Three E-bikes you need me to build
Three E-bikes I want to build. That you NEED me to build.
I’m going to lead off with something a bit weird. Cussing people out.
See, I love bikes. I love the freedom of ditching the roads, violating the traffic patterns, using alleys, and being nimble. No surprise that I also love motorcycles.
I also love non regulated things- bicycles exist in that magic space where you can be part of traffic, or leave the traffic. Be a bit of an anarchist in motion. Especially E-bikes.
I think bikes were, at one point, iconically American- in large part because of the inherent rule breaking people engage in when they mount up. But also because we were going places with them, doing strange things with them (like inventing triathlons, but also downhill racing, not to mention beach racing and in traffic cannonball races. America is the land of “hold my beer, watch this”)
But somehow, a while back, a bunch of sanctimonious pricks decided bikes were a symbol for socialism, anticapitalism, anti-americanism, being against personally owned vehicles (with motors, of course), and enforced environmentalism.
Last week, I was walking my dog on the Indian Bend Wash Trail. This is a paved path, miles long, through part of the eastern side of the Valley of the Sun (phoenix) - originally designed for horses, it was also used by pedestrians and hikers. Much of it was paved by the late 1980s and sometime in the 90s the sanctimonious pricks convinced everyone it was “green” to allow bicycles on the trail- though horses and pedestrians have right of way. Bikes MUST yield.
This got a lot of cyclists off the bike lanes (and pretty immediately thereafter, a couple of the major roads got rid of their bike lanes, which sucks because the Valley in general has had a very good and wide/safe bike lane infrastructure for decades)
It also got me yelled at by a guy who threatened to run over my dog if I didn’t “Get off the fucking BIKE PATH.” Yes, he was wearing skinny jeans. Yes, he had the haircut. Yes, he sounded like a 13 year old whining in rage, and yes, he was riding a fixed gear bike with global warming crusader stickers. And yes, this happens a couple times a month.
Sanctimonious prick.
I’m gonna tell all you pricks out there something really important. The more you try to make cycling into an act of anger and elitism, the less success you will have in getting regular people to adopt the joy and freedom (especially from regulation) or cycling.
Your own worst enemy is- you.
What’s this go to do with the 3 E-bikes you need me to build?
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The “cycling revolutionaries” or whatever are usually allied with the “dense urban spaces” and “15 minute city” movements- and the “mass transit is the only way out” people. Most of these groups want to end the concept of personally- privately- owned vehicles. Doesn’t really matter if it’s a bike instead of a car in the end. It’s all going away.
The goal is to limit people to 1 mile (1.6km) radius spaces for their lives/livelihoods, create some combination of trains and electric robot cabs that are magically free to use and eliminate private vehicles, and end human consumption/pollution/living through means of ultimate restriction on a the fundamental human right of movement.
Of course, they claim that because the trains and robot cabs will be free, that you’ll have MORE freedom. At least as long as you only want to go where they want you to go.
Thing is- cycling advocates, aside from their ideological hate politics, are inherently philosophically opposed to everything I just described them allying with .
Still, some try and walk the line and have both sides. Here, you’ll find the cycling advocates who want to eliminate all electric bicycles, skateboards, scooters, and such.
Just remember- these people exist, and are loud and whiny and willing to occupy the offices of city officials for weeks on end because they have nothing better to do. And they hate everything that isn’t a skinny 20something on a fixed gear bicycle.
For all that- the goal of getting more people to be on the road on independent electric or low pollution vehicles instead of lifted trucks is a worthy one.
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So, I’ve talked about the sanctimonious pricks, and how they are their own worst enemies. And I’m not making this shit up- I was pretty involved in cycling for a long time. I helped found one of the California bike churches (bike kitchens - bike collectives. )
The best way for cycling to work and be safer is for it to be common enough, present enough, popular enough, that it’s just part of traffic. And the damned drunk Dodge Truck drivers just get off their black smoke and settle down. Always the drunk Doge Truck guys. (not making this up- there’s a statistically much higher percentage of DUIs with those damned “Cummins diesel RAM TRUCK” dodges than any other class or type of vehicle. It’s a Dodge dick thing. Their brand, I guess it works.)
What we need is more bikes. A lot more bikes. And one way to get those bikes is for people to feel happy riding them. Aside from the shift in politics (the commies have declared that they own bicycling and share it with elitist rich people, which is typical for commies- all image and screw the regular people.) Ahem. Aside from the shift in political “flavor” and safety perceptions, we have cost, security (theft), and ease/enjoyability as issues.
Theft is solvable, but solving it is expensive in the short term (multiple locks, audible alarms) and requires some stiff legal changes in the long term. Safety comes with use- self solving. Cost isn’t really a problem if theft isn’t a huge risk- it’s not awful to spend $1000-$1800 on a bike you will actually use. Or even $3000 if it’s something that functionally replaces a vehicle much of the time.
Ease and enjoyability. Well, that’s E-bikes in a nutshell. With a dose of utility, too.
Look, E-bikes are fun! You get to move moderately fast, work out as much or as little as you want. Even relax and get a free ride home from the bar if you’ve had a little more (not a lot more) than the number of drinks that makes you feel all energetic. Riding in a little rain is even comfortable when you don’t have to fight the windage and have a bit of power to make it not sweaty under a poncho.
E-bikes in groups are fun. E-bikes alone are fun. Riding an E-bike for a light grocery shopping trip is just a great way to not fight traffic and listen to some tunes. E-biking to a picnic or BBQ? Tons of fun.
One of the reasons is that, on that E-bike- in the US - you are probably cruising at 16-20mph, and in some places 25mph - ( ALL of that is illegally fast in Europe. Remember that, because European laws is what the sanctimonious pricks want you to end up with). 20mph with “moderate effort” or “no effort” pedaling is pretty damned fun. Especially on a greenbelt path, rail trail, or even a wide separated sidewalk.
And the fun of E-bikes is working. The things are selling like hotcakes. It’s a big enough market now that not only do you have the weekly Black Friday specials and “special catalog sales” for the elderly and illiterate selling $350 Chinese 500 watt mopeds with lead acid batteries for $1500- but you have people getting enough osmotic knowledge that they know why a $700 e-bike is probably a ripoff that won’t do anything - and even that the difference between $1100 entry level and $1400 custom built or $1800 retail is going to be mostly in reliability of components and battery performance.
Hell, the market is good enough that most major metros have at least a couple guys who are making a living doing good quality (but affordable) E-bike conversions.
E-bikes are everywhere, and much more so than just 3 years ago.
And the regulation mostly either hasn’t caught up, won’t catch up (deliberately), or is being ignored. At least, outside of New England. (I’m not sure what it is, but New Englanders stopped going to church and instead spend their Sundays going to the local courthouse to pray to the Laws for guidance. Talk about regional subcultures. And rules lawyers. Never play Scrabble with a New Englander. Or D&D)
And that, my friends, bring us to the first E-bike I want to- and you need me to- build.
I was thinking about the problem- of maximum transportation by electric vehicle - and I asked myself “how would Elon Musk look at the hazy legality of E-bikes?” Now, I’m not asking your personal effigy of Elon- the one you hate because the media tells you to because he took their Twitter entitlement playground away. No, I’m asking Elon, the electric vehicle humane futurist.
And the answer is- a bicycle/motorcycle.
See, technically, a bicycle in “class one” operation- pedal assist only (no throttle function) and a limit of like 250 watts output power and 12 or 15mph pedal assist speed, can ride anywhere that any bicycle can and you can’t even make a sign that says “no electric bikes” - which would apply to a class 2 (20mph) or class 3 (throttle power) bicycle.
Except, with a very few exceptions that are pretty well marked, no one in the US gives a shit, as long as you are polite and reasonable. Remember the sanctimonious prick on the fixed gear bike telling me I’m not allowed to use his “bike path”? Well, for every one of him, there’s a hip dude with a fat tire 1000watt Aventon hack riding 30-35mph on the multi use paths (never the bike lane. Like, these people do NOT get on the road. It’s a hipster thing. All that testosterone, y’know. Makes ya scared) and trying his damnedest to not slow down for people. Or dogs. Or other bikes. And, yes, sometimes he (almost always a he) is on a 3000 watt double motor stand up kick scooter.
I had one of those. 40mph. Freaking FUN. On the streets. Because…well, that’s where you go 40mph. On the streets. And the one time I watched a guy get a speeding ticket because he HAD to pass me in a 35 zone was just the funniest thing ever. See, it’s a stand up scooter. I could be doing 65 and he’d mentally just still have to pass me.
Oh yeah, if you got a couple grand to play with an some good crash gear- you can go 65mph on a stand up kick scooter. It’s kind of crazy and more than kind of fun.
Anyway- as long as you aren’t the Andrew Huberman clone with the painted on facial hair doing 30mph on the walking paths, no one actually cares if your E-bike is class 1, 2, 3, or whatever. Ride safe, ride for the conditions around you, and you can dodge the city traffic a bit. Take some back ways to the store or work. Dodge the street traffic for a few blocks.
And then get back on the street. Where you want to have 150 newton meters of torque (power), be able to accelerate quickly to 30-35mph, maybe even 50mph- and be part of traffic safely. Bike lane is 4 feet wide? Use it. If it’s not- be a motorcycle.
YOU CAN DO BOTH. And it’s just amazing. And the laws are just hazy enough that you can get away with it as long as you aren’t a total prick. And in some states (like Arizona) you can even register the bike as a motorcycle and sort of just…um… turn that off when you don’t need it.
And that’s the Elon answer. Be both things, make the world better for your electric transportation needs.
Dual 1500-2000 watt motors (that’s front and rear, hub motors), big permanent battery pack in the middle of the frame. Probably a hard tail frame with a good triple tree suspension fork. Tires are going to be light motorcycle type, still look like large bicycle tires but thicker rubber and built to handle the speed and turning forces. 8 or 9 speed cassette on the rear with a torque sensor crank so that when you turn your mode to pedal assist (rear motor only), it puts out exactly the amount of help you need (you set the levels, so like 80 watts at level 1, 200 watts at level 2, 300, 500, 750. Done - you’ll only ever use those last two levels when climbing a hill with a load)
With racks and saddlebags, it’s going to look like a cross between the gravel bike at Costco and a Honda monkey (that’s a motorcyle). And it’s going to be no fun to pedal with no assist, but that’s fine, because you’ve got 35 amp hours of 60 volt battery and level 1 is going to feel like a nice ride on a beach cruiser. Level 2, you get a slight downhill slope and a 10mph tailwind. That’s gonna do fine for the multi-use paths. Or even residential streets.
There’s a few production bike options out there that are pretty close to this, but most of them have awful “retro moto” frames and aren’t comfortable to pedal. Buy the Costco gravel bike and have someone do the custom build.
The second E-bike you need me to build is the 1980s Schwinn Le Tour.
What I mean by that is a basic, steel frame, lightweight, road bike from the bike boom era. Steel frames work in ways aluminum frames don’t. They are, in a sense, giant springs. Much more comfortable to ride than aluminum, and often (oddly) lighter weight.
We’re going to replace the drop bars with cruiser or porter bars. A bit more upright posture and your hands angled naturally and not too much weight on your wrists.
But a light, nimble, easy riding 10 or 12 speed bike- except now it’s a 5 speed, because we are putting a mid drive motor and a water bottle battery pack on it.
A mid drive motor - the modern kind- replaces your bottom bracket (the thing the pedals attach to) with a new one that has an integrated motor AND pedals all in one unit. The motor can give you the pedal assist (at different levels) or throttle. Heck, you can even convert to a single speed if you want.
You are running old school rim brakes with old school rims, on a bike that’s meant to be ridden “human power fast” - you don’t need or want a lot of power here. 350 or 500 watts, but it’s harder to find a good 350 watt motor than it is to find a good 750 watt motor at this point, so you’ll just be down-tuning the motor to run nice and light.. … which means it and the battery will last forever.
Which also means you can get away with a battery that fits in your water bottle mounting spot and is light enough to toss in your bag or backpack when you lock the bike up.
This bike is for the paved (or gravel) trails, riding on bike paths, commuting in fair weather, and general fun. You don’t want to load it down with 60 pounds of Costco groceries, but having a rack and baskets for two grocery bags is perfectly reasonable.
As long as you keep it light, it’s going to last forever and be easy to maintain.
And it’s cheap. Any of the old bike boom (Schwinn, Panasonic, Nishiki, Fuji, etc) 1970s, 80s, early 90s steel frame road bikes (27 inch or 700c wheels) or the original old school lightweight mountain bikes (26 inch wheels) is going to be fine. You’ll be on the hook for tune up new brakes, new chain, and new handlebars. Rack, if needed. But- including the motor kit and battery - this is going to be the only really good (and I mean good in this case) E-bike for right at $1000. Seriously. If I’m shopping around for used bikes to use as a base build, and smart in purchasing kits, I can probably build and sell these for $900-$1200 and make my labor.
Because it’s not a heavy, clunky, POS bike with fancy E-bike stuff (which most E-bikes under $1800 are) - and instead if a good, efficient, easy riding bike with fancy E-bike stuff - it’s going to just plain work better- as a bicycle.
Not as a motorcycle, no. This isn’t the build for that. You’ll have a throttle, but this is a bike for people who actually want to ride a bike- just 10 times better.
I should be seeing thousands of these out here, given the weather and the “outdoors activity” culture of the region. I’m not, but that’s just because the marketing of the indie builders isn’t happening, yet.
The third E-bike you need me to build is the pickup truck.
Cargo bikes, and trailers, have a weird reputation in the US. For some people they are fancy, urban liberal activist, $3500 bikes imported from the Netherlands (the only country that actually uses these particular cargo bikes, which are even called “Dutch Cargo Bikes). For some people they are weird elongated frames with skateboards on the back as rear racks. Kinda hippy, kinda California. Or regular bikes with kid trailers stuffed full of the luggage of the homeless. Or crazy weird people trying to move refrigerators on a flatbed bicycle trailer (I’ve done this, so - yeah, that’s me)
Or, as is often the case in E-bike America- very well off suburban liberal families with toddlers or young (liberal) homeschooled kids making a Statement by riding to Park Day meetups. But not actually or grocery shopping, going to the doctor, or commuting to work.
If that sounds judgmental, it’s not really. I’m just describing the E-cargo-bike as a toy. Which is basically what it mostly is. It’s a GREAT toy, though.
Look, these things cost upwards of $4000 for the really decent ones. Even the cheapest true cargo bike - sold by Lectric, once you get done with the racks, and kid seats and baskets, second battery and cargo stuff, is over $2500. And that’s not even a trike with a protected stroller area! It’s just a cargo bike with kid seat strap ons.
You don’t want to take these to the grocery store and park them outside. Even with three locks. (and, yes, bike theft rears its ugly head as a deterrent to people doing fun things, again.)
But, one way or another, we need cargo bikes. Pickup trucks. For grocery runs, for picnics, for BBQ, for midnight beer runs. I certainly don’t want to try and replace the amazon delivery fleet, the post office, LTL freight, and moving vans with bicycle trailers, okay?
Buuuuuuuuuuut- there’s a certain class of people, and a growing number of people- who would be pretty happy to not buy gas, or pay registration and insurance, if they could actually do what they need with a bike. And that means something more like 8 paper grocery bags, not 2 (standard basket rack) It also means a motor and battery that’s going to move you at 20-28mph for 30 miles (round trip distance) with lots of range to spare for side errands. Sort of like a scooter (motorcycle scooter) with a sidecar.
Trailers are a great option, for some people. Other people just cannot ever get the hang of them. So we’re looking at the standard long wheelbase, skateboard as a rear rack, loooong cargo bike. Basket up front, basket racks along the back sides about 10-12 inches wide, 16 inches deep, and 36 inches long. - and lockable.
Like this, but bigger. and lockable
In fact, pretty much everything about the bike needs to be solidly attached, bolted, secured, built in. no zip tie mounts for your dash panel, nope. Or your lights. No quick release hubs- actually, you are basically going to be using motorcycle wheels here, again, anyway. Not because of speed, but because of 500 pounds of stuff (including you, the bike, and the groceries) - a lot of motorcycle weigh 500 pounds empty, so.. Yeah. motorcycle tires. Just, again, light ones.
I wouldn’t want to stress the chain with a mid drive motor, so we’re looking at a 1000 watt or possibly 2000 watt hub motor, a lot of battery capacity, all locked down solid, waterproof- all of which means weight… probably an empty weight of 200 pounds. Which is GREAT, because it’s not as easy to steal.
But, pedaling 200 pounds of metal??? Well, that’s why you have a motor, isn’t it?
If you can get this for $3000- with 40 amp hours of battery and hitting that 20mph cruising speed- enough people will buy them to make a shift in how things work.
And that’s what I think. We need a motorcycle that can sneak on the bike paths, a better and lighter easy e-bike that regular bike mechanics can tune up, and the E-bike version of a pickup- with trunk space and locks.
The growth of those specific areas will do more for adding cycling- and reducing resource waste in transportation- than all the anger based cyclist activism that you’ll see this decade.
At least, in the southern tiers of the US.
Because the one thing none of these are? Winter vehicles in Wisconsin!
For that, we’re just gonna have to ride enough E-bikes that electric side-by-side quads get deregulated. This is actually working in Arizona.
Oh, and the other E-bike you need me to build. Probably the next one I do. A classic old school blingy beach cruiser done up like a 1940s Whizzer gas powered “motor-bicycle” but with an electric chain drive.
Because, how could I pass that up?
