Hot Rodder or Commuter ?

Which is more important-having a dependable commuter, or bragging rights on the fastest ebike?

  • I use my bike for commuting, it must be dependable and able to traverse my route.

    Votes: 11 17.2%
  • I use my bike to get around, and I want it to be fast, but I also want it to be dependable.

    Votes: 36 56.3%
  • I want my bike to be fast, I don't want it to break down, but it isn't the end of the world if it do

    Votes: 8 12.5%
  • I want my bike to be the fastest, so I am finding the limits of ebike hardware by testing to failure

    Votes: 9 14.1%

  • Total voters
    64

oatnet

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I see two different polarizations on E:S. One polarization is folks who want dependable transportation and find an off-the-shelf 30mph system meets their needs. The other polarization is folks who want bragging rights on the fastest bike they can build, even if it means they spend more time under the bike than on it. I think most of us have a foot in each camp, but what side do you lean more towards?

The efforts of hot-rodder's help reliability by demonstrating where the breaking point is on cheap chinese hardware, fixing it, and then finding the breaking point of the next weakest component.

On the other hand, it is pretty challanging to build something within the limits of the components involved so that will run all day, every day; anticipating failures, and building a comfortable interface.

-JD
 
Hey, I'm in the 71st percentile. :? Does that mean I am boring?
 
I voted for number two.

It has to be dependable for a daily commuter and fast enough not to piss off the Houston Nascar commuters.
 
Ypedal said:
interesting poll.. i fall into more than one of those categories... i have a dependable fast commuter.. but i also have toys i break in the name of science all the time ! :lol:

Yeah, like I said, a lot of us have a foot in both camps... I've definitely done destructive testing (like your lipo test :shock: ), and I've slapped together temporary builds to get a feel for the limits of new technology (but am too embarrassed by their ghettoness to post). I've built hot rods too, and yes they required a shake out period, but after sorting the bugs they were stable and solid. OTOH, I don't built exhibition ebikes that produce impressive results at the cost of hardware, or exhaust a pack in 2 minutes, I build an ebike to do a job.

I want to spend time on the bike, not under it, not to mention that somehow I feel bad for abused machinery. :D I think it is a lot harder to vette out an implementation that is stable, reliable, and low maintenace, than it is to build a run to failure. I am way more impressed with someone who built a bike that ran flawlessly for a year, than someone who figured out how to get an extra kw into the motor before the windings melted. But that is just me, and I've watched an fairly vocal clique spring up on E:S, that lives for extreme-sports bragging rights, is very impressed with those kind of achievements, and look down their nose at those with different design criteria. So I've been wondering if I am now in the minority by leaning towards reliability, or if those other folks are just talking louder. :lol:

-JD
 
I voted #2, but I want to eventually have 3 ebikes...

#4 has no votes as of now, so clearly Thud and LFP haven't voted! (I can't wait to see what they do next...)
 
torker said:
Hey, I'm in the 71st percentile. :? Does that mean I am boring?

Yes. That's a compliment. Exciting is highly over-rated. :lol:

-JD
 
oatnet said:
torker said:
Hey, I'm in the 71st percentile. :? Does that mean I am boring?

Yes. That's a compliment. Exciting is highly over-rated. :lol:

-JD
:mrgreen:

Not to mention expensive. That said, IF I had the money I would probably build a 50+ mph. faired recumbent. :mrgreen:
 
I have to vote #1 because of the way each is worded, even though I actually experiment with my bikes a lot, they DO have to be reliable when I am using them as my commuters. ;)
 
I think I've got maybe 500miles on ebikes total in my life now, and around $25,000usd invested in the hobby.

That means I'm averaging $50usd per mile. I think you know where my vote landed. :)

On the bright side, last time I worked the numbers on my racecar, it was over $100 per mile, so hey! Ebikes are cheap thrills! :mrgreen:
 
liveforphysics said:
I think I've got maybe 500miles on ebikes total in my life now, and around $25,000usd invested in the hobby.

That means I'm averaging $50usd per mile. I think you know where my vote landed. :)

On the bright side, last time I worked the numbers on my racecar, it was over $100 per mile, so hey! Ebikes are cheap thrills! :mrgreen:

:lol:

No suprise where your vote landed, but I didn't know your $/Mile range was so extreme. I keep a running tally of what I spent and what I sold, today I am at (37,683.47); it is hard to say how much is hardware I've toasted, and how much is stuff I have sitting in the storage or installed on one of the bikes in "the stable." OTOH, I have easily exceeded 18,800 miles, so my costs are more like 0.50/mile. I guess when you get old like me cheap thrills are much more affordable. :lol:

-JD
 
oatnet said:
OTOH, I have easily exceeded 18,800 miles, so my costs are more like 0.50/mile. I guess when you get old like me cheap thrills are much more affordable. :lol:

-JD


Naw, you just spend way too much time riding and not enough time building. ;) I enjoy the building/making part more than the riding part.
 
The poll does not precisely reflect my views, however I have selected within the majority.

The first bike was a “test”. The second bike is also a test, though with significantly upgraded equipment. My next endeavor is kind of a half-bike pusher-trailer which will affix to the second bike and shall be used to test yet even more theory.

In all, my speed is slowly progressing upwards as is my physical endurance. :) Last year I calculated that I had ridden a total of 4303 miles, and although this figure does not include 2009, I have already chocked up 1k business miles YtD (with the summer trek adding another 2k). This month I picked up a short gig in Seattle and was commuting 45 miles/day! An unthinkable feat unthinkable two years ago; I wouldn’t have considered jobs that far away if I had to drive there. In that sense, ebikes are liberating. :mrgreen:

Certainly I do not wish my bike to have an equipment failure, however being an inventive sort I am ready with a workaround or repair or upgrade. I always seek to go faster, farther, better. If no one kills me before I get there, I should like to go to Bonneville and race a dream machine. But one day at a time as my budget affords. Luke, I have invested $18k up to December 2010; my budget this year up to June is $5k; most if it all going to the trailer.

If I had to classify myself, it is as a commuter first, long-distance challenger second, and speed-freak third, although sometimes I would relish being first ~ which mostly I yam having not met my match :twisted: But that’s only because I haven’t had the pleasure of racing against Luke on one of his creations (he’d win hands-down of that I am certain). :wink: :lol:

~KF
 
So after a few weeks, it looks like 75% (21+54) voted on the dependable side (first two choices) and 25% voted for the Hotrod side (last 2 choices). So I guess my perception was not so out of sync - of folks who take polls in May, 3x more people want a dependable commuter than an exhibition Hot-Rod.

I still like WATCHING Hot-Rodders blow stuff up - I just don't want to emulate the action. :lol:

-JD

Current results:
I use my bike for commuting, it must be dependable and able to traverse my route. 8 21%
I use my bike to get around, and I want it to be fast, but I also want it to be dependable. 21 54%
I want my bike to be fast, I don't want it to break down, but it isn't the end of the world if it does. 4 10%
I want my bike to be the fastest, so I am finding the limits of ebike hardware by testing to failure. 6 15%
 
The way i feel i wish i could tinker more with the things i have but due to funds i cant do much unless i have extra then the game is on i always just wanted like 3 or 4 all with intended purposes basically on for commuting - extreme off road or pissing off the cops up here cause some will chase you if for just giving them the finger so that always fun :twisted:
 
oatnet said:
I keep a running tally of what I spent and what I sold, today I am at (37,683.47); it is hard to say how much is hardware I've toasted, and how much is stuff I have sitting in the storage or installed on one of the bikes in "the stable." OTOH, I have easily exceeded 18,800 miles, so my costs are more like 0.50/mile.
Did I miss something or did you get it backward? Shouldn't it be 2.00/mile?
 
I couldn't make any of the listed selections, because there is no "OR" for me. I need speed to match or exceed traffic speeds or else I wouldn't ride, however, I demand absolute dependability. Exploring the limits cost me a few controllers, but now it's been almost year since my last issue which was a broken throttle that still allowed me to get home under power.
 
John in CR said:
I couldn't make any of the listed selections, because there is no "OR" for me. I need speed to match or exceed traffic speeds or else I wouldn't ride, however, I demand absolute dependability. Exploring the limits cost me a few controllers, but now it's been almost year since my last issue which was a broken throttle that still allowed me to get home under power.

I would put you in category 1, dependability, which you stress the hardest. You also need it to be fast enough for your commute. There is no reason a bike can't be both dependable and fast. The nuance I was trying to stress is whether you are slapping together exhibition bikes that run the components to their limits in under 100 miles, before moving onto the next new build, or if through a shakedown phase you have developed a dependable daily rider whose components are running within their limits. From a year's worth of service, it sounds like you are spending a lot more time on the bike than under it. :D

I think it is a lot more challenging to build a bike that can do 70mph every day, than it is to build one that can do 70mph for only one day, even if you got there by overpowering parts that will only last at 20mph.

-JD
 
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