The Commuter Bike Redesigned and Electrified

Re:The Commuter Bike Redesigned and Electrified by po on Monday February 07, 2011 @05:08AM (#2188395)

Seems kind of overdone. You can barely use the sidewalk in Tokyo without getting knocked down by a middle-aged woman with a huge sun-visor, a bag of groceries and two kids strapped to something like this:

http://us.sanyo.com/Commercial-eneloop-bike

They're just like a regular bike but they assist you when you climb up hills or just plain get tired. The battery behind the seat-tube slides out for a recharge. I would say about 20% of the bikes you see parked by a train station are electric hybrids.

edit: I will say though, that the foldability part of this is nice, but I prefer the hybrid approach of a standard bike.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:The Commuter Bike Redesigned and Electrified by ot on Monday February 07, 2011 @05:23AM (#2188415)

IMHO the foldability part is the main point. The typical usage seems to be home -> bus or tube stop -> public transport -> office. Here in UK you can't take bycicles in buses or tube. There are indeed foldable bikes (http://www.brompton.co.uk/) but they are a pain to (un)fold and they are not electric.

Still, price and limited autonomy are real issues. At 1K$ and 20 miles of autonomy I would probably buy one.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:The Commuter Bike Redesigned and Electrified by samatman on Monday February 07, 2011 @05:49AM (#2188453)

As a ridiculously happy Brompton owner and fanboy (how's that for a disclaimer!) let me assure you that they are no pain at all to fold or unfold.

I have challenged a dozen people to get their bikes locked to a post in the time it takes me to fold the Brommy. No one has succeeded to date.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:The Commuter Bike Redesigned and Electrified by ot on Monday February 07, 2011 @06:31AM (#2188545)

Good to know, I withdraw my objection about folding :)

Still, they are not electric and cost around 1400$

EDIT: This video shows how to fold/unfold one http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNnOdoUn3kg . I'm sold!

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:The Commuter Bike Redesigned and Electrified by delackner on Monday February 07, 2011 @09:18AM (#2188955)

You must be leaving out some salient details on why it takes your friends such a long time to lock up their bikes. You live in a city with a high bicycle theft crime rate perhaps?

So how long are we talking about? The video links by the next commenter shows it taking about 20-30 seconds.

I manage to lock up my bike with a simple 4 digit combo chain in less than 10 seconds, but I can get away with locking it to itself in Tokyo :)

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:The Commuter Bike Redesigned and Electrified by samatman on Monday February 07, 2011 @12:09PM (#2189701)

Yes, SF has very high bike theft rates. Around here a chain or cable isn't considered a lock at all.

That's not why though. One has to get off the bike, get a key out, get the lock out, lean the bike against whatever one is locking it to, put the lock on, and work the key.

With the Brompton, one simply gets off and folds it.

[ Parent | on HN ]