Well it seems that the US has help an all electric bike race and it seems it went well. Read the story here.
Now the one thing I noticed was that the electric bikes developed for the race performed exceptionally well performance wise. OK. One strangely needed a reboot and a couple retired with problems but the two lead riders maintained a pace that was 18 seconds per lap off that set by conventional bikes. 18 seconds is a lot in a race but for the very first race I suspect we can expect to see significant improvements and that electric road bikes will be little different from the fuelled version soon enough.
With performance like this we can expect to see electric bikes rolled out pretty quickly to the streets and I wonder how our government will classify them. Each one theoretically will be eligible for learner bike riders. Should make the roads a bit more interesting as you won’t hear them coming at all and poor plod won’t have time to put down his donut and pick up his tax machine before they race around the corner and see him.
Electric bikes eh? Like it, like it very much.
Well, if you get one of these you will certainly be able to get around without being terrorised by nutters. They won’t be able to keep up.
I catch a glimpse (and only a glimpse) of an impressive home made version, silently breezing through our village. I fancy making one myself since the retail choices are poor performers and technically obsolete.
Lithium batteries and brushless motors are the way forward.
MTG,
I don’t see these ones being technically obsolete. They are the leading edge of electric bikes. What the manufacturers learn from these will be rolled out into the street eventually.
Those on sale are governed to a mere 25Kph (a dangerously low road speed in my humble opinion.)
The most impressive feature of the maverick home built version, is its rapid acceleration to normal traffic speeds.
There is one crushing victory for the 15 mph (he was asking for it) electric bike.
Martyrdom to the ‘leading edge of technology’.
MTG,
Yes. They take off well and then hit the max speed and kind of stop there. Anyone accelerating behind them keeps going and they get trampled on. Being plastic they tend not to handle the impacts too well.
I think I’ll make suremine can hit 80mph at the very minimum.
the good thing about brushless motors is that they last longer compared to brushed ones’*~