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Comment by mvdwoord | Hacker News Reader

It seems to me this is a product for almost no one. Inefficient delivery of power, bulky, "smart" detection in stead of reliable operation and most importantly, the only target market I could imagine cannot use it. Not sure about other places and climates, but over here, most bicycles have fenders.

Bicycles without fenders are typically used for specific recreational activities and those sure as heck do not want this clumsy thing attached.. If they want any form of electrical assistance they would want it a lot more sleek and efficient.

Other than that, it reminds me of the Spartamet, a Dutch piece of tech from 1985 which added a small combustion engine to an otherwise regular city bike.

https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spartamet

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> Bicycles without fenders are typically used for specific recreational activities

I'm guessing you are European? Bicycles in the US almost never have fenders except for old timey / retro style models. Fenders fell out of style in the 1980s and never really returned. People who do have them usually install them themselves as an upgrade.

Speaking as an American who owns a basic beach cruiser bicycle and

- puts less than 50 miles on it per year

- has zero desire nor space for a full electric bike

- would never use their bike in any kind of inclement weather

- would never use their bike for anything other than leisure

I think it might be aimed towards my demographic specifically?

Like this thing seems pretty neat, just strap it to my bike and go? Sign me up.

> Bicycles in the US almost never have fenders except for old timey / retro style models. Fenders fell out of style in the 1980s and never really returned.

Counterpoint: Portland OR, where I live — enormous bike city (in some rankings, the highest in the country) — and most have fenders due to the rainy climate much of the year.

If you use your bike for 50 miles a year, why do you even need that thing?

I don't. I don't need a bicycle at all.

The only reason most Americans outside NYC and Chicago ride a bike is leisure. Well, that or too many DUIs if we're being honest.

Ideally though if I had something like this it would encourage me to use my bicycle more.

I suspect you underestimate the number of utility cyclists. People on bikes take a lot less space than people on SUVs and pickup trucks, so it is easy to underestimate their numbers.

If you don't need it then why do you write that you are the target group?

If we took the time to count all the things I own that that I actually need, I would be shocked if that number cracked 5% of everything I own. The vast majority of items I own are for fun or labor saving. Often the prior masquerading as the latter.

Need != Target Market. Jet Skis target market isn't water patrol enforcers. It's people wanting to have fun.

Most products don't exist to fill a need but instead want

Do you live in New England? Because any adult I see on a BMX I automatically assume has lost their license. Just wondering if it’s regional.

If the road is even little bit wet like after rain or morning mist, the dirt from the road ends up in your backside without fenders unless you drive very slowly.

Find a bicycle without mudguards and ride very slowly, or just ride on clean roads on a sunny days.

When it's wet, the engine will have less traction too.

I can see one audience: someone with a bike they already like who only occasionally needs assistance and wants the whole thing removable

Once you try a (good!) electric bike, you don't really want to go back. Life is just so much better. For urban commuting, you no longer think about heat (getting sweaty), distance, inclines, wind, etc.

Obviously I'm talking about good electric bikes, with mid-mounted engines that detect pedaling strength. These feel great, unlike electric motors strapped to bikes, which feel like, well, electric motors strapped to bikes.

On the other hand, a motor you can strap can also be unstrapped, and then you can use the bike as a normal bike. When you have an electric bike, it is usually too heavy to work comfortable without battery (ime).

I am not sure if this is enough argument for having this instead of having a decent electric bike plus a normal bike, but it is an argument I guess.

There are cases one may not want to use an electric bike, eg when going out for a coffee, a drink etc and you may not want to carry the battery or risk theft, in contrast eg to biking for 40 minutes every day for work each way.

How do you get exercise without sweating. Or asked another way, of you don’t get your heart rate up while riding, what’s the point.

Or put a different way: I use electric Lime rental bikes all the time, it’s super fast and convenient. But I’m keenly aware they don’t give me any exercise, so I do want to go back to unpowered bikes as much as possible.

Biking does not have to equate to cardio! You can commute to work on an e-bike with your heart rate similar to walking quickly (what I do). And you can go exercise later.

Not sure how these two things got tied together in the common culture. Something I hear all the time is "but you have an electric bike, what's the point, it doesn't get you any exercise" and people saying that commute to work sitting in their cars.

Personally, I don’t have the time for separate cardio and commuting. I don’t drive.

> How do you get exercise without sweating.

Do you sweat a ton when you walk? Yet walking is exercise. The point being, of course, there’s a correlation between how hard the exercise is (plus other factors like clothing and weather) and the amount of sweating, but to claim that not sweating equals no exercise is incorrect.

you'd get more exercise walking to the bus stop than on ebike

Depends on the ebike and the setting. In Europe (at least; I'm not so clear on rules the US) in most cases the motors on ebikes respond to pedal input, so riding along purely by electrical power isn't usually possible. As such, you can choose from different levels of assistance, from lots to very little or nothing at all, which also correspond to different ranges.

This may be true for your average pizza-delivery rider, but it's not an automatic property of e-bikes. I recently crossed a mountain range on a regulation e-bike (i.e. a pedalec with capped motor and a limited battery) and I can confirm that it took some effort.

This is a typical comment I get from people who don't use E-bikes. Also from people from the US, who get sold POWERFUL E-bikes that are not pedal-assist type. You click a button and you ride, like on a scooter. That's not what I mean by E-bike.

Sure, but then you're buying an e-bike. The interesting part of this thing, at least to me, is that it doesn't permanently turn your bike into one

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