Commuting by e-Bike

When I can, I commute by bicycle to and from work, usually on an e-Bike. I can't always, because sometimes work is 6 miles away but sometimes it's 26 miles away. 

I do it because it's efficient, it's cheap, and it makes my mood noticeably better than when I drive in. 

I'm in Michigan, but weather is much less of a factor than you might expect. Cold isn't a big deal, and neither is a little rain. Snow and ice, and a morning storm are pretty much the only weather-related things that keep me from riding. 

Anyway, I know this won't work for most, and won't appeal to many here, but if you are interested at all and have any questions I'd love to help answer them. 

In reply to Erich :

I'd love to commute by bike, but the chicane at the end of the sofa & into the kitchen might be a little too tight :)

I got a RadPower fat-tire this past year and I plan on using it to commute.  It's 7 miles to work, and the most direct route is not bike friendly, but I can find other streets.

I'm a little less tolerant of weather extremes.  I can't do cold.  I'm equipped to ride in about 45-50 degrees, but any colder than that and I'm done.  Don't mind a little rain.  I also work a very physically intense job at the shop.  I'm a young 48, but some days I completely spend my life force at the shop and the last thing I want to do is ride home which is about 200' rise in elevation.  I can rely heavily on the battery, but I'm 225 lbs, and 750w doesn't do much on some of the hills.

I wish I could ride my bike to work.  It's only 12 miles away and well within my casual range.  The problem is the speeds on the roads that all lead into Atlantic City.  The Speed limit may be 50, but when you have people touching 80 with very little shoulder and only a jersey barrier separating the two directions.. serious accidents are a daily occurrence.  I want to stay on this side of the statistics.

In reply to Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) :

I can understand that - where I live, an eBike means next to no physical exertion - our hills are not exactly steep. I can ride the 7 miles to work in nice clothes and not worry about a sweat, even in 85 degree heat. Mine is a converted cargo bike with a 1500 watt Bafang mid-drive and I really recommend it if you ever feel you need more power. My cargo bike weighs ~120 pounds. 

I've heard the phrase "no bad weather, just bad clothing" and that's been my philosophy in biking. A sweater and ski jacket, wool tights, a nice hat and scarf, winter boots and gore-tex mittens and I'm good down to the single digits. It was 20 degrees yesterday and I was comfortable once I got going. 

Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) said:

 

I can rely heavily on the battery, but I'm 225 lbs, and 750w doesn't do much on some of the hills.

If you think that's true, try turning off the motor on the hill! It's like throwing out an anchor. How much gearing down are you doing?

mad_machine said:

I wish I could ride my bike to work.  It's only 12 miles away and well within my casual range.  The problem is the speeds on the roads that all lead into Atlantic City.  The Speed limit may be 50, but when you have people touching 80 with very little shoulder and only a jersey barrier separating the two directions.. serious accidents are a daily occurrence.  I want to stay on this side of the statistics.

This is my situation.

It's about 13 miles of intensely heavy traffic on every possible route. I'd rather die from lack of exercise than blunt force trauma. 

I have a local friend who's big on e-Bikes, he and his boyfriend both own them - Trek branded, I think. Rode one as part of a big group ride we took and wow, super cool. If I start commuting to client sites again, it'd be a really neat option. We have enough protected bike lanes in DC that I'd feel comfortable enough riding.

I used to commute by bike, including in seriously cold weather. I think my record was -30C. Did you know you can get studded Hakk tires for a bike?

When I was riding to work or school, I think it took about 30 minutes. On the last job I had that was bikeable, the ride itself was fantastic - bike paths and gravel paths, along the river and not a single bit of actual road. I'd shower when I got to work. Having to be a road warrior is a lot less fun. These days, it would be 20 miles each way and that's a fairly significant time commitment.

I'd be interested in how much a legal e-bike can drop the effort. I find them really interesting but I suspect that's mostly "ooo shiny" instead of any sort of actual need these days.

Ebikes... I love the technology. Yesterday I had to add another factor into my safe driving program because of one.

Light turns green and I'm waiting for traffic to clear to make a left turn. Four cars go by and I see a bike coming but he is far enough away for me to make the turn. He is nonchalantly pedaling slowly and probably rolling at about 5mph.

The exact moment I commit to the turn he commits to going full Plaid through the intersection. We both give each other the WTF? look. I felt like crap because I'm a cyclist and keep an eye out for them and I'm sure he has a story about the Dodge truck that almost killed him.

The rest of my trip I was thinking about how to visually calibrate for ebikes now.  They are smaller than motorcycles so they are tougher to see and they can go like a rocket. Then you have to identify that it is in fact an ebike and could be going faster than about 23mph. Look thrice I guess.

I wish I could commute by bike but I would die about 10 times a day if I tried.

Turboeric said:

Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) said:

 

I can rely heavily on the battery, but I'm 225 lbs, and 750w doesn't do much on some of the hills.

If you think that's true, try turning off the motor on the hill! It's like throwing out an anchor. How much gearing down are you doing?

Lots of gearing down.

I'm in relatively good shape to look at me, but 90% of my work is pick things up and put them down.  I have the muscle but I get nearly zero cardio in my life these days, so my lungs are like "you want me to supply how much air???"

Erich said:

In reply to Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) :

I can understand that - where I live, an eBike means next to no physical exertion - our hills are not exactly steep. I can ride the 7 miles to work in nice clothes and not worry about a sweat, even in 85 degree heat. Mine is a converted cargo bike with a 1500 watt Bafang mid-drive and I really recommend it if you ever feel you need more power. My cargo bike weighs ~120 pounds. 

I've heard the phrase "no bad weather, just bad clothing" and that's been my philosophy in biking. A sweater and ski jacket, wool tights, a nice hat and scarf, winter boots and gore-tex mittens and I'm good down to the single digits. It was 20 degrees yesterday and I was comfortable once I got going. 

I always wanted to borrow someone else's body to see how they do stuff like that (if that makes sense).  I wonder if I'm genetically not good at regulating temperature.  I have to dress for an incredibly specific target of physical activity and temperature.  It's like my body has runaway heating/cooling issues.  There is no in between.   I have a partially-blind friend who can't drive and he bikes every day to work.  It doesn't matter if its 90 or -10, he's always wearing spandex bike pants.  I don't get it.

Anyone else also have the problem of gloves never working?  I've had some good gloves in my life and they almost make it worse.

Since this was my first e-bike, I went for the upgraded 750w not knowing that it would be just a little too small for my weight and fitness level.  I suppose I could add a front hub motor if my components can handle the amps, but maybe I just need to tough it out and actually do fitness things.

In reply to Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) :

Lobster gloves. Fingers stay warmer when they have friends. Mine have an inner glove that's insulated and an optional gore-tex outer.

jgrewe said:

Ebikes... I love the technology. Yesterday I had to add another factor into my safe driving program because of one.

Light turns green and I'm waiting for traffic to clear to make a left turn. Four cars go by and I see a bike coming but he is far enough away for me to make the turn. He is nonchalantly pedaling slowly and probably rolling at about 5mph.

The exact moment I commit to the turn he commits to going full Plaid through the intersection. We both give each other the WTF? look. I felt like crap because I'm a cyclist and keep an eye out for them and I'm sure he has a story about the Dodge truck that almost killed him.

The rest of my trip I was thinking about how to visually calibrate for ebikes now.  They are smaller than motorcycles so they are tougher to see and they can go like a rocket. Then you have to identify that it is in fact an ebike and could be going faster than about 23mph. Look thrice I guess.

It can be tough to judge the speed of ebikes visually because the apparent effort is out of line with the speed. It's funny, they look like they're out for a casual cruise but can be booking along. That's for a legal bike (at least in CO). The ones that are basically electric motorcycles need to behave like motorcycles. Registration/safety rules/licensing haven't caught up and the manufacturers are purposefully skirting what rules there are.

Without floundering this thread, I'll just say I am a big "don't tread on me" person when it comes to eBike regulation. Like most things in life, the tool isn't the danger, it's the way it's used. 

Curtis, these are the lobster mitts I use. They're very warm. It's certainly possible you just aren't physically wired for the cold, of course! I've found the key to layering is wool and wind blocking. Wool underlayers, wool scarf, wool sweater, wool socks, with a raincoat and pants over top. Spandex and Lycra are horrible, and smell really bad after a couple uses. Wool is like magic, it never stinks somehow. 

As far as eBike brands go, RadPower that Curtis mentioned above is a good first step. They sell so many that it's developed its own modding community around the brand, and spare parts aren't too tough to get. They're not very expensive, but if you're a bit of a snob you'll probably find the parts they put on them are quite low end. The next step upmarket ($3-5k) that I like are Tern, with nice compact cargo bikes, and Gazelle, with their upright cruiser-style bikes. The sky is kinda the limit for eBikes, you can spend $13-15k on a really fancy cargo bike if you want to.  I am personally a big fan of the Bosch mid-drive units - they're quiet, powerful, and reliable, but like most units not especially user-serviceable. On these, the motor doesn't work unless you're pedaling.

In a more GRM direction, you can do what I did and take an existing bike, almost any bike really, and turn it into an eBike by adding a battery and motor. Some motors drive the front or rear wheel, and the most powerful motors, like the Bafang BBS-HD,  replace the bottom bracket to drive a freewheeling crankset. Expect to spend $1000-1500 on a conversion, bike not included. This will get you anywhere from 20-28 miles per hour with a range of  between 50 and 100 miles depending on bike and rider. These can work by pedaling but you can also add a thumb throttle to help with quick bursts of speed. 

Erich said:

Without floundering this thread, I'll just say I am a big "don't tread on me" person when it comes to eBike regulation. Like most things in life, the tool isn't the danger, it's the way it's used. 

I'm not saying they need to be overregulated, just treated the same way as things with internal combustion. A bunch of those safety regs exist for good reason and humans are not good at judging risk. The Sur Ron has won dirt bike races outright, but ships in "legal" mode with a single wire that needs to be snipped. A dirt bike of the same performance would have to meet various safety requirements for both the bike and the rider. Having a throttle vs only doing pedal assist is a pretty good line to use, I think.

The Luna Stealth bike is one that I really dig, I think it's a nice piece of design and would make a pretty sweet commuter. Throw some panniers on there (I see rack mounting points) and it would be quite useful. You'd definitely have to keep your wits about you when riding one, though, as you'll be going 20% faster than it looks like you're going based on what people expect from bicycles.

Round here a lot of drivers see a bicycle as a stationary object.  Once they have seen you, that's where you are supposed to stay. They pass and immediately turn right across in front of you, or they pass you going into a blind corner and act shocked when you are still beside them as the dive back into their lane.  I'm not slow, fully lycra-d and helmeted up, with flashing lights front and rear on a non-e bike, and I have still had drivers make eye contact with me and slowly pull out in front of me seconds later.

I don't see the quality of driving improving until somebody important to them (like a college football player on an E-bike) gets hurt by oblivious driving.  For this selfish and possibly dark reason, I support wide adoption of e-bikes, which will probably happen this summer with 6 dollar a gallon regular... 

As far as accessories go, if you're going to ride, you need full fenders. Yes, need. Unless you're in some part of the country that absolutely never gets rain, sooner or later you'll find yourself riding on damp roads that fling a skunk stripe up your back and generally ruin your day pretty quickly on a bike. Cars have fenders and so should almost all bikes. Thankfully most eBikes come with them now, as well as nice front and rear lights, which again are a necessity in my mind.

It's good to have a place to put your cargo too, so make sure the bike either comes with a rack or has attachment points to it. The more racks the better in my mind. A decent sized front rack or bag is good for light loads and stuff you might want to access quickly.  For large loads, Ortlieb's water/mud/bulletproof panniers are one of those buy-it-for-life items that just seems perfectly suited for its purpose. I use mine all the time and I think I've owned them for like 15 years now. 

You'll also want to carry a spare tube, a way to inflate it, some tire levers, a rag, and probably a multi-tool. Familiarize yourself with how to change a tube. The best tires out there in my opinion are made by Schwalbe, the main goals there are preventing flats and maintaining comfort and grip. 

Lights. You want lights and reflectors. Especially reflectors on the wheels, they look dorky but boy do they get attention. My old commuter bike had reflective tape on the frame as well.

Actually, speaking of lights - that's obviously an easy thing to do on an ebike because there's already onboard power. But is it worth having self-powered lights so as not to suck down your battery? I know that on cars, the lighting draw is basically zero compared to what's involved in propelling the car. I don't know how that math translates to bikes.

Erich said:

In a more GRM direction, you can do what I did and take an existing bike, almost any bike really, and turn it into an eBike by adding a battery and motor. Some motors drive the front or rear wheel, and the most powerful motors, like the Bafang BBS-HD,  replace the bottom bracket to drive a freewheeling crankset. Expect to spend $1000-1500 on a conversion, bike not included. This will get you anywhere from 20-28 miles per hour with a range of  between 50 and 100 miles depending on bike and rider. These can work by pedaling but you can also add a thumb throttle to help with quick bursts of speed. 

This was my first plan, but I ended up getting the RadPower Rover for $1200 before they got popular.  I remember missing out on their introductory model for something ridiculous like $800.  Now I think they're over $2000.

I had an old, wasted Trek that I considered converting, but it needed so much repair and had 15 year old derailleurs, worn sprockets, and a broken chain.  I figured until I spent $400 upgrading and $1200 on a Bafang kit and battery, I would have a 15 year old bike with $1600 in it.

I'm very much not a bike snob.  I don't need the bestest Shimano everything, I just need it to work.  The Rad Rover came with disc brakes, decent tires, a mid-level Shimano geartrain, lights, and best of all... a warranty.  I'm absolutely loving it.  I got it in olive drab with the orange rear cargo rack.  I have a canvas bag strapped to the rack but plan on building or finding an aluminum or fiberglass box to bolt to it.

If you have chronically cold hands like me, the best investment for any kind of cycle commute is a set of Bar Mitts or knockoffs. Seriously life-changing.

I have friends with Radpower bikes, and they seem pretty happy with them honestly, and they know bikes.

Re: lights, I don't think the draw from an LED front and rear light is at all significant in terms of range. Mine uses a front dynohub instead because that's what it came with and it's fine, but other than the edge case benefit of having lights even if the battery is completely depleted, it's no better than battery-powered lights. Reflectors are great too. Many tires have a reflective sidewall stripe, and also reflectors on pedals are a good thing.

Re: the saddle. Something like Curtis's above is great. A simple saddle, not one of those enormous "comfort gel" saddles that you tend to see. Those look comfortable but they're not, and lead to lots of friction. I personally use a leather Brooks saddle as that's what my butt agrees with.

Also from Curtis's picture, a kickstand is really underappreciated. I love double-legged kickstands that keep a bike stable like a center stand on a motorcycle. 

Start with short rides of 3 miles or so, and expect a sore butt for the first week or so, and sore legs. Your body will adapt surprisingly quickly. 

Erich said:

Also from Curtis's picture, a kickstand is really underappreciated. I love double-legged kickstands that keep a bike stable like a center stand on a motorcycle. 

Even better, a kickstand that doesn't hit the pedals!