I'm a Noob and I Wanna Go 50MPH

[Arlo1]

I would love to see the end all, perfect solution to a bike lane that keeps cars, cyclist and pedestrians from intentionally or unintentionally pissing each other off. So far the Tel Aviv design is one of the closest I've seen but still suffers the peek-a-boo pedestrian and whack-a-mole car door issue. I have to believe that with enough trial and error, some city could figure it out. Of course we'll probably have destroyed our planet before that happens anyways...

Man, you live in a different world..... This is my world:

Cities in the Netherlands

Amsterdam

Den Haag

Rotterdam

Amersfoort

Cities in Germany

Belin 1930

Frankfurt

München

Thats how its done! Stupid north america.

 

[EdwardNY]

New york city, specifically Manhattan has a few nice bike paths especially the west side one linking the south and north of manhattan. This is completly separated form any car traffic.

What can be annoying is that you get pedestrians walking along this bike path. And I mean you will commonly see friends walking together slowly taking up the bike lane.
I remember three girls walking slowly side by side completely blocking the bike path in both directions. I could not believe they would do that when you can walk along the shore just a few feet away.

 

[mlt34]

What can be annoying is that you get pedestrians walking along this bike path. And I mean you will commonly see friends walking together slowly taking up the bike lane.

Yea, that's what I mean, that it seems nearly impossible to solve the get-out-of-my-way-stupid-pedestrian problem. Even those pics of the netherlands showed some annoying bipod action. In Tel Aviv we have such nice bike lanes and yet the walkers still ruin it for everyone... If only there was an invention like those cattle grids that keep livestock from cross roads that could dual purpose to keep people off of bike lanes

 

[briogio]

New york city, specifically Manhattan has a few nice bike paths especially the west side one linking the south and north of manhattan. This is completly separated form any car traffic.

What can be annoying is that you get pedestrians walking along this bike path. And I mean you will commonly see friends walking together slowly taking up the bike lane.
I remember three girls walking slowly side by side completely blocking the bike path in both directions. I could not believe they would do that when you can walk along the shore just a few feet away.

Please let me tell you about the PERFECT SOLUTION to pedestrians who wilfully block the bike paths. One day, ten years ago, on the lakefront bikepath in Toronto I came up to an entire family, (3 kids), completely blocking the bike path. I was coming up behind them so I started polite and just tinkled my bell, the father turned around but just dismissed me, then I sounded my new "Air Zounds" air horn pumped up to 90 pounds, well THAT made them just SCATTER instantly, SO satisfying as I leisurely peddled by. The solution my friends is an AIR HORN! :wink:

 

[Trackman417]

New york city, specifically Manhattan has a few nice bike paths especially the west side one linking the south and north of manhattan. This is completly separated form any car traffic.

What can be annoying is that you get pedestrians walking along this bike path. And I mean you will commonly see friends walking together slowly taking up the bike lane.
I remember three girls walking slowly side by side completely blocking the bike path in both directions. I could not believe they would do that when you can walk along the shore just a few feet away.

When I went to manhattan to go check out a museum, there were a couple of bike paths that looks good for riding. Makes me want to cross the bridge and go on an adventure ripping up the streets. On this side of river, there is no such thing as a bike path. Only road and side walk :? Pedestrains dont, normally, walk on the road . So I am good in that department. However, these people on the roads take offensively anything that moves faster than them, so they turn it into a drag race of sorts. Very territorial.
How is the commuting in the parts of the city without the bike paths? Are the drivers any more obnoxious than they are here?

I had a similar experience.
I was passing by a bunch of kids that were up to no good at night. I had rim breaks that squealed like no tomorrow on my bike. So I silently crept up behind them at speed and pulled on the breaks. I heard one of them scream like a little girl. I bet that straightened them out a bit. I guess anything noisy and makes a really abnormally loud sound will do

 

[lbz5mc12]

Yeah well have you ever had to deal with people walking in the bike lane when there's a perfectly good sidewalk right next to it? I yelled at some stupid kids that did that, I was all "BIKE LANE NOT SIDEWALK". I had a good idea to deal with cars cutting us off. Put a couple of video cameras on our bikes and record footage of the vehicles' license plates and audio of us yelling at them. Then file reports with our local police stations. Just keep getting footage and filing reports until we're taken seriously.

 

[briogio]

Yeah well have you ever had to deal with people walking in the bike lane when there's a perfectly good sidewalk right next to it? I yelled at some stupid kids that did that, I was all "BIKE LANE NOT SIDEWALK". I had a good idea to deal with cars cutting us off. Put a couple of video cameras on our bikes and record footage of the vehicles' license plates and audio of us yelling at them. Then file reports with our local police stations. Just keep getting footage and filing reports until we're taken seriously.

Believe me when you let a blast of a LOUD air horn you WILL be taken seriously!

 

[geeeyejo1]

On this side of river, there is no such thing as a bike path. Only road and side walk :? Pedestrains dont, normally, walk on the road . So I am good in that department. However, these people on the roads take offensively anything that moves faster than them, so they turn it into a drag race of sorts. Very territorial.
How is the commuting in the parts of the city without the bike paths? Are the drivers any more obnoxious than they are here?

I have a great path by my house in New Jersey - The Henry Hudson trail - great for hopping from bayshore town to Bayshore town - parts are still closed due to after effects of Hurrican Sandy though. I use the West Side Highway bike path in NYC as well for part of my commute. There are times that I wish I had an airhorn! In other parts of the city - even on cross roads with dedicated bike lanes you do need to be both an aggressive and defensive rider. Cars generally ignore the lanes - at least with a good performing Ebike you can generally pull ahead quicker than them from a stop.

 

[GCinDC]

what is this thread about?

first post had a lot of good links related to the topic, esp if i were a noob and wanted to build an ebike to go 50mph.

but now it's about bike paths?

 

[auraslip]

You should add this to the first post:

Do you have more money than sense?
Do you want to spend more time working on your bike than riding it?
Do you have no loved ones or at least a good life insurance policy?

THEN THIS THREAD IS FOR YOU!

Seriously though, I wouldn't be surprised if eventually justin takes this forum legit and bans people talking about illegal builds. It would be bad for business if there were harsh legislation against diy ebikes brought about by a plague of high powered ebikes in the hands of 16 year old kids. On the ecig forum (which has more posts in a day than this forum probably gets in a year) any mention of using ecigs for weed is instantly deleted and the user banned for this very reason.

 

[skyungjae]

You should add this to the first post:

Do you have more money than sense?
Do you want to spend more time working on your bike than riding it?
Do you have no loved ones or at least a good life insurance policy?

THEN THIS THREAD IS FOR YOU!

Seriously though, I wouldn't be surprised if eventually justin takes this forum legit and bans people talking about illegal builds. It would be bad for business if there were harsh legislation against diy ebikes brought about by a plague of high powered ebikes in the hands of 16 year old kids. On the ecig forum (which has more posts in a day than this forum probably gets in a year) any mention of using ecigs for weed is instantly deleted and the user banned for this very reason.

I think the weed thing is a bit different. Looking at automotive forums people hot rod and modify their cars beyond the laws all the time. Just because the e-bike doesn't fall under the federal definition, it doesn't mean it's illegal to create or own.

bike path

 

[ian.mich]

Seriously though, I wouldn't be surprised if eventually justin takes this forum legit and bans people talking about illegal builds

Please explain what an illegal build is, building a speed-of-light ebike is completely legal until it touches government ashphalt. Also, almost all the major posters on this forum own "illegal" ebikes.

 

[auraslip]

Please explain what an illegal build is, building a speed-of-light ebike is completely legal until it touches government ashphalt. Also, almost all the major posters on this forum own "illegal" ebikes.

Ok. Say you have these people that come here and go, "Hi, I have a shitty wal-mart bike rusting in the garage. I want to make it go 50mph. I have no experience with metalworking, bicycle building or maintenance, or riding high powered bikes. But I have unlimited budget and I saw lfp/docs/hals sick new toy and i want to build that. pls advise."What the hell can you say to that but

People need to have some common sense. But we as ebike hobbyists need to protect ourselves from people without common sense. The cat will get out of the bag eventually making it hard for us responsible people to ride our high powered bikes with out trouble. Right now it's just delaying the inevitable police officer with a portable dyno like they already have in germany.

IDK. I hate my original suggestion to be honest. BUT I think maybe the mods should make it officially clear that beyond stock is a legal red area and a dangerous place to be if you don't know wtf you're doing.

Like maybe two separate sections of the forums. One that's for newbs building vanilla kits, and one for people with a taste for more power that comes with a stark warning on the dangers and legal ramifications of their build.

Here's some stickies I'd really like to see:

PSA: you think you want 50mph, but maybe you really don't! (talking about how expensive, unreliable, dangerous, and illegal high powered ebikes can be)

PSA: how to make sure your motor won't spin out and kill you (torque arms and how to properly secure a front hub motor - when I was new here my first hub motor rocked back and forward and I didn't even think to check it. Most ebay kits don't say why this is dangerous!)

PSA: the risks and dangers of batteries (particularly lipo)

PSA: just how much will this fu$#!#g thing cost me?

PSA: how reliable are ebikes really (for people that rely on their bikes having something like a throttle go bad and having to wait weeks for shipping or dropping the bike and tearing the motor harness will leave them stranded)

I dunnu - this community is growing every time I come back to it, yet the stickies are still the same threads that have been on here for years! I know it's focused on the skilled DIY crowd, but I feel like it could be more user friendly to beginners.

 

[amberwolf]

BUT I think maybe the mods should make it officially clear that beyond stock is a legal red area and a dangerous place to be if you don't know wtf you're doing.

That's why I made this thread and the wiki entry, with the links to all the previous discussions I could find about it, and simply link poeple asking about such bikes to that, so they can read all the previous stuff and decide what to do, instead of having the same arguments every time a new thread is started about such builds by yet another noob.

But the thread was polluted despite my many attempts to get people to stop, so it's useless (and is now unstickied because of that), so only the wiki entry will be referenced.

It is also my hope that someone with time to do it (and either knowledge or willingness to research the linked threads and parse the relevant info and warnings) would expand the wiki article to be useful in it's own right.


BTW--as far as legality, as has been pointed out, one can build and own and even operate as fast a bike as you like in most places, as long as you are not on public roads. In some places you cant' have it on bike paths or lanes, sidewalks, etc., either, and some places it would possibly require a permit or license to use in any public place, or could only be operated on private lands.

In other places, like here in AZ, you can ride it wherever bicycles are allowed as long as you stay under 20MPH while you are doing so, and only use it's faster speeds while on private lands, because we have no power limit for electrics, just a speed limit.

So, for legality, it depends on where you are.


Now, as far as *safety* goes, more of that has to do with the rider than the bike itself; if one has no experience at those speeds on other 2wheel vehicles then it's a hospital or morgue trip waiting to happen. If a rider is experienced then they should also know to have adequate brakes, tires, wheels, suspension, frame, etc., or what to expect if they don't.

 

[lbz5mc12]

I've ridden non motor mountain bikes up to almost 70 mph downhill so if you're like me, a fast ebike shouldn't be an issue. Riding an ebike at 30-50 mph on a nice flat road is nothing compared to barreling downhill at close to 70.

 

[MadRhino]

I've ridden non motor mountain bikes up to almost 70 mph downhill so if you're like me, a fast ebike shouldn't be an issue. Riding an ebike at 30-50 mph on a nice flat road is nothing compared to barreling downhill at close to 70.

Riding 50 Mph on the street with a DH racing bike is fun, and making you feel you need better top speed for the next build.
Yet, noobs must be warned that building a 50 Mph ebike on a wallmart MTB imitation is dangerous.

 

[Chalo]

I've ridden non motor mountain bikes up to almost 70 mph downhill so if you're like me, a fast ebike shouldn't be an issue.

If you did that every day for very long, you'd either give it up or kill yourself. Transportation is a different thing than thrill-seeking.

 

[speedmd]

I've ridden non motor mountain bikes up to almost 70 mph downhill

Seriously! Bombing something like a 50 degree slope.

Whats it like biffing at near 70? I have biffed at some high speeds in my racing days, but near 70 on a pedal bike, now that has to be a real ass kicker. .

 

[mdd0127]

Crashing at anything over 30mph up to 75 or so pretty much feels the same. At higher speeds, you just slide a little farther. :wink:

 

[The fingers]

NEXT stop= hospital.

 

[lbz5mc12]

Actually there was a "hill" between me and work. I could ride up it at like 3 mph in my easiest gear back in my early twenties and the land of a lot less fat-assedness if that is any clue as to its steepness. I literally lived like a mile away from work and because of that hill it would take me 20 minutes to get there. The other side of the hill was a more gradual, longer drop. Luckily I've never crashed going that fast and I haven't gone that fast in quite awhile. I've noticed that when I do crash I never tend to slide, I kind of like hit and stop. For some reason all of my accidents see me flying over the handle bars; just once I'd like to just fall over or something. Anyone else notice how deceiving silt can be? You're thinking, "I'm about to crash but here's this nice soft silt to fall into", such is not the case it's more like someone has placed a sheet over a hard rectangular surface and tells you it's a nice soft bed so feel free to jump in anytime. Not to mention the fact that if you're riding with others you disappear for a couple of minutes.

 

[bikermice]

I see a lot of arguing going on in this thread, how about just some pictures of the bikes built that can go 50 mph +

I say if you can't handle a bike over 30 mph then don't post saying it can't or should not be done, because it has been done and obviously should be done by those who is overly safety conscious and those who have extensive cycling experience.

I have been a cyclist in the past and clocked 103 km/h on my GT avalanche 1994 model mountain bike 10 years ago, that is with no motor, slick tires, peddling as fast as i could in the last gear on a long downhill. Yes of course the road was smooth, Yes it is risky should something unexpectedly pop up in front of you or should you not utterly concentrate or should you hit rocks or oil on the road, that is why you need to be extremely well conditioned, extremely focused and aware of the danger, know exactly where you will be doing it at that speed, and not dare going into any turn not even the slightest turn, at that speed ie the road needs to be straight ! ! ! and not take any chances or it WILL kill you. You also do not have the braking capability of a proper motorbike ! ! See the problem
arose with people A: not knowing their and their bike's limits, B: take a casual approach towards safety. C: Think they can handle it, but in reality cannot. D: Pushing the limits: E: Are not safety conscious enough or aware of the dangers.
F: all of the above combined and MORE.

The idea of an 80km/h ride is not intended to running over potholes and bumps, but achieving 80km/h on a straight good condition road, again KNOWING the road condition you are about to ride on, and more importantly KNOW your bike and how it will handle at any given speed, make sure it is in PROPER shape and WELL maintained. know how long it takes to brake, and how the bike handles during braking from high speed, it's not a game, it's dangerous, know yourself exactly and don't do stupid things, then adjust your mindset accordingly to react in the right manner, i guess one could say the same thing for motorbike racers doing 350 km/h.
It is already dangerous if you are an accomplished racer, it is even more dangerous if you are not a racer or have any experience in that kind of high speed riding.

In other words, the best i could compare it to is, if you are not an f1 driver, don't go and race in f1 cars and expect to come out of it alive.

 

[dogman dan]

The main thing people fail to grasp, till they build their 50 mph bike, is how shitty it handles compared to that unencumbered pedal bike.

Once you put 15 pounds of hubmotor on it, and another 10-20 pounds of battery, it does not handle the same. Take that thing to the track, and then you find out you can wear out a tire in 30 min. Worn out from the inside, not the tread. Melted tire.

It's just not the same, as descending a mountain on a regular bike is.

50 degree slope? :lol: :lol: :lol: Only on the face of the jumps. Some of the steepest ski runs in North America are only 40 degrees. Dirt or loose rocks cannot stay put at above 45 degrees. Tuckermans ravine is not 50 degrees, except maybe the first few feet of the jump into it.

But 30 degrees will get you to 70 mph, easy.

 

[bikermice]

Heck i wouldn't even try to turn at those speeds on an mtb, nevermind taking it on a track to race ! ! !

 

[dogman dan]

Track is about the only place you can stand it, to lay one down at 50 mph.