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Comment by Schroedingersat | Hacker News Reader

Sounds like a great reason to be happy that the leading brands aren't in Australia. Get a Bafang or a Tongsheng and be happy.

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I was about to say get a Bafang too. Put it on a normal, better old, bike. They are indestructible. And all other parts are standard and cheap. You need some bike mechanics skills, and a little understanding in connecting electric components. But all is well documented on the web.

Standardization is key to this, I think. Any device that cracks the 'fits all bicycles' electrification nut, is going to grow.

Same goes for some startup that comes up with a way to convert existing petro-cars into electro-cars, i.e. hub motors, super-capacity, etc.

It makes all the sense in the world to me that electric revolution/evolution is happening in the e-bicycle (and to some extent e-motorbike) classes of transportation.

Bicycles, generally, are an area where we have always seen how important it is to have standards...

The torque sensor in the tongsheng makes the battery go further with less perceived effort and is just generally nicer to use. Hitting 25km/h feels like less of a wall.

I can go 75–90km on one charge with the open source firmware and a 850Wh battery. And you can service the bike yourself because it’s all standard parts (and you had to put it together yourself in the first place!)

You can also use any generic battery or build your own.

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