E-Bikes! Not easier, just farther and faster

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > The Great Outdoors > E-Bikes! Not easier, just farther and faster

Barry: Aug 1, 2003; Hardened Criminal

Phase out starts at $75k AGI for single filers ($200 for each $1k of income, so gone at ~$82k) and $150k married filing jointly. Not exactly going to do much of anything for most urbanites that would be potential e-bike buyers.

# ¿ Sep 12, 2021 21:21

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# ¿ May 21, 2024 08:35

Barry: Aug 1, 2003; Hardened Criminal

All bikes are good bikes, Ian

# ¿ Aug 31, 2022 21:46

Barry: Aug 1, 2003; Hardened Criminal

kimbo305 posted:

One thing I just learned about Bosch's batteries is that they have temperature range limits for use, storage, and charging.
charging: 32F - 104F
storage: 50F (!) - 104F. So pretty much indoors
use: 23F - 104F

I knew that batteries don't like the cold weather, but I hadn't really known that you don't really want to store them out overnight below 50F.
I assume any Li-Ion cell based batteries would have similar chemical limitations.

I'm kind of curious what would happen with battery temps if the start inside at 70F, you go outside in like 10F weather, ride to work for 30 minutes, is there any chance they'd ever get below that 23F threshold? I kind of doubt it.

# ¿ Dec 5, 2022 22:23

Barry: Aug 1, 2003; Hardened Criminal

Nice! I really like that matte blue.

# ¿ Mar 31, 2023 20:00

Barry: Aug 1, 2003; Hardened Criminal

stephenthinkpad posted:

I think its fine to spend 10% of your bike cost on locks. Don't park your bike outside overnight though.

Yeah I bought a Hiplok D-1000 and insured my bike and don't really have any anxiety about taking it out around town but I still won't leave it out overnight.

# ¿ May 13, 2023 22:02

Barry: Aug 1, 2003; Hardened Criminal

kimbo305 posted:

With two batteries, it's easy enough to swap before I get too low, but i find myself too lazy to go take them off the charger before 100%.

My Specialized just had a firmware update recently that maxes the charge at 80% and goes to 100% every 5th or 6th time it's plugged in, pretty nice.

# ¿ Jun 9, 2023 15:26

Barry: Aug 1, 2003; Hardened Criminal

evil_bunnY posted:

Can you tell it you want 100% before a big day in a way that's not loving annoying?

Good question. I think so, but I haven't actually felt the need to do that yet, so I'm gonna check.

# ¿ Jun 13, 2023 14:38

Barry: Aug 1, 2003; Hardened Criminal

Safety Dance posted:

Holy poo poo I threw a Brooks B33 saddle on my Gazelle and it is so comfortable.

Brooks saddles are always the right move

# ¿ Jul 3, 2023 06:44

Barry: Aug 1, 2003; Hardened Criminal

Neurostorm posted:

I'm moving to San Diego and getting a commuter bike for the ~6 mile commute (each way, some hills though I think not too bad on my route) which I'll also use for grocery runs. Someone recommended the Specialized Turbo Vado 3.0: https://www.specialized.com/us/en/turbo-vado-3-0-igh/p/206167

Does that seem reasonable (it's about the top of my budget)? Biggest potential worries are some negative reviews on the site, and it's a class 1 -- how helpful are throttles for commuter bikes?

I have a Turbo Vado 4.0 that I use mostly for tooling around and occasionally for commuting. I've never had an interest in a throttle on my bike(s). I love it, the 3.0 sounds perfect for your use case.

# ¿ Jul 11, 2023 19:31

Barry: Aug 1, 2003; Hardened Criminal

G-III posted:

Finally got my Nevo 4

Feels good.

Looks great, how's it ride?

# ¿ Jul 13, 2023 17:18

Barry: Aug 1, 2003; Hardened Criminal

Hollismason posted:

Yeah they only have the slightly more expensive Pace 500.3 but they only charge 100 dollars to put it together.

Okay my next question who do I go with for bike insurance because State Farm offered me a personal articles plan but it doesn't cover ebikes.

Anyone have any thoughts on Oyster?

I got my policy through All-State, who does my home insurance. It's actually from Markel, the same company that underwrites the Velosurance and seems to be the defacto ebike insurance these days. I pay $310 a year for full boat coverage on a $4k bike. Haven't had to actually use it yet and I hope I never will, but I'm generally pleased.

tildes posted:

Vanmoof bankrupt: https://www.gearpatrol.com/outdoors/a44535158/vanmoof-ebikes-bankruptcy/

It seems like cowboy is developing an app to make sure your bike doesn�t get bricked, but crazy. Can�t believe huge quickly it went from huge funding round to out of business. Rly one of the worst bike companies to go bankrupt in terms of its effects on their customers given how proprietary everything is.

a better article: https://techcrunch.com/2023/07/18/from-vanmoof-to-vanpoof-how-did-the-e-bike-pioneer-go-bankrupt-even-as-the-market-boomed/

Weird that they're bankrupt, I was in Amsterdam a few months back and the amount of Van Moofs there is astounding. Multiple parked on every street, I must have seen a few hundred just walking around town for 4 or 5 days. Not as ubiquitous as the black bikes but they're everywhere. Which makes sense because they're a Dutch company and all.

Hollismason posted:

Oh hey thanks for this information. I'm going tomorrow to test out the Aventon Pace 500.3 which if it works I'll end up buying. What is MUP?

So what kind of lock am I buying for this?

I bought a Hiplook D1000 from REI when it was on sale for ~$230. I don't know if it is or isn't overkill but apparently it's about as good as the marketing hype says it is so it helps alleviate my anxiety of parking my bike around town.

# ¿ Jul 26, 2023 15:18

Barry: Aug 1, 2003; Hardened Criminal

Yeah I'm sure there's a good reason beyond my anecdote of seeing a bunch of them in likely their single largest market, but I don't think they failed due to lack of sales. I see one in Chicago here and there too.

# ¿ Jul 26, 2023 22:07

Barry: Aug 1, 2003; Hardened Criminal

I know those have been discussed in this thread before and my impression was they aren't great but I can't recall any specifics. But at that price...

# ¿ Jul 28, 2023 19:21

Barry: Aug 1, 2003; Hardened Criminal

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/03/business/vanmoof-bankruptcy-ebikes.html

Might be paywalled, but an interesting article about VanMoof's bankruptcy.

# ¿ Aug 3, 2023 22:03

Barry: Aug 1, 2003; Hardened Criminal

stephenthinkpad posted:

Like I said, still processing this stupid anti ebike policy.

I don't now if it's that stupid, at least from a building owner's perspective. They're like the number one cause of building fires in NYC at least.

# ¿ Aug 11, 2023 14:14

Barry: Aug 1, 2003; Hardened Criminal

REI's website is showing the 1.1 and 1.2 as discontinued now, huh.

# ¿ Feb 29, 2024 22:02

Barry: Aug 1, 2003; Hardened Criminal

ddiddles posted:

I recently bought a motorcycle with the idea to get a hitch mount to tow it around with for camping stuff, but realized I like ebikes way more for a motorized two wheel sort of thing, and I really hate riding a motorcycle anywhere near cars.

Just so happened the most suggested long range ebike with some front suspension has a sale going on, so I'm selling the bike and waiting on this to arrive:

Turbo Vado 4.0, usually 4k, now at 2750, with that money saved i can buy one of their hilariously over priced extra batteries!

https://www.specialized.com/us/en/turbo-vado-40/p/206159?color=348371-206159

I have that same bike and love it. Fantastic price.

# ¿ Apr 15, 2024 14:31

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# ¿ May 21, 2024 08:35

Barry: Aug 1, 2003; Hardened Criminal

Airconswitch posted:

300 mile Generation e1.2 update:

- In my hubris, I rode it for 14 miles on the stock saddle after getting it. Don't be like me.
- Can definitely get 40 miles of range on relatively level terrain and level 1 assist.
- I like the way it scales the controls better than my last ebike; my old one controlled the speed at which it stopped assisting you, while this one controls the degree of assist consistently up to 20 mph.
- I'll probably going to want some kind of shock suspension seatpost at some point, the roads here can be rough.
- This bike has sold me on hydraulic disc brakes as a must-have in the future.
- Front light has decent coverage ahead for off-road bike paths at least.
- I'm extremely fond of the way the kickstand works, which makes it much, much easier to keep upright on transit.
- Fenders are a must for sure, especially with the battery's placement.
- The front tire is juuuust too fat for the swinging arms on the bike carriers that MBTA buses have, but the front rack doesn't get in the way. I wonder if it might fit if I deflated it in a pinch (or if I got a flat anyway).

What saddle did you go with?

# ¿ May 1, 2024 14:07

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > The Great Outdoors > E-Bikes! Not easier, just farther and faster