Anyone into electric cycling? Electric Bicycles

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Cool cruiser style Leftie! hope the function matches the form....... I have done some quick calculations to see how the electrified bike compares to the Leaf in terms of efficiency (please accept crude rounding, this is not a dissertation):

1) the bike uses human power as well as electricity to move so is clearly going to be more efficient
2) the bike and rider weigh about 1/20th as much as the Leaf
3) the bike battery is about 1/100 the size of the Leaf battery, 600 wh
4) terrain makes WAY more difference to the bike, different trips use more or less energy depending on hills.
5) the Leaf averages about 4 m/kwh over the course of a year, crudely
6) the bike averages about 70 m/kwh over the 2 trips I have recently measured, probably a fair amount more but almost 20 times the m/kwh of the Leaf. But, since the bike is using a considerable portion of human power to travel, and because the Leaf could easily carry 2 or more people, I conclude that the bike is actually LESS efficient at translating electricity into motion..... but the exercise makes it worth it!
 
dmacarthur said:
6) the bike averages about 70 m/kwh over the 2 trips I have recently measured, probably a fair amount more but almost 20 times the m/kwh of the Leaf. But, since the bike is using a considerable portion of human power to travel, and because the Leaf could easily carry 2 or more people, I conclude that the bike is actually LESS efficient at translating electricity into motion..... but the exercise makes it worth it!
I think a fairer conclusion would be if 4 people are making the trip the car, while not able to match bicycle efficiency, does pretty well. If one person is taking the trip the e-bike is a no-brainer. Hauling stuff other than the person is a different matter. :)

Bike Vs EV gets really complicated due to upstream pollution. If the energy to push the bicycle pedal comes from methane belching cows in S. America that are slaughtered and air freighted to you local distributor, you may well choose you local grid instead. In addition, humans convert chemical to mechanical energy at ~ 20% efficiency. If the source energy is local and sustainable the inefficiency can be overlooked :)

I agree though, e-bikes are insanely great energy misers. Something in the range of 15 Wh/mile of electricity sounds about right when used in assist mode.

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Trivia time. I read an article not too long ago that found that human energy expenditure per mile is the same in conventional bikes and E-bikes. So the exercise is the same per time; the difference is that E-bikes go faster :)
 
Trivia time. I read an article not too long ago that found that human energy expenditure per mile is the same in conventional bikes and E-bikes. So the exercise is the same per time; the difference is that E-bikes go faster

There is no way to really quantify this, as some e-bike riders drop in a 1,2,3 or greater KW motor and then either don't pedal or they pretend pedal. Some do the same with the stock drive. Others pedal but not at all hard, while some just use the bike's motor when they really need it, and power the bike themselves the rest of the time. I always pedal, but at the effort level that is comfortable for me - and that's a bit less than what I'd expend riding a non-assisted bike. And the effort required to pedal an e-bike varies widely.

The 700 now has, in addition to the accessories listed, a good headlight (I find that a bar-mounted headlight nicely supplements the usually weak hardwired front fender light), a smart taillight/brake light (the bike has a hardwired taillight, but it has no flashing mode!) a mega horn (sounds like a 200lb angry squirrel), and a mounted Bluetooth speaker. Tonight it will get a clock-thermometer, and I'll be ordering a suspension seatpost (the gap is too big for me to trust a shim), and some kind of pannier bag setup. I'll also look around the garage for another bell, for pedestrian warning. The fender-mounted anti-tank rocket launchers are on backorder.
 
If the source energy is local and sustainable the inefficiency can be overlooked

because we are organic farmers and grow as much as we can for ourselves (and trade for local meat when we eat meat at all) there are no South American beef guilt issues! Dried beans we buy, to provide the gas needed to get up hills......
 
dmacarthur said:
If the source energy is local and sustainable the inefficiency can be overlooked

because we are organic farmers and grow as much as we can for ourselves (and trade for local meat when we eat meat at all) there are no South American beef guilt issues! Dried beans we buy, to provide the gas needed to get up hills......

I find it amusing to remember that animals are fuel cells -- and lousy ones at that. The synthetic fuel cell has a good 2x efficiency. Animals' only saving grace is that they are not as picky about their foodstocks. And one might argue that when they eat each other, they double the apparent efficiency.
 
I find it amusing to remember that animals are fuel cells -- and lousy ones at that. The synthetic fuel cell has a good 2x efficiency. Animals' only saving grace is that they are not as picky about their foodstocks. And one might argue that when they eat each other, they double the apparent efficiency.

They say that the brain consumes more than half of the calories needed to run the human fuel cell, so we could either bike around happily almost forever or have the ability to think up clever things to say and do, but not both....... probably would have been better off with the former....
 
Oh, I forgot to mention something: I took the metro out for a quick ride this morning, and as I was wheeling it out of the garage I heard a tinkling sound. I thought it was a pannier strap touching the spokes, but it turned to be a broken spoke. That wheel has less than 600 miles on it, and I haven't hit any potholes or bad bumps. I think that it may be from the bike being grazed by a car earlier this month, but there is no way to know for sure. I'm really ticked, because I hate rear wheel R&R on derailleur-equipped bikes, and find it hard to do. I also have no experience at spoke replacement.

So, do I text the girl who hit me, repeat what I just wrote, and ask if she'll pay for a wheel tuneup at a shop? I'm also thinking about offering to buy the bike coop a set of batteries or two for the EZIPs, if they will tune the wheel and replace any iffy spokes. In either case it would cost me $50-$100. I'm also considering just moving up the timetable on the drivetrain conversion on the Metro, as it's clear that the new hubmotor will be just about as noisy as the old one in another month - maybe two, if I'm mainly riding the 700...
 
Ok, bike people: shimano Acera 8 speed. It does NOT want to go into 1st or 2nd. Bike currently indicates 1st while in 3rd. What should be the inner limit screw doesn't visibly move the shifter, although it does change the behavior. I've gotten it to refuse to indicate 8th, refuse to indicate 1st, whatever I do it is in the wrong gear. Please help, as my other bike is a breakage risk with one spoke gone. I have watched a couple of videos, but can't seem to find one specifically about adjusting an Acera 8 speed. I did set the cable to "taut but not tight." I was easily able to set the outer limit screw.
 
After many iterations of cable adjusting, limit screw adjusting, and even B screw "adjusting" I got it dialed in. What an infernal contraption! Those things (derailleurs) should have gone the way of breaker points...
 
Those things (derailleurs) should have gone the way of breaker points...

It is amazing that derailleurs are still to go-to for shifting on bikes. Gazelle now has an internal rear hub shifter similar to the old Sturmey-Archer, with more gears and wider range but still not up to the range of the derailleur. And my neighbor has a Bluetooth derailleur like the pros use: 21st century electronics and 19th century mechanics. There has GOT to be a better way!
 
Internal hub drives like the Sturmey-Archer tend to break under e-bike loads. The derailleur is a 'stone axe': primitive but relatively rugged. I think that a 5x2 would make more sense: less complexity and thicker, stronger components, albeit at the expense of shifting that chain in front.
 
Internal hub drives like the Sturmey-Archer tend to break under e-bike loads.

The Gazelle is an ebike, bosch motor and probably bosch internal hub gears as well? the motor is mid-mount (obviously), so it will be interesting to see if this catches on or holds up....
 
About the rear wheel, a broken rear spoke is often a sign that more will break soon. If you do get it repaired I would recommend getting all the higher-tension (drive-side) spokes replaced. Find a good shop since building a good wheel is a subtle art and one that looks good when new might not last if the spoke tension isn't balanced. Unlike front wheels, most rear wheels aren't symmetric and need to be dished since the cassette is only on one side. Some bikes use huge spacings in the back to remove this constraint but most rear wheels are still dished.

If you go to the coop you might be able to just swap the wheel or buy a new one. More spokes are stronger than fewer so get a wheel with 36 spokes if you can. Specialty wheels sometimes use 40 or 48 spokes but those are rare and might not fit your bike. 36 was common 'back in the day' and is usually plenty if the assembly is good.

Glad you got the derailleur sorted out. One tip I've learned is that it's usually easier to set the limit screws with the chain off the bike. Just sight the jockey wheels vs the gears and set the limit screws. Once they are set you shouldn't need to adjust them again unless the wheel changes.
 
I have been turning into a Terry Gilliam character. I walk hunched over, watching the floor, sometimes even muttering darkly to myself as I laboriously drag my hurting body along. No butterfly is imminent, either. Today, though, with a storm front knocking on our door and the temps finally dropping, I shoved a piece of laptop packing foam into the front of my shirt to protect my sternum, and with just a wobble or two, was off on a quick ride on the Metro. I used that bike, in spite of its broken spoke, because it's more familiar to my reflexes. Almost instantly I found myself pedaling more or less normally, and I got in almost 2.5 miles before the wind and spitting rain forced me back home. I felt like the new man that people had been telling me I'd be when the chest tube came out. My legs are finally hurting less. I've fashioned the soft packing foam into a sort of vest that I can either slip into my shirt or, once I add a big Ace bandage that followed us home from the hospital, can strap on outside my shirt.

Maybe there is a butterfly in this scene, after all...
 
Enter the flyswatter. I have two deep blood clots in my left leg, which was used as a source for grafts for the bypass surgery. As a result, it will likely be months before I can safely ride a bicycle again - if ever. Right before this, I took the 700 ST out for another ride, cataloguing what I liked and disliked about it. On balance, while I like several things about the bike, I don't really like the bike as a whole. The power delivery is just too squirrel-y, with each assist level trying to make the bike go as fast as it can, and the throttle crashing on in the low power levels with a palpable gnashing of gears and a mighty jolt. So my plan is now to do the conversion to a 1-2KW direct drive motor on the Metro, while riding the 700 if and when I can. Then, next Spring, I'll put the customized bike up for sale. I took a couple more pictures to show what is likely the final version of the bike, and will add them when I feel up to it.
 
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