"BringYouToLife" wrote

I haven't seen any good electric road bikes, it seems like battery
technology has reached a point where a good electric road bike would
be a practical means of transportation, they sell bikes that have 20
mile range at 17mph, but add your cycling power to that, and just
conserve your electric power to maintain high gear speeds, it would
seem like you could have a very significant range with little tiring
with these new batteries.
I spend so much on gas when I drive, and somedays you are just too
tired to ride your bike to work, but with that little edge from a
electric motor, I think it would be very practical for almost anyone.

I've testridden a couple. A Giant LaFree, and a Huffy (somethingorother soon
taken off the market).
My take on it is that the motor and battery and gearing provide enough power
to overcome the extra weight of the motor and battery and gearing.
The LaFree control system requires you to pedal along with the motor. And it
may boost a couple of mph. But not much.
The Huffy could be ridden with only the motor, but the rest of it was sooo
crappy as to be a nonstarter.

You need a groundfloor parking space for it. These things weigh 70+lbs, so
carrying it upstairs in an apartment is troublesome, as would be putting it
on a bike rack if you wanted to take it anywhere.
Kickstand techology needs to be worked on. The Giant wasn't too bad, but the
Huffy would fall over at the slightest touch. CoG was way off, and the stand
couldn't handle it.

Elec bikes seem to be a solution in search of a problem. Too slow to be an
advantage, too heavy to be a *bicycle*, range limited (try pedalling that
70lb lump home when the batteries are low).

Take a 1/2 step up, and get a regular moped, or little motorcycle. Faster
and good on gas.

And plus, we don't have to start a nuclear war over oil, won't cause
hurricanes and global warming, etc.

Oh, and electricity ain't free. You're not paying to move a 3,000lb lump,
but you are paying.

Pete