Day 5 or 6 of working on the solar bike. The main bike is effectivaly finished. Decided to go lightweight on everything and it was definantly the way to go. On the back is a 24qt milk crate big enough to hold another few bike batteries. That has a thin as possible sheet of hobby plywood above it that is ziptied to the 50w flexible solar panel. And mounted to the milkcrate with hobby screws. The panel recharges the bike through a mppt step up charge controller. The front panel charges just a simple 5v battery pack for my phone. All in all, I think it turned out well.

By the way, just like a PSA in case anyone else is unaware of this as I was – DO NOT KEEP ELECTRONIC BIKES AND SCOOTERS INSIDE

My apartment is now completely uninhabitable, and at least one of my housemates lost pretty much all of their possessions, because an ebike’s battery exploded. Apparently this is quite common, and the manufacturer obviously doesn’t publicize the risk a great deal at all.

Just. Don’t let this happen to you. Don’t let this happen to the people you live with. thankfully we’re all safe, and it could’ve been much worse, but. I would not wish this on anyone

Every bike company in America markets e-bikes like this. Action shot of dudes in typical biking gear riding an e-bike. It just proves that they don’t know who e-bikes are for.

This kind of marketing is for sporty dudes who already have road bikes. That’s the demographic that these companies are used to going after. But the e-bike market can be so much bigger than this & these companies are missing that completely.

E-bikes are incredibly practical for getting around, doing errands, and being comfortable while doing it. They can carry more weight and cargo, they’re comfortable over long distances, and they don’t require you to wear sporty bike gear because you don’t even need to sweat while riding one if you don’t want to.

That’s the market every bike company is missing when they make and market e-bikes. People who are looking for a practical, comfortable, and useful vehicle.

Indonesia’s e-bike shops are building their own batteries

Dharmawan Kusna Handoyo spends his workday in a 2-by-3-meter cubicle, soldering batteries. He has been building DIY battery packs since 2009, when he installed one in his own electric bike — but in the past few years, it has become his main source of income. He sells the packs for hundreds of dollars apiece, luring back customers with the promise of a longer-range battery capacity. 

ebike win

back on my bike today!!!! spent some time at my local park’s practice area to get more comfortable with certain techniques.

happy to be back, even just on some flat trails. my arm is close to being fully healed and when it is i want to really get into mountain biking, since i’m only really used to (non mountain bike)trails and road commuting.

i also have some ambitious plans for this bike!! will eventually be doing an e-bike conversion with it so it can be my commuter as well as trail bike, and then eventually some racks and bags to do touring, bikepacking, and all kinds of adventures. there’s still some issues and such i’ll have to plan around before it can be done, but if nothing else i’m happy to have a nice mountain bike to see nature :)

Actual mobile safety violations

I built this estranged bike over a year! Goofy scary vehicle

The Levo Alloy Öhlins Coil LTD delivers the unbelievable power to ride more trails through an unequaled combination of ride quality, usable power, and ride-anywhere range

mfw my partner's brother drowned an ebike last week and It Is Not Happening To Me