533 bike & battery

May 15, 2022

It didn't turn out as complicated as I hoped, but in the end the story flows ok (except for that one chapter about the T-suits, that needs to be about ten chapters earlier) and pretty much makes sense on it's own, so that is an achievement. A little more homework ahead of time might have helped make the plot more complex, but the basics are there.

If you've read my novel Swimmer you might recognize The Flood is a prequel.

In the meantime, I've collected about a gagillion screencraps of electric bikes. Some of these I've forgotten why I got a picture, what is called or how much it costs. So let's see what we've got...

There's the UPS quad bike. They actually have a couple ebikes they're testing. This one is made in Britain.

In Europe it's relatively common to have car free areas, and this bike is designed to make delivering packages in those areas easier.

In other words, the more convenient option is winning.

This is kinda wild. I forget what is called, but this spring loaded wheel is a mechanical engine for any bike. It's being manufactured in Ireland, and it adds 30% more power to your ride, without doing anything.

Watching a video helped me understand. When we ride a bike, or drive a car, our weight and the weight of the vehicle actually forces the wheels out of round. It's a very small amount of flex, so little we don't notice it, but it happens.

This wheel captures that energy, caused by nothing more than our weight pushing down on the wheel rim, and turns it into more spin. The springs stretch at the top of the wheel and compress at the bottom, and each time they spring back, they create a little forward push on the wheel. Pretty cool.

There are a few ebikes and motors that are gaining notice because you can't really tell they're an ebike. The motors and batteries are basically invisible, and super lightweight.

That's a mid-drive motor right there. They will frequently be matched with a battery that looks like a water bottle.

The result is a boosted bike that no other riders will notice.

Right now it's all very high-end stuff, but I imagine the tech will work it's way down market.

Leading to more bikes that look like this.

Uh, you know what I mean. Like a bike.

Here's an example. This bike has a rear hub motor and big battery in that front tube, but it also doesn't scream ebike.

Kinda pricey though.

Unlike this bike. Newcomer Lectric has another (imported) hit on their hands with the Lectric XPremium, their first mid-drive. It comes with two 48v batteries and a torque sensor, I think, for an introductory price of $1799. That is tech usually found at about $3k.

It's got a certain "bumper of the RV" look that is proving to be very popular, if not exactly my cup of tea. Still, the specs make it worth considering.

Here's a little more traditional looking bike that also ticks the mid-drive box but under $3k. I could see myself on that. Unfortunately I don't remember most of the specs.

But apparently you can add a second battery for another $500.

Like this one has. Looks like a Tern-beater. I get the sense that a two-battery mid-drive, something with about 50 miles of pedal-free range, is a new sweet spot.

This one is included for the frame design. Bikes are borrowing from modern motorcycle design and using box frames that go around the (two) batteries.

Here's another one with two batteries.

I kinda like the look. It's modern enough to say, wait, something is happening here, but it's traditional enough to say, oh, it's a bike.

It looks like it comes in at $2300.

Frey make motors for some other manufacturers, as well as their own bikes. I forget the price point on this bike, but I think it's a couple grand under similarly specced bikes from Trek and Santa Cruz.

There's a new Marin mullet bike I didn't get any screencraps of that is also playing in that field for just under $5k, compared to $7k+ for those brands I just mentioned.

They're all really hard to get though, they're selling out ahead of time.