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Haibike's new high-torque Flyon e-bike system and the e-version of the Lapierre Xelius are two of the highlights at Raleigh's dealer show, which opened for business today at the company's Eastwood HQ.
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CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Cycling News
"The electric bike is not a short-term trend"
(501 posts)-
Posted 5 years ago #
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Continued shocking @scotgov #SiloThinking. Need integrated #Emobility policy so people/business shown #ebike #cargobike options, not solely #EV.
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https://twitter.com/spokeslothian/status/1045279033028743169
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Posted 5 years ago #
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Posted 5 years ago #
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Rad Power Bikes has announced the release of the RadBurro electric cargo trike in Europe, with a 1,500W motor and proprietary modular attachments that can haul a payload of up to 315kg.
The company is also hoping to bring sustainable transportation and last-mile delivery solutions to Europe through the formation of a dedicated Commercial Division.
Unlike traditional European e-bikes, Rad Power Bikes’ RadBurro and fleet of e-bikes feature more power, pedal assistance, and an on-demand throttle, giving businesses and government operations an alternative to gas powered utility vehicles.
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https://www.bikebiz.com/business/rad-power-bikes-to-release-radburro-in-europe
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Posted 5 years ago #
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Katie Archibald on fire here:
“Anyway, I do enough pedalling hard. When I’m going to the cinema or when I’m going to the shops or out for dinner, I don’t want to pedal hard anymore. I want to be dressed in my finest and sat so upright I could be playing the piano but somehow still travel everywhere at 25kph. Which is why the ‘e’ element of this purchase is so important.
I was, for some reason, still completely overjoyed with the experience though; maybe be a bad sign of my objectivity (or lack thereof) in this potential purchase. But, whatever. It made me happy so I want one of my own so I can feel happy all the time.“
Read the whole thing.
Posted 5 years ago # -
I have ordered mine. Take delivery in the next 6-8 weeks. Now I just need to navigate the next stage of the e-bike loan form... It's been a sub par experience so far clearly cloned from buying cars, rather than designed specifically to make it easy to buy bikes.
Should note that mine is being purchased for the same reasons as outlined in the article. I want to be able to ride pretty far reasonably quickly without having to take kit with me. I also refuse to take buses. Until they figure out how to stop them being germ boxes I shall be continuing to avoid them.
Posted 5 years ago # -
On this week’s Landward Dougie Vipond rides an ebike through the Cairngorms towards Feshiebridge. He enjoys the experience, although he says the added weight of the ebike is felt when pushing over some of the tougher tracks.
Also, a bit about Barney’s brewing bean beer.
Warning: this episode provokes strong feelings about cycling in the mountains and drinking beer
Posted 5 years ago # -
@arobcomp yes the e bike will do that for sure.
Instead of carrying kit and changing I just arrive for a meeting and sit down.
Not on your bike today I get asked, then after meeting out to the car park and everyone who wants gets a shot.
The bag that clips on to the rack is ok but could be bigger. The rack has oversize tubes and there is nowhere fr the ortlieb bottom hook. But these are details to do with the bag ranger than the bike.
On,y issue really is that you, me and Katie already cycle. We need to prise the single occupant car drivers out of vehicles.
Also agree about germs on buses
Posted 5 years ago # -
Saw a chap in civvies on an e-bike (touring type, rear assist) cruising up Regent Road the other morning with minimal effort. Nice bike I thought, but couldn't fail to notice the saddle was way too low, about as low as it was possible to go in fact. Chap's knees were rising well above his backside on the upstroke of the pedals. Yes e-bike means it is possible to pedal uphill with highly sub-optimal saddle position, but he'd find it even easier with a properly adjusted perch, thought I. Occurred to me that he was perhaps a driver who has converted to e-bike, as drivers are used to having knees above bottom when travelling.
Posted 5 years ago # -
PedalMe Ebike service in London is looking for investors..
Posted 5 years ago # -
Urban Arrow love these guys. Your product vs cabs in a major European capital city. (We think we do well for them in a minor European capital of course!)
Posted 5 years ago # -
We've looking for an e-bike (trekking style) for my OH. As a consequence I've learnt the following:
1) Cube has great prices but little availability, at least at this time of year. One shop owner said the bottleneck is at Bosch - the motor suppliers.
2) We were looking for a bike with a long range for touring and longer range. Power not so important as on road and just to remove the worst pain of the hills and ensure that OH can keep up with slavedriver.
3) So we looked for a 500 watt option. Cube would have been perfect but would have converted a cross bike into a tourer - knocks price up - tourers just not available. We found a bargain cross bike with Evans - super reduction - but this had a Bosch CX motor (see chdot's link above). This has much better performance in terms of power than the base Active Plus motor, but the range is much reduced. In fact it's better on the whole to get a 400 w battery with an Active plus for range.
4) the tool at https://www.bosch-ebike.com/en/service/range-assistant/ is helpful
5) This site gives info on reliability: https://pedelecmonitor.wordpress.com/mittelmotoren/
There has been quite a lot of chatter about reliability of a certain make of motor - so we are avoiding that.In the end our ideal combo is likely to be a Boch Active Plus with a 500w battery. This is because the motor is not overly powerful so the range is good compared to other options. It also has a reasonable reputation for reliability. However it is more likely that we'll go for a 400w on grounds of price and availibility. One option is to buy a back-up battery for tours, if my OH actually wants to cycle far enough.
Posted 5 years ago # -
@amir, EBC had a kalkhoff with 600w battery manufacturers claiming 205 km range. EBC themselves reduce this to 100km
Posted 5 years ago # -
I did see that and was tempted. But then saw the INTERNET and got scared
Posted 5 years ago # -
@amir, ah yes, always good to check reviews, possible reduced for a reason, was bit too pricey but then I am hoping when I really need a Lecky bike the price point of a good one will have come down. Showing how my mind works I was also turns off because claimed there was a rack but I could not see a rack in pictures
Posted 5 years ago # -
Thanks gembo. The make of the bikes seems so sensibly German. It appears that they use Bosch motors on some bikes.
Posted 5 years ago # -
@amir and @gembo: Please can we try to use the correct units for the things we're talking about? Battery capacity for pedelecs is quoted in watt hours (Wh). The maximum power output of the motor is measured in watts. Confusing the two is like confusing the capacity of a car's fuel tank in gallons with the power of its engine in Hp. It's just that the SI units, unfortunately, are easy to get mixed up for those who don't really understand them - but the result is then jarringly confusing for those who do. (Sorry.)
It would be less confusing (for engineers at least) if battery capacities were quoted in joules. The joule is the derived SI unit for energy. The watt is the unit for power, or in other words the rate at which energy is turned in to useful work - or in other terms, it's the unit of energy conversion. The watt is defined as one joule per second. The watt hour is simply 3,600 joules.
Very simplistically a 500 Wh battery can provide power to a motor delivering a continuous 250 W of power (the limit for EAPCs) for two hours. However, this makes no allowance for losses in the process of converting the chemical energy in the battery in to electrical energy, and then in to mechanical energy in the motor. But then very few pedelec users will demand a continuous 250 W from their bike's motor for a whole two hours anyway. For example, my eMTB typically uses one or two blobs out of five on the display in a ninety minute outing.
What the previous paragraph basically tells us is that the Wh rating of a battery isn't actually much use as an absolute guide to how long your battery is going to last in real-world use. It's main utility is as a number which can be used to compare different batteries. There's no reason why joules wouldn't work just as well for that purpose. A 500 Wh battery is an 1,800 kJ battery, a 400 Wh battery is a 1,440 kJ battery, and a 600 Wh battery is a 2,160 kJ battery. Bigger number = more capacity. What more does a punter actually need to know?
Unfortunately the marketing people seem to have decided that Wh was, for some reason, preferable. Which then causes pain for engineers when said punters use the wrong units for battery capacity because they're so easy to confuse with the units for power (which most punters don't actually understand as a concept anyway).
It's also the case that battery capacity in other situations is quoted in even more confusing units, the prime example being mAh used for the "capacity" of small electrical cells, including mobile phone batteries. That actually makes no sense as an energy capacity figure unless you also know the rated voltage of the cell - and bear in mind that NiMH and NiCd cells (the typical "rechargeable batteries" that are charged in a separate charger) and Li-Ion cells as used in mobile phones, tablets and other embedded applications produce significantly different voltages (~1.2 V for NiCd/NiMMH vs 3.7V for Li-Ion). But as a number to use for comparison purposes between cells of the same type and therefore voltage, it's basically fine.
Posted 5 years ago # -
“What more does a punter actually need to know?”
Cost of replacement battery!
Also whether there will be a ‘standard’ swappable battery.
Posted 5 years ago # -
"What more does a punter actually need to know?
The rates of replenishment and reduction?
Posted 5 years ago # -
@ejstubbs yes sorry the kalkhoff that EBC reduced has battery capacity of 603 Wh. My apologies. Kalkhoff converted this to 205 km of totally flat road at slow pace. EBC halved this. Well very slightly more than halved it to 100km.
It had rim brakes which I think are bad on a lecky as the initial thrust is better controlled by disc.
It had the battery up under the rack which I prefer the look of but the Internet suggests makes the bike less stable. THe ones at work are the same set up and the step thru is a very stable ride but the hybrid I find a pain to get on and off when the briefcase is on the rack.
Though these are lesser conditions to my mind than the life of the battery - 1000 charging cycles, the distance the battery lasts between charges and the cost of a new battery.
The Bosch motor at the cranks is the winner for the best motor position I think this is widely accepted?
Posted 5 years ago # -
Not withstanding errors in units, my OH is now electrified. Test run tomorrow to get an idea of real world ranges. I'll be fuelled by cake.
Posted 5 years ago # -
@amir, it is The Future
Posted 5 years ago # -
The Future is Now.
We trialed the new member of the squadron on a hilly ride to Humbie. Smiles all the way around. Used less than half capacity. Next target may be Inners via the Granites
Posted 5 years ago # -
@amir, these are good routes for the lecky bike. Humbie Hub great, no1 Peebles Road great.
For longer extension leave Inners, take backroad Cadrona, hit Peebles, get out quick, go up the majestic Meldons, then 3D map of Scotland then Shiplaw then Penicuick and home. Should be ok on one battery?
Posted 5 years ago # -
It's a good suggestion on the way back. Not sure about battery range that far. Will inch out!
Posted 5 years ago # -
@gembo - how bad is the driving on the A703 between Peebles and Penicuik?
Posted 5 years ago #
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