I live in the USA and if I want to get rid of my car I would need to be able to cover 70 miles round trip with moderate exercise in a reasonable amount of time. I think if I could cruise at 35MPH (56 KMH) that would be enough to make the switch.
It may be stupid, but I’d like to try to avoid an electric motorcycle - those need insurance, registration fees, real parking spaces, and a special license. Also, I enjoy getting some activity while riding. FWIW I’m not worried about legality, but I do plan to stay off bike paths/sidewalks to avoid endangering pedestrians and other cyclists.
My idea so far is to start with a gravel bike frame for aerodynamics, efficiency, and sturdiness in case of a pothole or rogue curb. From there I’m thinking about a 1500w hub motor, dual batteries, higher gears, bigger brakes, and permanent lights for visibility. Also a good helmet of course, crashing at that speed can be pretty bad.
Has anyone done something like this and had it go well/poorly? Anything I’m clearly missing in my plan? Also feel free to tell me if I’m an idiot, but I already know that bit.
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!