micromobility - Ebikes, scooters, longboards: Whatever floats your goat, this is micromobility

If people are ripping around on dirt bikes already a Surron or similar night be a good bet. The only issue is then you lose it on the ability to pedal. There are similar bikes that also have vin numbers if you actually wanted to go legal at some point but dirt bikes aren't street legal without extras anyway and it sounds like enforcement is lax.

The electric unicycle idea is also pretty cool. They look to me like skiing but on the street. So you'd actually get exercise even if it's working different muscles than a bicycle. But if you go that route you'll need to go the extra mile on safety gear.

As someone else stated, 35mph the whole way is a lot on an ebike, even bringing that down to 30 extends the range a lot. There may be some road or gravel bike that has the range you're looking for if your flexible on the speed. Those seem more fun imo, but the YouTube channel TailhappyTV has shown off ebikes that go 100 miles on a charge. I haven't seen the speeds at which they go but in my opinion a long ride means more time to listen to audio books.

Either way good luck!

I'm wondering whether you would want to consider a mid-drive motor instead, if pursuing an ebike build. 750 W delivered at the hub, without the benefit of gearing, may only be marginal to attain your envisioned speed. But in a mid-drive configuration, 750 W should hold 50-60 kph without an issue. The reason for going higher power beyond that would be to improve the acceleration at those higher speeds, but if you're planning for mostly back roads, then you won't have the stop-and-go or slow-then-go scenarios that might warrant more power.

To reduce the power consumed, also make sure to consider the tires. Certainly, aerodynamic drag starts taking effect after 20 kph, but the rolling resistance of some of the fatbike or dirt bike style tires mounted on some ebikes can be serious sources of drag as well, when running at higher speeds.

In my case, my street-running ebike has too wide of tires, being 26x4.0, and I don't have the option to go narrower because of the rim width. In future, I plan to build custom wheels that has a 220mm wide hub but a 45mm rim. This will look ridiculous, but it'll let me take narrower tires that run higher pressures and have lower weight penalty from the anti-puncture layers. If you're going to take an existing frame, pick one with narrower hub widths, tailored to the surface types you intend to ride on.

My "test" for rolling resistance is the speed I can attain with motor off, pedaling only at a leisurely pace. With my acoustic bike, 20 kph is easy with no heavy breathing or anything like that. With my ebike, it's more like 10-12 kph. That doesn't sound like a lot, but it has huge consequences at speed. Anything to get that pedal-only speed up will pay dividends at the top speed.

At 35mph, registration and insurance aren't bad ideas.

Depends on jurisdiction, yeah. Some places you don't even need a license.

Yeah we need e-mopeds. In my state under 50cc doesn’t need a reg or license to ride on roads. Some of the spicier 49ccs can do 45-50mph. Electric equivalents would be nice, but I’m worried they will be difficult to fit weight and space wise on a bike frame. A used Puch or Moped frame would be better maybe.

I also live in a rural sidewalk-less town and am thinking of building something similar, but I haven’t done any work on power requirements or range yet. Let us know how it works out.

I think if the motor could keep up the bike would be fine.

You are not quite correct. The more powerful a bike's motor is, the beefier the frame and wheels have to be, or it will literally bend or break when you apply too much torque. You also need a strong suspension, thicker tires, and (most important) solid disc brakes. So most bikes that are very fast and powerful end up looking more like small motorcycles.

There are some relatively "stealthy" ebikes that go as fast as you want, however:

• https://bakcou.com/products/mule-fat-tire-electric-bike

• https://hpcbikes.com/products/recon-m-1?ref=dc

But they ain't cheap. The beefy parts and frame add more money to the final cost than the motor, I would guess.

You could also carry a second battery if you want to double your range (assuming you get one with an easily removable battery).

The biggest is probably just efficiency, both with aerodynamics and how motors work (from a quick search, rolling resistance seems to go up with speed, too). Faster is more work thus less range. That and battery (or just total) weight.

Personally I went with the cheapest, smallest, and lightest ebike I could find that still has gears. Aside from trails, it's easier to lift/store and transport for 1-way trips. I definitely couldn't go 70 miles, 35 miles is a maybe (I have gone ~22 miles before as someone relatively not in shape, also battery indicator on my bike seems to be unhelpfully cautious/lacking resolution).

I feel like paying 2x+ what I paid isn't worth it either (especially when they have worse aspects) but cheap is probably not for everybody, at very least because it's a 250w motor so it doesn't go very fast (particularly on its own, but gears help). Haven't ridden it in months because my local trail won't be finished with maintenance until next year (I have no navigation and I don't want to deal with pulling into ditches).

it is pretty difficult to pedal on its own, the kepler is a 70lb bike with its battery. but i can still feel my legs doing work when i set the assist low and i can get it going on flat ground when i turn off the motor.

Yeah, probably some sort of moped or scooter or something