Need E-bike for traveling around the world!

[Cyclezee]

Hi Eugene,

Welcome to the forum.

That's an interesting trip you are planning and wish you well with it.

I understand that you are based in the US and I have an idea that may or may not be of interest.

Plan A. If you bought an eZee Quando in the States, i'm fairly sure a local dealer would lend you a battery until you have left the country at which time you ship it back to the dealer, then arrange to have a battery shipped to your accommodation from a dealer in the next country that you fly to.

Obviously it would take a bit of planning, but it would mean that you didn't have to take a battery on the aircraft.

If you intend to come to the UK Cyclezee would be happy to lend a battery to you.

Link to the eZee Quando http://ezeebike.com/bikes-and-options/quando/

Link to eZee dealers map https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?t=m&ll=5.430806,114.893687&source=embed&ie=UTF8&msa=0&spn=93.272108,247.594484&hl=en&mid=zQkxa7m_XlEo.kp5H4kaa84kc

 

[Kudoscycles]

I just don't see the practicality of riding across the world on a small wheeled folder,especially if the OP cannot pedal well.
KudosDave

 

[trex]

you can see the point of a small folder that can easly be checked in as luggage though?

 

[cwah]

For me you have 2 choices:
- The brompton.

Or the solowheel type:

https://instagram.com/p/y8lH9CxIZD/

 

[ancientbicyclist]

Hi All,
Thanks for all the recommendations. I will look into each of them.
I plan to do 40 miles per day (about 10 to 15 miles pedaling) and 25 to 30 miles on battery power (charging each night). I really want to use a manufactured e-bike as this would mean it would be great advertising for the company and they might cover a lot of the expense of the trip. This is why I am not planning to start the adventure until 2018. I was interested in the JIVR out of London, if they would offer a tandem 160 watt hour battery pack for a total of 320 watt hours and they could make the hidden battery pack easily removable.
I know it is built as a commuter, but with a few modifications it could be sold as a touring e-bike.
Eugene

 

[Cyclezee]

Hi All,
Thanks for all the recommendations. I will look into each of them.
I plan to do 40 miles per day (about 10 to 15 miles pedaling) and 25 to 30 miles on battery power (charging each night). I really want to use a manufactured e-bike as this would mean it would be great advertising for the company and they might cover a lot of the expense of the trip. This is why I am not planning to start the adventure until 2018. I was interested in the JIVR out of London, if they would offer a tandem 160 watt hour battery pack for a total of 320 watt hours and they could make the hidden battery pack easily removable.
I know it is built as a commuter, but with a few modifications it could be sold as a touring e-bike.
Eugene

Hi Eugene,

If you are not setting off until 2018, there could be a whole new generation of batteries by then, a single Duracell AAA might have enough energy to get you round the planet on a single charge

If you are looking for a company to back you, contact Wai Won Ching via this link http://ezeebike.com/contact-us/ Please don't say that it was my suggestion

 

[Kudoscycles]

you can see the point of a small folder that can easly be checked in as luggage though?

No I cannot,if you are suggesting cabin luggage,you stand more chance getting a machine gun onboard than a folding electric bike,if it don't fit in the frame you cannot take it onboard,the bits sticking out,the electrics,the lithium batteries would make it impossible whether cabin or hold luggage.
Trex,I don't know why but I always find myself taking the contrary view,but you do have some hair brained ideas just to promote the Woosh product
This guy is planning to bike round the world,can you seriously suggest that he uses that little Woosh folder to pedal round the world ? 40 miles per day? Colin was right,at times you are an.....
Have you travelled long haul recently?It is no problem taking a full size bike as hold luggage on a long haul flight,it is quite common to see pro cycling teams taking their bikes with them,it has to be properly packed to cause no problem to adjacent luggage.
The major problem is the batteries,which obviously is not a problem to pro bike riders. The small batteries that are legal to take onboard would last 5 mins down the road,if the OP is serious about riding electric assist for 25 miles per day using a full throttle he will need at least 20Ah capacity,with margin that needs to be 25-30 Ah.
I experimented with my little Kudos Secret bike,it has an 8Ah battery...if I pedal with rare throttle usage I get 20-25 miles range ,even over steep terrain but I did experiment using throttle only,over almost flat terrain it exhausted at 12 miles.....even limited pedalling does input a surprising power contribution .
The OP needs to pick a bike to do his job,that is travelling long distances,no baby folder is ever going to do that job. Once he has the right bike he needs to overcome the obstacles to transport that bike,not picking a bike to ease the transport,In any event I don't think the bike size materially eases the transport.
KudosDave

 

[trex]

just stop a bit and think again. You can't take a 16kg folder into the cabin, it has to go into the hold. But you can take 160WH Lithium battery legally into the cabin. The modern 36V 4.5AH battery weighs battery weighs less than 1kg now. By next year, that battery will weigh 700grs. You can actually leave one on the bike and take one into the cabin. Even if you don't pedal much, you can still get 30 miles out of these two batteries. The motor is standard 8-Fun, 30 miles a day is perfectly doable. The same reasoning applies to your Secret.

 

[danielrlee]

What's your planned route? It's entirely possible to do a 'round the world' trip without boarding a single plane, except for a home flight across the Atlantic.

EDIT: I could have sworn you can travel between Magadan and Anchorage by sea, but I'm not sure that it's currently possible. Sounds like a bigger headache than I'd imagined.

 

[shemozzle999]

Hi All,
Thanks for all the recommendations. I will look into each of them.
I plan to do 40 miles per day (about 10 to 15 miles pedaling) and 25 to 30 miles on battery power (charging each night). I really want to use a manufactured e-bike as this would mean it would be great advertising for the company and they might cover a lot of the expense of the trip. This is why I am not planning to start the adventure until 2018. I was interested in the JIVR out of London, if they would offer a tandem 160 watt hour battery pack for a total of 320 watt hours and they could make the hidden battery pack easily removable.
I know it is built as a commuter, but with a few modifications it could be sold as a touring e-bike.
Eugene

Wish you good luck with your search for an answer Eugene.

 

[Kudoscycles]

just stop a bit and think again. You can't take a 16kg folder into the cabin, it has to go into the hold. But you can take 160WH Lithium battery legally into the cabin. The modern 36V 4.5AH battery weighs battery weighs less than 1kg now. By next year, that battery will weigh 700grs. You can actually leave one on the bike and take one into the cabin. Even if you don't pedal much, you can still get 30 miles out of these two batteries. The motor is standard 8-Fun, 30 miles a day is perfectly doable. The same reasoning applies to your Secret.

What's your planned route? It's entirely possible to do a 'round the world' trip without boarding a single plane, except for a home flight across the Atlantic.

EDIT: I could have sworn you can travel between Magadan and Anchorage by sea, but I'm not sure that it's currently possible. Sounds like a bigger headache than I'd imagined.

Actually,I had ignored sea routes....remember Michael Palins around the world. I suppose you could container ship around the world,then have a bike ride around Hong Kong.
There used to be a banana boat from Antigua to South Wales,fun way to get home.
Being serious,what would be an interesting story would be to partner with a round the world yachtsman,going past the dodgy bits on the boat,then biking the fun bits. Most yachtsman are keen to have crew to help.
KudosDave

 

[ancientbicyclist]

Hi All,
Some very interesting ideas. I would like to make the trip in less than a year, so yachting my way across is not an option, although I know people who have boats and are sailing around the world. I am trying to take a route that is somewhat near the equator, that gives me good moderate temperatures, no snow and very little rain. If there are any storms I will have to hunker up in a place for a short period of time, before continuing. I also am trying to make my route mostly on paved and level roads. This is another reason to postpone the trip until 2018. Many roads are planned to be paved along the route in the next 3 years. It will save a lot of effort and since some will be new, hopefully not as many pot holes.
Also more day time hours, when closer to the equator.
All The Best,
Eugene

 

[D8ve]

The Atlantic can be as little as 3 weeks in a reasonable yacht.
The departure times tend to be west to East early fall.
East to west early spring.

 

[ancientbicyclist]

Having friends who sail I know how undependable time can be aboard a boat and so many more weather problems can develop in 3 weeks than in 12 to 15 hours. Even 3 weeks means all batteries must be recharged and at least 21 times 40 or 820 miles/ 1200 kilometers have been sacrificed in the process. I would like to make this trip as easy as possible and one of the objectives is not just to complete the trip, but to advertise the fact that there is an e-bike available that can be taken aboard passenger planes.

 

[shemozzle999]

Similar set up to the Rubbee system this one is from Hidden Power: