What is Digg?83 Comments
- inactive, on 08/19/2008, -3/+54I like my human powered bike just fine :)
- cardinalgill, on 08/19/2008, -0/+19I'm with BCCStu, but I found a solid listing of electric scooters/motorcycles and bikes over here: http://greenhome.huddler.com/products/category/sco ...
I was in beijing and they're all over the place. With families of 3 on each one...craziness. - ScottMcIntyre, on 08/19/2008, -1/+20Good environment saving advice. As they say in the UK... "on yer bike!" :-)
- inactive, on 08/19/2008, -8/+23yeah there great if you want to show up to work covered with sweat.
- mavicyp, on 08/19/2008, -2/+13I agree. Humans make the best fuel. If only they weren't so damned difficult to refine.
- lucy22, on 08/19/2008, -0/+10Electric bikes are a great idea, they would not work here due to our severe winters, but I am all for it.
- larrysellers7, on 08/19/2008, -4/+14What's cooler, electric bike or segway?
GOB Bluth looked pretty money on his seqway. - SVOboy, on 08/19/2008, -3/+13Better than being fat and soft.
- MarkusX, on 08/19/2008, -2/+12Electric bikes still have to get the (electric) power from somewhere, which is not as green as MAN POWER.
People are just to lazy to pedal themselves. I'm disappointed in where the world is going.
I have to go in the basement now and stand on my electric powerplate exerciser. ;-) - DiggItalia, on 08/19/2008, -3/+12Electric bikes sounds to me like the 2nd nerdiest option right after the segway, I'd rather stick to my leg-powered mountain bike.
- geekchic, on 08/19/2008, -6/+14I never arrived to work "covered in sweat" and used to spend just a few minutes in the toilets wiping myself down with a damp towel before changing into work clothing.
- inactive, on 08/19/2008, -0/+8when i worked in downtown manhattan, a coworker used to ride his bike from greenpoint brooklyn over the willamsburg bridge to work every day in near 10° IN SHORTS!
- feckineejit, on 08/20/2008, -0/+7Yes yes you like your leg powered bike just fine, great you are not lazy and you are better than everyone else. The great thing about an electric bike is you don't HAVE to use the electric option . The bike works fine leg powered too, there's just the added 20 or so pounds of batteries.
It's a good option for people who want to get to work NOT covered in sweat and don't want to wait for & squeeze onto public transportation. - JitMaster, on 08/19/2008, -0/+4I charge my electric bike with my solar panel. Greener than your man power.
- inactive, on 08/20/2008, -0/+4Someone might complain if I started taking my clothes off in the bathroom at work.
- recalcitrantid, on 08/19/2008, -0/+4mountain? it's all about road!
- recalcitrantid, on 08/19/2008, -0/+4electric bikes actually produce less pollution that pedal-power, believe it or not! [citation needed]
- g00bd0g, on 08/19/2008, -0/+4And electric motorcycles!
www.zeromotorcycles.com - hufflepuff17, on 08/20/2008, -1/+44 years ago when I bought my moped people were all laughing at me as they passed me on the road...Now when I go to the pump with my 100 miles to the gallon motorbike twice a month for a fill up of 6 bucks...I'm the one laughing now, allllll the way to the pump.
- beersnob, on 08/20/2008, -0/+3I've had an electric bike for three years. Actually, I bought a kit for $350 and installed it on my existing bike. I think of it as more of a hybrid bike than an electric bike. I never ride without pedaling. For me, the motor equalizes hills and wind. When I installed the kit, I had an 11 mile commute to work. Going to work, I hardly used the motor, as it was downhill. But coming home, I almost always was going into a 10-15 mph wind, and I was climbing over 400 ft in elevation over the 11 miles. For me, the motor is a great equalizer, making an uphill against-the-wind commute more like a flat, no-wind commute.
- wunksta, on 08/19/2008, -0/+3these bikes can go a lot further a lot easier. regular bikes are fun but arent always great for transportation long distances.
these dont look that great but there are better looking ones. more sport looking ones. i wouldnt mind that or a more electric motorcycle type one. give it time man lol - wunksta, on 08/20/2008, -0/+3get out of here with your logic and rational thinking!
- Morwynd, on 08/20/2008, -0/+3Um, MAN POWER has to get the power from somewhere too ya know. Pedalling requires calories, which requires food, which requires energy to produce and put on your plate.
Is that loop more efficient than an electric motor? I don't know. I'm sure it depends on tons of different factors.
But pedal power ain't free either, which you seem to be sort've implying. - peaceninja, on 08/20/2008, -1/+3Gas is very pricey. Driving is dangerous. Live!!!
- jeehalte, on 08/20/2008, -0/+2looks complicated my "fixie" is much simpler and cheaper to maintain
- inactive, on 08/20/2008, -0/+2Agreed, I am glad I make enough money that I can afford to drive if I want to.
- Ramble, on 08/19/2008, -0/+2On yer bike means go away, it doesn't mean get on your bike.
- Yaanu, on 08/19/2008, -1/+3(Hey, watch this)
LOUIE, YOU'RE FAT!!!1
(Okay guys, run!) - wunksta, on 08/20/2008, -0/+2well not everyone is willing to do a marathon to work everyday.
- simplyintricate, on 08/20/2008, -0/+2I do too, except I never see them again next week.
- wunksta, on 08/19/2008, -0/+2they can get their power from green sources of energy. even if not, it would still be greener than othe sources
as for this statement
"People are just to lazy to pedal themselves."
ive seen people drive down the street. thats ridiculous. god forbid someone walk a little bit. anyway, i would use an electric bike as an alternative to a car. you still pedal on these and even if i had one i would still use a regular bike. - wunksta, on 08/19/2008, -0/+2thats your choice then
id rather not spend so much. plus there are cheaper ways to drive using alternative energy.
but again, its your choice. - wunksta, on 08/20/2008, -0/+2orly? ive seen lots actually.
- simplyintricate, on 08/20/2008, -0/+2If you mean the one that lights up a light and powers a bike computer, it's been done..
- ElTomacco, on 08/20/2008, -0/+1I used to have a Lashout electric bike. It was fun but thanks to it's old-school lead-acid batteries it was extremely heavy. It was easy enough to pedal w/o electricity on flat roads, but going up a steep hill unassisted was almost an impossibility. This was an annoyance as you could barely get 20 miles to a charge, and that's WITH pedaling. Also after 2 riding seasons the batteries could hardly hold a charge. I was planning on replacing them, but then the damn thing got stolen off my front porch.
- OpCzar, on 08/20/2008, -1/+2Faggios are cool.
- 1hrSleep, on 08/20/2008, -0/+1Not sure about the pedalling to charge the battery but those we would call "electric bikes". They're bicycles with "power assisted" functionality. For the most part they're usually bicycles with a motor attached. They're completely functional as bicycles without using the throttle.
In Canada, if it has pedals, you can pass it off as a bike. This means you don't need a license, insurance, etc. You can even just get kits.
These are usually systems that will just help you a bit with a bit of motor power to keep you going at X speed/force. If you're going up a hill and it senses that you're really struggling to get those pedals going, it'll give you a boost to make it easier. For the most part, it just helps you accelerate. Past a certain speed, it's all you.
Of course, there's also the throttle option. Feeling lazy? Tired? Broke your leg? Just use the throttle and let the motor do the work for you.
If you want to switch to bicycles completely (grocery shopping, commuting, etc.) an electric kit would definitely be a great way to make the transition and help out with heavier loads when you come across them. To go from zero to full bike is a really hard (but fun) transition especially when you have huge freakin' hills like where I live.
The downside is cost. An electric bike (bike + kit) will burn you for at least $1.5k. If you sell your car, get an e-bike, you'll still come up ahead in the short and long run. Even if you keep your car and just drive less, you'll make up the cost of the bike within a year just from saving gas.
And then you have the added benefit of being in better shape. Your ass will be tighter, your legs bigger, and if you eat a bit better, you'll definitely have no problem with definition.
(Long reply because I just started biking too. College student, can't really afford to drive a car right now to work or school, so I got a bike. I love it. I've just about finished converting my bike into a road bike and the next upgrade will be an electric kit for grocery shopping.)
(BionX electric kit: http://www.bionx.ca/)
(Canadian dealer/my LBS: http://www.jvbike.com/elbikes.htm)
(My bike: http://www.dahon.com/intl/mup8.htm) - sparkysko, on 08/19/2008, -1/+2Yeah, that's the thing. We purchased a 48 volt brushless electric bike, the most powerful non craptacular one that we could find locally, and it wasn't able to navigate the hills around here without the electronic speed controller kicking in the thermal shutdown protection. Lugging around the 40 pounds of batteries inside every day to charge isn't fun either :(
If they started making 1 or 2 kw direct drive brushless bicycles for a decent price, that'd be nice. Unfortunately also, that state laws vary widely regarding these things, and in our area, requires a drivers license, and motorcycle license and insurance for any electric bike that can go over 25mph, and you are forbidden from riding them in bike lanes/paths.
I got 80 mpg on a little gas scooter that cost me $200 brand new online, unfortunately Oregon considers this a 'motorcycle' and also requires license/registration/insurance, which since they don't have VIN numbers, doesn't seem like a good idea.
On the other hand, on flat land, the electric bike that we did purchase, is capable of going 40 miles per kw/hour which is ridiculously inexpensive to recharge.
Hopefully they will focus on the 'real' bikes, using brushless, and stop using the craptacular brushed motors which are dominating most of the bikes that you see for sale. - strangewill, on 08/20/2008, -0/+1I'd take the electric-assist for a higher average speed.
- TheNakedChef, on 08/20/2008, -0/+1for most americans the power will be free from their surplus energy fat stores.
- MrGiblets, on 08/20/2008, -0/+1BAM!
http://blog.oregonlive.com/rubbersidedown/2008/04/ ...
http://blogs.nypost.com/40by40/photos/Fat%20twins. ... - brad3378, on 08/20/2008, -0/+1I have one of these and I REALLY like it a lot.
http://www.zapworld.com/electric-vehicles/electric ... - inactive, on 08/20/2008, -0/+1Live in the nowww
- RMartinBikes, on 02/23/2009, -0/+1Hi,
We are an Electric Vehicles distributor firm and have been actively providing electric bikes and scooters to people from the last 5 years. Our clients appreciate the fact that how investing in such transportation one time saves them the need to go to a gasoline station or how they are actively cooperating in the global 'Go Green Movement'.
I must say, to those who like fast speed vehicles, that given the rate at which technology is evolving, you never know when such electric bikes/cars get introduced in the markets that will have tremendous speed levels and small batteries.
N
(On behalf of R Martin Bikes.)
http://rmartinbikes.blogspot.com - wunksta, on 08/20/2008, -0/+1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moped
- Technopundit, on 08/20/2008, -0/+1Nah. Makes too much sense.
- mik3pass, on 08/20/2008, -0/+1How is that any greener than an electric car?
Just less weight to carry around, and that's about it.
None of the speed or distance benefits of the larger battery, though. - satanguy, on 08/20/2008, -0/+1our work has a shower :)
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