Lectric Bikes

[leikec]

Does anybody own one? I mean the Lectric brand of electric bike specifically.

Jeff C

[phiil]

No, but I’ve looked at them. For a low-endish machine, it’s not too bad. Good racks and, I believe, lights. (Both of which should be standard on any ebike, I think)
They have hub motors with cadence sensing, which isn’t the best, but will get you there.
The Tern HSD is a similar style, but with components that are many times better, and a 440 pound weight limit. (Cargo plus rider) of course, it cost many times as much.
RAD bikes and Pedago are comparable. I’d probably go for the RAD if I had to choose.
And of course you get what you pay for. A thousand dollar ebike will be a lousy car replacement, but great for afternoon rides around the park.
What will you do with an ebike?

[leikec]

I’m probably more the ride around the park type at this point, but in the small town I live in it could probably do double duty, at least to some extent.
There is a Pedago dealer near me—I’ll take a closer look at what they have.
Jeff C

[leikec]

Anybody else own or ride one of these?

Jeff C

[LeeG]

not me. I’ll look and opine.

ok, folding bikes w lots of standover clearence. My $.02 is if you have no preference for riding position it might be fine or it might be a $1000 learning experience. Best option is test riding.

[stromborg]

I'm not in the market but for professional reasons have been paying attention to EVs in general. Low-end bikes have low-end battery packs and these seem to be more likely to catch on fire. It is a combination of how they get assembled, the shapes used to build the packs and how resistant the whole package is to damage. The resulting fires are run-away chemical reactions and really really hard to extinguish.

The bikes are great, I know a lot of people use them quite happily. If I had one it would not live too close to my house, garage or boatshop.

[ahp]

I am waiting to see a bike that looks like one of those in the movie "Tron", or has it been done already?

[BrianW]

Sorry, not that exact brand.

We do have 2 Bee Cool brand ebikes, and they are more complex than I'd have liked. But very fun to ride. Unfortunately they fall in the Class 3 class, and are outlawed on most nice bike paths.


IMG_3369.jpg

[mizzenman]

Nope, but e-bikes are funn. Id go for a belt drive if I bought a new one

20221207_sykle.jpg

[HRDavies]

Does anybody own one? I mean the Lectric brand of electric bike specifically.

This isn't the brand you are asking about but ... unless you want to go off-road, I think these are a much better choice.

scoot_one.jpg

scoot_two.jpg

They are a lot stronger, can truly carry two people at 30 mph, that "hub motor in the spoked wheel" is not so reliable, these look much sexier and you can actually carry stuff on them. Plus the battery is better.

[LeeG]

Nope, but e-bikes are funn. Id go for a belt drive if I bought a new one

20221207_sykle.jpg

That is neat. I agree wrt belt drive. I am considering an internal gear hub w jockey pulley for my mid drive ebike as I’ve ruined two derailleurs, two hangers and need to rebuild a rear wheel from thrashing through fields where sticks got into the chain and derailleur and the excess torque did damage before I could catch it.

[phiil]

I’ve put almost 15,000 miles on two belt drives. Never going back to a chain. Most bike chains were designed for human power. Even a low powered ebike has three times the oomph.
Probably costs you a percent or two in efficiency, but, hey, you’ve got an electric motor!

[LeeG]

I’ve put almost 15,000 miles on two belt drives. Never going back to a chain. Most bike chains were designed for human power. Even a low powered ebike has three times the oomph.
Probably costs you a percent or two in efficiency, but, hey, you’ve got an electric motor!

A bike chain can be durable enough it’s the shifting and cross chain angle that’s problematic. What gets me is that Shimano has made a ebike specific derailleur drivetrain that is more durable but of course not compatible with other shifters. Damn you Shimano. So far a couple other IGH hub makers are coming out with high torque capable hubs but rare. 3x3 Niner brand and Kindernay along with Rohloff. Supposedly Shimano has an ebike capable IGH but not really durable enough. I can still get a decent used car for the price of a good utility ebike.

[rgthom]

When I put a mid drive on my old mtn bike, the chain and sprockets wore out pretty quickly. Ebike rated replacements are showing no significant wear at around 3k miles. I would like a belt, but chains are still fine for road I think.
A few comments in favor of adding a kit to a regular bike. For a moderate cost you get a machine fully customizable for fit with quality bike components available. The Bafang mid drives are programmable, make it road legal or trail. The Bafangs are ubiquitous now and fully maintainable. Spend enough to get a quality battery in the size you need.
My brother in law bought a Rad Power for about what I paid for a kit. It took us a couple hours to assemble, has clean wire routing and works fine. Many parts are proprietary, though, not much ability to change fit and parts have to come from the company. I have tested several others, none work as well for me as the converted mtn bike.

[Jim Bow]

This isn't the brand you are asking about but ... unless you want to go off-road, I think these are a much better choice.

scoot_one.jpg



scoot_two.jpg

They are a lot stronger, can truly carry two people at 30 mph, that "hub motor in the spoked wheel" is not so reliable, these look much sexier and you can actually carry stuff on them. Plus the battery is better.

Owning one of these would require licensing, and in my state a motorcycle endorsement on my drivers license.

[Breakaway]

I'm not in the market but for professional reasons have been paying attention to EVs in general. Low-end bikes have low-end battery packs and these seem to be more likely to catch on fire. It is a combination of how they get assembled, the shapes used to build the packs and how resistant the whole package is to damage. The resulting fires are run-away chemical reactions and really really hard to extinguish.

The bikes are great, I know a lot of people use them quite happily. If I had one it would not live too close to my house, garage or boatshop.

NYC is considering legislation banning electric bikes from public housing and buildings for that very reason.


Kevin


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[HRDavies]

Owning one of these would require licensing, and in my state a motorcycle endorsement on my drivers license.

Don't know your state but at least in California and Washington, they do not. Only because they are electric I guess, as the equivalent gasoline-powered ones do.

Which state are you in ? Oops, just looked. No, unless they changed it in the last year, you are mistaken, Washington does not. That's one of the advantages for a lot of people.

[rgthom]

Don't know your state but at least in California and Washington, they do not. Only because they are electric I guess, as the equivalent gasoline-powered ones do.

Which state are you in ? Oops, just looked. No, unless they changed it in the last year, you are mistaken, Washington does not. That's one of the advantages for a lot of people.

A 30 mph throttle control scooter with enough power to carry two (way over 750 W)? That needs a license in every state I know of. CA for sure, and WA is the same. Both the scooter and the rider need a license.

[HRDavies]

A 30 mph throttle control scooter with enough power to carry two (way over 750 W)? That needs a license in every state I know of.

The way that everyone gets around this is that officially, they don't. But in practice, they do. This is true for just about every two-wheeled electric vehicle ... when you get it, does 12 mph but swap these two wires and voila, 29.5 .... etc etc. These just follow that convention. (And they aren't mopeds because they don't have a gasoline engine.)

[Jimmy W]

The way that everyone gets around this is that officially, they don't. But in practice, they do. This is true for just about every two-wheeled electric vehicle ... when you get it, does 12 mph but swap these two wires and voila, 29.5 .... etc etc. These just follow that convention. (And they aren't mopeds because they don't have a gasoline engine.)

Also known as a motorized bicycle, a moped has 2-3 wheels and an electric motor with an automatic transmission that produces less than 4 gross brake horsepower.
Some mopeds have pedals so you can ride them when the motor is off.

You must have a motorcycle license (M1 or M2) to drive a moped.
You must be at least 16 years old or older to drive a moped, and you must wear a helmet while you ride.
You do not need insurance to register a moped, but you do need special license plates and an identification card, along with a one-time $23 registration fee.

You do not have to renew your moped registration in the same way as you register other vehicles.

https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/vehicl...-and-scooters/

[gypsie]

A 30 mph throttle control scooter with enough power to carry two (way over 750 W)? That needs a license in every state I know of. CA for sure, and WA is the same. Both the scooter and the rider need a license.

Similar here, max 250w and must cut off at 25kms. If not; rego, insurance, motor vehicle testing, actual motorcycle helmet, and you can't use bike paths.

I live in a small town, my cheap ebike defintiely substitutes for the car for trips to the shops etc....

[Jim Bow]

Don't know your state but at least in California and Washington, they do not. Only because they are electric I guess, as the equivalent gasoline-powered ones do.

Which state are you in ? Oops, just looked. No, unless they changed it in the last year, you are mistaken, Washington does not. That's one of the advantages for a lot of people.

The red scooters in the pic do not have pedals. They’re considered to be electric motorcycles and need license plates and a MC endorsement. Electric bikes, able to be pedaled, don’t require registration, yet.

[stromborg]

[QUOTE=Jim Bow;6767514] Electric bikes, able to be pedaled, don’t require registration, yet.[/QUOTET]

Emphasis on the "yet"

Judging by the speed at which I see the electric bike commuter crowd zip off the ferry, somebody is going to start thinking about it. Those suckers are fast.

[amish rob]

Youngest Son and I were riding bikes the other day, and there’s a stretch of bike trail that runs uninterrupted for about a mile, between intersections with roads.

Just before we got on the trail, a guy on a small wheeled electric bike pulled in behind us.

We both expected him to pass us, because e-bikes normally zip along at a-hole speeds on the trail, but he stayed back there.

When we got to the intersection and stopped for cross traffic, he pulled up next to us and said he followed us just to watch me wheelie. “I kept waiting for you to drop the front wheel, but you never did!”

Haha.