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Is Electric for Me?

            *Are you looking for a little extra "oomph" when you ride your bike?
               *Thinking about commuting but don't want to be sweaty when you get to work?
                  *Concerned about your gasoline budget? or the environment?
                     *Want to bike again but have bad knees...bad back...etc?
                        *Are you a techno-gadget person who wants a neat new toy?
                           *Just need a fun way to exercise?


Why Consider Electric Assist for Your Bicycle?

In this article, I’ll tell some of my own story regarding how I came to equip my bike with an electric hub motor & how it has helped me. I’ll discuss reasons for using electric assist, and consider advantages & disadvantages of different types of electric assist.

I have been bike commuting to work, mostly year round, for 11 years. My current round trip commute in St. Albert is approximately 11 km. My bad weather cut-offs are temperatures colder than -20 C, and/or more than a couple of inches of fresh snow.

The precipitating factor in my move to electric assist was my chronic back condition. In recent years I developed significant pain, aggravated by going up hills on my bike. Normal flat pedaling was not as painful, so I began to think – “What can I use to help me bike up hills?” I researched different available products, mostly on the internet. Early on in my quest I ruled out gasoline assist motors, for their noise and emissions. The product I ended up ordering was a Wilderness Energy hub motor kit, from California. The base price wasn’t too bad; however, by the time we added shipping, US exchange, and an unexpected ‘importation fee’ from the courier company, the initial sticker price was almost doubled.

I did some “school of hard knocks” learning about e-biking, like flying over the handle bars when my front wheel motor came off. (This can be prevented by using a rear hub motor, and in cases where a front hub is needed; ie a trike, using only steel front forks instead of alloy or aluminum, and inspecting regularly for cracks or spreading of the dropouts. (See FAQ for photo.)

I eventually installed the brushless 36 volt hub motor on my semi-recumbent bike with heavy-duty front forks. This combination of electric assist and comfortable seating position created my ideal commuter vehicle. In fact, adding the electric kit increased the speed and range of my bike, so much so, that I keep my car parked weekends too, whenever possible.

Adding electric assist to a pedal bike has some distinct advantages:
First, it allows you to use your “already favourite” bike, making it a more versatile and useable vehicle, with longer range, higher cruising speed, and help for hills, headwinds, or plain old fatigue.
Second, the existing pedal drive and the electric assist are two separate systems which can be used together, or independently. If either system develops problems, you have a back-up way of getting home. You choose how much or little electric assist to use by engaging a thumb or twist throttle.
Third, ebiking is a low cost, environmentally-friendly form of commuting. I estimate my 11 km daily commute costs less than $.10 of electricity per day.
Fourth, electric assist has the possibility of making bike commuting more accessible to more of the population – those with health concerns, people who don’t consider themselves athletic, and those who are concerned about obstacles such as large hills or prevailing winds on their route. A related benefit is arriving to work less tired and sweaty, depending on how much assist you choose to use.
Fifth, the initial cost of ebiking is much less than other environmentally friendly commuting systems, such as hybrid cars, or even small gas cars.
Finally, under Alberta legislation, no insurance, registration, license or plates are required for electric bicycles. You may need to add other accessories, however, like headlights and tail lights.

Anyone can benefit from ebiking, including seniors and those with health concerns, university and college students, and workers who commute locally.

There are various mechanical configurations of electric assist for bicycles. My bias is the electric hub motor wheel because of its simplicity, and the fact that you keep your favourite bike, only replacing your existing bike wheel. The motor is in the hub of the wheel, and in its brushless configuration is probably one of the world’s simplest motors. As a direct drive system, there are no brushes, gears, chains, or moving parts, apart from the two sealed bearings on either end of the axle.

Other electric assist systems include a friction drive motor that rubs on the tire or engages the spokes, or electric motors that power through a separate chain and sprocket to the rear wheel. In my opinion, friction drives can be problematic in wet or rough conditions, and separate chains and sprockets are more components to maintain. Some pre-assembled electric bikes and conversions kits have a torque-sensing system that senses how much pedal pressure is applied and responds with stronger assist for stronger pressure. Fancy, but pricier than the simple conversion of your own bike.

In a world faced with rising prices for oil and gasoline, along with an increasing awareness of environmental concerns, more and more people are seeking creative alternatives for driving the one-tonne car just a few kms to work or on errands.

Happy ebiking – see you on the trails!