When does an E-bike become economnical

[Plentipotential]

There is no way in Hell I would put small kids in or on a bike on the ZA roads of today, no way!

[Odinson]

There is no way in Hell I would put small kids in or on a bike on the ZA roads of today, no way!

 

I'm kind of with you on that one. Even here in Belgium, with a huge network of dedicated cycling lanes, cyclist still get run over. 

 

I'd be a nervous wreck sending my entire family out on a bike to share the roads with taxis, soccer moms in their Cayennes and all the rest. 

[Eldron]

The local nursery schools use these to ferry the kids around and take them out on tours.

 

The 3 wheel design is nice and stable - they do come in ebike version too.

 

They are a bit of a bitch to overtake on the cycle paths but you get rewarded by the kids encouraging you like you're a Tour de France racer as you go past....

 

Edit: That IS an ebike version - just spotted the battery on her pannier rack.

[Pure Savage]

There is a youtube channel called buslifenz that has two ebikes they use. They mounted the kids seats to them somehow, may be worth a watch to see what they did...

 

 

I watched him build the bus and then un subscribed, will go have a look! Shot

[Pure Savage]

There is no way in Hell I would put small kids in or on a bike on the ZA roads of today, no way!

 

The 3 year old rides to school with me already. Motorists become a lot less killy when they see a 3 year old and actually become rather patient. 

 

It is one of the concerns though, There are a lot of easily accesible bike lanes we can get onto after 2 traffic lights on the pavement. 

[Shebeen]

Hi Hubbers, 

 

Been doing a little math around an e-bike. 

 

This is a commuting e-bike for around R10k. It will be mostly be for the Mrs taking the kids to school or for me to ride to work. Its the type of ebike where you pedal and it activates motor and you can cruise at 35km/h without really pedaling so no need to shower. 

 

With the fuel price going up, was just wondering how to make it more viable and also try convince the Mrs about how safe riding the 3km to school and kids extra mural stuff will be.

 

Anyone with stories etc about e bike commutting?

 

I just did the maths for you.

 

In terms of fuel bill vs bike cost, it is very hard to quantify the future price of fuel vs the current upfront cost of the bike by itself. I could tell you the correct answer in 3/4 years time once we know all the unknowns, but then you will need a delorean.

 

In terms of health - it could well save you a helluva lot in the long run if this is a bit of exercise that wouldn't be hapening otherwise.

 

In terms of kidcoolness, Kittel is clearly in dire need of street cred. He's got all the kit, but a DS who appears to have come from the Johan Bruyneel section of the Dr Frankenstein lab - being the kid who rides to school will reward you handsomely in the long run.

 

 

(as for the actual ebike - i doubt you'll really save money on using this for commutes, unless it replaces a car the fixed costs of cars/bikes are way bigger than the marginal running costs for a 3km round trip)

[Shebeen]

Trailer them behind

 

I have access to one of those. i hardly ever used it, just don't work in ZA

 

kid on a bike seat - got used a lot

[eccc whippet]

who needs and electric bike when you can have an electric car...been following this fella...which has got me thinking...my son modifies and builds V8's...converions from carb to fuel managements systems etc....why not get him to do a mod from a petrol to and electric motor.

 

source and build a battery power wall a couple solar panels on the roof and bingo...cheap transportation.

 

i know where i can find a caddy bakkie which has no engine...thats a start.

 

just paid R4999 for a hilti battery for my TE7...i wish i had found this video before i handed in the old battery. 

 

 

a note with regards to bicycle lights...normally only one cell goes faulty...i bought an 1860 4 battery holder with a usb and plug for the light...i also bought a electronic 1860 smart charger...no need to throw away a whole battery pack and waste money buying a whole new pack of 4...i also invested in a torches which takes 1860 batteries for site work...it a win win situation.

[Pure Savage]

who needs and electric bike when you can have an electric car...been following this fella...which has got me thinking...my son modifies and builds V8's...converions from carb to fuel managements systems etc....why not get him to do a mod from a petrol to and electric motor.

 

source and build a battery power wall a couple solar panels on the roof and bingo...cheap transportation.

 

i know where i can find a caddy bakkie which has no engine...thats a start.

 

just paid R4999 for a hilti battery for my TE7...i wish i had found this video before i handed in the old battery. 

 

 

a note with regards to bicycle lights...normally only one cell goes faulty...i bought an 1860 4 battery holder with a usb and plug for the light...i also bought a electronic 1860 smart charger...no need to throw away a whole battery pack and waste money buying a whole new pack of 4...i also invested in a torches which takes 1860 batteries for site work...it a win win situation.

I cannot park a car in my lounge.

[Pure Savage]

I just did the maths for you.

 

In terms of fuel bill vs bike cost, it is very hard to quantify the future price of fuel vs the current upfront cost of the bike by itself. I could tell you the correct answer in 3/4 years time once we know all the unknowns, but then you will need a delorean.

 

In terms of health - it could well save you a helluva lot in the long run if this is a bit of exercise that wouldn't be hapening otherwise.

 

In terms of kidcoolness, Kittel is clearly in dire need of street cred. He's got all the kit, but a DS who appears to have come from the Johan Bruyneel section of the Dr Frankenstein lab - being the kid who rides to school will reward you handsomely in the long run.

 

 

(as for the actual ebike - i doubt you'll really save money on using this for commutes, unless it replaces a car the fixed costs of cars/bikes are way bigger than the marginal running costs for a 3km round trip)

Yeah, would have to go down to one car really. 

 

But maybe that comes after we figure things out with the bike. It would be my car that gets the axe as we road trip in the Mrs car. 

 

We also get 50% back on fuel with disco at the moment. but only for the first tank. If this stops me using a second tank a month will be worth while. 

 

I have been using uber with some silly discounts at the moment for past 4 weeks. I have been paying R4 for a R35 trip. Its crazy. 

 

I have no found the same bike R1k cheaper. I mean if it is bad as a fat Carlos Betancur I could flog it for a 3k loss. 

 

Off topic: Have missed the hub.

[Odinson]

How about the Kona Electric Ute, as seen at Eurobike? 

 

 

https://youtu.be/OIF-iQN0eoM

[eccc whippet]

I cannot park a car in my lounge.

i would rather get a bigger house so that i can park my electric car in the lounge than let my 3 year old ride a bicycle on SA roads.

[Goodbadugly]

The missus ok with the idea? Sounds cool, but will she carry on with the project till the ebike is paid off? Weather conditions?

[Pure Savage]

i would rather get a bigger house so that i can park my electric car in the lounge than let my 3 year old ride a bicycle on SA roads.

 

Well that makes no sense. 

 

Why not just buy a helicopter if we are talking about make believe useless info. 

 

A car you would still have to service yearly, get a license, insure, charge said electric battery and the expensive wear and tear of tyres brakes etc. It does not make sense at all. 

 

If I had R5 bar to drop on a bigger house I probably would not be worrying about the economical value of an ebike. But thanks for your useless input

[Pure Savage]

The missus ok with the idea? Sounds cool, but will she carry on with the project till the ebike is paid off? Weather conditions?

 

She seems rather keen, especially since the second child is no over a year old and she is a little more ok with getting out and about with the little one. 

 

The other issue is storing it so that it actually gets used, if its too much of a mission it will never get used as well. 

 

rather surprised the Mrs is so up for it to be honest.

[rudi-h]

so... i can't comment on taking kids to school, but i've done the math on a normal MTB (which i would use for commuting rather than a road bike) and the answer is that it's not that cheap in R/km terms...

 

i typically get around 2500 km from a set of tyres so that means 4 x tyres in 5000 km's running.

 

on a MTB, you can budget on a chain and a cassette every 5000 and a fork service every 2500km.

 

In a 5000 km cycle, it would thus mean roughly R5000 for tyres, chains, cassets and fork service.

 

One will also realistically ride 20000 km on a bicycle over its life, so even though the capital is low, the depreciation rate is an order of magnitude higher than for a vehicle.

 

So, if you take a R20k bike, commute with it for 4 years @ 5000km / year, then it will cost you R20k for wear parts and you'll lose 90% of the R20k in capital, so it's R40000 or R2/km.  More expensive bikes replaced more frequently... well that easily goes to R5+/km...

 

If we can trust our friends at AA, the all inclusive cost of running a car is ~R3/km.  The major cost benefit of commuting by bike is that you tend to ride much less total km's...