Awesome bike! I have an E-mountain bike and really enjoy it. For this application, I'm not sure if the mountain bike design will give me enough efficiency to hit the range I need. Maybe with narrower street tires and mostly locking out the suspension, but that removes most of the mountain bike advantages IMO.
alphabetsheep
joined 2 years ago
Really appreciate your thorough answer! I'll definitely think about an electric motorcycle. IMO if I'm going to go through licensing, I might as well get something that goes full car speed.
I think you're right that battery capacity would be the biggest issue building out an ebike. That said, a big frame triangle can fit a lot of cells. Something like 3000Wh could probably get the job done. If I could get the bike aerodynamic enough to cruise on a 750w motor, then max range would be 3000/750=4 hours or 140 miles. Obviously won't hit that in real world conditions, but 70 would be possible.
I terms of legality and ethics, I totally agree about treating cyclists and pedestrians with respect - on my current ebike I keep it under 18MPH on bike paths and slow to pass others at a safe speed. My vision for this bike is more rural back roads near my house which are mostly empty but have an occasional car passing by. I'm not a big fan of laws generally. On that front I'll probably run a cracked controller with a toggle so if I get pulled over I can put it back in legal mode with a keypad sequence. Slap some aliexpress "250 watt" and "class 2" stickers on it and trust that the local cops are few and otherwise occupied. Where I live folks rip illegal dirt bikes and ATVs on public roads with impunity so I can't imagine this being a big problem.
Yeah definitely no bike paths unless you keep it under like 18mph imo. This would be for rural roads.
That's fair, but what is the limiting factor? Frame geometry? Power? I downhill mountain bike and regularly hit 45 on open sections. I think if the motor could keep up the bike would be fine.
Vespas here need registration, insurance, etc. etc. That would solve the range issue though.
Separate constructors from teams - I'd love to see the whole field in near-identical cars only differentiated by setup and driver. Alternatively balance of power rules like Imsa could make racing a lot more competitive while keeping constructors around.
If balance isn't a problem I'd recommend a small electric cargo bike. I have a relative who uses a mobility scooter, but it has all kinds of issues and is very slow. I built her an ebike and she really enjoys using it instead. It sucks but wheelchairs have a stigma that a bike doesn't. Also med device regulations kinda suck (at least in the USA) and EBikes get around those.
I'd argue it shouldn't matter what the cause is. It's a little far fetched, but I could imagine teams organizing mechanical failures to gain an unfair advantage. All it would take is to tell the driver the wrong gearbox mode to cause a spin, Monaco style. As written it would suck to have an honest car failure and then lose extra grid places, but I think those kind of incidents will be pretty equally spread among the field.
There's definitely a lot of hate for e-motos among mountain bikers. IMO it all depends how it's ridden. If you turn down the power level and just cruise, you're not damaging the trail and it shouldn't be a bug deal. If you're giving it the beans and making ruts then that ruins the trail for everyone else and is definitely a dick move.
Speckled Ax really is good shit. Love their new cafe as well if you're ever in Portland!
I mean, many folks would say that's what leclerc did successfully in 2021. That's a bit of a conspiracy, and doesn't make a ton of sense (gearbox penalty etc.) but it's not impossible.