I look at the recently-announced Bionx stuff, for example, and wonder “If I had waited, the system I have on my own bike now would be notably lighter and more ergonomic. Should I have waited?” Should potential buyers wait until the new toys displayed at the shows actually show up?

The bicycle industry is a bit different than the electronics industry, and bike vendors may not be thinking that the Osborne Effect applies to their industry. For better or worse, I think it really does apply to ebikes now.

Some of us are old enough to remember Adam Osborne and the way-cool Osborne 1 computer his company sold in the early ‘80s: a 24-pound portable with a 5” CRT screen! It was fabulous product in a new and growing market segment. Not a lot of folks had them, but the ones that did were early adopters and loved them. In a great many respects, the early Osborne computer owners were a lot like today’s electric cyclists.

Then in 1983 Osborne announced new models (no doubt in response to competition from the likes of Kaypro and Compaq.) The new models would outperform the old ones and be way cooler. The problem was that they still had a lot of the old ones to sell and none of the new ones – game over for Mr. Osborne.

The conventional bicycle industry is very slow moving compared to the world of electronics. Although there are exceptions, most buyers aren’t all that hung up on the differences between that 2011 Trek and the 2010 model — largely because the differences are usually very minor. But all that changes once you add electronics.

New ebikes promise more range, less weight, better ergonomics, better integration with underlying bicycle, and more style (or more stealth.) These are all differences consumers can really see. Just as with smart phones or flat screen TVs, there is a very real tendency for buyers to wait until that very next model they’ve heard of comes out before they buy.

Winter isn’t that far away, and buyers in many parts of North America will be hunkering down until spring. (Those of us who ride year-round: feel free to smile here.) But should buyers wait for the lighter-faster-cooler-slicker-in-every-way models yet to come?

Everyone needs to reach their own conclusion. For me, waiting would have been a real shame. I’ve gotten good service from my existing setup (especially now that I seem to be getting past some health issues and riding more.) Though the recently-demoed Bionx gear may be a pound or two lighter, I’ve lost a lot more weight than that just by becoming a more regular cyclist. And last I checked that cool new stuff isn’t actually available just yet.

Just as with phones and TVs, there will always be newer models with better features. My recommendation: the right time to buy is when you’re ready to ride. Sure, don’t buy the last of an old model without negotiating a discount or waiting a few weeks, but don’t lose sleep over it either. There’s always the eBay/Craigslist upgrade: When you absolutely need the new model, sell your old one and buy the new one. Think of the difference between what you pay new and what you sell it for used as the cost of leasing it. No matter what anyone says, technology purchases are fleeting and better thought of as rentals than purchases.

Now put on some warmer clothes if you need them and go ride.

Charlie

We bought our lovely blue Prius hybrid because it’s environmentally green. If the recently-announced plug-in version had been available we’d have considered that too, but we already have a great plug-in hybrid vehicle. It’s enormously greener than any Prius will ever be, and it’s greener than all-electric cars like the Nissan Leaf and Chevy Volt as well.

My preferred commuting vehicle has a 355 Watt-hour battery, but the primary engine is me because it’s an electrically-assisted bicycle. Some question the environmental sensibilities of cyclists who commute with electric batteries and motors on their bicycles. Many of those doing the questioning commute via Prius themselves; many more commute in vehicles that are a lot less green. Good-quality electric bicycles typically use the same kinds of batteries as hybrid-electric and all-electric cars, so let’s compare the environmental burdens posed by the batteries in each kind of vehicle.

My electric bicycle uses a lithium-based battery similar to the one planned for the plug-in Prius. It has a reasonably typical 355 Watt-hour capacity. The older-style nickel metal hydride battery in today’s hybrid Prius has capacity of 1,310 Watt-hours, enough for some 3.7 electric bicycles. (Some cyclists use cells from salvaged Prius battery packs to power their electric bikes today — they’re pretty good.) Most auto trips still carry a single occupant, and the same batteries that can help move one car and driver could help move more than three times as many cyclists. Bicycles take up much less room on our public roads than cars and require vastly less energy and materials to manufacture. They consume much less energy overall, and unlike sitting in a car bicycle riding actually contributes to public health. I use approximately $0.03 worth of electricity on a relatively long 28-mile round trip electrically-assisted bicycle commute.

But consider the plug-in version of the Prius. Toyota has announced that its lithium-based battery pack will have a 5,200 Watt-hour capacity, enough to power about 15 reasonably typical electrically-assisted bicycles. 15! If folks who are willing to pay the added costs of plug-in hybrid cars are considered environmentally virtuous, what shall we say for folks who are willing to pay the added costs of expanding the range and versatility of their bicycles by adding 1/15^th the battery capacity of a plug-in Prius to their own hybrid-electric rides? Surely the public infrastructure costs of a few extra bicycle racks and improved bike lanes pale before the costs of expanded electric power transmission capacity and dedicated charging facilities for electric cars. And surely the impact of increased electric bicycle demands for the lithium batteries and the resources used to create them will be trivial compared to the impacts of increased demands from plug-in hybrid and all-electric cars.

For comparison, the forthcoming all-electric Nissan Leaf will have a 24,000 Watt-hour lithium battery pack. It’ll be a real step forward for reducing auto tailpipe emissions, but that same battery pack would power 68 electric bicycles! (At 16,000 Watt-hours, a Chevy Volt would power 45.) Wouldn’t it be good public policy to ensure that a significant share of those lithium battery cells are used on efficient, compact, light-weight electric bicycles instead?

We’re not ready to sell our Prius, but these comparisons put the environmental footprint of electric bicycles in a whole new light. If even a tiny fraction of cyclists use electrically-assisted bicycles as alternatives to cars the public benefits can be very real. It’s past time for nationally-consistent guidance encouraging the use of electrically-assisted bicycles in the U.S. Let’s help get a few more people out of their cars – hybrid, plug-in, or otherwise — and on to their bicyles!

Please join us in our forums at http://electriccyclist/forum to carry on this conversation and encourage support for the expansion of the electric cycling community in the U.S. (Alternatively, come and see how many electric bikes you could power with the battery pack from a single Tesla Roadster.)

First, let’s be clear about what freewheels are, and how they differ from cassettes.  Freewheels are the traditional way of putting multiple cogs on a rear wheel.  Freewheels screw on to the hub, and the ratchet mechanism that lets you coast is built in to the freewheel body. 

Nearly all non-electric rear wheels sold for bikes in the last several years use cassettes instead.  Shimano’s patented cassette and freehub approach puts the ratchet in the hub itself instead of on a screw-on freewheel body.  This lets the cassette be just a bunch of cogs that slide onto a splined hub; it also allows the outboard wheel bearing to be located farther outboard, reducing the load on the axle.  This makes it practical for regular axles to accept 8, 9 or even 10 cogs without breaking (long a known problem for freewheels with more than 7 cogs.)

Because the freehub and cassette design is superior, the market for freewheels has shrunk dramatically.  Typically only the very cheapest new bikes now ship with them.  Component manufacturers recognize this and build products priced to match their markets.  It’s the rare freewheel today that isn’t designed for a department store bike. 

But electric rear hubs still use ‘em.  (Hard to say whether it’s due to patent issues with Shimano, lack of space for the motor’s bits, or not wanting to create user-serviceable rear hubs (as they would likely need to be with the freehub mechanism in there.)

Enter SunRace.  SunRace is one of the few that markets 8- and 9-speed freewheels.  They’re pretty widely available on eBay, and they’re the 8- and 9-speed freewheels distributed by Bionx.  If you look closely in the picture below, you’ll see that these appear to be conventional 7-speed freewheel bodies with a couple of more cogs added to the outboard end. 

I tried several of these on my own Bionx system.  None of them failed.  They all worked.  And they all drove me crazy – that’s why this one is on a paper towel and not on a bike.  They sounded and felt cheap when spinning them on your fingers (even after lubing them heavily.)  More important, they made awful clicking noises when pedaling them down the road (especially on the smaller cogs.)  I nearly drove my dealer crazy swapping out  8- and 9-speed SunRace freewheels while we tried to figure out if the noises I kept hearing were coming from the freewheels or my pricey electric hub.  I think the bearing noises I heard may have been related to the pedaling torque sometimes being applied inboard of the freewheel bearings, but also being applied well outboard of them when using the smaller cogs. If you can find a good alternative, I recommend using it.

In desperation, I ordered a very different kind of freewheel – a 7-speed Defiant freewheel by Interloc Racing Design.  They aim at the classic bike replacement part market rather than the mass market.  They’re a lot more pricey, but I think they’re worth it.  As soon as I spun one on my fingers I could hear it was in an entirely different league.  (Think closing the door on a new Mercedes instead of closing the door on an old Ford Escort.)   All I hear when I pedal on my bike now is quiet and smooth shifting. 

If you’re retrofitting one of these you do need to think about 7-speed compatibility with your current shifters and chain.  I prefer bar-end shifters and friction shifting anyway,  so there was no compatibility issue for me; you might need to pick up a suitable 7-speed shifter.  I did swap my 8/9 speed compatible chain for a 7 speed compatible chain.  (They’re more durable, anyway.)  The odds that you’ll miss an 8^th or 9^th gear on your electric bike are pretty slight.  More likely, you’ll miss the ability to get an 11-tooth sprocket on there.  (Too bad that the classic Shimano Megarange 11-34s are no more.)

I would avoid old stock on the IRD Defiants — they had a high failure rate on their Mark I product, but they’re up to Mark III or Mark IV now and seem to be past those problems. I’ve heard that other importers may have 8/9 speed freewheels now as well.  Got any experience with them?  Any other freewheeling thoughts?  Please share them in our discussion forums at http://ElectricCyclist.com/forum.