Thread: Electric bikes.
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  #16  
Old January 20th 11, 07:48 PM posted to rec.bicycles.misc
Bill Bushnell
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Posts: 121
Default Electric bikes.

Fred wrote:
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.


Not knowing your details (weight, strength, speed, aero drag, etc.) I can only
make a conservative guess: you'll need something on the order of 1 kwh of
battery capacity to ride a hilly 100 miles with some load. You'll need to
contribute about half the energy through pedaling.

You won't find many batteries with this much capacity unless you run them in
parallel. Consider a 24 volt system or 36 volts, tops. More voltage will only
encourage you to ride faster and consume more of your available energy
fighting wind.

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Bill Bushnell
http://pobox.com/~bushnell/
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