Looking for an electric bike that does the pedaling for you? You have
plenty of choices, particularly if you're willing to drop over $2,000, but finding one that uses regenerative braking to extend the life of its meager on-board batteries isn't so easy. Panasonic's
Vivi RX10S is about your only choice until February, when Sanyo's new eneloop-branded bike is set to start pulling weak (or just lazy) Japanese riders up up inclines before recharging itself on the way back down. On a hilly course a charge is said to last about 35 miles without braking, 46 by charging only when braking, and 62 miles in "auto" mode (charging on downhills, too). If you live in Japan it'll be yours for 136,290 yen, about $1,450 US -- but if you live around here we'd recommend not canceling your spinning class just yet, because while Sanyo pledges to ship this elsewhere in the world "at some point in the future," it could be awhile before this thing starts hitting the diamond lanes near you.
[Via
PhysOrg.com]
posted Dec 1st 2008 11:25AM
Neat! Great for the inner-city bike user, I'd just be afraid of getting it stolen/dismantled.
Needs a better name though...
...iBike? :3
and a higher quality girl holding it
she's pretty cute though
NO.
YOU DO NOT REPLY TO MY COMMENTS, FUZO.
GET OUT.
GO.
NOW.
So yeah im going now for a new one
thanks for your help ''ZaxCG2''
Wow fuzo, you have to pay for your girls? That's not something I would admit out loud...
AHG. His comments... I CAN SEE THEM. Downvote him, QUICK!
fug
Yeah I'd be worried about thieves too, although I think it's actually less likely to be stolen because of the way it stands out more and is harder to offload.
Well that's kind of expensive. It's basically just a cheap electromotor stuck on a cheap bike, i bet they could make a profit if they sold it for $300.
Your business acumen is astounding.
When I lived in China, they had regular electric bikes for around $200 ~$300 and they had motor scooters for $400 -$600. I owned one myself. You could fill it then for just $2
Motorcycles were between $1000 and $1400.
And when I say "Motorcycles", I mean clones of Harley Davidson's or Dirtbikes and clones of Ninjas.
The electric bikes had motors in them and you regenerated the battery by pedaling. The bike's motor could be turned on and provide enough HP for the average 150lb (or less) chinese person.
This Japanese bike's regenerative motor is interesting but, at that price, its senseless to buy this. When I was in Tokyo, I barely saw bikes. That must be something for people living in the urban areas.
Next time I'm in China I'm gonna rent a Buick Regal. Next time I'm in Japan I'll just take mass transit cause its so easy.
I guess hybrid bikes like this are intended for people who want to get somewhere on a bike but don't want to sweat at all, right?
Electric bikes are an odd concept. I mean, is it that hard to ride a bike?
Yes, your commute to work should be mostly battery powered if you do not want to show up sweaty, does not matter what anti-perspirant you use...
I can imagine there's a good market for these among the older members of the Japanese population. Bicycles are the most efficient sefl-powered mode of transportation to begin with, and then the battery assist just enhances a person's range.
I have Muscular Dystrophy and am not able to ride a bike very far without the assistance of a motor. I used to ride my bicycle all Summer back when I was younger. I had to stop riding when I was around 18 years old due to not having the endurance to peddle very far. That was on a flat surface, any hills or even the slightest incline I could no longer do.
I'm 42 years old now and 2 years ago I purchased an electric Giant eSuede bicycle and it is perfect. I can cruise or use peddle assist depending on how much of a workout I want. It has changed my life as I can go riding with my young nieces and nephew and they have to keep up with me.
@iEye
Or bring your shirt to work in your bag and change when you get there. Or leave early and shower in work.
Dead easy
Electric bikes should only be for people who can't pedal, all the other lazy people should move their lard asses.
@ MAjor4Play
Your suggestions are idiotic and presumptuous.
@iEye: I commute to work by ordinary pedal-powered bike and don't get sweaty at all.
(Of course it does help that I live close enough it only takes eight minutes...)
Driving and parking in many highly-populated area such as Japan, Asia, or Manhattan NY, is quite a premium. That's why most people opt to use mass transit or bikes. If your house is 3 miles away from nearest subway station, biking in these area is not really an option and electrical bike would be most welcomed.
i like her mmm, thats one tasty model touching that bike mmm
Not overpriced... But you can purchase a Schwinn E-bike for $299 CAD (includes $50 instant coupon rebate) end of season at CTC...
The problem with E-bikes at such a price is that they are very good at attracting thieves. It would hurt to lose a $300 E-bike but 2K I wold never leave it alone.
I would suggest having a regular back-up bike to use when you have to leave it alone in shady places and fr the winter...
Do you have a link for that "Schwinn E-bike" bike in Canada?
You cannot get it now, as they are all sold out.
Canadian Tire, Product #71-1519-2
when on sale $349.99
-$50 in store coupon $299.99
-Mind you this is based on Lead Acid battery (adds weight) and you do not get a hub motor setup, but you cannot beat that price...
As a former professional bike mechanic and someone who still does all his own bike bike repairs and knows the industry, I can tell you that you really do get what you pay for with this stuff. Sure you'll see diminishing returns beyond a certain point, but a $300 electric bicycle is about as good an idea as getting "$2000 speakers" out of the back of a van for $100.
Oh, for the record, I'm a Canadian, and I know the exact Schwinn bicycle that you're talking about.
insurance you titclamp
"Looking for an electric bike that does the peddling for you?"
What does it sell?
that is not a "hybrid bike", there is already a thing called a hybrid bike which is entirely different.
I dig the idea, especially if it gets more folks out there onto bikes, but i dont think id get one. Give me a roadie or fixie anyday over one of those.
Plus, it has a basket!
Most bikes in Japan have baskets.
Hmm is that I milf I see?!?
Needs streamers. And baseball cards in the spokes.
I like the idea. I have biked to work, about 1 hour bike trip, and being a lazy yet 'husky' IT guy I am not build to peddle really fast (constantly) for an hour. If the bike kept my speed more constant I am sure I make the travel time in about 30 minutes - which is 100% acceptable to me.
Way too expensive...especially when you consider that a Moped or Vespa that gets 100-150 mpg and will do 30mph all day long goes for under a grand! 2 grand for a battery powered bicycle that you still need to peddle is way too much money...I guess that their target market is the gullible-rich.
Ed
web/gadget guru
I think it's safe to assume that the bike's target market is people who'd rather not have to mess with an internal-combustion engine. There are plenty of good reasons to avoid IC engines, specifically the matter of storing them. You could keep this bicycle inside of a small apartment and not have to worry about it leaking petrol onto the floors.
Then there's the noise and the smell constant need to go to petrol stations, oh and the maintenance.
'smell and'*
Japan is a country with an acknowledged issue of having an aging population and with many technology thrusts aimed in helping in that direction (assisted motion devices, care-taking robots, etc.). You'd think Engadget would be sufficiently in touch to realize the large part this trend likely plays in electric bikes such as these rather than tossing out a quip about weak and lazy riders.
"issue of having an aging population"
Issue eh, I think the issue is that they know that these people have bulky nest-eggs and won't spend it on iphones so they use that to think up stuff those people do want to spend money on.
There was a time business people in the west had that acumen, but I think that's pretty scarce now.
Not to mention that 70% of the country is made up of very, very steep mountains. This kind of bicycle will be popular with a very wide audience in Japan. I teach at a high school in Osaka and some of my kids live in towns that run up onto the slopes of Mt. Ikoma. They'd be very happy to have a bicycle that would be able to get them most of the way home rather than having to push it up a quarter of a mile on a 25-degree+ incline.
Even for the non-vertically challenged, there are the others who commute up to an hour one-way by bicycle. Again, having a power assist is not always a bad thing. Engadget just lacks the frame of reference in this case. Ironic to have jabs about laziness coming from an American-based blog.
Isn't charging downhill the same thing as breaking? It's a simple matter of physics, to generate a charge by going downhill it has to slow you down.
Yes, but it sounds from the description like this bike has an 'automatic' mode where it will use regenerative braking on downhills without you actually pulling the brake, presumably to gradually limit your speed and recharge.
I can already see the elderly.... speeding down the hills to charge their bikes.... hehehe
Yeah, it sort of sucks that you really do need over $2000 to build a decent electric bike.
The motor and controller and accessories aren't that bad, but those nano-phosphate lithium-ion batteries are really expensive.
Plus if your gonna spend that much money, then why not get a new bike. Who is gonna throw that much cash into a Wal-Mart bike rack special?
Who's going to camp for days outside an apple store? There's no sense to people so don't try to use that as a predictive method.
I think Japanese are pretty smart unlike Koreans, they don't use pretty models to not attract trashes to their country.
I think I know what we'll see on the cover of Chinese Democracy 2...
I lived in Tokyo for much of the last 20 years ... Japan is covered in bicycles, to the extent that it can be hard to get near train stations due to the masses of bikes, and that's with the local authorities clearing them away on a daily basis. So I'm somewhat surprised by the "barely saw bikes in Tokyo" comment. Would have been hard to miss I would've thought. Bikes aren't toys in Japan, they're core transport: you ride your bike to the train station, you park it there and then you catch a fast, regular, clean and punctual train to work. Hard as it may be for people in the US to understand, in the Japanese cities you just don't drive a car to work - there's no reason to and in any case it'd be hard to provide parking for the 3 million or so people who go through Shinjuku station each day.
These electric bikes have been around for a while but haven't really caught on yet - but the companies making them obviously think that they will. Oh, and Y136,000 is pocket-change for most Japanese ... so it's not the "gullible-rich" that will be buying them.