Chit Chat
There is currently 1 person viewing this thread.
These 103 comments are related to the topic:
Electric Bike
Electric Bike
sort by:
Show
per page
Replies: 103
|
By:
 Looking forward to seeing the electric version of this on Tomorrow's World. |
|
By:
Kind of reminds me of those ads you used to get in the back of American comic books back in the 70s some crazy stuff
|
|
By:
A CHARLES ATLAS body in SEVEN days with DYNAMIC TENSION!
With free ANT FARM! As seen on TV! |
|
By:
Sure there was a cardboard submarine once? Can remember all manner of super hero costumes with some big claims also all manner of guns and spy stuff
|
|
By:
 |
|
By:
"Postal Bargains".....believe it or not, I used to do these for an advertising agency, to assist with their overflow.
This was back in the mid to late '60s and there were all manner of crummy things to do! Struggling to remember now but the one that comes straight to mind was a "Breast Developer".... |
|
By:
Cycling whether electricity assisted or not solves so many problems.
I was reading a school text book about the UK in Sweden recently. They thought it very amusing that in such an overcrowded island where the road system struggles to cope the government's answer is to build more roads or widen them. This encourages people to use their cars which means the roads get even more crowded so the govt. have to build more roads etc. |
|
By:
Yeah, Tesco reviews are excellent, starting with this one
. "I got a electric bike last week and the engine is not working when I paddle my bike what do I do" Read more at http://www.tesco.com/direct/hopper-city-electric-bike/432-0796.prd#FJZXqVUbKBBkmXYZ.99 |
|
By:
AP^^ The one I always laughed at was the soap saver - when a bar of soap gets very small it gets hard to use. This great invention saved all those little bits up and made a new bar. The only problem was it took so many little bits of soap to make a whole bar, people buying one of these in the 70's still wouldn't have gathered enough today to make a bar. Total scam that looked great on the advert but was never a money saver.
Couldn't find the actual device with a Google search but this is what I mean: http://www.instructables.com/id/Use-Your-Old-Soap-Scraps-and-enjoy-it/?ALLSTEPS ------------------------------------- I am genuinly interested in Electric bikes but I just feel so much can go wrong with them for me to make the investment. I'd love feedback from the O/P after a months use to see if everything is working as it seems. |
|
By:
The rest of Northern Europe sussed it in the 1970s that encouraging people to use the car rather than other means of transport leads to major expensive problems so why doesn't the UK see it 40 years later?
|
|
By:
electric bike offends allah in many ways, here are just a few:
1. electricity 2. the use of 2 wheels 3. the use of any wheels 4. combining wheels with electricity 5. the thought of a woman staddling something 6. the combination of staddling with electricity 7. the combination of wheels and straddling 8. that it may cause a woman to think of something being straddled 9. chains are not for causing the movement of wheels by women especially when combined with electricity there are many more such offences |
|
By:
Ridiculous, but I remember my parents having one of those small baskets, with a handle, for swishing around in the bath!
|
|
By:
Sorry, but this thread has somehow gone from "Electric Bike" to "Soap"!
Only our dearly departed "Do Wah Diddy" was the expert in sabotaging any thread! |
|
By:
X Ray specs, Soap saver, electric bikes all gadgets we are led to believe will change our lives. I'm interested in an electric bike but would worry about maintenance being a hassle. I'm not sure it would make me get rid of my car especially on cold wet windy mornings.
Interesting post though and I'd like to hear opinions. |
|
By:
It's not a question of getting rid of the car but simply not making the car the default method of personal travel when there are better alternatives.
|
|
By:
The cost of bikes is not the barrier to participation ( which is why the bike to work discount scheme is misguided - it benefits the rich anyway ).
The barrier to cycling is fear of getting knocked down. We could change to north european rules where the presumption is that the driver is at fault if there's a knock down a cyclist, but the UK wouldn't go for that. Or just enforce existing rules - loads of drivers overtake cyclists on junctions ( highway code says you shouldn't ) and almost no-one signals to overtake a cyclist. |
|
By:
I thought this was another Hingis fred..
|
|
By:
In seven years ownership of an electric bike (with no car) I've had no reliability issues. Just three or four punctures, all in the first three years. Nothing at all since (I think I've cracked the puncture problem - touch wood). I probably do about five thousand miles pa.
That said, the kit (bike, motor and batteries) were all very good to start with, could certainly not be described as cheap (eg £140 for a battery that's good for no more than 10 miles fully charged) and are kept in near immaculate nick. Hassles: just one - traffic. I'm lucky to be retired and can thus avoid commuting times. Oddly enough, electric bikes help a bit with traffic. Because they're so fast and make wind / hills an irrelevance, taking a longer, steeper, more windy route to avoid traffic is not much of a problem. In addition, the extra acceleration from an e-bike makes big road junctions and roundabouts seem less hazardous. Nevertheless, Bongo (20:06) is right - and about the cycle to work scheme too. I would heartily recommend them. I would not swap mine for a car. They keep you fit (how much is up to you, depending on how much time you have it switched on - for me about 20%, the bad bits), put a range on your cycling (miles and cargoe) you would not have thought possible and, perhaps most attractive of all, allow you to look down on all those flabby, idle motorists whilst, at the same time, doing feck all work yourself. And running costs are low - 10 miles for 1p. |
|
By:
How many 10-mile charges do you get out of one of those £140 batteries before it needs replacing?
|
|
By:
Between 500 and 1000. The batteries lose power and capacity gradually. The battery that came with the bike in its original form lasted 4 or 5 years in full use and lost maybe a third its original performance over that time. I'm expecting about the same from the current batteries, but they are also a lot lighter and smaller - they weigh 700gm and are approx. 140mm x 80mm x 50mm. One slips neatly into a small saddle bag. They also run the bike's lights - best solution I've ever found to cycle lighting.
|
|
By:
laroche
15 Jul 15 21:45 Joined: 02 Jan 02 | Topic/replies: 446 | Blogger: laroche's blog In seven years ownership of an electric bike (with no car) I've had no reliability issues. Just three or four punctures, all in the first three years. Nothing at all since (I think I've cracked the puncture problem - touch wood). I probably do about five thousand miles pa. That said, the kit (bike, motor and batteries) were all very good to start with, could certainly not be described as cheap (eg £140 for a battery that's good for no more than 10 miles fully charged) and are kept in near immaculate nick. What is the best way to maintain your batteries, do you fully discharge them first before charging them back up, or do you charge them at 50% or just as and when? I have read conflicting reports on the best way to maintain the battery life. |
|
By:
Currently, I have two of these.
http://www.bosch-professional.com/gb/en/gba-36-v-20-ah-h-b-34844-ocs-p/ I just conform to the instructions which, for these, is charge as often as you like - from / to whatever state of charge you like. But they are protected against deep discharge. Generally, I keep them charged and rotate them. The old battery was different chemistry (nimh compared to lithium) and needed to be fully charged before being left unused for a month of more. It also required a deep discharge every three months or so. But your battery will surely be lithium, so I would just follow the instructions. |
|
By:
Thanks the maintenance of batteries was my only real worry about my bike.
|
|
By:
Good for you macarony. One day the UK will see the stupidity of using a car for all personal transport.
|
|
By:
Great info Laroche, it certainly encourages me to get one.
|
|
By:
SOAP
You need to have been here some time to know that one.  |
|
By:
I haven't done any research, but do they not do a Kers system for bikes like in F1? Perhaps you could charge the battery while coasting?
|
|
By:
Barry
BionX, a Canadian firm I think, have been making a regenerative motor for some years. But I think its good reputation stems as much from its robustness and reliability than from its electricity generation capabilities. Apparently, you'd have to go down a hill seven times to generate sufficient power to go up it once! |
|
By:
http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/hopper-city-electrical-bike-cheapest-electric-bike-around-257-95-delivered-plus-2259430
There's a 6 speed geared Electric Bike for £275 which I'm told is easier to pedal and sems a better deal. |
|
By:
The bike still running well went to my daughters house today, its about a six mile round trip
nice and easy way to travel. couple of weeks ago I lent the bike for the weekend to a workmate who's wife has a bad knee, she liked so much they are buying one. |
|
By:
Like an bicycle though these things are so easy to steel. They are 200 or so thefts a month around here it's an epidemic. The thieves just use a paid of industrial bolt cutters that go through any chain. The law needs to be tightened up....there's a big gap in the market for some kind of security feature.
Then there's the very high risk of being 'clipped' by a motorist or being trapped on the left side of a turning van. |
|
By:
any*
|
|
By:
Use a u-lock then.
The risk of being struck by a motorist or a van is not "very high". It's very low. A cyclist is in no more danger than a pedestrian. Much less danger if you're on a road without a pavement or if you're a pedestrian trying to cross a road. |
|
By:
Photo of my steed. Motor in the front wheel, battery in saddle bag, pedal sensor (you have to pedal for the motor to work) right at the bottom of the frame (very small, not visible) and an on/off switch on the handlebars.
I put this together myself, with minimalism in mind. |
|
By:
No photo link appears!
My first photo upload. Ah, 'pending approval'. Probably a long time. Apologies. |
|
By:
Re above.
 |
|
By:
Thinly veiled "Look! I collect garden gnomes!" photo imo.
Also, your fence needs creosoting. (PS Well done on the bike; I'd find it very odd to ride with straight handlebars, but other than that I'd seriously consider the idea if lived up a major incline again; for now my Trek roadbike can still keep up with district-nurse types electrically whizzing up the local hills.) |
|
By:
Not guilty! It's my sister's garden....and the garage roof is in a far worse state than the fence!
Not too keen on the bars myself. They're too long (600mm tip to tip) and twist the arms into an unnatural position. If I didn't live in a city I would have drops. But in the ever present traffic the extra control and the immediate access to the brake levers are handy. Shortening them (maybe 10% or so to start with) and fitting bar ends might provide a little more comfort on quieter roads. |
|
By:
Yes. Bar ends can make a difference, but, as you say, they need shorter bars.
I live out in the sticks in Somerset, where I don't think I've ever cycled on a level road. Drop handlebars are part of the experience, along with humming the 1980s Channel 4 Tour de France theme as you stand out of the saddle while you climb, then rewarding yourself by freewheeling downhill at speeds which would terrify you if you saw someone else doing it. |
|
By:
When I first got the bike, about seven years ago, it had rather long bar ends fitted, on the extremities of which were button switches to start/stop the electrics. What a stretch! And as for actually using the bar ends....worst riding position I've ever experienced. Gorillas only.
|