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posts about #electricbike more →
Grace Electric Bike Is Part Motorcycle, Part Race Car and Part Fighter Jet
Mission One Electric Bike Breaks World Speed Record
Carbon Fiber Electric Bike Drives Batman Environmentally Conscious
Schwinn Tailwind Electric Bicycle Lightning Review
Mission One to Be World's Fastest Electric Motorcycle
Concept Electric Bike Charges Via A Method You Probably Would Never Guess In a Million Years
Optibike OB1 is a Hybrid Electric Mountain Bike You Might Actually Want to Ride
Japanese Scientists Miss The Point, Design Self-Stabilizing Electric Bike
Panasonic Makes Electric Bike With Regenerative Braking
Homemade Electric Motocycle Gets 300mpg

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nutbastard
11/18/09

In reply to Grace Electric Bike Is Part Motorcycle, Part Race Car and Part Fighter Jet
"That's not enough to make it a serious mode of transportation, but if you live in an urban area it might make some sense."

riiight, putting around on a $9k bike in an urban area sounds like a really great idea...
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MeesterBell
11/18/09

In reply to Grace Electric Bike Is Part Motorcycle, Part Race Car and Part Fighter Jet
Too expensive. Why bother to make such a bike? May as well carve it out of solid gold and put it in a museum. #grace
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nexusheli
11/18/09

@MeesterBell: Apparently you haven't shopped for a quality bike lately. The company I work for imports and distributes fine Italian bicycles. We currently offer a model retailing at over $14,499, which can be upgraded to hit nearly $20k.

And no, it has no motor.
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nutbastard promoted this comment nexusheli was starred nexusheli was unstarred

nutbastard
11/18/09

@nexusheli:

i can't believe there are d-bags out there spending that much money on a friggin bicycle.

is it better than my $80 bicycle? i have no doubt. but unless it's 200 times better, why pay 200 times more?
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nexusheli
11/18/09

@nutbastard: While many of them might be d-bags, there are a few that actually have legitimate reasons for buying them. Some people are collectors, and this particular bike is certainly collectible (about 10 were brought into the US). Some are captains of industry and have to have something befitting of their status, and are capable of riding in a capacity to boot.

You're right though, it's not 200x better, but neither is a Ferrari vs an Accord, or a high-end gaming PC vs a cheap Dell. People tend not to 'need' these things, but we're a consumer society and without people buying $10,000 bicycles, I'd probably be waiting tables along with a number of my industry colleagues and entrepreneurs who've started bike shops in the last 5 years...
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fuchikoma
11/19/09

@nexusheli: That's nice... but I bought a "quality" bicycle in that I have yet to meet someone with an equal or better one for $1500.

I had $8000, but I used it to buy a brand new Kawasaki Ninja 500R, plates, insurance, and a full suit of riding gear.

I can well understand paying more for a well made bike, but I'm not paying over $3000 for a bicycle unless I have corporate sponsors for racing bikes professionally...
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Edited by fuchikoma at 11/19/09 5:40 PM fuchikoma was starred fuchikoma was unstarred

nexusheli
11/20/09

@fuchikoma: There's indeed a threshold for sanity when it comes to bicycles. Really for me, even working in the industry and having access to these bikes at a reduced price, I still find it hard to justify spending more than just a couple grand on one. And the one I did manage to invest nearly $2500 into was custom made by hand to my measurements, painted by hand, and has a dedication on it to me.

I understand a motorcycle is a bit more practical, but not as healthy or green. But it's just like all of us as gadget lovers, many of these things are impractical, or there are more practical ways of doing things yet we have a desire, need, want or love for these things.

I didn't need a Nikon D90, a D40, or even a Canon G10 or similar would have done just fine, but I was no less grateful when I received that D90 as a 30th b-day present...
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fuchikoma
11/20/09

@nexusheli: I can totally understand that, and I'm not saying you should just get a motorbike instead - just that it becomes hard to justify that much on a bicycle when you could get so much for the same money (but wow, if I could get a good custom bike for $2500 I would have for sure!) It's like the argument of "why buy a $250,000 car when you could have... a house?" I don't know how many you sell in the $8-9k range, but I kind of agree with MeesterBell's sentiment that for that much it may as well be a museum piece, unless the frame lasts through a century of hard offroad use, and no parts ever require maintenance.

The biggest issue for me is that people will steal a $500 bike if they can - even if the value of an $8000 one (or a $14,500 one!) isn't obvious by looking at it, you'd pretty much have to carry it around with you anywhere you stopped to make sure you didn't lose something as valuable as a motor vehicle. Where I live there are often no viable places to anchor the frame to anything, so you kind of have to lock the wheel and frame together and hope no one notices it and walks off with it - or walk several blocks from where you parked it.

So I'd never spend that much on a bike myself - but like your cameras, if I just happened to end up with one, you bet I'd enjoy it!
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hacku
11/17/09

In reply to Grace Electric Bike Is Part Motorcycle, Part Race Car and Part Fighter Jet
$9k for a bicycle? No thanks... you can get a nice used motorcycle for that price that will do 150mph... #grace
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fuchikoma
11/19/09

@hacku: You can get an entry-level sportbike that will do 200kph brand new for that too. Actually, a few grand less, and even a grand or two less than that in the USA.

...but of course you buy a bicycle because you want a bicycle... but if I had one that expensive I'd have to disassemble it and stuff it into a hard case then carry it with me everywhere I went, because leaving it outside would be insane.
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Edited by fuchikoma at 11/19/09 5:46 PM fuchikoma was starred fuchikoma was unstarred

dingus
11/17/09

In reply to Grace Electric Bike Is Part Motorcycle, Part Race Car and Part Fighter Jet
Heeeey... Is that young Henry Winkler under all that hair? Can this bike jump sharks?
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Edited by dingus at 11/17/09 11:19 PM dingus was starred dingus was unstarred

RPMurphy
11/18/09

@dingus: Judging by the long hair and curvy chest, I would say it's a girl. But maybe that's just me.
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dingus promoted this comment Edited by RPMurphy at 11/18/09 12:12 AM RPMurphy was starred RPMurphy was unstarred

dingus
11/18/09

@RPMurphy: I'm concerned about the prominent brow and cleft chin. All I'm saying is that's the Fonz plus a wig and some baloons. #grace
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Kamenwati
09/15/09

In reply to Mission One Electric Bike Breaks World Speed Record
THis cool. Can someone tell me why electric vehicles have lower top speeds then their gas counter parts?
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met2art
09/15/09

@Kamenwati: Torque. More specifically, the lack thereof. A bigger flywheel helps, but also offsets the lightness you need to account for the lower torque and battery weight... Also, heat dissipation in the windings of the motor is an issue
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anon
09/15/09

In reply to Mission One Electric Bike Breaks World Speed Record

Picture of the GPRS eboxer.
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Lizard_King
09/15/09

@craighyatt: I checked this thing out a bit ago. It is rather small, tires are as thin as an early 70's moped, brakes are from the illustrious 'Tiger' company, and other than that, it seemed like a cheap Asian knock-off of a product that does not exist.

I've been checking into electric motos for the past few years, along with electric conversions or a diesel/biodiesel/veggie-oil motor for a wonderfully light Bandit 400 chassis I have. It's getting close. I want to ride the Vectrix scooter, but it is a scooter - the thing looks well made though.
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anon
09/16/09

@Lizard_King: my electic bike conversion is OK, but I long for just a tad more speed. i suppose that will always be the case. i think the top legal speed on a bicycle in my state is 20MPH, but you can get away with maybe 25. I am currently running around 20MPH if I pedal assist a lot. My controller is 36V but is rated up to 48V, so I think my next move is a higher voltage battery when this one dies. The battery I have is LiFePO so it should last a pretty long time.
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Software_Goddess
09/15/09

In reply to Mission One Electric Bike Breaks World Speed Record
Deadly road rash.
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gransee
09/15/09

In reply to Mission One Electric Bike Breaks World Speed Record
150 mile range is usefull. My buddy's harley goes 120 miles on a full tank. It is always in the shop though.
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bucho54
09/15/09

@gransee: Exactly. 150 miles is great for a motorcycle. Both my old Honda and my current Harley get a bit over 100 miles to a tank. 150 would be an improvement for me.
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Lizard_King
09/15/09

@bucho54: I would not call anything less than 200 miles per tank convenient (car or motorcycle). At anywhere from 4.5 to 5 gallons, all my bikes for the last 10 years have gotten at least 200miles per tankfull.

For an electric bike? I'm hoping for 50 mph for 50 miles per charge. That would make it convenient for my needs.
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Sean Scrooby Grube
09/15/09

@Lizard_King: You know what would be convinient? An electric teleporter. So i can teleport from my bed to wherever I need to go. It's convinient because now before I teleport I have to start up my deisel motor in my bedroom. It sucks because if I don't teleport in time, the carbon monoxide from the motor kills me.
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Lizard_King promoted this comment Edited by Sean Scrooby Grube at 09/15/09 6:11 PM Sean Scrooby Grube was starred

diablomuerte
09/15/09

@bucho54: umm, that is 150 miles, followed by 8 hours of recharge time (at standard household current) before you can continue riding. Whereas refuel time to full "charge" on a gas powered motorcycle is less than one minute. A typical ride from san diego to san francisco, about 500 miles, takes about 8-9 hours on a gas powered motorcycle, including lunch and gas stops. On the electric bike, the same trip would take 40 hours, including 32 hours of downtime for charging. Bring a few good paperbacks and a pillow. If you can find 220v charging stations, downtime is reduced to 8 hours, making the total trip 16 hours, or twice as long as the gas powered vehicle. Nice looking bike though. And great for short rides of up to one hour away from home, after which you need to turn around and ride back to charge up overnight.
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Lizard_King
09/15/09

@diablomuerte: I'm sure there would be an iPhone app that would show you the nearest 220V outlet you could poach from given any amount of popularity of vehicles such as these.

If a Vectrix ([www.vectrix.com]) wasn't a scooter, I would think about one seriously.
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Lizard_King
09/15/09

@Sean Scrooby Grube: The diesel fumes scare away the houseflies. Take this as a blessing.
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spudhed
09/16/09

@Lizard_King: i dont see any real prob with it, my nc30 only got about 125 miles on a full tank and that was more than enough for almost any day to day travelling i do, most people wouldnt want to cover such long distances on a race position bike. not sure id be too happy with a silent bike though
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Lizard_King promoted this comment spudhed was starred spudhed was unstarred

Lizard_King
09/16/09

@spudhed: The comment was intended to show how this whole electric vehicle concept might not replace full gasoline vehicles' duties right away, but still be useful, as in: While I don't find internal compustion bikes convenient when they have to be refilled less than 200 miles, I would certainly use an electric bike that gets 4 times less the mileage.

When taking trips on my bike, I've often gone 75 miles without an open gas station... I'm glad it get's high mileage and has a huge tank.

Electric is not going to take over right away, and that is fine, I still want one.
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Lite: hates Illinois Nazis
09/15/09

In reply to Mission One Electric Bike Breaks World Speed Record
This article really sparks my interest in electric vehicles.
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PurpleMonkeyDishwasher:
09/15/09

@Lite: killed Dumbledore: That video will result in a lightning storm of orders.
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Lite: Wolverines! promoted this comment

Curves
09/15/09

In reply to Mission One Electric Bike Breaks World Speed Record
Hard to tell from the clip alone, but it sounded super quiet.
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LastAndLeast
09/15/09

In reply to Mission One Electric Bike Breaks World Speed Record
That really is a shocking speed for an electric bike.
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Tony Bullard
07/24/09

In reply to Carbon Fiber Electric Bike Drives Batman Environmentally Conscious
I find humor in the implication that an electric motor on a bike makes it MORE "eco-friendly"
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GitEmSteveDave_DefinesTurgid
07/24/09

In reply to Carbon Fiber Electric Bike Drives Batman Environmentally Conscious
Someone correct me if I am wrong, but isn't carbon fiber becoming the new asbestos?

Why did they have to fiberize it, when they should have left well wnough alone keeping it in it's inanimate rod form.
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Kaiser-Machead
07/24/09

@HumungaCowabunga_GitEmSteveDav...: You ever try welding inanimate carbon rods together? It's a pain in the ass I tells ya.
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Saboth
07/24/09

@HumungaCowabunga_GitEmSteveDav...: I have some concerns over all this carbon fiber and "nano" material being put out too. What happens in 50 years when it is all brittle and breaks into pieces and becomes dust and these tiny filaments bypass our body's filtration systems?
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OMG! Ponies! promoted this comment Saboth was starred Saboth was unstarred

OMG! Ponies!
07/24/09

@HumungaCowabunga_GitEmSteveDav...: I hope it's the new asbestos. There aren't any asbestos manufacturers left to sue.
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Ninety-9
07/24/09

@HumungaCowabunga_GitEmSteveDav...: I believe it's carbon nano-particles and nano-tubes you should be concerned with. Carbon in itself is not dangerous, so far as we know, we use it in pencil lead. Nano-structures are considered dangerous because they're smaller than human cells and can potentially invade the cells, causing undesirable side-effects.

Going from what I know, (as a materials engineer), carbon fiber is designed to replace sheet metal and rods. Carbon, in its natural form is too brittle for most applications, it also tends to flake, thanks to its molecular arrangement. Carbon fiber materials are typically made up of a sheet of woven carbon, as well as a light-weight epoxy that allows it to hold its shape. The resulting product has a lot of desirable properties. It's durable like a metal, it has a high yield strength, like a ceramic, and it's lightweight like a plastic.
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OMG! Ponies!
07/24/09

@Saboth: I'll tell you what happens.

Class-action lawsuits happen.
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GitEmSteveDave_DefinesTurgid
07/24/09

@OMG! Ponies!: Shall I fetch forth your bib and drool cup sir?
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Lite: hates Illinois Nazis
04/09/09

In reply to Schwinn Tailwind Electric Bicycle Lightning Review
For that much you can get a nice used Vespa.
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Lite: hates Illinois Nazis
04/09/09

In reply to Schwinn Tailwind Electric Bicycle Lightning Review
For that much you could buy a damn segway and look a little less like Pee Wee Herman.
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