CityCyclingEdinburgh was launched on the 27th of October 2009 as "an experiment".
IT’S TRUE!
CCE is 15years old!
Well done to ALL posters
It soon became useful and entertaining. There are regular posters, people who add useful info occasionally and plenty more who drop by to watch. That's fine. If you want to add news/comments it's easy to register and become a member.
RULES No personal insults. No swearing.
@neddie,
From the government web site linked to above:
---
Other kinds of electric bike
Any electric bike that does not meet the EAPC rules is classed as a motorcycle or moped and needs to be registered and taxed. You’ll need a driving licence to ride one and you must wear a crash helmet.
The bike must also be type approved if either:
it does not meet the EAPC rules
it can be propelled without pedalling (a ‘twist and go’ EAPC)
---
@neddie: Blogs are always the most trustworthy source of information, of course. I mean, what can a government web site (as linked by amir above) possibly know about the law...
The government website does not mention homebrew e-bikes specifically. There could be an exception for homebrew bikes and that would still be compatible with what is written on the government website.
I wouldn't be surprised if they deliberately didn't mention certain exemptions or grey areas.
So less of your sarky comments please.
Note at the bottom of the government website:
This should have been done by the manufacturer or importer before you bought it.
So this is specifically referring to shop-bought, manufactured e-bikes, not necessarily hamebrew e-bikes...
Children. Play nice or I shall write a haiku.
My charging port has had a malfunction which I received an email warning about. The whole of the control module needs replacing. However this is not the end of the world as the bike has been built with this in mind and allows the entire control module to be slid out of the top tube and replaced with a new one they're posting me. I send the old one back to be refitted and then kept for aftermarket sales I assume.
Not going to complain about getting a brand new battery one year in!
@neddie,
"The government website does not mention homebrew e-bikes specifically."
Don't think it matters if it's a home-brew bike or not. If it meets the EAPC rules, fine. If not, it's an "other" kind of electric bike and you need helmet, licence, insurance, type approval, etc.
Make of this what you will:
https://www.pedelecs.co.uk/dft-pedal-cycles-converted-twist-go-exempt-type-approval/
The Department for Transport has today confirmed to Pedelecs that an ordinary cycle, already ridden on public roads as such and subsequently converted to a ‘twist and go’ electric bike, will not require type approval.
The DfT further clarified that type approval ‘only applies to new vehicles, not converted ones’.
Their response reiterates that ‘twist and go’ type approval requirements are directed at the manufacturers, meaning that ‘riders making conversions are not committing an offence’
The important bit in the exemption being: [formerly] an ordinary cycle, already ridden on public roads
My take on this is that the exemption means you can use a twist-and-go type throttle, but you still need to meet the EAPC regs if you wish to avoid tax, insurance, license and be able to use the bike paths.
That seems sensible. It is a cheaper way to get an e-bike.
The government site linked to above (https://www.gov.uk/electric-bike-rules) is either wrong, or being disingenuous. You can fit a motor with a maximum power output well in excess of 250W provided it's maximum continuous rating is 250W or under. If 250W was the maximum then starting a well laden cargo bike up hill would be almost impossible.
From what I can see twist and go throttles are allows under British rather than European rules:
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/780603/electrically-assisted-pedal-cycles.pdf
Although the pedelecs site suggests that some of this document is now outdated.
If we can't agree what the law is there is zero prospect of anyone in the Loanhead call centre taking me seriously.
https://www.cyclinguk.org/blog/how-having-e-trike-changed-my-life
"Ian Tallach has significantly restricted mobility as a result of multiple sclerosis, he explains how having an e-trike through the WheelNess project has helped him reclaim his freedom and expand his world."
Carla trailers (mentioned a few pages ago in this thread) now being used to deliver beer on Constitution St during tramworks:
https://twitter.com/TramstoNewhaven/status/1202651814296014850
Council has four new ones but waiting until lecky cars get moved and bikes getting their spaces. Will be many mots i imagine.
Popped into Rodney st Coop last week and some folk were picking up 3very fancy Rohloff ebikes for a sharing scheme.
They looked a bit heavyweight but very nice for all that.
council gone for cheaper ones I think
someone has there own Kalkhoff locked in the basement it looks good
Should have won Richard Osman’s thing of the decade instead of emojis
THEIR Kalkhoff in basement at work has not moved (is not in fact an e-bike)
@chdot, a revolution for the Dalgety Bay to Leith commuters!?
Interesting that @ARobComp gets such good battery life. We have a standard 400 watt-hour battery on our e-bike which is mainly used for pulling double child trailer. It does one 5 mile inbound, 5 mile outbound journey only before needing a recharge. You can go a bit further, but no way will it do two commutes on one charge. (For only half of this distance is it pulling the trailer at all). I would expect to be able to go full throttle for (400 watt-hours / 250W = 90 minutes) but not the case.
I highly recommend it and would definitely replace it. That said, it is a bit frustrating having the 15mph cut-off which makes it (when not towing the trailer) quite a bit slower than riding our other bikes. It leads to a lot more being overtaken by cars and other riders.
When you look at, say, an identical Shimano e-bike with the US limit of 20mph the regulations drop off a cliff:
- no child seat or child trailer allowed
- only very limited legal parts, for example, no legal studded tyre options for winter
- no bus lanes or railway paths
- wear a motorbike helmet (!!)
- find a car garage to give you an MOT certificate (!!)
- car tax, insurance, other admin
All of this to ride basically the same bike I own now, but with a 4mph higher speed cut off. You can of course simply pedal it faster than the cut-off. However, in reality you won't have the legs to do this on a heavy e-bike, so you just experience quite a lot more overtaking (by other riders, also cars) than on a non e-bike.
Maybe post brexit we'll align with US bike standards? Fingers crossed ;-)
My OH#s e-bike will do well over 100km with her 400 Wh battery (assuming not too hilly etc), with loaded panniers. It is quite an economical motor (Bosch Active plus rather than the more powerful motors) and she tends to use the lowest level of support unless it is hilly. Pulling a trailer must be a lot of extra grunt then.
I quite like the limiter as it means I can keep up with her!
I don't really Strava any more, but it has a few years of data so I just checked and on NEPN, out of 599 "attempts", 555 were over the e-bike cut-off speed - 93% of the time, it would be harder or slower by e-bike (downhill).
370 out of 568 "attempts" going up from Leith to town were over the cut-off, so 65% of the time, I was riding faster than the e-bike cut off uphill.
However pulling the bike trailer up to the pentland hills, before e-bike it was a struggle to do 10mph, now it's pegged at just over 15mph, which is a huge time saving!
Electric hovercraft??
https://www.heraldscotland.com/opinion/18155599.need-network-fast-ferries-edinburgh-lothians-fife/
“
In the UK, the potential of electric cycles (or e-cycles) has been largely ignored by the Government, despite the fact that they are currently out-selling electric cars in the UK and beyond. For example, e-cycles have proven very popular in the Netherlands amongst older generations who are typically retired. This is because they help people travel further, with less effort, and can also help those less confident on a bike to start cycling.
“
https://garve.org/community-e-bike-trial
"The Energy Saving Trust has a pool of electric bikes available to borrow free of charge for up to 3 weeks, and have placed one for use within Garve and District with a local community member".
The ebike revolution is spreading...
Hope they're careful on the level crossing!
Which reminds me; yesterday I reached the "inaugural test lap stage" of the project to retrofit a Tongsheng motor to my touring bike. To my amazement (via a vis my technical ability, rather than the kit itself), it worked.
Collection of posts here, should anyone be considering the same thing.
I purchased a gtech ebike just before the lockdown I got just after, unfortunately it is faulty, probably just needs a non faulty battery/computer but can't really find out at the moment.
I posted this 5 months ago, I don't even remember looking at this bike back then but it does make me feel better since it was apparently not an impulse decision
I am considering a ebike for my commute, there is a gtech I seen with a belt drive, the works looks like it would be ideal. But I'd also quite like a new mtb.
I took my state-sanctioned exercise by riding our new cargo e-bike to the allotment to bring some compost home in case the allotment is locked down (currently we're told that allotmenting counts as exercise, but I guess that may change).
Relevant to this thread because I have just brought 20+kg of compost all the way up Craiglockhart Avenue and Glenlockhart Road at 15mph without breaking sweat. The battery is emptier than when I started, obviously, and my cheeks are still a bit sore from grinning so much. I've had an Elephant Bike for ages, and than can carry huge amounts of stuff, but it's so slow. This e-bike is totally competitive with a car for urban journeys. Amazing.
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