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frogbs posted:There's a guy who thinks you should consider the 'cost of commute time' and 'physical work' as part of the cost of an ebike. I look at it from the other perspective. E-biking to work is 35-40 minutes, driving is 30-35. So I spend 10 extra minutes to get a more than an hour of daily moderate cardio which makes me feel good, sleep well and not get too fat. If I don't bike I need to find time to exercise some other way or suffer the consequences, so really it's a time saver the way I see it. (Train/bus is a bit slower and less reliable and I can't read or look at my phone on those anyways because motion sickness.)
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Dec 15, 2021 08:51
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| # ? Jun 6, 2024 19:43 |
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My job right now is escorting disabled people on the bus and the answer is air quality. Idiots insist on closing the windows on the bus in winter so you get to breathe in recycled engine fumes and covid all journey.
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Dec 15, 2021 09:04
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Yeah public transport isn't very attractive these days because of covid obviously, and motion sickness on the bus is a real issue for me. Still makes an interesting comparison cost/time-wise to e-biking. Metro passes aren't free, but neither are bikes or their upkeep. Depending on what breaks and wears out or gets stolen I figure payback on my current commuter should take at least two years of riding (more likely almost three) and it's a pretty cheap bike as these things go. All things considered bikes are almost always superior simply because they're the most fun IMO, but in my case health, time and economy compare pretty favourable to the alternatives too.
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Dec 15, 2021 09:35
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SamsCola posted:Is there a bike gear thread? I need recommendation on gloves for the upcoming winter (Chicago, commuting, all weather) and this is the only thread I have bookmarked... Search is failing me. bar mitts/pogies are unparalleled and I've never found a glove that is suitable to keep my hands warm up here in Milwaukee winter riding, which is basically the same as Chicago weather wise... the best part about them is I ride in the winter either with no gloves (mitts alone are good to the mid 20s probably) or with really thin light gloves.
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Dec 16, 2021 01:47
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Flying_Crab posted:bar mitts/pogies are unparalleled and I've never found a glove that is suitable to keep my hands warm up here in Milwaukee winter riding, which is basically the same as Chicago weather wise... I got some bar mitts and they're amazing. Also got a stupidly bright headlight that I'm pretty happy with.
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Dec 16, 2021 13:11
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Invalido posted:I look at it from the other perspective. Yeah, I agree, the built in excessive/cardio is part of the appeal of bike commuting for me. It’s baffling to me that anyone would view that as a negative, but I guess there’s people who really just want an e-moped with a big cup holder so they can peg the throttle and guzzle dew on the way to the office.
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Dec 16, 2021 19:08
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frogbs posted:Yeah, I agree, the built in excessive/cardio is part of the appeal of bike commuting for me. It’s baffling to me that anyone would view that as a negative, but I guess there’s people who really just want an e-moped with a big cup holder so they can peg the throttle and guzzle dew on the way to the office. Funny thing is in the UK the answer is yes for a lot of people, because there is a huge amount of licencing, tax and insurance which goes along with a e-moped but not a e-bike. These people have to know how to turn the limiter back on very very quickly when they see a policeman.
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Dec 16, 2021 20:39
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Finally received our Blix Packa Genie that we ordered back in the summer that was sitting off the coast of Long Beach for 2 months and then mired in FedEx hell. My wife, who has always begrudged riding, has become addicted to it. With the rear child carrier we even managed to load up all three kids (7, 5, 3) in the back and the 9lb puppy in the front basket. Truly a game changer for getting around town. Previously my wife always joked about getting a golf cart but now she's preaching the ebike gospel to everyone who comments on it. Now I get to analog pedal behind them and try to keep up like some sort of chump.
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Jan 2, 2022 13:32
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Rad Power Bikes so dominates the market here (San Diego County). I spotted this on my street during a recent bike ride: 
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Jan 2, 2022 20:09
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Well, yeah, they opened a brick and mortar store off the Bayshore Bikeway near National City. I like my KlickFix locking handlebar mount and baskets/bags but I am very jelly of the Rad front basket with wood detail. Very jelly indeed.
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Jan 2, 2022 22:15
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we succumbed to grin tech's 25% off sale and bought a pair of kits with all-axle motors to convert our commuter bikes (I have an old Kona Dew and she has an ancient Raleigh). between the bikes looking like total poo poo and upgrading to onguard brute u-locks, hopefully we can avoid any theft issues. I like the idea of being able to switch the kit to any fork's axle standard for when we someday get new commuters. I got the slow wind version since I do dumb things like tow small sailboats around, and my partner got the regular wind version. since we aren't speed freaks we are both getting the 48v 19ah batteries instead of going higher voltage. total cost including one very nice satiator charger to share is a bit under $1800 each. I am very curious to see how the 24 pole cadence sensors they have work out. also looking forward to regen braking and electric freewheeling and all the other crazy customizability their controller setup offers!
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Jan 2, 2022 22:55
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What's a good easy detach pack for the rear rack? I need something for my work laptop and don't want to deal with buying/using a new backpack. Would have to pull double duty as diaper poo poo on the weekend for the toddler in the baby seat on back.
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Jan 2, 2022 22:57
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L0cke17 posted:What's a good easy detach pack for the rear rack? I need something for my work laptop and don't want to deal with buying/using a new backpack. What's your budget?
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Jan 2, 2022 23:38
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kimbo305 posted:What's your budget? Yes? Like I'd rather not spend $500+ but also my work laptop is like $3k and I don't want it falling into the street and having to deal with the headache of replacing it. I doubt they'd make me pay for it but I don't really want to gently caress around with the possible data loss and replacing it during a huge shortage. My backpack was a couple hundred for a nice one so I was imagining nice bike packs would be in that ballpark too?
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Jan 3, 2022 00:04
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L0cke17 posted:Yes? I'd recommend something like https://www.ortlieb.com/usa_en/twin-city-urban+F8102 or https://www.ortlieb.com/usa_en/office-bag-high-visibility+F70971 Ortlieb bags are nice because they clip on to standard racks really quickly and easily. The Twin City Urban has a flap that folds over to cover the clips when it's off the bike, but the Office Bag High Visibility is a little more structured and has a retroreflective fabric woven in to the exterior. It's also more water resistant than the Twin City Urban. There are two types of Ortlieb quick detatch systems. QL2.1 sticks out a little more and is a little more annoying when you're carrying the bag around off the bike, but QL3.1 leaves a thing on the bike all the time. Up to you which you like better. I own a bunch of Ortlieb stuff, and it's all built like a tank. I strongly recommend it. Edit -- I don't know how the Ortlieb stuff would interact with your toddler seat.
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Jan 3, 2022 16:44
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Safety Dance posted:Ortlieb bags are nice because they clip on to standard racks really quickly and easily. Not only do they have QL2.1 and 3.1, but you'll also see QL3, QL2 and even QL1. They're all explained here: https://www.ortlieb.com/usa_en/service/technical/ql-systems/ IMO, 3.1 is not as handy as 3, and I would personally try to get 3 over 3.1. 2.1, 2, and 1 are all pretty similar, with 1 allowing the most fine tuning at the cost of needing a hex key. For 2.* and 1, you might have to wrap your rack with a bit of electric tape to kill any rattling. Annoying that a $100+ bag still needs a tweak like that, but very worth it.
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Jan 3, 2022 17:01
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It looks like the ql3 leaves hardware behind they would interfere with the baby seat when I go to mount that up. So I guess I'm stuck with the 2. Also nearly all of those are out of stock. This seems like the only in-stock pack that does what I want? Any thoughts? https://www.ortlieb.com/usa_en/commuter-bag-two-urban+F70664
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Jan 3, 2022 19:03
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It's gonna be a good bag. If it fits in your price range, buy it. For comparison, I have one of these: https://www.ortlieb.com/usa_en/back-roller-plus+F5201. Got it for free, and I toss a small laptop bag in there when I go to work. If I'm going into a store after work, I take the whole affair with me.
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Jan 3, 2022 20:13
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I've got a Frankenstein vintage schwinn (one of these that I converted into a single speed. It's so much fun to ride and I love it, even up some hills, but I know I'd ride it even more than just around town if I had a hill-topper assist or something that I could connect to it's 26" tires. Anything folks know about that could work?
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Jan 12, 2022 06:44
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You sure that's 26" wheels? You have options, but none of them are ideal. What are you looking to spend?
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Jan 12, 2022 06:57
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If you know how to build wheels, a cheap decent full setup incl battery from BMSbattery.com is about $550 shipped. if you want them to build the wheel for you and ship it, more like $650-$700 iirc. actual quality parts and support would be at least double.
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Jan 12, 2022 15:13
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A thing to consider is that an electric system adds a bunch of weight any way you go about it. A hub motor, battery and the other gubbins will transform a nice fun bike into a heavy unfun bike without the assist in use. When you're on the power it's great though so you're likely to want the power almost all the time if you're anything like me.
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Jan 13, 2022 15:03
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We're looking at getting an ebike for my wife to commute to work. It'd be ~10 miles each way in a city with moderate hills, in the US. Don't need a ton of cargo, but will likely strap some panniers to it. Otherwise I guess speed (class 3), comfort, and reliability are important? We'd like to keep it to $4000 or lower. But frankly I'm a bit overwhelmed with the options. Seems like every site listing "best ebikes" is completely different. A shop in town sells Gazelle bikes, which seem solid, so we'll check those out at least. Any other models/brands we should consider and compare? Any advice on how to compare a bunch of seemingly well reviewed bikes in the same price band?
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Jan 15, 2022 06:22
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So my bike lights have been stolen twice. Not a big deal. They're $15 a set. The ones with rubber wrap around mounts. I can't remove them every time I leave my bike. I make a lot of stops. I have enough steps I gotta do already. Yes I could get lights that can't easily be removed. But i'd like to do some kinda bait and trap deal. Like if I could spread poison ivy over the lights. Put some kinda acid on em. Something to teach these losers a lesson. Suggestions?
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Jan 15, 2022 06:48
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ChocNitty posted:Suggestions? Don't be a fucken weirdo
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Jan 15, 2022 08:06
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incogneato posted:We'd like to keep it to $4000 or lower. But frankly I'm a bit overwhelmed with the options. Seems like every site listing "best ebikes" is completely different. A shop in town sells Gazelle bikes, which seem solid, so we'll check those out at least. At this price range, I think you should look at brands that have been making bikes for a long time. There's not that much to making a quality bike, but brands that have popped up around marketing an e-bike are pretty inconsistent with even hitting that mark. The bike brands have established manufacturing relationships and aren't gonna be designing from scratch. Gazelle _is_ such a brand, and pretty commuter-focused, so you wouldn't be going wrong there. Middrive motor is definitely what you want at this price point. Some lightly used options from a pretty pricy used bike emporium: https://www.theproscloset.com/products/2021-trek-verve-2-lowstep-l https://www.theproscloset.com/products/2020-liv-liv-thrive-e-pro-m https://www.theproscloset.com/products/2020-trek-allant-8-stagger-m (dunno what your wife's size is; there's other decent deals on the site that are large)
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Jan 15, 2022 08:34
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I can vouch for gazelle as well. I hit 1000 miles on mine a couple months ago, and I've basically had no problems that I didn't cause. Having a shop nearby is useful because they can take care of maintenance. ChocNitty posted:Suggestions? Absolutely don't do any kind of childish bait and trap deal. Do get lights that bolt on and quit worrying about it.
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Jan 17, 2022 00:56
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I got a Nitecore BR25 and it's absolutely amazing. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08Y66CCL4/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_glt_i_WCFEYRYN3KEP34H0NNW1?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
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Jan 17, 2022 16:52
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ChocNitty posted:Suggestions?
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Jan 18, 2022 20:27
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Got my first nail through the tire. Went to pick up my son and got to the inlaws house and right as I stop I hear a hissing  I'm getting the run-flat innertubes.
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Jan 18, 2022 20:41
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i dunno about runflat tubes but sealant tubes are ace.
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Jan 19, 2022 03:21
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just set up our two grin all-axle kits on our commuter bikes. it was very fiddly and involved setting it all up, but the parts seem very high quality and the customization & control possible is absolutely ridiculous. the motors themselves are more than powerful enough (I limited them to 1000w class 3 speeds for now). the virtual freewheeling + regen is dope, and their charger is similarly able to customize profiles such as charge to 75%, so I feel good about future battery health. the 24 pole PAS sensors needed some filing to get them to fit our BBs, and they aren't as responsive as I was hoping. I'm not sure I can get them to engage any quicker as with the setting below 0.10sec engagement they don't seem to function. there is a little jitter at very low throttle (stalling) that grin says can maybe be tuned out by fiddling with some settings, but other than that the control from the baserunner is very smooth. I installed some permanently attached cheapo front rack panniers to cover the giant shiny hub in an attempt to discourage theft, hopefully that keeps my now much more expensive commuter with me for a long time!
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Jan 19, 2022 05:59
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Man_of_Teflon posted:the motors themselves are more than powerful enough (I limited them to 1000w class 3 speeds for now). the virtual freewheeling + regen is dope, and their charger is similarly able to customize profiles such as charge to 75%, so I feel good about future battery health. Being able to set the charge limits is absolutely essential for battery longevity. I'm glad that such chargers are becoming available off the shelf. Hopefully it will become common and cheap and I won't have to hack up all my chargers and install voltage monitor relays anymore in the future. Gearless hub motors have their pros and cons, but regen is absolutely dope. It will really save massively on brake wear and If you live where there are hills to descend and your bike is heavy it prevents any risk of overheating so it adds to safety. Can you modulate the regen smoothly or is it more of an on/off affair? As for PAS, I've messed with it a bit trying to make it do what I want but I gave up and run a thumb throttle instead. That way I'm in full control and always get the power I want exactly when I want it. I personally believe really good pedal assist is impossible unless you have torque sensors in the crank assembly or something similar. The throttle on the other hand gives infinite flexibility using the magic of the human brain. After a short while you won't think about it anymore and it's just telepathic power assist. While not strictly legal where I live I've never gotten any grief over it, but I almost always pedal when on the power unless I'm walking the bike somewhere, which is another case where the throttle can be super useful.
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Jan 19, 2022 06:49
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the regen is modulated by the throttle once the brakes are activated and it is super smooth. I do feel like torque sensing would be much more intuitive and I have been thinking of upgrading already, but using a blip of the throttle to get rolling and then the cadence sensor to keep providing assist works fine. plus, the cycle analyst does nice assist scaling - you can select a custom additional amount of watts/pedal RPM to add over 50 RPM.
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Jan 19, 2022 15:01
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Man_of_Teflon posted:the regen is modulated by the throttle once the brakes are activated and it is super smooth.
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Jan 19, 2022 15:43
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Are there any recommendations for a cheap-ish hybrid/commuter/utility ebike that has integrated front and rear lights that connect to the battery, and also has a torque sensor? I was looking at Juiced's Crosscurrent bikes, but they're a miss on the rear light.
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Jan 20, 2022 22:49
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well the front hub motor definitely makes towing a ton of poo poo in the snow much easier! helped both in getting up to speed so I could start pedaling, and once pedaling, the 2wd-ness kept things going quite easily
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Jan 23, 2022 22:43
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Yeah front wheel motor is great on snow and ice. My exclusively RWD e-mtb is much harder to control than the front motor bakfiets when it's really slick. A bit of wheel spin up front doesn't hurt a whole lot, you can still balance more or less normally and point the bike where you want it to go. With a spinning rear wheel at low speed things go sideways pretty fast. Pretty similar with cars if you have no traction control - RWD is less stable than FWD when slippery.
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Jan 24, 2022 08:33
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Use winter tires? It's true for cars and I presume the bike winter tires have the same effect.
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Jan 24, 2022 08:46
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Charles posted:Use winter tires? It's true for cars and I presume the bike winter tires have the same effect. I do, and it does. On the car side of things some people think they can get away with all seasons in the winter since they have 4wd, only they forget that braking and turning are way more important than the ability to accelerate. All cars are 4 wheel braking so tires are everything if you want safety. Proper snow tires are an absolute must on any wheeled vehicle in the winter where I live IMO and while they're super great compared to the alternatives they're not magic. Wheel spin and skids are still very much a thing even on the best tires money can buy, and they're all compromises. A super specialized ice tire won't work on bare asphalt which is most of winter driving/riding at least where I live. It also won't be great on snow, weirdly enough. Both my e-bikes currently sit on Schwalbe winter marathon +. I've tried different brands over the years (Suomi, Continental, random chinesium) but the schwalbes are a good compromise for my use case. Good snow grip, good stud retention if treated right, OK rubber life expectancy, decent rolling resistance and acceptable grip on ice - the last two are highly related to the stud pattern. The real clincher is the puncture resistance which is great. On the downside they're heavy, not cheap and a bit stiff and cumbersome to mount/dismount.
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Jan 24, 2022 09:13
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