Pikes Peak Race--Entering?

[dogman]

If you can ride it past the cops and not get noticed it's a bike. How true. Have to hold back on those 50 mph wheelies then eh?

[Green Machine]

So is anyone planning on going to pikes peak?

I might be trucking up from the bay area and may be looking for some car poolers.

Anyone gong up from san francisco bay area (20 hour drive)?

[Toorbough ULL-Zeveigh]

So is anyone planning on going to pikes peak?

ummmmm... i guess not!

http://groups.google.com/group/optibike-owners-group/browse_thread/thread/e5bbb00bb9bd774c#

Team optibike is on the top of pikes peak, claiming first-7th places.
Total domination.

Introducing the new optibike 1100r. A 48V HILL CLIMBING MONSTER.

JOHN s. (Lowco2) was in first place at 1:07:00, 39 min

hill climbing 'monster'....
do you suppose that's a subconscious/subliminal freudian slip/tip o' da hat to chessmonster perhaps?
because congrats are in order to you greenchessmachine....
for your impact on advancing the revolution & changing the course of EV history.

had it not been for your organizing hill-climb events that laid the truth bare humiliating optibike...
sticking to your gunz both here & the optibike forums, enduring the flamethrower sessions over your relentless rants cuz you knew to be right...
which in turn led to the luncheon meeting with marketing director craig taber...
wherein you provided him the benefit of your experience selling ebikes & marketing consultation... all for freee!

well sir, had it not been for your direct actions along with bmxED & USVdennis delivering lethal body blows to craiggerz ego...
it's without a shadow of doubt there would be no optibike 1100r today without yooze guize well placed hirachi upside optibutt in getting them to move on this.

oh, i'm certain craigger will refute that by claiming it's been in the works all along...
which i've no doubt that's true, you had even speculated as much.
no, at your meeting back in april craig wouldn't have been so adamant that they had no immediate plans on releasing an overvolt opti hiding behind liability FUD.
unless of course that was all pure overvolt BS, (he is a marketing guy afterall!).

i would like to say quickly that i was right in my guess that the leaders of opti have 40mph speed machines in their garages..and have had them way back when we were still riding zappies. They just cant release them to the public although they would like too. The liability is simply too great.

so what happened to suddenly miraculously sweep away all those issues that prevented a 40 mph optibike being released which appears to be no problemo now whatsoever????
chessmonster/Green Machine happened, that's hoo!!
i hope craig has the nards to give credit where it's due for your role in stubbornly prodding the 1100r out of its boulder cavern into the light of day.
to maintain otherwise would be to admit he's full of it & nothing that comes out of his mouth is to be believed.



GM, sorry to hear about the setback in getting your own optikiller to the peak.
looking on bright side, you got them to blink & play their trump card.
and all it took was a widdle head-fake.
now that you know what to gun for there'll be no surprises next year when you "beat" him like a rented mule.

here's your consolation prize, all the proof you need that you really stuck in his craw & still weigh heavily on his mind even today.
sour grapes taste the sweetest, don't they?

Where were all the big talkers???

Still gloating in california about "beating" an optibike up a 100yd hill

[kfong]

Just caught the news, opti bike took 1-7th place. Only 3 other ebikes showed that were not opti, was that right? Disappointing turnout. I wonder how they faired and what setup they used. I knew it was a tough challenge, having climbed it, but I had hope more would take on the challenge. Anyone have a more detailed link? Nice to see opti is now putting out a higher watt version. I suspect it's the same bike, just higher voltage. They already had personal soupped up versions last year, but seem to be now releasing them with signed waivers to get around the imposed federal limits. Looks like a mid drives setup with proper gearing would be needed to take on the opti. Good that they covered any chance of competition with a higher watt bike. That's what I would have done.

[John in CR]

ES members within a few hundred miles should be ashamed. There's always next year. Maybe Opti will make a change worthy of competing against, and I'll send a bike. I'm officially looking for a 175lb or less rider for the 2012 event.

[Green Machine]

Yes i agree it was the friendly competition between ES and optibike that spurred opti to build a faster bike. I vehemently argued the point of speed over at the opti forums and who knows maybe the big guys listened. Also talked at great length about it with breakfast with opti guy craig.

I remember craig saying they would love to sale a faster bike but cant deal with the liability. I remember saying something like "make an offroad only model"....rabble rabble rablle. Craig said they were planning to release a "unleashed" bike but it was going to be super expensive (ob1) so they would only sell a few of them.

I guess Stealth USA selling a ton of bikes finally got to opti and they figured they got to start somehow appealing to a wider demographic by offering speed and at a reasonable price.

Whatever it is optibike now has a formidable bike on the market and my guess is they will sell a bunch of them. 40 mph and amazing hill climbing ability in a sleek package is a hell of an offering..and its made in USA (so its super expensive).
'
Maybe optibike will send me one of these super fast models so i can continue my ES opti review thread

I actually would really like to get my hands on one for a test ride if one ends up in northern cali...

[Green Machine]

Some optibike video scaling pikes:

[dogman]

Looks like they (Opti) brought it this time. I just couldn't make it, money, time off that time of year, and I've been sick.

Wish stuff like that got sent to me to test.

[kfong]

Thanks for the video, it's definitely hard to breath in that altitude if you are not prepared for it. Funny to see how surprised the event organizers were as they were still setting up. Wow, were those runners making a run to the summit. They must be in incredible shape, I'm picturing them walking by the time they get to the top. If any of them are still running at the summit, I would be in awe! It's tough just to even hike to the summit. Did the three non opti make it to the top?

[Hillhater]

No matter what your opinion is of Opti, you have to give them credit for setting a standard on that climb that i doubt any other ebike builder will be able to match ( first, 7 from 7 ).
Eventually the time will be beaten by a one - off "special" bike, but as a team effort from a production based bike, that is one heck of a performance.
PS: .. i still think they are over rated, overpriced , over styled, and underpowered !!

[CraigT]

Thanks Hillhater, thats the nicest thing you have ever said about us....i am tearing up....

Craig Taber
Optibike

[Hillhater]

no problem Craig, ..credit where it is due !
( I assume you meant the ..."over rated, overpriced , over styled, and underpowered !!" )

PS..i will wait for that big box in the UPS truck !

[ZOMGVTEK]

Those Optibike's look neat, but my well abused cheap e-bike would easily be able to beat what I witnessed in that video. I would need another 8 or 16 Turnigy packs, and probably a gallon of water to spray on the motor up the hills at 6KW. However, my bike goes up most hills at 40+ MPH, whereas those bikes are going 42 downhill, with pedal assist. High altitude wouldn't mean a thing, since I wouldn't be pedaling...

Off the shelf cheap stuff can win at that. It just would take a whole lot of LiPo, and some serious motor cooling.

[gensem]

The real problem is that our bikes arent real. No one can buy our bikes of the shelf, but im pretty sure that are plent of bikes in this forum that woulda kill the optis in that 1h ride.

[CraigT]

Well then please show up and race! Because hot air alone does not propel you to victory!

The more the merrier!

Craig Taber
Optibike

[gensem]

Well then please show up and race! Because hot air alone does not propel you to victory!

The more the merrier!

Craig Taber
Optibike

Would you mind to pay for my air tickets from Brazil to the race and back?
haha
BR

[Hillhater]

... Because hot air alone does not propel you to victory!

Oh, I dont know !...It worked for Andy Green and the Thrust SSC team at Bonneville !

[AussieJester]

Hahaha@hillhater if I want posting from my mobile I'd put that^^ in the 'Quoteable Quotes' thread....

If your throwing around tickets to fly chuck one my way, i'll race up the PikesPeak, wheelchair in tow and still have time to my eat lunch and finish the champahne before the first Opti made it to the to lol

KiM

[Toorbough ULL-Zeveigh]

I guess Stealth USA selling a ton of bikes finally got to opti and they figured they got to start somehow appealing to a wider demographic by offering speed and at a reasonable price.

yep, the floodgates had started to burst wide open & optibike had to put an immediate halt to the hemorrhaging.
i mean people were dumping their practically brand new optis in favour of the stealth, that's pretty bad.
and once that customer has voted with his bux he's off the market for quite some time particularly in such a tiny hi-dollar niche pool of potential customers.
cash flow is everything especially in small business & the sudden drying up of cash would have been felt instantly.

it's been clear from the beginning that optibike employs the same business strategy/philosophy as general motors & ibm amongst many others.
never ever bring out a better product only to compete with yourself until & unless forced to by the competition.
you can see how well that's worked out for gm, the long slow decline into oblivion.
there was never any incentive for opti to release their garage-queen & were never going to.
we have not only stealth to thank but ktm & the slug of other up-scale makes coming on strong to tempt their base there's no way optibike could miss the writing on wall.

bet you're reel glad you got rid of yours when you did freeing up the cash for this new one.
there's probably more than a few others not so lucky that are feeling a little suckered right now.

[Hillhater]

The 48v battery system is as follows:

Internal: 875wh
Touring Battery: 749wh

I rode up Pikes Peak with a 52t front chainring, and never had to drop
below gear 10 while in fast mode. The top speed on flat ground is
approx 35 mph.

The pricing looks like this:

R-Series Base Model: $9995 (base model is the current 850xli)
Rohloff Hub: + $1995
48v 1100w upgrade: +$1199
48v Touring Battery: +$2399 (used in Pikes Peak

The gearbox is the same, so you can expect it to sound the same as the
newest version MBB.

The Cool Carbon system ensures the battery will never overheat- none
of the 7 bikes used on Pikes Peak had battery or motor overheat alerts
at any time on the 8000ft climb. This system makes sure the cells in
the pack (even the ones in the middle) cool evenly, so the cycle life,
performance, and durability of the pack are top notch. Essentially,
the cells are housed in a patented material that allows for even
cooling of the cells- really rad stuff- and you saw it here first.

Craig Taber
Optibike

I am trying to understand how a bike with 1100W, and a top speed of 35 mph on the flat,... can do 38mph uphill at 13,000ft ?

[full-throttle]

I am trying to understand how a bike with 1100W, and a top speed of 35 mph on the flat,... can do 38mph uphill at 13,000ft ?

Easy - the air is thinner up higher

Try it for yourself, go to http://www.kreuzotter.de/english/espeed.htm enter power that gives 35mph at sea level, then change the altitude and watch the speed increase even with a slight gradient

[Hillhater]

I have tried it myself,.. on a 1200W (measured) ebike that does 30+ mph on the flat.
But get near a gradient and you wont get anywhere near 30 mph..even with wind assistance !
Gravity is a bigger brake than any air density change !

[liveforphysics]

I have tried it myself,.. on a 1200W (measured) ebike that does 30+ mph on the flat.
But get near a gradient and you wont get anywhere near 30 mph..even with wind assistance !
Gravity is a bigger brake than any air density change !

No human cyclist can sustain more than about 400w output, yet they can sustain speeds over 30mph on flat ground. Me thinks you've got something wrong with your bikes ability to roll freely

[gensem]

For thoses who doesnt know this calculator

http://www.mne.psu.edu/lamancusa/ProdDiss/Bicycle/bikecalc1.htm

[John in CR]

I am trying to understand how a bike with 1100W, and a top speed of 35 mph on the flat,... can do 38mph uphill at 13,000ft ?

A fit cyclist pedaling his ass off on a flat stretch.