Asus Bike Booster - Hacker News

Posted by wiradikusuma 4 days ago

Asus Bike Booster(www.asus.com)

535 points | 370 commentspage 7

gedy 15 hours ago|

So ah, can we buy it? What's the price? Not seeing unless ad blockers are hiding something.

VoidWhisperer 15 hours ago|

According to articles like this one[0], they haven't shared pricing yet - so I guess it can't be bought quite yet.

[0]: https://www.digitaltrends.com/outdoors/asus-made-an-e-bike-c...

dalmo3 14 hours ago||

Am I missing something or that thing can be trivially stolen?

theChaparral 13 hours ago|

Bicycles in general can be trivially stolen.

Zambyte 9 hours ago||

FUD. Cars in general can be trivially stolen if you don't lock them. Lock your bike and it can't be trivially stolen.

The problem here is this device can be easily removed even from a locked bike, and it itself cannot be easily locked to the bike.

yetanotherjohn 7 hours ago||

For a second I thought it must be April Fool’s Day.

DonHopkins 9 hours ago||

I absolutely would not give up my double panniers and rack. I put a small Tom Bihn Bag "Daylight Backpack" with my laptop in one, and the bike charger and food and other junk in the other, empty my pockets into the zipper bag, and then I'm totally unencumbered for riding and have unlimited distance since I can plug in and charge the battery if it gets low. Riding with a backpack on my back or even stuff in my pockets is a drag. The panniers are also great for grocery and other shopping.

https://www.tombihn.com/products/daylight-backpack

codeduck 6 hours ago||

easy on, easy off, easy to fence.

theendisney 12 hours ago||

They should turn it into a phone lan gaming platform with dedicated games. That would make it instantly awesome.

numpad0 15 hours ago||

How do these things work legally? Wouldn't the bolt on process count as manufacturing or modifying a motorcycle, depending on where you are?

dsr_ 14 hours ago||

In the USA, there are more than 52 jurisdictions not including towns and cities and counties, but most (not all) states think of ebikes as being slightly restricted bicycles rather than motorcycles, as long as:

- they have functional pedals (otherwise it's a motorcycle of some kind)

- they require pedal assist at all times and have some kind of power or speed limitation (anyone can use this, or at least it is least restricted)

- they have pedal assist available and have a different, higher power or speed limitation (usually reserved for 16+ or something similar)

- they have a power or speed limitation that makes them suitable for adults only but doesn't require a driver's license or inspection

There are efforts to regularize these, and also efforts to make things more chaotic. For example, New Jersey decided that all ebikes require a new ebike license and vehicle registration. Across the river in New York, no ebikes require a license or registration, and may be operated on any street which has a 30mph speed limit or less... but cities are allowed to make their own rules.

California's laws are mostly regarded by bicyclists as being sensible, at least in every discussion I've seen that didn't feature a twelve year old trying to convince his parents to buy him a 70mph electric motorcycle. See https://thecyclistchoice.com/resources/california-ebike-laws...

SoftTalker 14 hours ago||

They should require insurance at least. An ebike can cause serious injury to a pedestrian.

olyjohn 14 hours ago|||

So can a regular bike. Human powered bikes regularly blow past me when I'm doing the 15mph speed limits on the bike paths.

crummy 14 hours ago||||

That’s the same as a pushbike right?

TylerE 14 hours ago||||

So can a non-ebike. A couple of hundred pounds hitting you at 15-20mph is gonna suck no matter how it's powered.

Zigurd 14 hours ago|||

Poor people commute on e-bikes. Think twice before making laws that raise the cost and give cops a reason to hassle people.

walrus01 15 hours ago|||

In most jurisdictions it's only a motorcycle if it can exceed a certain speed or has a motor over a certain power in kilowatts. Or some combination of both.

recent news: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c89nyk4pz74o

IshKebab 15 hours ago||

There's no restriction on manufacturing e-bikes anywhere that I know of, as long as they obey the speed/power limits. (That's why it says 500W "peak" power - the continuous power limit in the UK at least is 250W but manufacturers just make the "peak" last for a very long time.)

timonoko 9 hours ago||

I see winter version of this. You need custom roller with holes for a particular stud pattern. So there is no slipping and no tire wear. And maybe the roller is made of metal so the snow does not stick to it.

windsweptabove 3 hours ago||

Cycling product announcement as we enter the last two weeks of summer, LOL.

dreamcompiler 11 hours ago|

If I bought this I might want a brake upgrade. Even though it probably provides only about 150W (I always assume ebike power ratings are inflated), the extra weight alone warrants disc brakes IMHO.

speedgoose 11 hours ago|

When I see obvious out of shape ebikers passing me uphill while barely moving their legs, I’m assuming that the power rating of their ebike is about right and the torque curve might be weird to stay legal.

I agree that rim brakes on an e-bike is extra bad.

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