My new ride

[curlyoak]

An electric bike. 8 amps of lithium. It tops out at 20 mph. A folder. Aluminum frame. It came completely built and folded. Nicely equipped. Head light 

and tail light are wired into the main battery. It will go more that 20 miles on a charge. I am impressed by the quality and components.

Have riden it for just one mile. I got it last night in the mail. My first ride was this morning because the battery had to be charged. There is a hidden key that

turns the battery off. A rear rack and a bike lock are in transit.  The bike was $800 plus tax. including freight. With some bling and tax mine was $1135. 

[Mark J]

I've seen few electric bikes zipping around lately. 

[drzaius]

Nice. I love that ebikes are becoming so popular. Every one on the road means one less car and that much less fuel/electricity being used.

[Chet]

On 8/5/2022 at 6:23 AM, Mark J said:

I've seen few electric bikes zipping around lately. 

There have been quite a few in our neighborhood too.

How long does it take to do a full charge?

[pkinneb]

I look forward to a full review

BTW probably a stupid question but can you still ride these like a regular bike?

[Tom King]

I guess that's a motorcycle, rather than a bicycle.  Looks like you can feel safe going down a steep hill with those brakes.

 My BIL and SIL have two that fold up.  They travel with an Airstream behind a hybrid F150 with a cap on it.  The bikes are their local transportation when they are staying somewhere, like here.  The bikes travel in the back of the truck, and are charged by the truck.  

BIL rode his up and down the hill to help me on the dock this morning.  I have too many tools piled in my truck for anyone else to ride in it.

[Tpt life]

2 hours ago, pkinneb said:

I look forward to a full review

BTW probably a stupid question but can you still ride these like a regular bike?

There are three classes of ebikes. Some have throttle only, some have power assisted pedaling, and some can lock out the motor for pedaling without power. 

[wtnhighlander]

In TN, at least, a vehicle loses 'bicycle' status and is reclassified as a motorcycle (including the need for registration and appropriate DL rating) if it can travel at more that 20mph without pedal assist. The type of motor does not matter. Several folks around town can be seen zipping along with string trimmer powerheads adapted to a friction drive on their bike wheel.

[curlyoak]

This is an iPhone response. My computer internet is down. 

On 8/5/2022 at 11:56 AM, Chet said:

There have been quite a few in our neighborhood too.

How long does it take to do a full charge?

I got the bike late afternoon. I started charging an empty battery. By darkness the battery was still charging. So I dont know how long yet. But I will let you know when I know. Amperage is a big factor and the charger itself could make the biggest difference.

On 8/5/2022 at 12:08 PM, pkinneb said:

I look forward to a full review

BTW probably a stupid question but can you still ride these like a regular bike?

 I agree with Tpt. Also you have a lot more weight because of the battery and motor add a bunch. But you have power. Mine has 6 settings including zero. Zero is a good setting if you are walking the bike. And/or a throttle. With cruise control. A lot different than a regular bike.

 I will have more to say when my internet is up. Xfinity is coming tomorrow morning. I hope they fix it.

first iPhone post. 

[JohnG]

One time I bolted a Stihl 029 to my bike’s chainstay and welded a chainsaw sprocket to the crank arm. Used a bike brake cable and lever for throttle. Chainsaw chain (safe!) to turn the cranks, bicycle chain from the front sprocket to rear to drive the wheel. 

In some gears I had to pedal to get it going from a stop but then it would accelerate. 

[curlyoak]

I did not realize my dependancies on electronics. This outage gave me anxiety and stress. By luck of the draw on quick service from xfinity and a tech that had all the answers. Including helping me reinstall my internet phone.  Everything was fixed and did so much more. I am much better than before the outage. And the stress has evaporated.

On 8/5/2022 at 8:53 PM, JohnG said:

One time I bolted a Stihl 029 to my bike’s chainstay and welded a chainsaw sprocket to the crank arm. Used a bike brake cable and lever for throttle. Chainsaw chain (safe!) to turn the cranks, bicycle chain from the front sprocket to rear to drive the wheel. 

Very resourceful. I admire your abilities!

After a couple of more miles I decided to get fenders. Also a mirror for added safety. I ordered a bike bell for people and a rechargeable horn for cars and trucks. More safety. Approaching and alerting with a horn startles people. The bell works. The horn is when I am alerting a car or truck, windows up and the AC is on. Also I like asking little kids to touch the horn button. A variety of responses.

ps I ordered a mount for my phone...

[JohnG]

We put compressed air bike horns on our bikes when we were commuting and riding a lot. There’s an air canister that fit in the bottle cage or had straps to attach it to the frame. You pump it up with a bike pump or air compressor and it was extremely loud. Saved us from oblivious cyclists and cars several times.