Lighter bike worth it?

[deronmoped]

My Giant LaFree weights in at about sixty pounds. It was on a diet of LIFE so it dropped ten pounds to get down to the sixty pound weight. I remember that made a little difference in being able to move the bike around when I was not on it. I did not notice so much when I rode the bike. The battery and motor are in perfect spots for making their weight not effect performance.

Now I keep running into people with regular bikes and they are all super light in comparison. Now I know the power of the motor more then makes up for the difference in weight, but is it worth it to try to shave pounds off a E-bike?

Or should I just go on a diet and lose the extra ten pounds.

Deron.

 

[DAND214]

Deron, loose the ten pounds. You'll like and so will the bike. Sixty pounds isn't too bad, my normal ride is at 85 lbs.
If you need to throw it around in tight places at speed, yes wieght does matter.
As for stop and go, wieght does matter but sure does help you down a hill.
Dan

 

[docnjoj]

I weigh 220 and my trike about 80 lbs and I noticed a big difference in handling when I had 20 lbs of battery on the rear rack. I now have them in my lexan holder at the trike midpoint and the handling and cornering is MUCH better. I believe that the location of the weight is much more important than the overall amount of weight. So do Formula 1 folks.
otherDoc

 

[Lock]

I am only familiar with 60lb EVs as Currie-built stand-ups... Works for me. Finally assembling a new scoot next month and am keeping to the same unloaded weight. My experience with down-hills, where weight only helps acceleration up to a point (guessing you cut things off at some max speed) is that for every downhill there follows an unhill of equal measure, so any advantage on the downhill is cancelled out. Further, all else equal, a lighter vehicle should have better acceleration, shorter stopping distances and longer trip distances on one charge.

The current thread on ES "Re: I like that my e-bike is heavy..." points out that many of the "problems" with weight are with distribution of this weight and how this relates to braking and handling, but in overall terms I don't think any pedal-biker would EVer ask for a heavier bike... "Heavier" might mean more solidly built, but this would be just a tradeoff to the (usually) higher cost of lighter materials.

Locally we are seeing a flood of the "scooter-style" China-made ebikes, and to use this extreme (weight) example, they are useless with a flat tire or power problems. Partly they are not designed for pedaling, but the heavy weight makes them hard to push around, even lift over curbs. Many on ES may be "big" boys where hefting around a bit of weight is no problem, but for many bike riders (eg women) a heavy vehicle presents real problems.

Tks
LoCk

 

[vanilla ice]

Light batteries aren't a luxury for a 2nd story apt. in a high bike thievery neighborhood.. you neeeeeeeeed em!

 

[John in CR]

In road use weight only really matters for acceleration and going up hills, unless the weighted item adversely affects aerodynamics Otherwise the effect on overall friction for the bike is negligible. How weight affects handling is a whole other matter, and as Doc mentioned, placement of 10 or 20lbs is more of a factor than the weight itself.

John

 

[Whiplash]

Yeah but I'll tell you what, a lighter bike will out gun a heavier one even with less power! My wife rode my bike the other day, and she weighs about 100lbs VS my 195lbs and MAN that thing RIPS with her on it, its like a dam dirtbike! LOL!

 

[Lock]

...that thing RIPS with her on it, its like a dam dirtbike! LOL!

And I'm gonna guess you are referring to the way it accelerated faster and climbed hills faster rather than any noticable improvement in max speed on the flat?
Smaller body size probably slightly more aero, and less weight on tires so lower RR too?
Lock

 

[Whiplash]

Yes, I doubt it gained any top speed, but really on that bike 35MPH is plenty fast!

 

[mrzed]

A light enough bike can also be picked up over obstacles. My ebike is too heavy for much tossing, but most modern bikes are a breeze to hop over curbs or even higher barriers. Modern racing bikes under 20 lbs can be thrown about with ease.

Becomes a real safety issue at times. I've hopped onto a curb (sideways) to get out of the way of a vehicle before.

The ability to move the bike around is the main reason why I want my next ebike to be something light - RC or small geared hub with a small high C-rate pack. On a light enough donor, I figure I can stay under 30 lbs easily, which means my 175 will be able to move it around pretty well.

 

[dogman dan]

Since my commuter weighs between 80 and 100 pounds depending on the battery load, I'd call 60 pounds dang light for an ebike. But it does make a difference, I can really feel the loss of ten pounds when I put 5 ah of lipo on my dirtbike, instead of 15 ah of ping.

But I do agree, shave 5 pounds off the bike if convenient, and then shave 10 off your body if you can. Me, I am what am, like popeye. I can try to gain weight, or lose weight, and never vary by more than 10 pounds. I can burn 1000 calories watching tv.

 

[Whiplash]

I can burn 1000 calories watching tv.

Now THERE is a great quote! LOL!

 

[dogman dan]

I just have a high metabolisim. Today they call it hyperactive attention deficit disorder. We used to just call it bouncing off the walls. When I rev up to work, I really burn calories.

 

[deronmoped]

I can burn 1000 calories watching tv.

Are you like me, always have to get up during commercials to run off to do something. Or do you just sit there burning fat. I remember growing up as a kid putting together bikes in front of the TV in the living room. My parents were so cool.

I would love to build a really lite E-bike, but I'm afraid it would suffer in the longevity department. If the roads here in San Diego were not reverting back to there original state (dirt roads) I might be more inclined to see what can be done. Getting a E-bike down around the forty pound range would be awesome.

I'm in the process of building another off road E-bike, going to use LiPo this time, that might get me down around fifty five pounds.

I can imagine if some ninety pound kid took any one of our E-bikes for a ride, they would fly compared to us.

Deron.

 

[dogman dan]

Always doing at least two things at once, or three. I'll watch two movies while on ES or reading a book at the same time. Or watch two channels while building a bike up. But even just laying there I can burn calories like crazy. A few summers ago I spent 8 weeks in bed recovering from the broken collar bones and surgery to bolt em up. It was almost impossibe to stand even sitting up for long. I gained only 8 pounds lying in bed doing nothing but eat for 8 weeks. I was still eating my usual 4-5 thousand calories a day. When I really rev up it gets even worse. I can eat 6000 calories a day and lose weight. I most likely don't digest anything all that well, and waste most of my food. Nowdays my weight varies between 170 summer and 180 winter, and I'm 5-11.