[guest]

well i was at a local fair a few weeks back and saw this guy riding a bike.. He was doing figure 8's in a parking lot.. i kept watching.. and the guy never pedalled...

The bike looked exactly like a regular bike, but the front tire rim in the middle had a circular peice of metal, about the size of a small dinner plate..
turns out, the things are electric.. It was very ingenious.. the guy is a local guy just getting started and he rents the things...

I went to his place yesterday and me and the lady went for a bike ride.. she used her regular bike... Me, i opted for the fat lazy american way.. the electric bike..

The thing goes about 15 mph.. and you get between 11-18 miles on a battery charge...

it was pretty cool.. you still had to pedal when you go uphill and at other times.. but it was really a lot of fun...

anybody ever see one?

 

[guest]

heres the little motor that was able to pull my fat ass around for 11 miles... very impressive...


<img src=http://www.tractorforum.com/forums/attachment.php?s=&postid=50029>

 

[Greg]

SJ,

Here's a kit for one. "electric bicycle" search on Google gives you lots of options.

Cool!

Greg

 

[memmurphy]

It does not even look like a motor. That is neat.

Mark

 

[guest]

i did look at some of the electric bikes on line.. they were nice..

heres a pic of the back.. - this is a girls model.. but on the rack is the battery pack besides for a few wires you cant tell its electric..
I really would love to get one.. it would make it so i could pedal and ride the electric and get a good long distance ride.. of course to pull my fat ass around.. id want 2 battery packs instead of one... and technically.. you end up pedalling about 1/2 the timer anyway so its not complete sloth riding..


i hope the business survives.. they are in middle of southern maine and not on the coast.. so not too much interest in renting bikes.. we went on a sunday and it was me as in i was the only one renting a bike... id think they need at least a few customers.. new business.. must be very tough...

<img src=http://www.tractorforum.com/forums/attachment.php?s=&postid=50209>

 

[Ernie]

SJ, why dont you look at ht e electric start Harley:furious: :furious: Just joking Pedaling half the time isnt that why you want a bike for? The wife and I have been interested in mountain bikes w/street tread for rails to trails here in our local. The electric means you can go farther but getting home is up to you. I know that I have bitten off more than I could chew a few times when ridding a new bike.. The trip home is killer...


Thought the pack was just that a pack.. seems quite small. Can you actually feel it (the motor) pull you along? Is your terrain steep hills?

 

[guest]

no you dont feel the motor really.. dont even hear it..
id like to get the motor setup on a decent mountain bike because the bikes he had were not really made for riding.. id want one with speeds

as for hills it did pretty good going up steep hills (nothing off road) when it started to lag you just need to give it a bit of help...

 

[MowHoward2210]

Originally posted by Ernieg
.... The wife and I have been interested in mountain bikes w/street tread for rails to trails here in our local. The electric means you can go farther but getting home is up to you. I know that I have bitten off more than I could chew a few times when ridding a new bike.. The trip home is killer...

Ernieg,

I am fortunate to be able to ride my mountainbike on a great rails to trail. I know what you mean about the ride back! Here's an all around good tire for pavement, dirt, and rail trails. They are "Topo" tires from Performance Bicycle, and they were inexpensive.<img src=http://www.homepage.mac.com/userosx/.Pictures/topo.JPG>

Here's a pic of the welds on my Kona mountainbike. The frame is 7005 aluminium. It has been a great bike, and has about 3200 miles on it.
<img src=http://www.homepage.mac.com/userosx/.Pictures/tubes.JPG>

 

[guest]

wow you've ridden 3200 miles curt?

im impressed... nice looking tires.. i got rid of my mountain bike tires and put flat ones on... useless on trails but good on the road.. those tires you have look like a great combination...
one think i hate about my mountain bike.. it has vonshroder (spelling) valve stems... i must have broken about 6 of them trying to fill the tires...

heres mine.. but more like 500 miles on it..

<img src=http://www.tractorforum.com/forums/attachment.php?s=&postid=50353>

 

[MowHoward2210]

Well, I was a tad optimistic. 3,136 to be exact! I have the conventional valve stems.

That's a nice bike, John. Mine is not as comfort featured as yours. It has a hard lightweight seat that's a PITA until you ride a couple of times and get used to it.

I haven't ridden very much the last few years, as I've had some back problems. I've had the bike since '98. The only thing that I've replaced is the bottom bracket. Should upgrade the seat one of these days.

 

[guest]

3200 or 3126 both impressive.. streets or trails? trails are much harder... funny im in maine now and still miss the place i used to ride when i lived in mass. they had a reservoir w/3 lakes & dirt roads.. great place to ride.. off the street but on easy trails...


Re: seat upgrade... The electric bike i rode had a wicked wide seat.. they were really comfortable.. but that may have been cause i was not pedalling as much..


id get a wide seat.. not sure if it would fit.?

i have not ridden much lately w/my knees... but im gonna get back into it.. tis the season now... cool weathers coming..

 

[MowHoward2210]

A lot of those miles are from the rail trail riding which is pretty flat, pea graveled converted roads from the old railroads.

Well I'm gonna have to get a wide seat if I don't start riding! We have had an unusually mild summer, and I keep using my back condition (which is not too bad lately) as an excuse not to ride. I also have been taking care of my acerage which is pretty time consuming sometimes. I'd like to make some good trails on my land for some real mountain biking, but feel I have to at least get into "rail trail" shape first. That off-road trail riding or real mountain biking is murder if you are not in shape!

 

[guest]

rail trails sound pretty good..

up here.. we have windy roads and no shoulders.. so cars whip by you at 50-60.. its not great for riding..
i guess im too lazy to load the bikes in my truck and find a trail...

 

[MowHoward2210]

I'm very lucky in that I can ride about 2 miles from my house , and access a 12 mile rail trail (at about the halfway point) and then ride about 6 miles to the Katy Trail that runs 225 miles across Missouri. There are cool little towns that cater to the trail walkers and riders. There are lots of weblinks to the Kay Trail, but I didn't look hard enough to find one with pictures that do it justice. Here's some dudes web site that has some decent pics: dudes site

 

[guest]

wow looks like a great place to ride a bike or walk or run....
<img src=http://www.tractorforum.com/forums/attachment.php?s=&postid=50374>

 

[MowHoward2210]

Originally posted by simple_john
wow looks like a great place to ride a bike or walk or run....

They used that tunnel to film part of a Steven King movie "Sometimes They come back" some years ago, John.

 

[memmurphy]

Nice bikes!
I cannot remember the last time I rode mine. It's just on old Huffy Santa Fe 10 spd. I think the OD is reading about 1000 miles. When I was 13 my friend who was 14 got a moped. I spent a year trying to keep up with him. I got to the place I could pretty well keep up with the city traffic speed wise even on a slight grade. I only weighed 120 pounds but I developed one heck of a set of legs. Then at 14 I bought a moped with my savings. I think I have deteriorated ever since. I still have the Motobecane Moped. It has 5,000 miles on it. A few years ago my mother missed the stop block in the garage and bumped into it with the car bumper bending the frame. Still runs good, has a 49cc two cycle. The frame is kind of a tubular design with the gas tank wrapped around it. I have yet to figure a good way to straighten it without doing more damage. Maybe I could just turn it around and bump the car into it again and make it straight. :truth: :winky:

Mark

 

[Ernie]

Originally posted by simple_john
no you dont feel the motor really.. dont even hear it..
id like to get the motor setup on a decent mountain bike because the bikes he had were not really made for riding.. id want one with speeds

as for hills it did pretty good going up steep hills (nothing off road) when it started to lag you just need to give it a bit of help...

Thats pretty neat. Just think, here in Fla you could possibly get more miles cause it is flat. Simply amazing, the motor looks like a small drum style break.. Most interesting.. Ley us know if you get one, we will all want a ride:furious: