{"id":136774,"date":"2016-03-08T14:34:46","date_gmt":"2016-03-08T12:34:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/?p=136774"},"modified":"2016-03-08T14:35:40","modified_gmt":"2016-03-08T12:35:40","slug":"the-surprisingly-long-history-of-electric-bikes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2016\/03\/08\/the-surprisingly-long-history-of-electric-bikes\/","title":{"rendered":"The Surprisingly Long History of Electric Bikes"},"content":{"rendered":"

Not much later than the invention of the modern rubberised tyre, bicycle boffins were trying to attach electric motors to bicycle frames.\u00a0 You may be surprised to learn that electric cycles are nothing new\u2026<\/strong>
\n<\/p>\n

The Electric Tricycle<\/strong><\/h3>\n

In 1881 an obscure French science magazine tells of Gustave Trouv\u00e9 modifying a British tricycle made by Starley of Coventry.\u00a0 It shows an electronic motor attached to a lever drive mechanism, which was later upgraded to include a pedal drive.\u00a0 The electricity would have provided a few watts to give the human engine a little kick to their cadence.\u00a0 Although given battery technology of the time, it\u2019s more likely the cyclist was augmenting the power of the battery\u2026<\/p>\n

The 1890 Patent Wars<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Ignoring the fact that pedal-bicycles were so efficient due to their low weight-to-power ratio, enthusiastic engineers sought to patent various electric motors.\u00a0 You can read about Bolton Jr\u2019s 1895 US Patent for a 6-pole brush and commutator hub motor, or Libby of Boston\u2019s 1897 double electric motor, set in the crankset axle.\u00a0 All these batteries were very heavy – in practice, battery technology wouldn\u2019t catch up with the concepts for at least another 100 years.<\/p>\n

\"Ignoring<\/a><\/p>\n

The 1990 Techno Revolution<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Takada Yutky of Japan filed a patent in \u201997 for a device that not only added an electronic motor to a bicycle, but did so with feedback loops.\u00a0 Torque sensors worked in a feedback loop with power controls, and the sensation of riding what was called a Zike finally resembled what you might expect from a modern electronic bike.<\/p>\n

Power Like It\u2019s 1999<\/strong><\/h3>\n

As we crossed from the 90s to the year 2000, batteries started to lose weight and become more efficient.\u00a0 Bulky and heavy lead acid batteries were superseded by NiCd or Li-ion batteries, before a compromise between longevity and weight was reached with NiMH.\u00a0 Modern batteries have settled on the lithium model, but you can expect the technology to continue to improve.<\/p>\n

\"As<\/a><\/p>\n

Trimming the Fat<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Part of the power-to-weight ratio problem has already been fixed – bicycles are vastly lighter than cars, and carbon frames further reduce the weight of the vehicle. \u00a0If your motor is designed to add a few watts to your cadence, rather than provide all the power, then the battery will take you much further on less charge.\u00a0 For competitive cyclists at the lower end of the body fat scale, you don\u2019t need many additional watts to make a huge difference to your performance. Read more about the mechanical doping scandal – HERE<\/a>.<\/p>\n

E-bikes Are Dope<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Smaller motors are very appealing for the long distance cyclist, but now that powerful motors can be made so small and discrete, we\u2019ve reached an age where mechanical doping is a very real issue for the UCI \u2013 just see our article on mechanical doping.\u00a0 Leisure cyclists can go ahead and mechanically dope to their hearts content, after all, the ability to whoosh up steep inclines without any extra effort is appealing.\u00a0 E-bikes can be dope, for any number of reasons.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Not much later than the invention of the modern rubberised tyre, bicycle boffins were trying to attach electric motors to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":136777,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[329,334,330],"tags":[],"global-categories":[],"class_list":["post-136774","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-road-cycling","category-socialising-and-culture","category-urban-cycling"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Surprisingly Long History of Electric Bikes - \u0160koda We Love Cycling<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Not much later than the invention of the modern rubberised tyre, bicycle boffins were trying to attach electric motors to bicycle frames. 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