Strengthening Your Electric Bike

Now that you are riding a new electric cycle, you keep seeing that the energy you are utilizing isn’t getting you as far as you would like. How come?

There are lots of different ways that your electric bicycle battery sucks up power. Like any cycle, an electric bike encounters a frictional force known as rolling resistance when you cruise down the road. This rolling resistance is caused by the interaction of the rubber tires with the roadway surface. When you tires are filled up to their capacity, then they have less resistance. Flat tires aren’t fast tires. Never leave your home without checking the tire pressure. It is possible to put too much air in there.

Over-inflation can cause blowouts or other tire damage. Find the maximum inflation pressure on the sidewall of the tire (it should say “inflate to 50 – 60 psi” or something similar), and follow the recommendation. Pounds per square inch means that you are putting a certain amount of pounds of pressure on every square inch of the tire wall.

You might have to consult a true tire pump or go to a local gas station to put enough air in the tire. Doing it by hand doesn’t always work. There’s a lot of different air pumps on the market which you can buy. Some are operated by your legs to achieve the correct pressure, and some take electrical energy from an outlet or your cigarette lighter in the car to get air going. If you don’t mind paying for air, you can use the compressed air pump at your local filling station, which typically charges 50c – $1.00 for three minutes of air pressure. Always check your air pressure after a few seconds if you are at a gas station with an air pump. They are known for not giving the right air pressure reading and causing major damage to your cycle tire and cycle rim.

Aside from the resistance we just talked about, there is air resistance as well which is in the molecules around you, preventing you from moving, or floating away. Unlike rolling resistance, which tends to increase in proportion with your speed, air resistance increases faster as your speed increases, so that there can be four times as much air resistance at 30 mph as there is at 15 mph. What does this mean for getting the most range out of your eBike? It means that by keeping your tires properly inflated and traveling at moderate speeds, you should be able to cut back considerably on the amount of electrical power that you need to use.

If you have read everything listed in this article, you will have the best performing electric bike available, right under you! You do not have to worry about the range that you are getting with the bike if you paid attention. Have fun!

Shout folding bicycles and get one of your own! You’d be astonished to see the electric bikes out!