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- brutusx, on 06/12/2009, -5/+28Oh, so they're too good to walk all of a sudden? Have you noticed the more money they make the lazier they get. Pretty soon they'll be just like those fat ass americans. haha. hey wait a sec...
- inactive, on 06/12/2009, -0/+22I thought you were supposed to hang the $6000 road-bike off the back of the SUV, drive to the coffee shop, and then come home.
- inactive, on 06/12/2009, -2/+17More useful then an iPhone I suppose
- ilistenisee, on 06/12/2009, -2/+14since when have bicycles been out in China?
China's pretty crazy on electric scooters/bicycles in recent years. Last time I went to China in 06, some cities in China have already banned gasoline powered motorcycles/scooters. It's indeed a good trend...and considering the traffic in China and the way people drive...electric bicycles/scooters are much easier to get around :) - Ramble, on 06/12/2009, -1/+10There's no such thing as bad weather - just bad clothing.
- SystemicThought, on 06/12/2009, -2/+10Actually, there is research indicating that bicycling, due to the inefficiency of farming techniques, takes more petroleum to produce, transport, and process the food for the additional calories needed to bike a given distance than the equivalent energy from coal to charge an electric bicycle. It is actually better on the environment. But you lose the benefits of exercise.
Plus there's the obvious "it's better than cars" argument. - JackOpfor, on 06/12/2009, -0/+7Those electric bikes are starting to show up in Chinatown here in NYC. The delivery guys like them because unlike a moped you don't need a license for them.
- ivan423, on 06/12/2009, -1/+7In Taldykorgan the batteries are powered by bicycles, or some crap like that.
- aliekens, on 06/12/2009, -0/+6I got an electric BikeTec Flyer bicycle (Swiss brand, I got it in Belgium) for my 10km commute. This bicycle doesn't go on it's own, you need to pedal to get the same amount of work out of the electric motor. It's driven by a Li-On battery (gives me about 40km in "Turbo" modus) which is easily and quickly charged at an outlet.
Getting up to speed at traffic lights or crossing a bridge is super easy, and you're not sweating upon arrival. My overall average speed is 24kmph, easily getting to 30kmph, without a sweat. I really love the bike, and it's often quicker than driving a car or public transport to get to the other side of the city. - 1hrSleep, on 06/12/2009, -0/+6You're close. What you're supposed to do is hang the $6,000 Cervelo on the back of the SUV, drive it a block away from the coffee shop, change in the SUV, put on the cycling shoes, bring down the Cervelo, then ride it to the coffee shop. Then you lean it against a wall or railing outside while you sip your latte, admiring your reflection in the bike's glossy paint.
- Fiola, on 06/13/2009, -0/+5sure it pollutes, but simple manufacturing principle tells us that producing in large quantities is far more efficient than in small batches, which is what gasoline engined cars are doing, producing "energy" locally. Besides, power plants improve efficiency all the time, pollutions etc are wasted energies. Your electric powered engines becomes greener as power plants improve, the same can't be said for gasoline engined cars.
- jackmillergmail, on 06/12/2009, -0/+5You are looking at what has been instead of the moving target of the future. China has developed a nuclear power assembly line. In about 11 years they will build about as much nuclear power as the USA currently has. Nuclear power is great for charging batteries because it runs 24/7. The USA needs to stop subsidizing inefficient windmills and corn oil and it needs to stop putting road blocks in front of nuclear power. New plants use as fuel what others produce as waste.
- inactive, on 06/12/2009, -0/+5In this case, mass transportation is really the ultimate solution.
Best solution, bus with antimatter engine. - DouglasQ, on 06/12/2009, -0/+4I bought the 'wheels' app for my iPhone, so I'm good.
- redwolfwalker, on 06/12/2009, -0/+4Could be a plan, you can put a lot of bicycles in a Hummer
- pak314, on 06/13/2009, -0/+4No, these are powered by baby formula.
- jonmlm, on 06/12/2009, -0/+3rtfa
- crickey23, on 06/12/2009, -1/+4Let me guess, you know this because you are extremely interested in science and programming?
- taibo, on 06/12/2009, -0/+3That was a pretty poor reference, since lead is actually meant to be used in batteries.
- MrTea, on 06/12/2009, -0/+3no
- SystemicThought, on 06/12/2009, -1/+4I commute by bike in the winter... and I live in Minnesota. As long as there a plows...
- RustyMcloon, on 06/13/2009, -0/+3I live in China. Bicycles are not back. They never went away. The first thing I noticed about China was how many bicycles there are everywhere!
- Ayabrea2, on 06/12/2009, -0/+2I think its cool they are doing that. Its pretty nice having more greener things on the road than gas guzzling cars. If America can do that, i think we'd be just fine in terms of being more green
- evil-doer, on 06/12/2009, -2/+4this is instead of motor bikes, not instead of walking.
they arent trying to get people to not walk. they are trying to get them off gas power - taibo, on 06/12/2009, -0/+2There will be environmental concerns for any solution. Hell, if everyone just walked I bet someone would bring up the envrionmental concerns of having to make more concrete to maintain the sidewalks.
- vapn420, on 06/13/2009, -0/+2Irresponsible how? Because they are having basically their industrial revolution now? It's easy to chastise other people for achieving progress at cost when we are sitting on a pedestal.
- sockpuppets, on 06/12/2009, -2/+4Yo dawg?
- crickey23, on 06/13/2009, -0/+2Are you daft? I can't believe I just fell for the biggest troll on the planet.
- ShrimpCrackers, on 06/13/2009, -0/+2Actually those are technically illegal under NYC DMV law. Electric bikes require a license, but the DMV won't license those electric bikes hence you often get those things confiscated. Worse, some precincts in NYC say that as long as its under a certain wattage, its okay. However they have no way to determine wattage so its really entirely up to the cop.
Finally once a bike (this applies for both electrified and regular bikes) gets confiscated in NYC, often-times its "lost" by the time you try to reclaim it at the precinct.
All this is speaking from experience of course. Not very conducive. I personally think electric bikes could revolutionize travel in Manhattan. - rif42, on 06/14/2009, -0/+1In-line with what aliekens explain, the general rules for electrical bicycles in EU are: Max 250W motor, motor is only helping when you pedal (otherwise it is classified as a scooter), motor only help up to 25 kmph.
Personally I prefer purely mechanical powered bicycles, but if e-bikes makes people able to drive further than without motor and hence use it more often I thinks it is fine. - ashmist, on 06/13/2009, -0/+1IIRC, lead acid batteries can be pretty effectively recycled
- billalbertson, on 06/12/2009, -1/+2E-bikes are cool. Most kits available in the US use modern batteries and can be charged in 2-4 hours. At least one kit uses removable drill batteries (makita or B&D, not sure) which you can charge in the office or home. These bikes can actually get speeds of 35 mph if you alter the governor.
Turning my work bike into an e-bike is next on my list of things to do after getting an xtracycle attachment for it. - gbudavid, on 06/13/2009, -0/+1Sounds like a target rich environment to me...
- mulling, on 06/12/2009, -0/+1I was in Beijing in 2007 and they were all over the place. You could buy a sweet one with a key, alarm, good top speed and 15-mile range for around US$70. It cracks me up to see thousand-dollar electric bicycles for sale in the US, when the chinese bikes come over to the states they're going to own the market.
- passedoutghost, on 06/13/2009, -0/+1A few of my relatives own an electric bike. Quite useful too because some live about 10 ks away from school and the only way to get there was walking 5 ks and then catching a bus for the rest of the way. And there was only one bus.
- vapn420, on 06/13/2009, -0/+1Wow, you are really ignorant about china
- wright3279, on 06/12/2009, -2/+3Lots more fat Chinese, heart disease, diabetes, etc.
Welcome to progress. - DouglasQ, on 06/12/2009, -2/+3too*
- 1hrSleep, on 06/12/2009, -0/+1Pedal? Or do you peddle?
- mjk340, on 06/12/2009, -0/+1http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-04/19/conte ...
"The agreement also involves technology transfer to China. "
An interesting arrangement where a US company is using Chinese investment to fund new technology design. In exchange, China gets to learn aspects of US technology so they can start building their own pressurized water reactors in the future. - 1hrSleep, on 06/12/2009, -0/+1BionX motors are rad. They're power assisted, not solely electric bikes. It's meant to assist you in pushing the gears on inclines or against the wind by measuring the torque applied by you, your speed, and then adjusting to reduce the effort. There's also an option to have a throttle but that ruins the fun. Rechargeable by pedaling or by outlet with a good range, light weight,
You can also put them on pretty much any bicycle. - juankovo, on 06/12/2009, -5/+6Not everyone can live within walking distance of everywhere they need to go.
- robbob, on 06/12/2009, -0/+1I bought one from a Hyundai dealership when they were closing them out.
They go around 30 miles on a charge, but I peddle most of the time. Its faster - inactive, on 06/13/2009, -1/+1With any luck they will all get fat and remove the obesity stigma from us Americans (just like our money).
- elevatordisco, on 06/13/2009, -0/+0Good stuff, although I read nothing about whether pedaling recharges the battery or not...
- vapn420, on 06/13/2009, -0/+0What does that even mean?
- iambk, on 06/17/2009, -0/+0besides, I heard that the China was the one of the countries where the renewable energy like wind, solar developed quickest.
- ShrimpCrackers, on 06/13/2009, -1/+1Pedal Bikes give up to around a 30% return. They are one of the most efficient travel machines ever made. Cars are obviously not one of them.
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