Need advice for ebike for remote areas

zurk

1 mW
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Aug 23, 2016
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Looking for a folding ebike i can take to remote island areas with no bike shops around. must be lightweight (i will need to lift it over my head to load / unload), have a belt drive, as sealed/zero maint as possible with solid 20" tires. i need about 30 miles of range with pedal assist. ive been told a citizen gotham 3 with muffin airless tires (27lbs) and just DIYing a front electric motor ebike kit to it would be my best choice. any other ideas ?
 
zurk said:
...(i will need to lift it over my head to load / unload)...
Let's work on that for a moment. How much weight can you military press over your head? Then we work back from there. (weight not to exceed xxx). A removable battery would be a necessary feature, to reduce the weight for your overhead loading procedure.
 
Well, the first bit of advice is put a hitch reciever on your car. Then you can use a hitch mount rack, enabling your bike to be up to 150 pounds.

For most cars, a light capacity hitch is affordable, and they install amazingly easy on the car. Swagman is the affordable yet sturdy bike rack. These racks carry the bike by the wheels, that's they type I'm talking about.
 
dogman dan said:
Well, the first bit of advice is put a hitch reciever on your car. Then you can use a hitch mount rack, enabling your bike to be up to 150 pounds.

For most cars, a light capacity hitch is affordable, and they install amazingly easy on the car. Swagman is the affordable yet sturdy bike rack. These racks carry the bike by the wheels, that's they type I'm talking about.

theres no car. these are remote areas. there are no facilities. the bike would be lowered with a rope into an inflatable boat which would then be used to transport the bike to the beach areas. loading back would be in reverse which is why i would need to raise the bike above my head. 35lbs max would be a good ballpark.
 
35 lbs ebikes are few. Most of them are either kids toys, or very expansive.

One folder I know is about 30 lbs, does fold very small, and reliable in the rain: Electric Brompton

Gear-Brompton-Electric-DSC_4627.jpg


With some power upgrade and solid tires, it should be 35 lbs, and the battery/controller pack is removable if you need it even lighter to handle. I find it is not very comfortable to ride, but someone who wants solid tires doesn’t value comfort much. Not cheap, but still far from the cost of most light weight pedelecs.
 
I saw a rigid BMX fat bike but it was old and heavy, but a BMX bike if your not to tall is an option.
Otherwise a Montague folder is a brand name folder, expensive and can get in 26" tires, or look for a brand name mini folder in 20" or 22".
 
zurk said:
E-HP said:
How do bike shops factor into your criteria?

must be low maint and easily repaired with commonly available tools/materials.
If you typically would use a bike shop for maintenance, then you may want to consider a factory built ebike rather than a kit. The Brompton that MadRhino referenced looks like a good choice.
 
any thoughts on the carbo model x ? folding bike, 20 inch tires, belt drive with low maint hub standard, slap a couple of foam tires on it and its 31lbs carbon frame with 10Ah battery in seatpost.
 
zurk said:
any thoughts on the carbo model x ? folding bike, 20 inch tires, belt drive with low maint hub standard, slap a couple of foam tires on it and its 31lbs carbon frame with 10Ah battery in seatpost.

You're not going to get very far on that battery, even before you put horrible energy-wasting, crappy-riding, wheel-destroying solid tires on it.

Best be a really small island. Like, small enough to push your bike home from anywhere on it.

If you go out of range of maintenance professionals, that doesn't mean no maintenance. It means you do it yourself. Or you do without the thing that requires maintenance.
 
So what kind of riding is this, in this remote beach area? Are you cruising an endless beach? Climbing a mountain on the island? I'm assuming this is not a paved bike trail here at this point. Is there any kind of trail at all?

I guess what I am trying to say, is like a full size motorcycle or car doesn't belong in some places, there are actually some places not so suited to ebikes, unless they are very specialized to handle the terrain. In an extreme example, while you could ride a bike to Everest base camp, its more a trail suited for walking to that spot. You get into an equation of whether its better to lug the extra weight of a 15 pound motor, and 10 pound battery, or just walk it. If its that tough to pedal this place, you will need more than a small wheel, weak motor, tiny battery folding bike to ride it. If its cruising the beach, then you want a 20 inch wheel fat bike. You will want a fat tire more than the folding, though you may have to carry the thing taken apart. And btw,, how do you get there? You can't hop on a plane with very big batteries.

We give really shitty advice here, without enough information, as my previous post showed.
 
zurk said:
any thoughts on the carbo model x ? folding bike, 20 inch tires, belt drive with low maint hub standard, slap a couple of foam tires on it and its 31lbs carbon frame with 10Ah battery in seatpost.
https://youtu.be/MFe8XGfkXCs
1 minute 50 seconds
" .... pretty much for everybody except for somebody that is looking to find something that they can take on some serious mountain trails ....

That might include your remote island as well.
 
In that situation, I would prefer one of the ‘high power’ monowheel that has a wider tire and larger diameter. They are very ´portable’ and you can train to ride them on soft terrain. Some are IP64 waterproof rating, and capable of steep climbing. Most of all they are very reliable, much harder to break than ebikes and require minimal space/care to travel.
 
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