Thread: Electric bikes.
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  #11  
Old January 17th 11, 09:12 PM posted to rec.bicycles.misc
Fred
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Posts: 21
Default Electric bikes.

Mike Jacoubowsky wrote:
"SMS" wrote in message
...
On 1/10/2011 3:37 PM, Fred wrote:
I think I might add an electric bike to my collection of trusty and
rusty two wheelers. . They look like a bit of fun with a practical
use. Am looking at the Trek sprint 7 or the Wisper 905. Anyone
know much about these
things? Or any other brands?


I met the owner of Pacific EBikes at Interbike, waiting for an
airport shuttle. He was quite a character. He was railing about the
$2000 poorly designed e-Bikes, of which there were a great many at
the show. He has a factory in Suzhou China which produces his
products, which are all under $US 1000.
http://www.pacificebike.com/ You really want to avoid an eBike where
the battery pack is placed
over the rear wheel. It should be in the center of the bike. The
Wisper 905 line looks good. The Trek Sprint 7 must be a model not
sold in the U.S., but all the Trek electric bikes on the U.S. web
site look like a regular bike that they just stuck a motor and
battery onto.


Aside from "balance" when picking the bike up, what is your issue
with the battery over the rear wheel? Modern batteries aren't very
heavy, and the rear wheel is so over-built that additional loading is
not a factor. The advantage to having it placed as Trek does is
perception- it doesn't "look" like an e-bike at first glance. People
like that. I thought that was silly at first, but old dogs can
sometimes be taught new tricks.
The features people should really be looking for in an e-bike are-

#1: Ease of wheel removal. There are e-bikes out there that can take
well over half an hour to remove and reinstall. This is particularly
true for some of the less-expensive units sold at Best Buy.

#2: High-quality charger & decent battery warranty. The two tend to go
together.

#3: Good track record and/or company standing behind the product that
will be there for you two years down the road when some proprietary
part gives out that is no longer available. For the companies with a
track record, they'll have the part. For others, they'll likely go to
significant length to take care of you. We get customers bringing in
e-bikes frequently that are just a few years old for which you cannot
get what's needed to make them functional. Hate that. And of course,
no matter where it was purchased, they blame the shop that can't fix
it for them (us).
--Mike Jacoubowsky


Thanks. So what are the pros/cons other comments re front drive vs rear hub
drive? I occasionally do long tours -around say 100-150 plus km (60 - 100
miles?) per day with panniers front and rear and terrain is hilly. (South
Island of New Zealand).. I realise no battery will handle that distance -
but quite happy to peddle for a fair bit of the way. Never ridden one but
assume they aren't much different from a std. bike to just peddle on
reasonably flat roads apart from a bit of weight.


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