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E-Bike bursts into "10 foot high" flames while 79 year old is riding
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https://www.9news.com.au/...x957F151fB6QExJMI8Ro

There seem to be a lot of riding hours per incident, but this is pretty dangerous. Especially when less nimble riders are on the bike.

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Ed O'Malley
www.VeloVetta.com
Founder of VeloVetta Cycling Shoes
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Re: E-Bike bursts into "10 foot high" flames while 79 year old is riding [RowToTri] [ In reply to ]
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RowToTri wrote:
https://www.9news.com.au/...x957F151fB6QExJMI8Ro

There seem to be a lot of riding hours per incident, but this is pretty dangerous. Especially when less nimble riders are on the bike.

Whoa.

I wonder if there's the concept in the e-bike world just like the automotive world of "tuning" your vehicle. You know, hacking the computer to make it do stuff it shouldn't. Then, overcook it and blow it up.

I doubt this guy did that necessarily, but, just saying.
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Re: E-Bike bursts into "10 foot high" flames while 79 year old is riding [RowToTri] [ In reply to ]
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I saw this story this morning on Cycling Weekly and they are reporting the bike is a Pinarello with an aftermarket engine/battery system. I'm going to guess if want an e-bike and go with a Pinarello you are not going out to buy a super cheap motor. On that basis we are talking about a custom or at least quasi-custom build and I don't think it fair to draw any conclusion relative to the safety of off-the-shelf e-bike offerings.

It should give anyone who wants to cheat by using a custom hidden motor second thought though. Those batteries store a lot of energy and trying to hack one into a bike not meant to be an e-bike isn't without risk.
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Re: E-Bike bursts into "10 foot high" flames while 79 year old is riding [burnthesheep] [ In reply to ]
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He was riding a Pinarello with a custom motor so you may not be far off the truth.

https://www.cyclingweekly.com/...-catches-fire-404879
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Re: E-Bike bursts into "10 foot high" flames while 79 year old is riding [scott8888] [ In reply to ]
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Is there any reason to believe that the aftermarket kits are designed poorly or have poor manufacturing quality? Maybe if the battery is hidden (is there info to say this one was?), it is installed in a way that it cannot cool itself as well? I do not know.

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Ed O'Malley
www.VeloVetta.com
Founder of VeloVetta Cycling Shoes
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Re: E-Bike bursts into "10 foot high" flames while 79 year old is riding [scott8888] [ In reply to ]
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scott8888 wrote:
He was riding a Pinarello with a custom motor so you may not be far off the truth.

https://www.cyclingweekly.com/...-catches-fire-404879

Chris Froome ? (pink)

A regular e-bike is probably properly tested again overheating.

A Pinarello normal frame with motor and battery stuff pushed rather stupidly into the frame without any cooling devices... and seriously heating up in a good ramp... in Australian summer...

Might work in winter :-)
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Re: E-Bike bursts into "10 foot high" flames while 79 year old is riding [RowToTri] [ In reply to ]
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Some useful info can be found here about this incident and batteries exploding in general:


https://electricbikereview.com/...b.26536/#post-179133




I have been commuting on 2 different e-bikes for about 18 months, combined around 5,000 miles, they have similar Samsung batteries and rear hub motors. Battery gets quite hot when it's 100+ F outside, but I don't ride them on long climbs.



Two wheels good. Four wheels bad.
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Re: E-Bike bursts into "10 foot high" flames while 79 year old is riding [Pyrenean Wolf] [ In reply to ]
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Pyrenean Wolf wrote:
scott8888 wrote:
He was riding a Pinarello with a custom motor so you may not be far off the truth.

https://www.cyclingweekly.com/...-catches-fire-404879


Chris Froome ? (pink)

A regular e-bike is probably properly tested again overheating.

A Pinarello normal frame with motor and battery stuff pushed rather stupidly into the frame without any cooling devices... and seriously heating up in a good ramp... in Australian summer...

Might work in winter :-)

I heard it was a cheap pinarello copy frame, an amateur setup. Also, that hill is steep, in some places > 15%. And it was super hot that day - up to 40C. So not sure we can draw too many conclusions about ebikes in general from this.
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Re: E-Bike bursts into "10 foot high" flames while 79 year old is riding [davros] [ In reply to ]
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Exactly what I said, it was not really an e-bike, it was some dirty setup
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Re: E-Bike bursts into "10 foot high" flames while 79 year old is riding [RowToTri] [ In reply to ]
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"The motor’s lithium batteries and CO2 cartridges from its repair kit had ignited....."


The CO2 cartridges had ignited? That's impressive. I'd love to know how they managed that!
CO2 is not flammable (it's used in fire extinguishers for that very reason!)
Were the cartridges made from something other than steel? If not, I'd love to know how they caught fire.


Not sure I believe 10ft high flames either. Unless that was a jet of flame because the fire was contained in a bicycle tube.
Lithium batteries, if mistreated, can be dangerous. That's why they are always fitted with safety circuits on consumer products, to prevent overcharging, overheating, imbalance, etc. It's possible this was a defect in a properly designed system, but I'd be far more inclined to believe it was NOT a well tested mass produced consumer product but rather a custom job that either had design/installation flaws, or had limitations not understood by the rider.
I used to design and fly remote controlled model aircraft in the earlier days of electric RC flight, when lithium polymer cells were just becoming available (around 2003 IIRC). We started using lithium cells without safety circuits, but we knew what we were doing and took lots of precautions. I stored, charged and transported them in fireproof containers, kept an eye on them to ensure they weren't becoming puffy or otherwise damaged, ensured charge and discharge rates were not excessive and that the cells were not over-charged or over-discharged. It was worth it, the performance was massively in excess of the preceding NiMH cells even then.
If this was a makeshift system retro-fitted to a non-ebike it's very possible there were lots of risks which the rider should have been aware of. For example, if I was going to ride up a steep hill in 40degC heat and my electrical system had no reliable source of cooling, I'd have been considering a few possibilities......
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Re: E-Bike bursts into "10 foot high" flames while 79 year old is riding [Ai_1] [ In reply to ]
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Ai_1 wrote:
"The motor’s lithium batteries and CO2 cartridges from its repair kit had ignited....."


The CO2 cartridges had ignited? That's impressive. I'd love to know how they managed that!
CO2 is not flammable (it's used in fire extinguishers for that very reason!)
Were the cartridges made from something other than steel? If not, I'd love to know how they caught fire.

Shitty reporting, that's all. Word was they were exploding. The batteries were jammed up in the seat tube, caught fire, saddle bag full of CO2 cartridges. Bang. Makes sense.

Shane Miller - GPLama
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