Page 2 of 2 FirstFirst 12
Results 21 to 26 of 26

Thread: Pedalcycling into war - might (e)Bikes be back?

  1. #21
    Council Member Firn's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2009
    Posts
    1,297

    Default

    Just as short (tech) update:

    1) Mighty Shimano enters the e-mtb engine market. A bit more info, arguably the best is in German. Seems to be step forward in terms of weight (almost 1kg less], size and chain stay length.

    2) Other big brands like Fox and especially SRAM introduce specific e-mtb components, clearly a sign of how important a market electric MTB have become.

    3) Electric bikes have pushed average sale prices thus turnover plus in some cases margins and supported the bottom line of bike companies which made some companies a more interesting investment opportunity.

    It will be interesting to see if and how electric(motor)bikes might be used by the military and security forces (carabinieri, police etc) . There might be some attractive niches out there, most in conjunction with classic material and approaches.

    P.S: I have been quite vague on the applications as it always depends. Bicycle patrols: an underutilized resource might be of interest. The effectivness of bike patrols varies with the security and geographical context. Electric assist might widen the geographical scope as well as allow more police personal to deploy in such a role.

    Tactical advantages

    Also observed was a willingness by individuals or groups to stop or approach the bicycle officer to report an event or to indicate when the officer should come back to observe the illicit activity. Being in a position to know what was going on is a clear advantage. The stealth of police bicycle patrols is often cited as a superior tactical capacity. This was observed in the following example of a coordinated convergence in a housing complex.

    The motor patrol officer assigned to an area suspected illegal activities were occurring at a specific apartment. The location of the apartment allowed a lookout to see a patrol car entering the apartment complex from a distance and to simply close the door to the apartment. Three bicycle patrol officers were able to come in from the opposite direction on a footpath and confront a man with drugs in his hand standing in the front door of the apartment.
    An electric bike with a big battery obviously has the additional advantage to be potentially able to power or recharge a lot of the energy-consuming equipment of the officers. As stated before it is no magic bullet, just another tool which might be a 'force multiplier' in some contexts if you believe some of the published stats.
    Last edited by Firn; 07-13-2016 at 12:23 PM.
    ... "We need officers capable of following systematically the path of logical argument to its conclusion, with disciplined intellect, strong in character and nerve to execute what the intellect dictates"

    General Ludwig Beck (1880-1944);
    Speech at the Kriegsakademie, 1935

  2. #22
    Council Member Firn's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2009
    Posts
    1,297

    Default

    As much of this thread is about technological aspects I think it is important to point out the key implication of the paper on bicycle patrols: It's mostly not about biketech but about thinking strategy, creating an organization and setting up training fit for the specific context. In short instead of money the key elements are intelligent questions, smart strategy and good execution.

    Tech opens new opportunities, widens them, makes them more accessible. In this case an electric bike control with proper bikes is able to cover more types of (urban) environments, is able to move in them quicker with less fatigue, can support more (electronic) equipment and facilitates the training employment of not-so-fit officers. The recent developments in the electric bike market better performance and depress prices lowering the entry costs into bike patrols but in the end it's up to the people to make it work.
    Last edited by Firn; 07-13-2016 at 04:41 PM.
    ... "We need officers capable of following systematically the path of logical argument to its conclusion, with disciplined intellect, strong in character and nerve to execute what the intellect dictates"

    General Ludwig Beck (1880-1944);
    Speech at the Kriegsakademie, 1935

  3. #23
    Council Member Firn's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2009
    Posts
    1,297

    Default

    A friend of mine in the voluntary (but well trained and prepared) Alpine rescue community has told me that an increasing number of teams are using ebikes with success. In some cases it is an official bike, but more often a personal bike.

    I have found little official to support it. An Austrian example in German.

    Some discussion here and there in English.

    Informally so far the ebike mostly excelled at:

    a) Getting speedily over narrow trails to a person in distress with considerable equipment and less effort.

    b) Searching trails for missing persons or bringing manpower quickly in position for search and rescue operations.

    In both instances information is obtained more rapidly and help given more quickly.

    So basically in some key situations an ebike accelerates the speed of the mountain rescue action and allows a smarter use of other more costly resources. Needless to add that it is a new tool and does not directly replace other ones but augments them.

    Firn
    ... "We need officers capable of following systematically the path of logical argument to its conclusion, with disciplined intellect, strong in character and nerve to execute what the intellect dictates"

    General Ludwig Beck (1880-1944);
    Speech at the Kriegsakademie, 1935

  4. #24
    Council Member davidbfpo's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2006
    Location
    UK
    Posts
    13,366

    Default Will the PLA use e-bikes?

    Firn,

    Having visited Shanghai in 2017 and noticed the profusion of e-bikes and e-scooters (avoiding the pollution from engines), I wonder if the PLA will adopt e-bikes for their mountain region forces.
    davidbfpo

  5. #25
    Council Member Firn's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2009
    Posts
    1,297

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by davidbfpo View Post
    Firn,

    Having visited Shanghai in 2017 and noticed the profusion of e-bikes and e-scooters (avoiding the pollution from engines), I wonder if the PLA will adopt e-bikes for their mountain region forces.
    Obviously I have no idea but some basic thoughts:

    1) Overall China is by far, far, far the biggest producer and consumer of ebikes and e-scooters. Almost all is focused on city transport. Mainland China is the production hub for most bike parts..

    2) Europe and arguably the German speaking mountain areas in specific are by far the number one users of electric mountain bikes. The eMtb engine leader Bosch and the likely best selling eMtb trade markes are from southern Germany.

    3) Much depends on the specific circumstances. China covers a huge area and all sorts of border areas from wet jungle hills to the dry highlands of Tibet and the Steppes. For example in the vast West normal motorbikes should be more suited.

    4) Actually I'm curious if a European nation will try them out for mountain/light infantry units. With enough purchase power and an increasingly large amount of eMbt around somebody within the military should get ideas. Overall our road network is dense but even in my area there are many suited trails which can not be used by ATVs. A problem with all military bikes should be night riding without those big LEDs.

    I now found an article about the first German forest guard? using an electric fatbike without suspension + trailer.

    It is especially used for various controls and checks, the area you can cover increases, you are quicker and have to schlepp less. When the wetter is bad or cold the car is prefered.

    Firn
    Last edited by Firn; 01-07-2018 at 06:37 PM.
    ... "We need officers capable of following systematically the path of logical argument to its conclusion, with disciplined intellect, strong in character and nerve to execute what the intellect dictates"

    General Ludwig Beck (1880-1944);
    Speech at the Kriegsakademie, 1935

  6. #26
    Council Member Firn's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2009
    Posts
    1,297

    Default

    Attached, a Slovenian soldier on a modern eMtb with full suspension, from an article by a Slovenian Officer in the Austrian Truppendienst about the NATO Mountain Warfare Center of Excellence


    If one compares between the old and the new it's fairly obvious that former units put much thought into how best to pack a bike for war, trying to get as much weight as possible on the bike.

    Modern eMtb can be very sleek but lack considerable space compared to the old warhorses...

    Personally I had great fun to go out cycling for training or hunting, especially in Summer. In the latter case it's mostly about getting into the hunting area or to reach spotting points. Transporting roe and chamoix is duable over fireroads riding, or paths by walking the bike with some electric support but obviously recovery by 4x4 is more comfortable.

    For most military contexts a light electric motorbike from Zero or KTM would make more sense, more so if battery density does increase rapidly. A friend of mine loves his Zero which is really easy to drive if you respect the torque..

    Firn
    Attached Images Attached Images
    Last edited by Firn; 07-21-2018 at 09:01 PM.
    ... "We need officers capable of following systematically the path of logical argument to its conclusion, with disciplined intellect, strong in character and nerve to execute what the intellect dictates"

    General Ludwig Beck (1880-1944);
    Speech at the Kriegsakademie, 1935

Similar Threads

  1. Ukraine (closed; covers till August 2014)
    By Beelzebubalicious in forum Europe
    Replies: 1934
    Last Post: 08-04-2014, 07:59 PM
  2. The 2006 Hezbollah-Israeli War (catch all)
    By SWJED in forum Middle East
    Replies: 146
    Last Post: 09-12-2012, 09:30 PM
  3. COIN v. Conventional Capability Debate
    By Menning in forum The Whole News
    Replies: 77
    Last Post: 05-20-2008, 12:11 AM
  4. The Media Aren't the Enemy in Iraq
    By SWJED in forum The Information War
    Replies: 34
    Last Post: 01-29-2007, 04:01 AM

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •