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Thread: Electric Assist Bicycles

  1. #21
    Senior Member bae's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Rogar View Post
    If you can cruise at a sustained speed of 20 mph or more on flat ground for any significant distance with a regular bike, you have my respect.
    To be fair, I climb stairs in about 80 pounds of firefighting gear, on-air, for 30 minutes a day, so my legs think the bicycle is a day off :-)

  2. #22
    Senior Member Rogar's Avatar
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    It might go without saying, but I have to add a gentle reminder to always wear a helmet and do your best to be visible, which in my book always means front and rear (flashing) lights in traffic. Especially if there is fog. Maybe singing to the choir, but I lost a friend in a car/bike accident. I couldn't ride on public roads for years afterwards.

  3. #23
    Senior Member bae's Avatar
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    Update:

    1 - I still love this thing
    2 - I have procured pannier bags and a bag for the rack, and now I can easily get 2-3 bags of groceries in town, and get them home up the climb to my house
    3 - I use the bike instead of the car about 75% of the time
    4 - I have lost weight, and improved my conditioning. I completely aced this semester's interior/structural firefighting agility/endurance/stress test, with record-low air consumption
    5 - I can eat whatever I want without any diet concerns
    6 - My social life has improved tremendously - when the local eligible population observes you out-and-about doing physical things, it attracts interest. I have 3 unsolicited dates this coming week.
    7 - I procured an extra battery to reduce range anxiety and extend my range. This has allowed me to use the bike for mainland errands, without the fuss of ferry reservations/lines, or the cost of ferry tickets

    I think this is the future, for some subset of transportation applications.

    Also, because we only have one bike store on the island, and they are swamped in the summer season, I had them recommend to me some essential tools and equipment for bike repair and maintenance, as I had several old bikes I wanted to restore. I now have a mini bike shop set up, have rebuilt my old bikes, rebuilt two bikes for lady friends who now ride with me, and have made about $400 rebuilding/restoring a few other bikes for neighbors, paying for a good portion of the tools already.

    Two thumbs up still.

  4. #24
    Senior Member Teacher Terry's Avatar
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    Wow Bae everything sounds great.

  5. #25
    Senior Member bae's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Teacher Terry View Post
    Wow Bae everything sounds great.
    This is pretty revolutionary stuff, and the technology is rapidly improving. There are some amazing products now at a much lower price point.

    My Mom, who is ~80, is considering getting a tricycle version.

    Also, I have a huge amount of solar electric production, all the power for this is "free".

  6. #26
    Senior Member razz's Avatar
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    Well, Bae, on a day when in Stratford for a play, I stopped at a bike store on the way to the library and checked out the electric bikes.The young male staff was so delighted to have a chance to promote all the features of the different makes of electric bikes. He was very good at his job and I told him so.
    I was amazed at the size of some of the tires and got the info on the features of each of them as well. Bike stores have changed!

    I do agree that this is the way of the future. Really considering the matter including the tricycle and where it would fit in my garage. How easily secure from theft can one make them?

    Sooo, thanks for the update.
    As Cicero said, “Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others.”

  7. #27
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    Thank you so much for the update! Very inspirational.
    To give pleasure to a single heart by a single act is better than a thousand heads bowing in prayer." Mahatma Gandhi
    Be nice whenever possible. It's always possible. HH Dalai Lama
    In a world where you can be anything - be kind. Unknown

  8. #28
    Senior Member Teacher Terry's Avatar
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    Interesting that even in such a rural area you have a choice of eligible people. I am glad. Leaving my ex was the best thing I ever did. Back when I was riding a bike I only did it on trails. It makes me too nervous to ride with cars.

  9. #29
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    I love bikes. They make sense is so many ways.

  10. #30
    Senior Member bae's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by razz View Post
    How easily secure from theft can one make them?
    Well, there's the usual bike-anti-theft stuff, but you also need to think about the high-value components, especially if they are easily removeable (like the battery). It's fairly low-theft around here, so I've settled on a cheezy cable lock and a motion-sensing alarm (which was ~$10 from Amazon) to make noise if someone fiddles with it. I have a higher-security lock for when I use the bike outside my immediate area, but it seems the better the lock, the heavier it is. After some searching, I went with a "Litelok", which seemed the lightest secure solution.

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