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August 5, 2005
HOW DO YOU GET TO WORK?
Gas prices spiral upward, the air quality continually gets worse and worse as population increases. So, what are you doing about it?
Nearly every day, my transportation medium is an "electric bike". What the heck is that? Here's the one I ride - a Giant Lafree Sport. It's pretty much a regular bicycle with a 3" longer wheelbase, a battery, and an electric motor! Maybe you've seen me riding it around campus? I've been riding it for nearly three years now (about 2500 miles), so let me tell you about the pros and cons.
Mechanically, this thing is really bulletproof! It does wear out the brake pads a bit faster than a normal bike because you tend to ride around faster. The batteries don't really require maintenance, but they do wear out. They have a usable life of about one year - no more than that (I don't care what the manufacturers say).
Replacement batteries cost either $50 for the cheapies, or $100 for the YUASA brand, which offer a lot better performance, but don't last one minute longer. With the Brand X batteries, you can travel around 12-13 miles, with the YUASA's maybe 17-18 miles before you need to recharge. BUT, recharging is so simple! I have a timer with an extension cord on it in my garage. When I pull in and the batteries are anywhere near low, I just plug in the extension cord and it charges the batteries, then shuts off. In the morning you unplug and whiz off, fully charged. It takes literally seconds. So guess what, I'm running the Brand X batteries and recharging more often. Big deal.
Pros: Really easy to maintain. Cost me $850 used (but like new). No insurance, no license, no parking permit required. Top speed 20 mph (motor quits helping at that speed - a Federal requirement). You can ride on the sidewalks. Burns NO gas, and costs maybe a dollar a YEAR for electricity. It's FUN!
Cons: You get wet when it rains. No good for distances above about 5 miles as a commuter - too slow. Batteries must be replaced about once a year.
OK, this is getting too long. I'll write more about the electric bike later. So, what other devices/tricks do people use to get to campus? Let me know!
Posted by rossm at August 5, 2005 10:15 AM
Comments
I hope you can give me an idea where to get the brand x batteries for $50 to $100. I can only find $300 or higer. Thanks.
Posted by: Sega at November 28, 2005 6:29 PM
My bike takes two 12v 12ah batteries (12 volt, 12 amp hours). At www.planetbattery.com they are $34.00 each. At www.apexbattery.com they're $26.90. The Yuasas at www.tessco.com are about $52.00 each. I just Google the battery size (12v 12ah battery) and a ton of suppliers pops up.
I actually ordered some through Target.com and, after a couple weeks they emailed me and said - we don't have these any more and cancelled my order. So, I ordered them from somewhere else, then, you guessed it, two batteries showed up from Target after they cancelled my order. But, all turned out OK, they told me to just keep them and they didn't charge me for them, so now I've got two free spares....
If you're paying $300, you probably require larger batteries. Once, I actually found someplace where the shipping was free (sorry, I forget where that was).
Posted by: rossm at November 29, 2005 9:19 AM
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