hard problem.
|
| > I suspect that as time passes, we'll find ways of
| allowing ebikes to flourish.
|
| Electric bikes are flourishing here. Electric motorcycles
| on bike paths are the problem.
|
| I think the electric term is confusing the issue. If it
| helps, imagine that these were just really quiet but
| powerful gas powered dirt bikes riding on the pedestrian
| path. That should give you an idea of what's going on.
| estebank wrote:
| I know what you're talking about, but a lot of people are
| conflating them. In some cases it is legislators like a
| recent attempt to require ebikes have to register and
| have a drivers' license for them. In others it's parents
| not realizing that they got their kids an electric dirt
| bike instead of an ebike. Of course, you do have the
| antisocial element of people not caring and actually
| seeking out these, but we need to separate the different
| problems to address them, as you are doing.
| Aurornis wrote:
| > In some cases it is legislators like a recent attempt
| to require ebikes have to register and have a drivers'
| license for them.
|
| Has any legislation been passed or was this only a
| proposal?
|
| Crazy legislation gets proposed all the time with no
| possibility of passing. Some times no intent of passing,
| either.
| WarmWash wrote:
| I made a comment below about the law that just passed in
| New Jersey. The short of it is "Anything with two wheels
| and a motor is now legally a motorcycle, and must follow
| all the laws and regulations of motorcycles.
| thwarted wrote:
| > _We have the laws. What they're doing is illegal. ...
| It's an enforcement problem._
|
| Because some people think laws only ever exist to
| restrain as a show of power over others and something is
| only illegal if you get caught.
|
| And some people just want to be contrarian and acting
| against the law is the ultimate punching-up.
|
| Some laws are just a good idea, and provide benefit, or
| even just expectation/predictability, to everyone.
| carlosjobim wrote:
| Motorcycle cops can ride faster than any e-bike, and go
| anywhere a bicycle can.
| CorrectHorseBat wrote:
| A car too, but you might kill the suspect [1]. Chasing
| kids on e-bikes down with motorcycles is asking for
| deathly accidents to happen.
|
| [1] https://www.vrt.be/vrtnws/en/2025/06/03/12-year-old-
| boy-dies...
| wintermutestwin wrote:
| The problem is the rider not the bike.
| 2muchcoffeeman wrote:
| Easy for you to say. I've almost hit a couple stupid kids
| on an e-bikes with throttles riding on suburban roads at
| night with no lights.
|
| And I'm seeing more and more fuckwits ride fast on side
| walks and accelerate to jump of the sidewalk and into
| traffic. Almost hitting unsuspecting people on the
| sidewalk.
|
| Community needs to police itself. Otherwise it's just going
| to be waiting for a critical mass of deaths.
| c0balt wrote:
| > Pedal assist ebikes are incredible, and really just turn weak
| cyclists into strong cyclists
|
| The more useful case ime is turning cyclists with reduced
| mobility into regular cyclists.
|
| In particular quite a few elderly people seem to have picked it
| up in my city, they aren't quite strong riders but definitely
| seem able of adapting to normal traffic. It also seems like a
| significantly safer option for individual transport than cars
| (especially in regards to the other traffic participants).
| tokai wrote:
| You just repeated W2s point.
| mikestew wrote:
| _The more useful case ime is turning cyclists with reduced
| mobility into regular cyclists._
|
| You mean, turn weak cyclists into strong cyclists, like GP
| said? :-)
| KennyBlanken wrote:
| No. Reduced mobility doesn't mean "weak." It means _reduced
| mobility_. It 's right there in the words. People who
| cannot pedal much at all, even the motion, no matter how
| light it is. Joint issues / surgery, deformities, etc.
|
| Don't be smarmy.
| brianwawok wrote:
| Elderly on a basically unlicensed motorcycle is a good recipe
| for injury. Pretty sure the stats look bad for this group
| especially
| michaelt wrote:
| To me, that sounds like a task for your country's lawmakers,
| rather than "Just don't call them ebikes"
|
| Motorbikes need training, a license, insurance, registration, a
| minimum age, etc - and you're competing with small petrol
| motorcycles which are cheap new, and plentiful on the used
| market.
|
| E-bike makers aren't going to volunteer for that - it'd destroy
| their business.
| occz wrote:
| >E-bike makers aren't going to volunteer for that it'd
| destroy their business.
|
| Arguably, complete bans will be even worse for business.
| WarmWash wrote:
| New Jersey just passed some of the most onerous and short
| sighted ebike laws in the world last month.
|
| Basically anything that has two wheels and a non-human energy
| source drive is now a motorcycle, requiring a license,
| registration (including a license plate), insurance, and a
| DOT approved motorcycle helmet, as well as This law came on
| the back of two teens being killed on ebikes last year.
|
| This is the exact kind of idiotic knee-jerk legislation that
| will come from the public and governments general ignorance
| on the state of electric tandem wheel transportation.
|
| So now in New Jersey, Betsy with her class 1 250W pedal
| assist ebike must get her license and don her motorcycle
| helmet while only riding on roads with her insured,
| registered, and license plated 15 mph bicycle.
|
| Lawmakers aren't going to do their homework, they will just
| kneejerk appease the general public.
| parineum wrote:
| This is what happens when ebike companies take every
| opportunity to skirt the laws like putting easily removable
| limiters on motorcycles with pedals and a chain with a gear
| ratio that makes pedalling practically impossible.
|
| I don't know if there was an existing attempt at regulation
| in NJ specifically but that's happening all around the
| country.
|
| The problem is that, while ebikes have a ton of really good
| use cases, the big market for them is basically kids who
| want to drive a motorcycle before they're allowed. Ebike
| companies are going to try to sell to that market any way
| they can.
| gimmeThaBeet wrote:
| yeah this seems to be the catch 22 to me. the laws are out
| there to limit the e-bikes to speeds and power. i want an
| irresponsibly powered one because i have an endorsement and
| want a non-sketch electric motorcycle that isn't mad
| expensive compared to petrol bikes in north america.
|
| but because that would indeed kill their market because most
| people don't have motorcycle licenses, no one gets them
| approved, or countries won't allow them.
| captainmuon wrote:
| I don't understand that point. Why do e-bikes become better or
| more safe when you have to rotate your legs? Its really
| frustrating and silly that I have to go through the motions
| (literally) of riding a bicycle if I want to get the priviledge
| of using a bike lane or going without a license plate. (At
| least that's the case here in Germany AFAIK).
|
| They could go ahead and make "fast electric bikes" and "slow
| electric bikes" or something as categories and that would make
| sense - but hinging the decision on whether your legs or your
| wrist is turning is illogical. I think it is actually morally
| charged - like you have to put in the work if you want the
| privilege.
| tokai wrote:
| Its easy, the accelerations are completely different and very
| hard to gauge. Also you have the elderly going speeds that
| does not mach their reactions, while also being unaware of
| how fast they are going. If you try biking with them it
| become very obvious how many dangerous situations they cause
| compared to true e-bike and normal bikes.
| Gigachad wrote:
| Pedal assist feels like amplifying your natural power. The
| boost it gives is perfectly matched with your own movements
| so it feels more like you are just super fit. And there is
| far less chance you can just slip and apply too much power
| unlike throttle controlled.
| WarmWash wrote:
| Don't let perfect be the enemy of good.
|
| We can focus on clamping down of "faux pedal ebikes" when the
| time comes, but for now it looks like we'll be throwing out
| everything to just to stop teenagers on surrons.
| brianwawok wrote:
| How much riding does it take to hold 25mph? 12 months of
| solid riding? (This is being generous, many people will never
| hold this speed)
|
| How much riding does it take to twist your arm 30 degrees?
|
| You don't see a difference?
| cortesoft wrote:
| Why does it matter how much riding it takes?
|
| The point in distinguishing the different classes is about
| where the bike should fit into the ecosystem. Should it
| ride on the shoulder, interacting with pedestrians and
| slower bikes, or should it ride on the road, interacting
| with cars and motorcycles.
|
| It doesn't matter how much riding it takes, it matters how
| fast and controlled it is moving compared to the other
| traffic in that class.
| zardo wrote:
| Why would people have a hard time doing 25mph on a pedal
| assist bike that isn't limited to less than that?
| jandrese wrote:
| The answer is cyclist gatekeeping? Or did I misunderstand
| your point?
| jeffbee wrote:
| It's because absolutely everyone understands the proportional
| nature of "press pedals to go" while nobody without special
| training understands "turn wrist to go", _especially_ not the
| crucial details of "untwist wrist to stop" and "by the way
| don't yank open the throttle while attempting a sharp turn".
| conductr wrote:
| As an alternative mode of transportation, that could/should
| replace car usage for many people, I think we need to separate
| the two completely as well. The throttle version needs to be
| regulated more like a motorcycle or moped. This would take it
| out of the hands of most kids and cause license suspension
| worries for young adults and other reckless users. I agree they
| are essentially death machines and governments generally have
| no sane approach to regulating them.
|
| That said, I think the e-moto versions have more potential
| towards alleviating traffic or being an alternative mode of
| transportation as most people don't want to peddle at all.
| E-bikes are great, but I don't think it's reasonable to assume
| that would ever be on the average Joe's list of feasible
| alternatives.
| SoftTalker wrote:
| > most people don't want to peddle at all.
|
| Most people don't want a two-wheeler, period. Otherwise
| everyone would be riding motorcycles. People want a vehicle
| that will keep them dry, comfortable, and safe. Two-wheelers
| of all types fail at all of those things.
| WarmWash wrote:
| There is nothing standing in the way of electric motorcycles.
|
| People get e-motos because it is effectively a motorcycle,
| except it doesn't have any road legality requirements. People
| treat them like bicycles that can just magically go 50mph.
| Aerroon wrote:
| I wouldn't want an e-bike precisely because I can't trust my
| government not to introduce some new legislation with onerous
| rules or extra costs. Maybe if they were cheap, but since they
| cost an arm and a leg there's no reason to get them.
| jandrese wrote:
| You can get a perfectly workable brand new E-Bike for about
| $1,000 in the US. While that isn't cheap as chips it's also
| not a major investment for middle class individuals.
| unethical_ban wrote:
| I think e-motos should be as lightly regulated as possible. The
| regulations on bike paths should be speed, not pedal vs. non-
| pedal. And since "bikes" aren't regulated but "mopeds" are, you
| see people avoiding government BS by shipping e-bikes that have
| "off-road" mode that enables no-pedal throttles.
| thrill wrote:
| "E-bikes with throttles should not be refereed to as e-bikes"
|
| This is simply wrong and does a disservice to the growing eBike
| interest. The US-federally defined classes are proper and while
| IMO overly limiting (max speed should be 60kph and still
| classified as an eBike as it's simply safer in traffic), they
| adequately classify what is an eBike and what is not, and
| having a throttle does not make something not an eBike, but max
| speed and power.
|
| People have this urge to classify their limited version of what
| something is by how they use it with some desire to belittle
| others, and want to limit everyone else who have completely
| different requirements and capabilities and desires. eBikes in
| most US states can be ridden on sidewalks, in bike lanes, in
| traffic, on trails, and across a grassy meadow. There is no
| justifiable reason to require someone to have different eBikes
| to be able to do all those things with comfort and safety and
| capability and utility when a well engineered eBike can do all
| of them. That they might be safer with circumstantially
| restricted speeds, such as overtaking pedestrians, etc. again
| does mean multiple eBikes should be mandated to be able to do
| each of them.
|
| In the US, hopefully the next administration will buy a vowel
| and realize they need to set federal standards and eliminate
| this hodgepodge state and county and city and park and street
| and neighborhood capricious variety of who can ride what when
| and where, and with what gear and at what times and for what
| reasons. If decisions are made that no one under 13 can ride an
| eBike, and then only to school until you're 16, and you must
| wear a helmet until at least 19, then at least there will be
| consistent rules for people to argue for and against.
| pluralmonad wrote:
| Why do you think it is bad for communities to set their own
| standards?
| bootlooped wrote:
| 60kmph / 37mph is very fast for somebody who might just be
| wearing a bicycle helmet (hopefully). If traffic is going
| that fast, I think it may just not be the appropriate place
| for a bicycle to be. I've gone that fast on an e-bike before,
| and it doesn't feel comfortable nor safe.
| aziaziazi wrote:
| I agree with having a good helmet, however to be honest my
| first motorbike ride and car drive at 60kmh were
| terrifying. Also many people never bicycle even in a 30kmh
| limites zone because they don't feel safe.
|
| But I don't want to downplay speed, as you noted it's
| probably the key: most motorbike death are because speed or
| loose of control without involving any other vehicle. Also
| small cylinders (< 50cc) are almost absent in the death
| toll. If suicidal motorbikes with good helmet are allowed,
| so should be the bicyclists (with good helmet).
| s0rce wrote:
| I really like a low speed throttle, like 3-5mph max is fine.
| 20mph is too fast and results in ebikes basically designed a
| motorcycles that cannot be pedaled. The throttle is so nice to
| have to get started quickly like turning left at a light, if
| you didn't have time to downshift before stopping, on a hill,
| or if the bike is heavily loaded with stuff. Its also nice to
| be able to use to slowly move between cars with your feet off
| the pedals to keep balance if needed.
| wintermutestwin wrote:
| As an oldster who used to do weekly century rides and lost that
| ability due to nerve damage in my foot (thanks to decades of
| wearing pointy Italian riding shoes), I'd love it if we could
| focus on simply enforcing laws that exist rather than saddling
| arbitrary blanket regulations on lawful citizens.
|
| I built an ebike and hell yes I put a throttle on it because it
| enables me to ride more technical trails. This bike has
| dramatically increased my quality of life. Please leave me
| alone and if someone uses a throttle bike in an illegal manner
| give them a ticket.
| afavour wrote:
| I think there are many more factors to it than that. I own a
| Radwagon, a cargo e-bike and I take my kids to school on it.
| It's both pedal assist and has a throttle and maxes out at
| 20mph. I find the throttle very useful because the bike is
| pretty damn heavy with two kids on it and moving from a
| standing stop is much easier when I can give it a quick
| throttle burst then start pedalling.
|
| All that said, I do agree the term is overloaded. The bike
| lines in NYC often have people riding electric mopeds in them
| and that feels dangerous. Their max speed is clearly way above
| 20mph and they're bulky. They belong on the road with other
| mopeds. So IMO the definition of ebike should factor in max
| speed more than it should throttle vs not.
|
| (And also, seconding the awesomeness of ebikes. My kids love
| riding on it and it's allowed us to take so many trips that
| would have been difficult otherwise. It's also allowed us to
| avoid buying a car, for now at least)
| IshKebab wrote:
| The problem with max speed is that while big legit ebike
| manufacturers respect it (e.g. you can't buy a Bosch ebike in
| the UK that will go above 15.5mph), you can easily get
| Chinese models that don't care, or you can mod other bikes
| that do fairly easily.
|
| I don't know what the solution is tbh.
| jandrese wrote:
| Why not just define the law in terms of maximum speed and
| be fine with it? Why nitpick over control modes?
|
| I can guarantee that if I asked 10 random cops what the
| restrictions are of a Class 2 e-bike not more than 1 could
| answer, but if I asked them to stop people who were going
| over 30mph on the bike trail they could figure it out.
| KennyBlanken wrote:
| You can't "easily" modify an electric brushless motor to go
| faster than its Kv limit, to handle more current than its
| magnetic saturation limit, or to exceed the limits of back-
| EMF.
|
| 99% of the people whinging about ebikes have no idea what
| they're talking about.
|
| There are people claiming in this very thread that kids are
| modding their "e-bikes" to go "45mph."
|
| The power levels required to push a hybrid bicycle to 45mph
| is north of 3000W and thus well beyond the capabilities of
| the motors and battery packs in nearly all electric
| bicycles. Even the e-motos struggle to hit those speeds;
| you need a pretty high end, expensive one to do so.
| Qwertious wrote:
| There's not much difference between a throttle and a
| sufficiently powerful pedal-assist. Switch to your top gear,
| and the torque-sensor will say "gee that's a steep hill, let me
| give you a boost" the moment you start pedalling.
|
| Banning throttles just makes manufacturers install token pedals
| on the motorbikes.
| Gigachad wrote:
| In theory maybe, but in reality pedal assist bikes are far
| more likely to be compliant with speed and power restrictions
| and designed to feel like a bike. While throttle bikes are
| almost always sold as dirt bikes for use on private property.
| jandrese wrote:
| When I think of throttle assist in an e-bike my thought is
| not about dirt bikes but instead the incredibly common low
| end cadence sensing e-bikes that are hard to get started
| from a stop.
| bjustin wrote:
| I propose a new and improved e-bike classification scheme:
|
| Class A: Bikes that can not go over 10mph via a throttle. And
| can't go over 28mph with pedal assist. Or set the pedal assist
| limit at 20mph if you're feeling especially conservative.
|
| Class B-Class infinity: These aren't considered bikes. Class A
| is the only class of e-bike.
| idontwantthis wrote:
| The throttle isn't a problem, the top speed is. A throttle and
| pedal assist is nice because you can get started faster and
| more safely from a stop.
|
| Kids riding out of spec motorcycles has always been illegal and
| always will be. The only problem is that they are a lot cheaper
| than they used to be.
| LoganDark wrote:
| I have a disability and can't pedal for many minutes or hours
| straight, but my electric scooter with a throttle is absolutely
| amazing for helping me get around areas that would otherwise
| require tons of walking (or pedaling). I guess I'm a demon that
| needs to be regulated out of existence?
| comrade1234 wrote:
| I think that size of battery would move it into requiring a
| motorcycle license here in Switzerland, just based on the size
| alone. And if it goes faster than 45km/h then definitely.
|
| I have my motorcycle license and have been considering getting
| something that I can ride all day. Only problem is that if it's
| classified as a motorcycle license I don't think I can take it in
| the train like a bike if I run out of juice far away.
| devsda wrote:
| I know we all carry fully charged batteries in our pockets and
| sometimes keep them in our ears too.
|
| But something about travelling in crowded and closed space like
| train with a fully charged diy (or even commercial) battery
| pack sounds risky.
|
| This is one of the reasons I didn't go for a diy replacement of
| TWS pair with dead batteries.
| nickorlow wrote:
| I'd be worried about getting into a crash on this bike.
| (still an awesome project)
| skyberrys wrote:
| The article mentions using Trespa, which I had to look up. It's a
| type of cladding that is fire resistant but is also not metal.
| It's a laminate type. The author is in the Netherlands, the
| infrastructure there must be really good to be able to ride 160km
| on an e bike between cities.
| tokai wrote:
| EuroVelo will blow your mind.
|
| https://en.eurovelo.com/
| davidw wrote:
| eBikes are such a game changer. I do most of our family of four's
| grocery shopping with ours.
|
| Because of the assist, I find myself more comfortable in a wider
| range of weather conditions:
|
| * If it's hot, I use more assist and there's an instant cooling
| effect. Much better than climbing into a hot car.
|
| * If it's cold, I dress up to be warm outside and if I start to
| warm up on the ride, I use more assist. I don't have to try and
| balance staying warm and not getting sweaty.
|
| * Same thing if it's wet out: I can wear heavier waterproof gear
| and not get sweaty.
| Mashimo wrote:
| I bought an entry level ebike and the range is about 100km on
| lowest power on flat land, and of course it increases if you
| drive above 25 km/h.
|
| I don't know what the difference is with what op has, but for me
| it's no extra issue to drive above the top speed. It's a gradient
| transition.
|
| I use mine daily and charge it every two or three weeks.
| HelloUsername wrote:
| Original post and discussion in 2021:
| https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29198205
| dang wrote:
| Thanks! Macroexpanded:
|
| _Show HN: Long Range E-Bike_ -
| https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29198205 - Nov 2021 (615
| comments)
| renewiltord wrote:
| Very cool. Thanks for sharing. I have an ebike myself and have
| considered just strapping extra battery packs to the frame so
| that I can just swap when required. In the end, I mostly take
| shorter trips (I've had it since Dec and my odo only reads three
| figures).
|
| Speaking of R&M, I have wanted to get one of their bikes that has
| the child container area in the front. I saw one guy with one and
| it looked pretty awesome. A large bike like that would benefit
| from some larger battery pack. And those have a flat area in
| front on the frame where you can host a few parallel to the floor
| (hard in a normal bike frame).
|
| One annoying constraint is that it's hard to find a place here in
| America where people won't tacitly kill children. As more people
| here become online only child-free characters driving large EVs
| they don't think too much about killing children and will only
| delay someone's license for a couple of years for doing so.
|
| The hard problem seems to be other people.
| simonebrunozzi wrote:
| The title should say (2021). Great article.
| lukasm wrote:
| If I'd want more range, I'd go with an extra battery in a
| backpack.
| utopiah wrote:
| ... put your (e)bike on a train, that's where the range come
| from.
|
| Very cool experimentation but in term of making the practice
| sustainable best to rely on the infrastructure. It's a bit like
| in sports having to use the big muscles, e.g. you climb with your
| legs, not with your fingers no matter what super strength grip
| you have.
| hirsto wrote:
| Not everyone lives near mass transit nor in a city
| cortesoft wrote:
| Where exactly is this train that I should put my e-bike on?
| twocommits wrote:
| Fucking people pushing their ebikes into already crowded
| trains! You wanted to cycle, go cycle then; don't pester us
| regulars with your 30kg dirtmachine.
| Gigachad wrote:
| 99% of the time it's food delivery workers who have to live
| in the outer edges of the city while all the orders are in
| the inner city.
|
| The solution to this problem is to run enough trains that
| they aren't so crowded a bike wouldn't fit. These people are
| paying for tickets so their usage should be funding the
| running of more services.
| jeffbee wrote:
| The aerodynamic situation of a bicycle is so disadvantageous that
| the easiest way to get a long range e-bike is to simply ride more
| slowly. People internalize beliefs about energy-range ratios from
| electric cars, but they don't translate well to bicycles.
| jandrese wrote:
| It is kind of a shame that recumbent bikes are expensive and
| bike nerd coded. A recumbent e-bike with an aeroshell would be
| fantastically efficient and useful in so many situations, but
| if you tried to buy one today it is going to cost as much as a
| car and have everybody else sneering at you.
| gcanyon wrote:
| It's weird that these restrictions apply: 25km/h, 55km range? The
| Evolve Carbon skateboard tops out at 50km/h, and 80km range.
| Granted, you have to be a little bit crazy to ride that fast on a
| skateboard, and having owned an earlier version, I guarantee it's
| not pleasant riding that far on one. But people do it. Someone
| must be putting out faster/longer distance bikes that don't look
| like/ride like mopeds.
|
| Okay, a quick google and this seems somewhat moped-ish but 200
| mile range, 28mph top speed:
| https://aniioki.com/products/aniioki-aq177-pro-max-electric-...
|
| Crazy price, but a real bike with 300 mile range and 36mph top
| speed: https://shop.optibike.com/shop/r22-everest/
| mcc1ane wrote:
| 2021?
| bgnn wrote:
| Ebikes cannot go faster than 25 kph in the Netherlands, where
| the author lives. Also they cannot provide power assist without
| pedalling.
| reactordev wrote:
| Man: "How much power that thing got?"
|
| You: "Yes."
|
| Right after the pandemic of 2020, I joined an "outside squad" of
| OneWheel enthusiasts, PEV daredevils, and E-bike low riders. We
| would ride around the city in 70 man packs. It was the most fun
| I've had as a grown up. :) Even broke my olecranon in a nose dive
| but rode my wheel out of the hospital. Best money spent.
| dwedge wrote:
| I know a guy who tried doing something like this and burnt his
| house down. One of the batteries exploded and took the others
| with it.
| elliottkember wrote:
| I was working on an LED project that involved some reasonably-
| sized lithium batteries, and the guy in the hardware store said
| "I don't want to hear about you in the news tomorrow". That
| really stuck with me, and I say it sometimes when I think
| someone's going to do something dangerous.
| ray_v wrote:
| I was just looking for the comment telling me this is
| _probably_ a bad idea, so thanks!
| jandrese wrote:
| Yes, always have a fire plan in mind when starting a lithium
| battery project. They go up very quickly and generate a ton of
| choking smoke. It only takes one oopsie with a screwdriver or
| dropping a cell to start a fire.
| cbdevidal wrote:
| I think of e-bikes as a kind of "electric horse."
|
| * Goes about as fast as a horse
|
| * Goes about the same distance as a horse
|
| * Sitting on a saddle like a horse
|
| * Out in the weather like a horse
|
| * But no feed or vet bills
|
| * No need for lots of land or infrastructure
|
| * Little ongoing maintenance
|
| * Little skill needed to ride :-)
| Tepix wrote:
| > _My first e-bike, a pretty crappy one but enough to get my
| appetite whetted had a 500 Wh battery, enough for a 55 km trip
| one-way, and it would be dead on arrival, range anxiety to the
| max._
|
| What? 55km with a 500Wh battery? Was he not pedaling at all? Why
| does he even have range anxiety on an ebike? You can just pedal
| if the battery is low.
| jandrese wrote:
| E-bikes suck pedal if the motor is not helping. Also, someone
| going that far is almost certainly doing it at the maximum
| speed of the bike, and power use goes up quadratically with
| speed. You could probably do that trip with plenty of power to
| spare at 15kph or arrive with no charge remaining at 30kph.
| fattybob wrote:
| That's a fantastic build, I only wish e-bike manufacturers would
| offer similarly spec's bikes, a days ride is very rarely 30 km,
| so 200 min or more like 200 km range would be a bike worth
| investing in. I feel similarly about electric cars too, charging
| mud route or at destinations is rarely possible so 300 miles or
| greater are the only vehicle ranges I see as remotely practical.
| ( yes, I cycle in km and drive in miles , weird maybe) Oh yes an
| edit - speed, who rides so slowly, those ebike speed restrictions
| are crazy low.
| whatever1 wrote:
| "The good bit about that e-bike for me wasn't the speed but the
| fact that I didn't need to exert as much force when starting up,
| which as the result of a previous bike accident is still hard for
| me (lots of steel and screws in one of my legs)."
|
| See if he was not biking at the first place he would not need an
| e-bike.
___________________________________________________________________
(page generated 2026-03-01 23:00 UTC)