Electric BICYCLES? Anyone?

[Huladog_imp]

Have been cruising the vast web (like usual) researching BICYCLES (hey, its an "other bike"!). Started off reading up on FOLDING bicycles which would be useful to carry in the car.

Then got reading about ELECTRIC bicycles, yeah still kind of expensive due to the cost of batteries just like them fancy electric cars.

Then my feeble mind turned to FOLDING ELECTRIC bicycles .... anyone got one? Any thoughts or experiences? I've been on the bicycle forum but I don't think "e-bikes" get much respect (like us motorcycle snobs also do) but with issues cropping up with my knee recently I could use some electrical assist with hills and stuff.

Go for it! Let me know what you know.

Aloha,
Huladog

[Ulvetanna_imp]

There is a market for everything. As long as I can ride a regular road bike I will. I could see a folding electric bicycle being real handy to get into deep urban areas, 'specially if ya could plug it into a charger somewhere.

[736cc_imp]

There is a market for everything. As long as I can ride a regular road bike I will. I could see a folding electric bicycle being real handy to get into deep urban areas, 'specially if ya could plug it into a charger somewhere.

Copenhagen wheel is a brilliant idea
https://www.superpedestrian.com
[url=http://s1030.photobucket.com/user/736ccdetail3/media/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zpsnky5gyce.png.html]

[Papa Weeley_imp]

Funny, my wife and I were just discussing these a few weeks ago.
We're bicycle riding at the beach most weekends, and we're always amazed at how many KIDS are riding the E-bikes there (beach cruiser style, mostly). We're in our 50s, and go for the exercise; seems pretty ironic that so many teens and kids in their 20s are riding bikes that they don't have to exercise on!
Folding bikes came up when one of those passed us as well - she wasn't familiar with them, but being a huge bike-aholic, I was fairly well-versed, and tried to explain to her how cleverly they worked, etc. This of course morphed into a "hey, what about an electric folding bike!?" sort of conversation, and I wasn't at all sure they even existed. Silly me, they're available by the boatload! Here's what I found (if you haven't already seen it), for your reading pleasure: https://electricbikereview.com/tag/folding/

Looks fun, but certainly pricey.

[4 Paws_imp]

Infatuated with the idea of electric motorcycles and bicycles, price is intimidating though. Local Indian-Victory dealer had a few e-bicycles plus a motorcycle, ended up sending the bicycles to a college town nearby after he rode them for a while but couldn't sell.
Price will keep dropping until it gets reasonable. When I can buy a decent used motorcycle for what an e-bicycle costs the choice is still the motorcycle.
The idea of simple and quiet travel sure is appealing.

[flynrider]

I succumbed to the influence of the Internet a few months back while perusing folding bikes and bought a really nice Durban 6 to haul around in my plane. I'm mulling over adding electric power with a small hub motor.

I've seen some electric/folding bikes, but they're crazy expensive. Adding a motor to my Durban will cost about 1/4 what a ready made folding/electric would run me. Most of the ones I found on the net from known manufacturers (i.e. not Chinese knockoffs) started in the $1200 range. Ouch!

[Huladog_imp]

I'm amazed at the different design thoughts on the various folding bikes.

Yes, the e-bikes prices really do make me "gulp!" sometimes making me think I should stick with motorcycles!

If you're interested their big deal annual bicycle trade show "Interbike International Expo" is in Las Vegas Sept. 21- 23, 2016 at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center. The last day is open to the public so I'm going since I'll be in Las Vegas on business ..... now I'm looking forward to that business trip!

Aloha,
Huladog

[metallyguitarded_imp]

My first experience with an electric bicycle came last 4th of July. My wife and I were enjoying the day on Coronado Island and decided to rent bikes. They were all out of regular pedal bikes but they offered us electric ones. I figured I'd just pedal the thing around and maybe play with the electric feature if and when we got tired. It took all of about 15 seconds before the thought of pedaling went right out the window and it was all about twisting the right grip! What a blast. I considered getting a couple until I looked up how much they cost! Ouch! The ones we had rented sell for around $2K. I'll stick to the occasional renting but what great fun that was. I hope you find what you're looking for!

[Huladog_imp]

Now my churning mind went off in another direction and said "what about a nice folding bike AND a separate ebike?" since I didn't find any combination of a folding ebike that really caught my eye, yet.

So I started really looking into this different folder, won't fold down into a tiny package but enough to carry in the back of a car:

https://www.xootr.com/folding-bike-8-speed.html

Supposed to be stiffer than the other folders since it only has one hinge that shouldn't flex. Overall layout similar to a regular hybrid bike, regular non-proprietary components like wheels (unlike some folders that use only their own wheels, etc.). Reasonably light, but most importantly you can modify it like our motorcycles!

Then the other part of the tangent took me to discover this nice ebike from Raleigh (yeah, same brand name from eons ago but not really the same UK company we remember):

http://www.raleighusa.com/misceo-ie

NOT cheap, but when you really shop these ebikes this is about mid-market prices. Has enough slick design work like an Apple product, but not as expensive as something like a Faraday. Looks simple, has a lot of hidden design features.

Will go to a local bike shop later today to try out the different sized frames on a regular Raleigh since they don't keep ebikes in stock and could order me one if I get insane enough.

Sheesh, just like shopping around for your next motorcycle, so many choices, so many designs, all cost too much money!

Aloha,
Huladog

[808_rider_imp]

Huladog,

My uncle bought a ebike from the shop on campbell avenue a few months ago and he loves it (cost about $2,500). He bike commutes to work each day a few miles and even though it is only a few miles (fairly flat commute), he has no regrets changing to a ebike.

He loves his ebike so much that he has bought a kit to convert his regular bike to an ebike. Basically the kit consist of a motor that you mount in the bottom bracket. The kit cost around $1,000.

However for me, I get around on the weekends with my regular pedal bike. This provides me with some form of exercise, saves time (honolulu traffic can be terrible), and makes me feel I am doing something good for the environment. So I have no plans to buy an ebike but if I lived in the upper elevations (I live in Kaimuki), I would have to reconsider.