E-bikes?

phsycle

Adventurer
I moved to tube shields many years ago as a kid when the goat heads started showing up. I remember those damn things ruined several great trails near my house growing up. Even today I run tube shields in my kids bikes and even in my 29er. I even put them in the stroller after we got 4 flats on the thing during a road trip.

That’s like using tubes in your truck tires. May have been the thing to do back in the day. We now have much better options today.
 

calicamper

Expedition Leader
That’s like using tubes in your truck tires. May have been the thing to do back in the day. We now have much better options today.
Yeah tubeless bike tires are still not great. I know a few Iron man folks who dumped them for tubed tires after not completing the Iron Man due to crap tubeless tires. They all run tubed so they can compete vs spend their race trying to fix tubeless failures.
 

Christian P.

Expedition Leader
Staff member
Interesting timing - we were just discussing this at home a couple days ago. I need a new mountain bike, so I am thinking of just making the jump to a etmb.

This got my attention

 

Martinjmpr

Wiffleball Batter
We've had the Lectric E-Bikes for a few months now. With the weather getting nicer we're taking them out more. They are a joy to ride. Really i's just like riding a regular bicycle except without the burning thigh pain and being out of breath or getting that sinking feeling in your gut when you approach a steep uphill. Ours have a 5 level pedal assist and we rarely use more than level 2. I have no idea what the range on them is but at the end of a 10+ mile ride they are still showing a full charge.

One funny thing, as a motorcycle guy I expected that I'd be using the twist throttle a lot more, but I don't. I'm perfectly happy to pedal.

Haven't had a chance to try to wrangle them into the trailer yet - stupid COVID-19 has forced us to cancel 3 camping trips in a row now due to campgrounds being closed. :( We're hoping to get out SOMETIME this Summer now that the nice weather is here!

If I can get a decent chain and lock combo I may start using mine for short errands to the grocery store or auto parts store (both less than a mile away.)

As far as quality of the bikes go, I'd say the Lectric bikes are 'adequate.' They definitely have cheap(er) mechanicals (the shifters in particular are very imprecise, not like on my old GT mountain bike with its nice trigger shifters.) Brakes are decent, I would guess low-end disc brakes. No suspension in the fork makes bumps a little bit rough. Rad Power bikes would have been much nicer but I'm not sure that would have justified the $500+ price premium (our Lectric bikes were under $1000.)

I'm pretty happy with them. I think we'll ride them more than we did our old non-powered bikes and that by itself probably makes them worth the cost.
 

MTVR

Well-known member
I, for one, hate those tuffy tire liners. Adds unnecessary weight at the most critical area where you DON'T want more heft, and never worked for me. Goat heads are the cause of most of the flats around here. They just go right through the liners. Like, hot knife --> butter.

I would strongly suggest going tubeless. I ran "ghetto tubeless" for years without issues on non-tubeless rims. I usually used the "split tube tubeless" method (youtube it).

AMEN!

I hate flats, so I refuse to run tubes. Over the last 10 years, my tubeless setups have proven to be utterly flat-proof.

No serious cyclist runs tubes...but then again, no serious cyclist rides a so-called "e-bike" moped...
 

Ductape

New member
Taking advantage of our covid down time to make some changes to our rig including the purchase of an Ebike to facilitate getting around easier without having to drive our house. We opted for a quality machine that had a capable payload for riding two up with supplies. My question for the group and those of you who travel off grid in particular is, has anyone come up with an effective DC to DC charging system that eliminates the losses associated with DC to AC to DC?

Recent double track ride on our Surly Big Easy:

B09B4778-CB7E-484B-B080-85567A531A52_1_201_a.jpeg
 

MTVR

Well-known member
Taking advantage of our covid down time to make some changes to our rig including the purchase of an Ebike to facilitate getting around easier without having to drive our house. We opted for a quality machine that had a capable payload for riding two up with supplies. My question for the group and those of you who travel off grid in particular is, has anyone come up with an effective DC to DC charging system that eliminates the losses associated with DC to AC to DC?

Recent double track ride on our Surly Big Easy:

View attachment 586283

What state(s) do you intend to operate that in?
 

Ductape

New member
What state(s) do you intend to operate that in?

Always a sober one.

Joking aside, We are on a two year (or so) trip to Ushuaia and back. Currently holed up in Wenatchee Wa. while we wait for the issue that is covid to play out.

The bike itself is a class 1 Ebike.

We contemplated a small motorcycle, but this does everything we need, it's a good 200lbs lighter, and won't require the same paperwork when crossing borders.
 

MTVR

Well-known member
A $5,000 70-pound electric moped, which is not road-legal in many states, would be a pretty hard sell in a land where 50-state road-legal Honda Metropolitan and Ruckus Scooters with 10 times the horsepower, can be purchased brand-new for half that.
 

givemethewillys

Jonathan Chouinard
A $5,000 70-pound electric moped, which is not road-legal in many states, would be a pretty hard sell in a land where 50-state road-legal Honda Metropolitan and Ruckus Scooters with 10 times the horsepower, can be purchased brand-new for half that.
You have a good point here. I'm looking forward to seeing the e-bikes come down a bit in price. I understand economies of scale and supply/demand, but there's substantially less parts between a bicycle and a motorcycle. However, I do believe that an ebike is an incredible way to get around once you park the camper, especially if you can charge it onboard!
 

MTVR

Well-known member
A Honda Ruckus can be "charged" with gasoline way faster than you can charge an e-moped, and there are gasoline "charging" stations all over the place...
 

skyfree

Active member
AMEN!

I hate flats, so I refuse to run tubes. Over the last 10 years, my tubeless setups have proven to be utterly flat-proof.

No serious cyclist runs tubes...but then again, no serious cyclist rides a so-called "e-bike" moped...

What is a "serious cyclist" exactly? I am a member of several e-bike groups in Northern California that organize rides. Some of our members ride unassisted bikes competitively, and they are pretty serious. They ride e-bikes because it's more fun powering up hills and getting multiple laps.

Commercially available Class I e-bikes are not mopeds and are not classified as such legally.
 

MTVR

Well-known member
Commercially available Class I e-bikes are not mopeds and are not classified as such legally.

That would be like saying that a Corolla is not a Toyota. So-called "e-bikes" are a type of moped, and ARE correctly classified as mopeds as legally defined by the state statutes of numerous states.

If it has a motor and pedals, it's a moped...
 
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calicamper

Expedition Leader
Lol I see old codgers getting their axle wrapped up over words and not understanding how an Ebike works. They are definitely not mopeds. Hint they don’t actually go unless you pedal. A electric scooter or skate board is more Moped than an Ebike. Why? Those actually go on their own with no physical input from the user.
 

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