Finally Met Fellow Ebiker on The Commute

[geeeyejo1]

Prior to getting my Ebike on the road; I had seen a few others during the course of my commute. Today I finally met a fellow Ebiker on the commute to the Statne Island Ferry. I was headed up the last hill on Bay Street and passed a fellow on a folding Ebike struggling up the hill. He arrived to the terminal a few minutes after I did and commented on how fast my bike was. He picked up his in China Town 2 years ago and had paid $800 - Looked like a 24V with a small geared hub motor - no wonder he was having a bit of a hard time on the hill! I explained that I had built my bike from a kit and he suggested that I start making these for the Chinese delivery bikers as he new quite a few that would want a faster bike. I'm thinking - just what we need, more delivery guys blasting around Manhattan and drawing the ire of police and citizens alike! I explained that my bike was more for a hobbyist and that most folks would want a "turn key" unit like his and not have to strap their batteries to the frame - speed in this case comes at the price of convenience...
Anyway, we chatted on the ferry and shared with him some tips and knowledge that I had picked up on Endless Sphere - nice guy and nice to catch up with a fellow Ebiker!

 

[RLD70]

Yeah Ive only seen one other person in the local area with an electric bike like the currie motored bike that I originally owned but havent seen her since. I do see one riding a gas powered every now and then and what will be funny is when I pass him on mine, lol.

 

[MadRhino]

Yep, it is fun to meet a fellow ebiker Last time for me was last summer, when I crossed this nice ebike on the street. It was looking like it had a lot of power so I turned back to chase him. Turned out that he didn't, but his bike was very well built. We did ride together, he tried 2 of my bikes in the mountain. He was impressed, I helped him with a 150A controller for his bike. Now he's building 2 DH bikes for the next summer, for him and his son to ride the trails. 2 other friends will have theirs running for the spring, good team rides coming.

 

[Ykick]

Funny, I stopped and spoke briefly to a guy on 700cc Bionx rig going over 59st bridge yesterday. He said he comes from 12 miles away and relies heavily on assist to climb the bridge.

 

[geeeyejo1]

Funny, I stopped and spoke briefly to a guy on 700cc Bionx rig going over 59st bridge yesterday. He said he comes from 12 miles away and relies heavily on assist to climb the bridge.

Was it a tall Asian fellow? I have seen a guy on a full suspension Mongoose MTB with a Bionx setup on the Ferry that evidently goes all over the NY Metro area on it. He always would fly when he got off the ferry - thinking it might have been a 48V setup...

 

[Ykick]

Funny, I stopped and spoke briefly to a guy on 700cc Bionx rig going over 59st bridge yesterday. He said he comes from 12 miles away and relies heavily on assist to climb the bridge.

Was it a tall Asian fellow? I have seen a guy on a full suspension Mongoose MTB with a Bionx setup on the Ferry that evidently goes all over the NY Metro area on it. He always would fly when he got off the ferry - thinking it might have been a 48V setup...

This guy was riding a road/hybrid non-sus, 700cc wheels. Don't think he was asian but 'didn't really pay attention as everybody rides bundled up right now.

I've seen a few kits over the years on that bridge and some that looked familiar from the forum. One dude runs a stink bike that I caught up to once and kinda freaked him out, haha!

 

[The fingers]

In over 25 years of commuting on a bicycle, I've only encountered 4 ebikes.
One that passed me when I was pedaling to work one early morning which convinced me to get one. Two on the river trail going the opposite direction on seperate occasions in the afternoon on my e-commute to my night job. Once I saw an electric recumbent on the other side of the road in the 60 mph zone through the navy weapons station.
Oh, and while driving down PCH one weekend at the beach I saw one. That's Lycra Land! :lol:
The only time I passed a noisy stinker he was out of gas. I said "you should get one of these!".

 

[geeeyejo1]

In over 25 years of commuting on a bicycle, I've only encountered 4 ebikes.
One that passed me when I was pedaling to work one early morning which convinced me to get one. Two on the river trail going the opposite direction on seperate occasions in the afternoon on my e-commute to my night job. Once I saw an electric recumbent on the other side of the road in the 60 mph zone through the navy weapons station.
Oh, and while driving down PCH one weekend at the beach I saw one. That's Lycra Land! :lol:
The only time I passed a noisy stinker he was out of gas. I said "you should get one of these!".

Hey - noticed in your signature that you have a Schwinn Cruiser 5 - great bike! I actually sold a 1979 Schwinn Spitfire 5 (the Cruiser's immediate predecessor) along with a 1955 Schwinn 3 speed Tiger and a 1969 Schwinn 5 speed Fastback to finance my current Ebike project (actually half finance and half appease the wife by clearing space in the basement, lol. Always thought the Spitfire 5 would have made a great Ebike but with a motor and battery would have weighed a ton!

 

[The fingers]

I didn't' want to ruin it, so I put the kit on the Chinese cheapy copy girls model. It's about as heavy as a cruiser gets, not suitable for real long rides at my age.

 

[geeeyejo1]

I didn't' want to ruin it, so I put the kit on the Chinese cheapy copy girls model. It's about as heavy as a cruiser gets, not suitable for real long rides at my age.

I felt the same way - mine had the "Positron Shifting" - Schwinn's first primitive index shifting - worked great though! I still have a 1962 3 speed Corvette that screams at me - "Retro Ebike", but too nice original condition to convert too!

 

[miro13car]

at best I only see another ebike maybe twice a year.
I am trying to be resonable, no riding ebike on busy path on pretty weekend day for example.
No riding into downtown paths where bylaw usually patrol.

 

[Ykick]

On the Manhattan side of 59th St bridge today there were a couple eBike guys handing out business cards and hawking something about eBikes & Valentines day. Didn't have time/inclination to stop but as I smiled and pointed to my rear hub one of the guys "got it" and recognized what I was riding.