Electric bikes.

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?

On Tue, 11 Jan 2011 12:37:15 +1300, "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 don't know anything about a Trek Sprint 7, but I have the Valencia+
- just went past 3000 miles. The only problem I've had is breaking
spokes on that rear wheel with the hub motor. I'm supposed to get the
wheel rebuilt on Wednesday but a snowstorm will likely kill that for a
bit.

The bike makes the commute massively easier to deal with. No throttle
so it isn't a cheap motorcycle - well, at $2500 it isn't cheap at all.
But when I hit those big hills or nasty headwinds, I turn on 25-50%
assist and my knees sigh with relief.

Several years ago I bought a studded tire for winter riding but the
rolling resistance was so insane that I never used it. It's now on the
front of the Valencia because if I just leave the bike on 25% assist
it wipes out the rolling resistance (and a bit more I would think).

I went for the commuter type bike; lots of other folks seem to want
ebikes for greater speed (ie, over 25). By law most US states limit
ebikes to 20 mph. Those are considered to be bikes rather than motor
vehicles. Non-pedal things that look like bikes but go 20 mph aren't
bikes in my humble opinion.

If you want good info on ebikes, try

http://www.bikeforums.net/forumdispl...Electric-Bikes

or almost any forum here

http://endless-sphere.com/forums/

"dgk" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 11 Jan 2011 12:37:15 +1300, "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 don't know anything about a Trek Sprint 7, but I have the Valencia+
- just went past 3000 miles. The only problem I've had is breaking
spokes on that rear wheel with the hub motor. I'm supposed to get the
wheel rebuilt on Wednesday but a snowstorm will likely kill that for a
bit.

The bike makes the commute massively easier to deal with. No throttle
so it isn't a cheap motorcycle - well, at $2500 it isn't cheap at all.
But when I hit those big hills or nasty headwinds, I turn on 25-50%
assist and my knees sigh with relief.

Several years ago I bought a studded tire for winter riding but the
rolling resistance was so insane that I never used it. It's now on the
front of the Valencia because if I just leave the bike on 25% assist
it wipes out the rolling resistance (and a bit more I would think).

I went for the commuter type bike; lots of other folks seem to want
ebikes for greater speed (ie, over 25). By law most US states limit
ebikes to 20 mph. Those are considered to be bikes rather than motor
vehicles. Non-pedal things that look like bikes but go 20 mph aren't
bikes in my humble opinion.

If you want good info on ebikes, try

http://www.bikeforums.net/forumdispl...Electric-Bikes

or almost any forum here

http://endless-sphere.com/forums/

Thanks for interesting reply. Sorry but had my brain switched off. The
models I meant were the Wisper and the Ezee sprint 7 (not Trek). This might
be similar to the Valencia. I'm in New Zealand, and they are not common in
my city. These seem to be the best two available. Will have a look through
the site you sent.

On Wednesday, 12 January 2011 07:55:19 UTC+13, Fred wrote:
"dgk" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 11 Jan 2011 12:37:15 +1300, "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 don't know anything about a Trek Sprint 7, but I have the Valencia+
- just went past 3000 miles. The only problem I've had is breaking
spokes on that rear wheel with the hub motor. I'm supposed to get the
wheel rebuilt on Wednesday but a snowstorm will likely kill that for a
bit.

The bike makes the commute massively easier to deal with. No throttle
so it isn't a cheap motorcycle - well, at $2500 it isn't cheap at all.
But when I hit those big hills or nasty headwinds, I turn on 25-50%
assist and my knees sigh with relief.

Several years ago I bought a studded tire for winter riding but the
rolling resistance was so insane that I never used it. It's now on the
front of the Valencia because if I just leave the bike on 25% assist
it wipes out the rolling resistance (and a bit more I would think).

I went for the commuter type bike; lots of other folks seem to want
ebikes for greater speed (ie, over 25). By law most US states limit
ebikes to 20 mph. Those are considered to be bikes rather than motor
vehicles. Non-pedal things that look like bikes but go 20 mph aren't
bikes in my humble opinion.

If you want good info on ebikes, try

http://www.bikeforums.net/forumdispl...Electric-Bikes

or almost any forum here

http://endless-sphere.com/forums/

Thanks for interesting reply. Sorry but had my brain switched off. The
models I meant were the Wisper and the Ezee sprint 7 (not Trek). This might
be similar to the Valencia. I'm in New Zealand, and they are not common in
my city. These seem to be the best two available. Will have a look through
the site you sent.

Have you tried the new supplier from http://www.econobikes.co.nz/ they might be worth a try, the bikes look good and the prices are reasonable

On Tue, 11 Jan 2011 12:37:15 +1300, 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've been researching this for about a month now and I've found lots of
info, and lots of conversion kits on ebay, but I haven't bit the bullet
yet. I'll probably end up getting a rear wheel hub motor kit, but my real
question is which one to get. 250-1000W? How effective are the smaller
ones? Reviews are hard to find for the ones on ebay.

Wes Newell wrote:
On Tue, 11 Jan 2011 12:37:15 +1300, 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've been researching this for about a month now and I've found lots
of info, and lots of conversion kits on ebay, but I haven't bit the
bullet yet. I'll probably end up getting a rear wheel hub motor kit,
but my real question is which one to get. 250-1000W? How effective
are the smaller ones? Reviews are hard to find for the ones on ebay.


How do the kits compare with purpose made bikes? Mounting battery looks
tricky. Like you I haven't found too much info.

On Wed, 12 Jan 2011 12:29:40 +1300, Fred wrote:

How do the kits compare with purpose made bikes? Mounting battery looks
tricky. Like you I haven't found too much info.

Consumer ebikes are expensive and appear to be very limited in both speed
and style. Building your own has lots of advantages. You can choose the
style of bike you want (or already have) and you can get any style/size
motor you want for it. And the cost is a lot less. Most kits come with a
rear rack to mount the batteries in a saddle bag. I'd probably just use a
plastic box to put them in and secure it with bungee cords.

For a hub drive, I'd like to have a dual speed motor. One low speed high
torque and one high speed low torque.

They make a chain drive geared motor that let's you use the bike gears
(rear) also, but it's a little more expensive and requires changing the
chainring to a freewheel style. It's supposed to give better performance
than hub driven of same motor size but looks more difficult to install.

On 1/11/2011 11:57 PM, Wes Newell wrote:
On Wed, 12 Jan 2011 12:29:40 +1300, Fred wrote:

How do the kits compare with purpose made bikes? Mounting battery looks
tricky. Like you I haven't found too much info.

Consumer ebikes are expensive and appear to be very limited in both speed
and style. Building your own has lots of advantages. You can choose the
style of bike you want (or already have) and you can get any style/size
motor you want for it. And the cost is a lot less. Most kits come with a
rear rack to mount the batteries in a saddle bag. I'd probably just use a
plastic box to put them in and secure it with bungee cords.

For a hub drive, I'd like to have a dual speed motor. One low speed high
torque and one high speed low torque.

They make a chain drive geared motor that let's you use the bike gears
(rear) also, but it's a little more expensive and requires changing the
chainring to a freewheel style. It's supposed to give better performance
than hub driven of same motor size but looks more difficult to install.

And the geared drive isn't nearly as dependable. The worst of
the lot is the Currie Drive. Pot Aluminum for some of the parts
and it wears out fast.

On Fri, 28 Jan 2011 19:35:18 -0700, Daryl Hunt wrote:

On 1/11/2011 11:57 PM, Wes Newell wrote:
They make a chain drive geared motor that let's you use the bike gears
(rear) also, but it's a little more expensive and requires changing the
chainring to a freewheel style. It's supposed to give better
performance than hub driven of same motor size but looks more difficult
to install.

And the geared drive isn't nearly as dependable. The worst of the lot
is the Currie Drive. Pot Aluminum for some of the parts and it wears
out fast.

Curries are cheap and don't use the bikes gears. You can buy a complete
ebike with batteries for $398 (was on sale for $320) at Walmart. I was
thinking more along the line of the Cyclone kits.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/eZip-Trail...cycle/11988713

http://www.cyclone-usa.com/store.php?crn=199

On 1/11/2011 3:03 PM, Wes Newell wrote:
On Tue, 11 Jan 2011 12:37:15 +1300, 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've been researching this for about a month now and I've found lots of
info, and lots of conversion kits on ebay, but I haven't bit the bullet
yet. I'll probably end up getting a rear wheel hub motor kit, but my real
question is which one to get. 250-1000W? How effective are the smaller
ones? Reviews are hard to find for the ones on ebay.

Careful with the conversion kits on Ebay. Many are just plain
junk but they claim to be name brand. Most of them are old kits
during a time when there was a lot of junk coming in on the boats
from China.