Electric bicycles: Viable or not?

Quoted post said:

Whatcha got? It was intended primarily to multiply the utility of an
Xtracycle
(http://xtracycle.com/gallery/view_album.php?set_albumName=real_loads),
letting people haul those sorts of loads in hills, heat, longer
distances, higher speeds, etc. It's also useful for longer, faster
commutes. See the site for detail: http://cleverchimp.com/ .
(Disclaimer: commercial interest.)

I have a Habanero ti mt bike

17" frame

26" wheels

Per [email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

Pete, why do you say that? If you ever drive a car to carry less than
200 pounds of people or cargo besides yourself less than 20 miles or
so, does that mean you're not "particularly into biking"? I designed
Stokemonkey as an alternative to driving cars, not to riding bikes, for
people who like to ride bikes. If you don't like riding bikes, you
probably wouldn't like it as well as some other electric designs, and I
wouldn't recommend it. I've been posting sporadically to r.b.t since
1998, have never owned a car, have house and kid, bike more miles
unassisted than otherwise and will always choose biking over other ways
of getting around, by whatever means necessary.

I was seeing it as a positive, not a negative.

Seems like some guy who is just thinking about getting to work quickly and
cheaply but isn't into biking for any other reason would find it attractive.

More attractive than a dedicated "electric motorcycle" because of the stealth
aspect (mostly nobody will know you're under power) and because of backup
inerrant in the ability to just pedal if the batteries run out.

--
PeteCresswell

Quoted message said:

Quoted post said:

Whatcha got? [snip]

Quoted message said:

I have a Habanero ti mt bike

I meant "watcha got?" in answer to your question about what stokemonkey
was designed for. By which I meant that it can wear many hats.

(PeteCresswell) said:

I was seeing it as a positive, not a negative.

sorry i sounded so defensive. i do bristle at the common opinion that
it can have no appeal for passionate cyclists, so am probably too quick
to argue otherwise.

Quoted message said:

Seems like some guy who is just thinking about getting to work quickly and
cheaply but isn't into biking for any other reason would find it attractive.

The fact that the motor compels the rider to pedal, that shifting to
maintain a steady cadence and so on are required for best results, and
that it's more expensive than other kits suited for merely personal
transportation would make it less attractive to indifferent cyclists, I
think.

Quoted post said:

Quoted message said:

I have a Habanero ti mt bike

I meant "watcha got?" in answer to your question about what stokemonkey
was designed for. By which I meant that it can wear many hats.

Oh I see....sorry

Well I'm not sure what I "got".

I'm not sure what KIND of cargo Id need to haul in a
car free lifestyle actually

I guess it would be groceries, maybe laundry back and
forth to laundromat, books, not sure what else

Per [email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

(http://xtracycle.com/gallery/view_album.php?set_albumName=real_loads),
letting people haul those sorts of loads in hills, heat, longer
distances, higher speeds, etc.

Two questions - both kind of subjective:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1) If the rider sets the "assist" to zero - or the battery is flat - how
much additional load is there on the pedaling? Worst case, I guess
somebody could just drop the chain on the assist chain wheel... but if
the chain is in place is there any rotation of the motor going on?

2) How much noise/whine does the motor make when assisting?
------------------------------------------------------------------------
--
PeteCresswell

Tangential issue:

I'm running Windows XP Pro with automatic updates enabled.

It is unable to play any of the files listed on

http://xtracycle.com/gallery/view_album.php?set_albumName=movies
--
PeteCresswell

(PeteCresswell) said:

Tangential issue:

I'm running Windows XP Pro with automatic updates enabled.

It is unable to play any of the files listed on

http://xtracycle.com/gallery/view_album.php?set_albumName=movies

I got one short one to play as a Quicktime clip; I get the error message
with Win Media, too.

(PeteCresswell) said:

1) If the rider sets the "assist" to zero - or the battery is flat - how
much additional load is there on the pedaling? Worst case, I guess
somebody could just drop the chain on the assist chain wheel... but if
the chain is in place is there any rotation of the motor going on?

There is no rotation of the motor in unassisted pedaling; there is a
freewheel on the motor. The extra load of turning the drive chain
around the freewheel is imperceptible.

Quoted message said:

2) How much noise/whine does the motor make when assisting?

It makes only a low hum under heavy load, more felt than heard. Some
describe it as silent, but that's a stretch. It's a direct-drive motor
with no reduction gearing or other internal moving parts apart from
bearings. The ticking of the freewheel while pedaling unassisted is
considerably louder than the motor when engaged, leading to the odd
circumstance that the system is louder while idle than engaged.