| Re: electric bikes on centuries
Curtis L. Russell wrote:
:: On Mon, 29 Jan 2007 13:01:31 -0500, "Roger Zoul"
:: <rogerzoul2@hotmail.com> wrote:
::
::: Perhaps. We'll see. My guess is it won't happen. What kind of
::: electric bike do you envision that will ever do a century that will
::: actually make them not stand out? How big of a battery and motor
::: are we talking here to push someone 100 miles over possibly hilly
::: (around here) terrain? Zipping along at 30 mph alone would make
::: anyone stand out.
::
:: The comment was based on the original premise, and the people I was
:: talking about would have been riding with their spouses, so make that
:: somewhere in the 12-15 mph group. What, you only drive your car near
:: the peg on the speedometer? Guess that makes you stand out too.
Not in my car....but on a bike if I could get near 30 mph I would, because
it's fun. I'd certainly be a standout.
::
:: Second, I don't expect that the bike will actually exist soon. If the
:: technology comes about to run some of the electric cars at the auto
:: shows, the bike may show up a few years later. So it would be about
:: 2015 or so, and not my immediate concern. The various transportation
:: designs that have small motors at the individual wheels would IMO
:: yield a perfect base for such a bike motor, but it isn't feasible yet
:: for the market. (My understanding that there is a Japanese car that
:: is functional with small, powerful electric motors at each wheel, but
:: which are prohibitively expensive).
This would yeild an electric motorcycle, not a bicycle. Bring on the
mopeds!
It won't happen for at least 20 years, if then, I'd say. Small for a car can
be huge on a bike.
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