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"But once you chip an e-bike it isn't a bike anymore, so you're going to need tax and insurance unless you want to run the risk of being taken to the cleaners by an insurance company for the full costs of any accident, and then dealing with the police for riding an illegal vehicle.
Plus you also won't legally be able to ride it on bridleways, etc."
eh ? wasnt all that covered on page 1 ? I never mentioned chipping i said i want to carry a decent load up hills at more than 5mph.....hence the 500watt motor. its limited by the controller current anyway
Oh and whats a bridleway 😉 they sound silly.
Have put a lot of thought into this over the last few weeks!
Test rode a Trek FS with a Bosch motor and it all snowballed from there. My shopping list was for a bike that could help me in and out of work daily and make it around a black route at the weekend if I wanted to.
Was out most of last year with a broken wrist and training this year has been very off and on - good spell of on and dropped off again. Commute is 8 miles with a few bits on busy roads, way in is downhill most of the way with a tail wind. Way home, well.... A couple of the tougher bits on the way home leave me crawling alongside quick moving traffic, not something I'm even entertaining while not fit.
So I started shopping for the cheaper end of e-bikes. The Crossfire looked great (was speaking to a guy who did a 20 mile each way commute, sounded very like the same story from earlier in the thread if you work in Perth!) but none currently available. The rest of the cheaper end (and probably the Crossfire) would have been trashed after a spin round a black route.
So then on to a HT, demo'd one at Glentress, first drop on the red I knew my wrist and a heavy HT were not compatible. Ended up focusing on the climbs so that was out too. Plus side was I came back in wasted, basically kept going until the battery was done.
And then last week I decided if I'm doing it then it's getting done properly! Bought a 140mm FS Cube Stereo with the 500w Bosch motor. I love it. My mate who didn't have last year off has been very patient hanging around for me but setting it on Eco I can now sit with him for a full ride, can't remember the last time I saw the minch at Inners! Climbing in turbo when we got split up at the weekend (wrist issues again on a rough trail) was hilarious, the guys I passed probably didn't think so!!
Not used it for commuting yet, need to get wheels to swap out as I don't fancy chewing through Hans Dampfs on the road to work, and I've been travelling with work but really looking forward to giving it a bash.
Really think they're going to be massive, the way they open up the fun parts of mountain biking is pretty amazing. My old man does a lot at the local church, there's a fair hill on the way home so he always drives down. Could really see him using one to buzz about the village too.
eh ? wasnt all that covered on page 1 ? I never mentioned chipping i said i want to carry a decent load up hills at more than 5mph.....hence the 500watt motor. its limited by the controller current anyway
[url= https://www.gov.uk/electric-bike-rules ]https://www.gov.uk/electric-bike-rules[/url]
If you're running 500W you'll need a numberplate, insurance, approved helmet etc. 250W maximum.
edit- or is it a 500w motor with current limiting it to 250W hence chipping is possible?
interesting that almost every electric assist cargo bike out there uk and otherwise uses a 500watt OR more motor.
doesnt make it right i guess but if you have ridden a 250watt youll understand why a 500w is neeeded for a cargo bike.
anyhoo it also sounds like another set of rules written by someone who didnt get guidance from someone who knows how these work before writing arbritatry rules - its the controller that sorts out the speed - even a 250watt motor can draw 500watt instantaneous peak load if the controller lets it.
the 15mph speedlimit should have been enough.
I guess if people insist on chipping and abusing them then we can expect more rules to make it more difficult to use green traffic reducing transport.
the 15mph speedlimit should have been enough.
Agreed, it's difficult to see how something could really be particularly dangerous (with reasonably sensible operation) with that applied. I suppose there are probably erosion arguments but a cargo bike isn't likely to be doing much offroading in sensitive areas fully laiden!
So, with the Gtech - which I think the OP mentioned, it does 30 miles, then you can take the battery off and charge it up (at your desk, if you have one).
15mph is the limit when you're not pedalling, so it'll go faster, although a 15mph average over 25mph is probably better than most car journeys.
It's also an aluminium bike with rigid forks, so isn't going to be [i]that[/i] heavy even if you do run out of charge.
They are well advertised and pretty popular, so if you don't like it, sell it!
That's what I'd do.
15mph is the limit when you're not pedalling, so it'll go faster
you don't get any assist when your not pedalling.
The motor can only assist up to 15mph so you can still go faster as long as you are propelling it.
The e-bikfied Wazoo with a 1000W motor looks awesome, that can be made road legal looks nice. The price and guarantee do not! 😯
where I see a real benefit is getting folk in normal shopping/office clothes doing the journey without a car over terrain or distances they would otherwise not consider.
This, in principle..however people in cars, vans etc will still be trying to kill you, so average Joe and Joanne still wont do it.
I'm sold on them though, if humans made logical decisions every house would have one.
[i] so you can still go faster as long as you are propelling it.[/i]
Yep.