The Money Mustache Community
Learning, Sharing, and Teaching => Ask a Mustachian => Topic started by: BlueMR2 on August 19, 2018, 02:11:22 PM
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I've seen a couple of people out on e-bikes recently and my wife is now interested. We'd looked into scooters before, but even the smallest scooter (and even moped) requires a full blown motorcycle license (which she is NOT interested in obtaining). E-bike looks like it may be a way around that. Her commute is only about a mile each way and can be done 95% residential streets. Such a waste to do it with a car, but she needs to not be arriving at work all sweaty from walking or cycling from human power.
So, what's out there and how's the reliability looking?
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Well, if you want a thread discussing some of this, here's one:
https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/share-your-badassity/making-the-commute-switch-e-bike-on-the-way!/
I'm not an expert, but if she's talking about a 1 mile commute, a Level 3 bike with a big battery is probably a waste of money. I'd think that a conversion kit would be a much more frugal option, but I haven't done it before. Some on this forum have.
Long-term reliability of a purpose-built e-bike might be better than a conversion kit (frame theoretically is designed to handle the extra weight/speed), but with such a short commute just about anything should work. Many thousands of miles should be expected, with reliability similar to that of a regular bike. Worst-case scenario, something goes wrong with the electric components, and she has to pedal a heavy bike for half a mile. In general, it's a lot more likely that something goes wrong with the 'bike' part of the e-bike than the 'e-' portion. Regular bike maintenance needed as for any bike.
You might check out electricbikereview.com if you want to read up on a lot of e-bikes. Dedicated forums there as well.
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I've seen a couple of people out on e-bikes recently and my wife is now interested. We'd looked into scooters before, but even the smallest scooter (and even moped) requires a full blown motorcycle license (which she is NOT interested in obtaining). E-bike looks like it may be a way around that. Her commute is only about a mile each way and can be done 95% residential streets. Such a waste to do it with a car, but she needs to not be arriving at work all sweaty from walking or cycling from human power.
So, what's out there and how's the reliability looking?
Wait...unless you're climbing a massive hill, how can anyone get sweaty cycling 1 mile?
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Wait...unless you're climbing a massive hill, how can anyone get sweaty cycling 1 mile?
Humidity is something fierce here in the Summer. It doesn't get over 95 F all that often, but humidity will go sit at 90%+ for weeks on end. You can get sweaty in a minute or 2 doing anything other than sitting in a chair... If we can make it a moving chair, problem avoided. :-)
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Wait...unless you're climbing a massive hill, how can anyone get sweaty cycling 1 mile?
Humidity is something fierce here in the Summer. It doesn't get over 95 F all that often, but humidity will go sit at 90%+ for weeks on end. You can get sweaty in a minute or 2 doing anything other than sitting in a chair... If we can make it a moving chair, problem avoided. :-)
I lived in Singapore for a summer (well, really it's always summer on there) so I know humid. And riding a bike there, on the flats, would not be an issue w.r.t. sweat. Biking on flat ground is way less difficult than walking, so I would suggest at least giving it a try first.
But, if you decide you really want an ebike: At just 1 mile you can get by with a very small and very cheap battery. And you don't need an expensive new ebike. Instead, take an old bike you already have and add a cheap hub motor kit. Should be less than $500 all said and done.
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I think in 95% humidity you will sweat going in, and an Ebike could give you a nice cool breeze. If you get one, a low wattage 250 watt -500 watt Ebike will suffice unless you have a huge hill. I like the rear drive Hub motor Ebikes. The battery will utilize about one amphour round trip, depends on how fast you go. So if you get a smaller battery you will be able to get by with a 5 AH battery and maybe only charge twice a week. Do they make batteries that small I do not know.