Ebikesoutride Electric bikes sales Blurb

32 Km/hr? Isn't that kind of slow?
No. Not for a bicycle.

Statistics are hard to come by, but the average speed of a regular bicycle driven by avid cyclists is 20km/hr.12 for a novice.

So an electric bike with a speed output of up to 32km/hr without any effort is actually very good.

A typical horse can maintain a gallop for about 2 miles and a fast gallop is about 35 KM/hr.
Some MYTHBUSTERS Videos on electric vehicles

Electric Bike Use in China and Their Impacts: LINK Institute of Transportation Studies UC, Berkely
Safety vs regular bicycles: http://bicyclesafe.com/

"The overall fatality rates and injury rates are "very comparable," taking into account that there are far more bicycles on the road than eBikes. In almost all the accidents, cars were the cause. EBikes were not reported to be the cause of any of the road accidents."

Manouverability:

"Electric bikes are easier than bicycles to control and maneuver in heavy traffic because of their low center of gravity, acceleration characteristics, and superior braking systems" - - the wider eScooter tires are far less likely to become entangled in street railway (streetcar) tracks, making the eScooter safer on streets with inlaid tracks.

Productivity:

An odd finding of the report is that eBikes may contribute to better productivity and have positive commercial effects, in that people using them can do errands and shop more efficiently.

"70% of all trips made by bicycle and electric bicycle" are of about 20 minutes duration, according to the report. The study showed that "e-bikes are 58% more efficient than bicycles" in performing tasks like running errands, commuting to jobs, etc. in rides of that duration.

In other words, eBike riders contribute to increased productivity by getting to work quicker, spend less time on the road and are in -- and contributing to -- traffic for less time than regular bicycles.

Heidi. How she uses her bike to pull a kid trailer. Helmets off for picture pose.

Advances in battery technology have made batteries safer and easier to recycle. With more modern lithium, NiMh or even cadmium batteries you can get more energy than lead acid for a lighter weight. Electronics have made controlling the power and amperage much easier and safer. The development of the hub motor has made mounting of a motor (seperate from the wheel) to the frame unnecessary, thus making the mechanics of propulsion simpler.

In Canada bicycles can have a motor that does not exceed 500 Watts rated and 32 Km/hr, must have an emergency cutoff, and pedals. If it qualifies then insurance and a drivers license are not needed in almost all provinces. Some local city bylaws may impose further restrictions but those are rare. If it fails to meet those requirements then it is classed as a motorcycle but can be operated under a simple car drivers license instead of a motorcycle license. Although some jurisdictions haven't caught up with this 100 year old technology and may be more restrictive. If you call your dept of transport or public safety and they say something along the lines of "if it looks like a bike it's a bike if it doesn't it's not", then demand to know what article and line item of legislation says that. Some departments are answering the phone with unlegislated rules of thumb that are totally wrong, not true, and have no force of law. If you have any issues let me know.

As long as the roads are clear there is no law restricting you off the road that I know of. I would recommend a tricycle for stability however if you plan on driving in snow. I'd recommend not driving on roads that have snow drifts piled on the side.

Ayrton Perry Electric Trike1881

Saint John's Electric Street Railway 1890-1948

Wear a helmet and attach a "slow vehicle sticker" and stick to the curb or bike path and you are allowed on the highway.

177(3) No person shall ride on or operate a bicycle on a highway unless the person is wearing a bicycle helmet in accordance with the regulations and the chin strap of the helmet is securely fastened under the person's chin. I would avoid highways though unless there is no other route.

As long as you can keep one hand on the handle bars, no problem. Wide- style frames also have this nice flat area right in front of the seat!

180 No person operating a bicycle shall carry any package, bundle, or article which prevents the driver from keeping at least one hand upon the handle bars of such bicycle.

That is how the law is written.
"motorcycle" means a vehicle of the subclasses enclosed motorcycle, open motorcycle, limited-speed motorcycle and motor tricycle, but does not include a power-assisted bicycle.........

These are bicycles. The federal government has classed them as Power Assisted Bicycles(PAB section 1.21 CMVSA). Please contact your local authorities to confirm. If the province chooses to say these are not bicycles then they would fall under the power driven cycle classification. As a motor driven cycle however they do not require the pedals.

Pennies!!! The biggest ongoing cost of an electric bike are replacement batteries, brake pads, tires, and tire tubes. So expect to replace properly used batteries every three to five years or so. Tires and tubes? Well that depends on the amount of debris you ride over. It costs about $3 a month to recharge an average electric car which carries many more batteries than a bicycle! Bicycles don't have oil changes, filter changes, tune ups etc..

Energy Use
Electric bikes are recharged by plugging into standard wall outlets. This is a great advantage because there is no need for dedicated refueling/recharging infrastructure. Charging electric bikes at night can increase the efficiency of the electric power generation network. By recharging batteries overnight, excess electricity production capacity can be used to charge batteries that will be used during the day, when electricity demand is at its peak. This has the effect of smoothing the demand peak. Electric bikes are very cheap and efficient to operate. Most electric bikes have a range of about 50 kilometers on a single charge. Considering an average small bike with a 350W motor and a 48V 14Ah battery, the energy requirement is 1.3kWh/100km. So the approximate cost of operating an electric bike is $0.10/100km; far cheaper than any other motorized mode.

Some statistics. City dwellers (70%) drive less than 25 miles (40 km) per day, 90% drive less than 50 (80km). Half of all trips are less than 5 miles (8km). Don't take my word on the statistics. Look at your own driving needs and measure what you are travelling now and at what costs. Electric bikes which can travel 45 to 50 km on a single battery pack charge (assuming no recharge opportunities) are ideal for the average person and it costs pennies..

Take advantage of charging opportunities! Go to work park and plug in; same for restaurants, grocery stores etc.. most places have outside electrical outlets and won't mind you charging up (just ask first). A partial charge will often top off the battery in an hour or so if you haven't gone very far. A total recharge takes about 8 hours. Taking advantage of recharge opportunities will extend how far you can travel in a day. Keeping the battery topped off will extend its life span. How many hours do you spend at work?? Take advantage of these hours to recharge. Protect your charger with a vibration or shock absorbing material if you take it with you. Pick a second one up for about roughly $70 and keep it at work and you don't need to take one back and forth.

So can you find cheaper bikes elsewhere?

Yes, try Canadian Tire or Walmart, but you may not be getting what you pay for.
A word about the Canadian Tire currie bikes: They are 24 to 36 volts, and say "up to 500W" this means they are not a 500W motor, but that the MAX output is 500W. Volts x Amps = Watts. So these Canadian Tire motors are probably 120w to 180W. They also say up to 28Km/hr, take that to mean with a light load and you pedaling. When they say it goes 100Km that means with you pedaling all the way and only occasionally using battery assist. This is quoted from their web page(click specs) ~~>"Up to 30 km per charge with normal pedalling". Max power is hill climbing ability. A 350W rated motor carrying a bout 170 kg(374lbs) will climb the Union street hill by the Aquatic Center(Saint John N.B.) at a speed of roughly 15Km/hr. So figure one of these 120W Canadian tire bikes would take it at about 8km/hr at best 5 km/hr at worst.

Can't I buy a cheaper or second hand one from ebay?
Ah the lure of a low number. Let us do the math. 600usd to cdn = 720 + 300 usd shipping + duty and tarrifs as electric bikes are not covered under NAFTA (can be higher than 30%, we'll say 10%)+ brokerage fee~~100 comes to about $1280CDN. Then there is the risk of seizure by customs if they think it's a moped and doesn't qualify for the road in Canada. Don't laugh. My entire cargo container was seized for a few days until I provided documents from Transport Canada proving they were legal power assisted bicycles not scooters or mopeds. Think you want to go hunting down Ottawa bureaucrats for a letter? Then there is the motor rating issue. Is it 500W max or continuous output?

Oh yes then there is this:
VEHICLES MANUFACTURED OUTSIDE CANADA AND THE UNITED STATES
Vehicles manufactured for sale in countries other than Canada and the United States do not comply with the requirements of the Canada Motor Vehicle Safety Act, CANNOT be altered to comply and CANNOT be imported into Canada. The only exceptions to this rule are vehicles fifteen (15) years old or older as determined by the month and year in which the vehicle was manufactured and buses manufactured before January 1, 1971.

	The newest Canadian Tire Bike. Baja BE500 Power Assisted Bicycle What CDN tire says Powerful 500W 2.04 HP engine Electric starter for easy starting Pre-inspection and assembly fees extra	The Reality by definition 500W is about .75HP Umm - it's an electric motor - Duh Special assembly fee Special shipping fee Lead acid batteries need to be stored fully charged then periodically topped off. So how long did these sit at the port in China, how long at sea, how long in port in Canada, how long shipping to a central distribution center, how long in the store and who has been charging the batteries every two months to prevent sulfation??? Please note I no longer sell this style of electric bicycle because Canadian Tire etc.. can under cut my break even price. Economy of scale in buying several hundred thousand units will get a better per unit price than buying in lots of 50. I can help with service and repairs.
	Walmarts Pulse and Ode	Walmart is now carrying scooter style e-bikes as well. Interestingly It's a siliar frame style to one I brought in as an evaluation model and rejected, before settling on the model I now carry. Push on pull off pedals. These can come off unexpectedly when trying to pedal. Poor pedaling position and ability. The location of the pedals makes it hard if not impossible to pedal without standing up and this is not desired with pull off pedals. Plastic body - hides the frame and makes it hard to monitor rust. 20AH SLA batteries - 20AH is nice but heavy and this will tend to poor hill climbing ability. Steep steering rake. - The angle of the front wheel was too steep and led to too rapid a response in steering and, to me, just felt wrong. 350W motor not a 500W motor The LED lights are nice. VERY LOW center of gravity with alot of weight. See Maneuvering Low CG vs High CG. below

It's important that you have local support for what you buy.

There are six main components to an electric bike.

1) The motor - cheaper to replace than repair, labour costs are the killer on repairs ($50 and hour, 4 hours and you coulda bought a new motor for about $100-200). Plenty of electric motor shops around. Electric motors are used in many many consumer devices, from refrigerators, to air conditioners and furnaces. There are several repair shops in Saint John that service electric motors. I can order replacements. Replacment motors can often be bought for less than the cost of labour of repairing one. If you want to repair one yourself often the only thing that needs to be done is to replace a hall sensor(a couple bucks at any electronics store - very common item) or do some rewiring. There are no moving parts to a brushless electric motor.

2) The controller - Can often be fixed up with replacement components if you are good with a soldering and electronics. Note that controllers have direct connections to the batteries and are thus LIVE unless the batteries are unplugged. They also have capacitors which store an electrical charge. Some carry a charge strong enough to stop your heart. Should be left to professionals or people who know their way around capacitors to repair. Lots of electronic shops around.

3) Batteries and charger - available anywhere. Be aware that chargers are specific to battery chemistries. There is even a website out there that shows you how to build a $3 charger http://www.alpharubicon.com/elect/3dollarbattggn.htm.

4) Throttle and brakes - common componnents easily available

5) DC to DC converter to power turn signals& lights. - Easy to come by. Should NEVER be repaired except by professionals since if it is done wrong it will fry your lights and controller immediately. Commonly available for about $100.00

6) The bike frame itself. Frames are steel so anyone with a welder can fix it up or modify.

Kits are also available to convert an existing bike to an electric bike. The problem is aluminum frames. Specifically aluminum forks where the hub is mounted. Aluminum is often NOT strong enough to handle the torque of the motor and can tear itself out of the forks damaging both forks and motor. Steel forks are needed(that is why my bikes are steel frames). Even then with steel forks a torque arm that attaches to a longer segment of the fork, will help eliminate this issue. The more powerful the motor the more a retensioning method is necessary.
see maintenance section for places to buy replacements.

Which bike is for me?

Well there is the rub. Everyone wants something different. If you are carrying much more weight than 200 lbs(93Kg) then you are not going to be happy with the brushed motor kind Canadian Tire sells. You will need something that can provide full time assistance.

Can I pedal along?

Yes and no. For a regular bike with a conversion kit, yes; for a thin-style like bike, yes; for a wide-style bike, kind of. The problem with wide style like bikes is that they are W I D E. So wide in fact that some of the general population can not pedal them from a sitting position. They must stand and shift weight from leg to leg to pedal. Although with it's stronger motor you are less likely to need to pedal.

Generators (for B.C.)

A motor assisted cycle must not be equipped with a generator, alternator or similar device powered by a combustion engine.[Note that some police if they see a combustion engine of ANY kind, be it a generator or not, will ignore the law and fine you as if it is a motorcycle.]

Maneuvering Low CG vs High CG.

Notice that if the center of gravity is shifted lower the movement of the tires is less about the axis, and the movement of the rider is greater? This means the lower the center of gravity the less responsive the bike is in a lean assisted turn. Of course too high a center of gravity and a bike will simply fall over. Turning is more dependant on turning the tire than a small turn of the tire and leaning. Thus to turn as tightly as possible you will need to drift in the opposite direction a bit slow down and turn the tire more than you would on a higer center of gravity bicycle. So a wide style bike will have a lower center of gravity (the batteries are lower) and a thin style will have higher center of gravity (the batteries are stacked vertically behind the seat). Lower center of grvity will also contribute to front wheel wobble. Do not release your hands from the steering column on a low CG bike. If wobble is occuring when your hands are on the handlebars and speed is under 50Km/hr STOP IMMEDIATELY!!! This is a sign that the bolt holding the front tire on is loose and needs to be tightened.

Some youtube videos for your education and entertainment.

Electric motorcycle conversion

Here is a link to a

on how electric AC motors are made. Not a hub motor but roughly the same.

If you are really motivated you can even make a solar charging station

What is available on the market?

As you can see there are as many electric bikes as there are bike frames. Some more pleasing to look at than others. Here is an informational sample of what is out there.

Bicycles
Usually under 1000 except
for trikes usuallly under 2000.