micromobility - Ebikes, scooters, longboards: Whatever floats your goat, this is micromobility

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Ebikes, bicycles, scooters, skateboards, longboards, eboards, motorcycles, skates, unicycles: Whatever floats your goat, this is all things micromobility!

"Transportation using lightweight vehicles such as bicycles or scooters, especially electric ones that may be borrowed as part of a self-service rental program in which people rent vehicles for short-term use within a town or city.

micromobility is seen as a potential solution to moving people more efficiently around cities"

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35MPH Long Range Ebike? (lemmy.world)

submitted 10 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

28 comments fedilink hide all child comments

I live in the USA and if I want to get rid of my car I would need to be able to cover 70 miles round trip with moderate exercise in a reasonable amount of time. I think if I could cruise at 35MPH (56 KMH) that would be enough to make the switch.

It may be stupid, but I'd like to try to avoid an electric motorcycle - those need insurance, registration fees, real parking spaces, and a special license. Also, I enjoy getting some activity while riding. FWIW I'm not worried about legality, but I do plan to stay off bike paths/sidewalks to avoid endangering pedestrians and other cyclists.

My idea so far is to start with a gravel bike frame for aerodynamics, efficiency, and sturdiness in case of a pothole or rogue curb. From there I'm thinking about a 1500w hub motor, dual batteries, higher gears, bigger brakes, and permanent lights for visibility. Also a good helmet of course, crashing at that speed can be pretty bad.

Has anyone done something like this and had it go well/poorly? Anything I'm clearly missing in my plan? Also feel free to tell me if I'm an idiot, but I already know that bit.

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 10 months ago (3 children)

Vespas here need registration, insurance, etc. etc. That would solve the range issue though.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 10 months ago (1 children)

At 35mph, registration and insurance aren't bad ideas.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Safety gear isn't a bad idea, but registration and insurance don't make sense to me - if I'm on a 100lb vehicle on a road where everyone else is in a 4000lb vehicle it doesn't make sense why I would need liability coverage. And I'm not damaging the roads the way cars/trucks do so it doesn't make any sense to me to pay anything to the state/country for registration.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

I think the problem is that you're looking for an e-bike with the specs of a motorcycle/vespa/moped, and those require a licence, registration, and insurance.

I remember seeing similar questions on e-scooter subreddits, where people would be asking about e-scooters to go 65mph with over 5000W of power, not realizing that most places restrict them to 500w or less, and a max speed of 15mph. LOL

I get that laws haven't really caught up to all micromobility options, but this is something to keep in mind.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 10 months ago

Depends on jurisdiction, yeah. Some places you don't even need a license.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

Yeah we need e-mopeds. In my state under 50cc doesn’t need a reg or license to ride on roads. Some of the spicier 49ccs can do 45-50mph. Electric equivalents would be nice, but I’m worried they will be difficult to fit weight and space wise on a bike frame. A used Puch or Moped frame would be better maybe.

I also live in a rural sidewalk-less town and am thinking of building something similar, but I haven’t done any work on power requirements or range yet. Let us know how it works out.