Electric bicycles

[Guest]

1 hour ago, The Johnster said:

This is something that I might be interested in, as riding my road bike has become hardere even after I replaced with flat handlebars.  Unfortunately, they've got one of those really annoying websites that refuses to tell you the price of anything, which makes me a bit suspicious of them.  I like the idea, though.

 

They make them in small batches (like O gauge kits). You sign up to their mailing list and when they do a run they'll give you a price and a link to buy. I think it ws about £450 last time depending on battery size. It might be more next time what with everything being awful.

[ejstubbs]

On 18/12/2022 at 10:49, Derekl said:

Just bear in mind that being over the limit on a bicycle is the same offence as driving when over the limit. If caught, you lose your licence to drive, although I agree that it is less likely to happen and you are much less of a threat to others on a bike than in a car.

 

As Lochgorm said, this is not true.  See https://www.slatergordon.co.uk/newsroom/is-it-illegal-to-ride-a-bicycle-when-drunk/:

 

Quote

 

The maximum penalty for cycling whilst under the influence of drink or drugs is a £1,000 fine. This is also the case for careless or inconsiderate cycling. The maximum penalty for dangerous cycling is a £2,500 fine.

 

You wouldn’t, however, get any points on your driving license should you have one, as it isn’t a driving offence.

 

 

On 18/12/2022 at 14:47, Bernard Lamb said:

Please ensure that you not only insure the ebike for peace of mind but more importantly it is essential to take out third party cover before venturing onto public roads.

 

No more or less essential than when riding a normal, non-assisted bike on public roads.  Specifically, there is no obligation in law to have third party insurance when riding an EAPC-compliant e-bike on public roads.  Non-EAPC-compliant e-bikes (sometimes also known as "speed pedelecs") are electric motorcycles in the eyes of the law and the same laws apply to them (and e-scooters) as to other motor vehicles (though the e-scooter lobby is pushing to to get that changed).

 

Which is not to say that third party insurance is not a good idea, for the reasons you cite.  As Butler Henderson pointed out, many household insurance policies include cover for such risks, and cycling organisations such as British Cycling include cover in their membership.  Many cyclists have cancelled their British Cycling membership due to their recent deal with Shell.  Cycling UK (the CTC as was) offer £10M third party cover as part of their membership package.

 

On 18/12/2022 at 19:59, Enterprisingwestern said:

Did the regenerative braking on Worsbrough Bank recharge the battery?

 

Regenerative braking is rare to non-existent in the EAPC market.  One main reason is that it requires a direct drive motor, which is not compatible with what is generally regarded as the best assistance system which acts through the pedals and drive train: being a standard drive train from the pedals to the rear wheel - including in particular a freewheel hub - there's no way to drive the motor from the wheel when braking, or freewheeling downhill.    Rear or front wheel drive systems might be more amenable to regenerative braking but even then it has to date been generally accepted that the cost and additional complexity of the electrical systems required to support regenerative braking do not justify the rather underwhelming expected benefits (one article I read suggested an estimated range increase of 1.5miles, which arguably falls within the category of rounding error in real life applications).  Yes, there are e-bikes out there which have regenerative braking but AFAIK none of them are EAPC-compliant, and many/most of them are explicitly or implicitly sold as e-motorcyles, not EAPCs.

 

On 18/12/2022 at 19:53, big jim said:

one thing to bear in mind is the weight of ebikes, the vengence was 25kg so quite weighty to be lifting on and off the roof mounted cycle rack on the car

 

I went for a towbar mounted bike rack after acquiring my eMTB.  As well as being a whole lot easier to load the bike on to than a roof mounted rack, it also significantly reduces aerodynamic drag, and thus helps my MPG.

 

I have, however, developed a fairly good technique for lifting the eMTB over gates and other impediments to progress when riding off-road in this enlightened part of the UK (hint: if all else fails, taking the battery off might help!)

 

On 18/12/2022 at 14:37, Nearholmer said:

There’s a cycling thread on here, wherein at least one, and possibly more participants know a lot about e-bikes.

 

I'm afraid I set that thread to 'ignore' soon after it was started after reading one too many snidey and ill-informed comments about e-bikes.  It may have become more e-bike-friendly since then but TBH blocking yet another thread that would otherwise tempt me to return on a regular basis just to "check it out" helps keep my time wasted online somewhat under control, as well as reducing the temptation to buy more stuff (saying which, just yesterday I let myself be tempted into buying a new bike light that someone had recommended on another forum ☹️).

Edited December 20, 2022 by ejstubbs
TIdying up a few bits

[admiles]

On 18/12/2022 at 11:33, Wheatley said:

Beware if planning to take them on the train. All TOCs currently carry e-bikes but usually with the proviso that they must fit in a standard bike space/rack and the details vary from TOC to TOC.  The ones which look more like an electric moped may not fit and you won't be allowed to just dump it in the wheelchair space. 

 

E-scooters are a different can of worms altogether; expect them to be banned across most of the network before too long, they already are on TfL, Merseyrail, Northern and LNER, with others likely to follow suit. The issue with e-scooters is their pyromaniac tendencies, which the road-legal (and therefore better regulated) e-bikes don't have. 

 

And yes, one if my former bosses once got done for being drunk in charge of a bicycle. 

 

Interestingly there are more regulations and Trading Standards checks on imported electric scooters than there are electric bicycles. The reason being electric scooters are classed as toys and bicycles are not.  So, in theory, electric scooters should be safer and less likely to self-combust!

[The Johnster]

On 19/12/2022 at 19:30, 30801 said:

It might be more next time what with everything being awful.

 

 

This is the best summary I have ever seen of modern life, thank you for the smile, Sir Meliot.