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CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Stuff
EBC joins battery charge
(16 posts)-
Posted 13 years ago #
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the they're/there/their confusion is one that drives some teachers batty
others do not like the its/it's confusion
electric bikes are great for going up hills
Posted 13 years ago # -
Met a woman in Strathardle who rides her electric bike down to Kirkmichael everyday. She said it was her 'second car' which puzzled me a little at first, but then she made the point that she'd either got rid of a car or not had to buy one because of having the electric bike. The hill back was just too much for her, but she didn't want to drive up/down everyday. Made sense to me.
Posted 13 years ago # -
@SRD, I think that shows electric bikes appeal to the sort of folk who might otherwise have considered a conventional moped. Lower speed, but no motorcycle helmet, license or insurance required!
I daresay if I reach my 70s and the hills are getting too steep, an electric bike will be great for me too. Electric assist on a cargo bike, or one pulling a heavily laden trailer, makes sense too.
Posted 13 years ago # -
Crowriver, doubtless your principle is right. Not sure this case fits -- older woman who said she had tried cycling, but got home exhausted (uphill all the way).
I think she was more a case of 'cyclist getting older, needing more assist' but not wanting to stop cycling.
Posted 13 years ago # -
Crow, have you considered the chemicals in the batteries?
The electricity has to be made somewhere. Citibank has said that it's a bad idea to invest in Scottish renewables and the UK prime minster agreed.
Another solution might be something which allows lower gearing.
Posted 13 years ago # -
"Another solution might be something which allows lower gearing."
It certainly used to be the case that bicycles were 'over-geared' for many people/terrains.
Since mountain bikes triple chainsets (particularly the smallest ring) mean that 'practical' gearing is available to all.
Chemicals and and electricity generation are valid issues.
Battery technology is much better than (say) ten years ago, but there are still compromises/constraints around weight/capacity/charging times/longevity.
The 'bigger picture' in this context includes things like whether people are helped to be active for longer (it's generally necessary to pedal too) and how much electric bikes keep cars off the road.
Some years ago when electric bikes were a pretty new idea, Raleigh produced the Select.
The first one MacDonald's sold was to a man who had just lost his licence...
Posted 13 years ago # -
I've chatted to a couple of people with motor-assisted bikes. They were both older folk who would have given up cycling without the help that the wee motor gives. There's two circumstances when they use them - up hills, certainly. There's some pretty short but pretty steep wee hills around here. Also at junctions, giving it enough power to get away smoothly and safely. Minimising use was an important factor in maximising the range of the bike so there's plenty of pedalling going on.
Sure, there's battery issues to consider, if you're concerned about the environmental impact but since their alternative would be to use their car, I'd guess that the bikes are better both for the environment and the users' health.
Posted 13 years ago # -
Oh, and I heard a nice piece on the radio the other day fairly comprehensively trashing that analyst's note from Citibank as a piece of lazy, one-source (implicitly plagiarised) PR puff against independence rather than a serious analysis of the future of renewables. Hence the agreement from Dave. At least that's the impression they were giving. Didn't quite use those words. I'm paraphrasing.
Posted 13 years ago # -
I have mixed views on this, in general thinking its a bit lazy using a motor if you are fairly fit.
However, extending older / less able peoples biking life sounds like a good thing.
I wonder how much slower / faster these are compared with the french velomoto (almost a sub moped beast) - which presumably police class as a motorbike ?
Posted 13 years ago # -
I wasn't really supporting the bankers. The US government has bailed them out to the tune of billions so their advice is suspect. I was more surprised to hear the UK PM back them up.
I also get a wee bit annoyed when electric vehicles are promoted as the answer to transport and environment problems. There is a simpler solution available for anyone willing to get off their butt and try it.
Posted 13 years ago # -
On the battery issue, cars have batteries too and they use fossil fuels. As for electric cars, they just seem like a bad idea to me in terms of the latent energy required to produce them, and the energy required to charge them. Bikes are much less demanding.
For older folk, certainly. Also I'd suggest for 'car alternative' assisted cargo carrying. Still a much smaller environmental footprint than a car.
Posted 13 years ago # -
Being young and fit, I was of the opinion that electric assist was a load of needless extra weight to haul around with you if you wanted to get up hills. But then I read some articles written by people who otherwise would not have been able to cycle as their age or a condition precluded it. If it allows them to cycle then I think they are wonderful things. I still don't think they are (or, considering what has to go into batteries and circuitry) should be the norm when people of all ages, shapes and sizes have proved beyond doubt that two wheels a chain and some pedals are the most sensible way to get about.
Amir and I passed an old gent on his tourer happily winding along the back road to Carrington this morning. Assos jacket I think! We agreed that if we were still out and pedalling in the autumn sunshine at his age we would be content.
Posted 13 years ago # -
We agreed that if we were still out and pedalling in the autumn sunshine at his age we would be content.
If you keep fit and active, no reason why you shouldn't! Unless the proverbial bus is fallen under, etc.
Then again by the time you're that old buses will be obsolete, all the motorists will be in flying solar powered cars, and intercontinental journeys will be by teleport (fusion powered). Roads will be perfectly smooth, under surface heating will keep them free from ice, and they will be reserved for cyclists and pedestrians. Bicycles will be built from ever lasting, super light, stronger than steel unobtanium, transported by teleport from recently discovered Unobtanus, the 25th planet which is an eerie, unpopulated doppelgänger of Earth on the other side of the Sun, directly opposite in the same orbit (we never noticed it before as we weren't looking at that bit of space properly). Oh yeah, we'll have discovered immortality too.
Posted 13 years ago # -
the 25th planet which is an eerie, unpopulated doppelgänger of Earth on the other side of the Sun, directly opposite in the same orbit (we never noticed it before as we weren't looking at that bit of space properly).
You can joke about that, have you ever had to gently redirect an S6 pupil who thought exoplanet resources were a good idea and discussed it in her baccalaureate proposal?
I mentioned that Voyager 1 was launched in '77 and hasn't made it out of the solar system yet.
Posted 13 years ago # -
imho electric vehicles are not "the answer" any more than everyone riding bicycles is "the answer.
Any solution to our transport/pollution/road carnage problems will involve a number of different solutions.
I do believe however that electric vehicles may well form *part* of the answer.
Firstly however we need to move away from trying to make electric powered copies of petrol/diesel vehicles and consider aerodynamics etc seriously before it is an avenue worth pursuing.Posted 13 years ago #
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