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A friend of mine who's a bit of an entrepreneur called me up the other day and talked about electric bikes being the Next Big Thing.
He says that in the spiritual homes of bike commuting (Holland and China) traditional bike sales were dropping like a stone and electric bikes were taking their place.
I wouldn't even know where to go to buy one here in Stafford. There seem to be about 6 people who ride them by me - usually old gits doing 20mph on the pavements.
Has any LBS owner on here looked into the economics of it?
Any Trek dealer will be able to sort you out.
powabyke - we used to sell them by the bucket !
giants were pish - couldnt pull skin off rice pudding
come on alont way with li ion batterys
[i]He says that in the spiritual homes of bike commuting (Holland and China) traditional bike sales were dropping like a stone and electric bikes were taking their place.[/i]
Yeah, a mate just came back from China and said they're fantastically popular. Not entirely sure if that's a good thing, I guess it depends on if it's being used as a substitute for a bicycle or a car.
When talking to a lbs owner in Holland he said that the Electric bike was now outselling the normal push bike over there. There is a big problem here though; in Holland (and China I would imagine) the bike IS the main mode of transport for most people. Not just the fit or vaguely active but everybody. If we are truly honest very few of even the likes of us could genuinely say that about ourselves and we are "the converted"! A good electric bike is going to set you back £1500+ and without the infrastructure in place to make cycling more common place and a change in public attitude I can't see there being enough people would would be prepared to make that sort of investment for it to be any more than a niche product.
yes, but compare the price against soemthing like a moped, and even guardian readers will like them. I can see them being popular with average people who commute from suburbs into town. Not so great on open roads but once people get into it, maybe they'll get normal bikes too.
My cousin-in-law has one. Raves about it. He'll probably graduate from it to a proper bike soon 🙂
My pal who lives in Amsterdam very proudly put up a pic of her new electric cargo bike on Facebook the other day. Looked the balls and needless to say I was very jealous!
I started a thread a while back on here regarding an elecric bike for my old mum who lives on Skye and no longer has the energy to get to Portree and back. I was shocked by the lack of choice and giant price tags - I know Skye prolly has a fair bit less traffic than most city centres but agree that there must be an untapped market here.
Does anyone make a tiny 250-500w petrol generator? That would solve the problem of big heavy batteries with limited range.
where do they stand in terms of traffic law? Are they mechanically propelled vehicles and do riders need to be licenced and tested/insured/mot'd under UK law?
What's wrong with the good old fashioned pedal variety? Electric bikes seem lazy as funk!
I certainly didn't see many in Amsterdam last month, but then bike theft is rife there so I doubt many people would lock up several hundred quid's worth of electric bike. Lots of people (young and old) on 50cc-type scooters though, which they're allowed to ride without helmets and on cyclepaths.
Over here, the cost is a huge issue. The kinds of people they seem to appeal to are casual cyclists at best and they're just not willing to sink several hundred quid into a half-decent electric bike. The person I know with one was a keen cyclist already until an injury made cycling too difficult for any real distance - they get around on an e-bike instead.
Pik n Mix - read my post above. Plus, you still have to pedal and can just turn the motor on / off whenever necessary.
Onza - after my (very limited) research sesh, you're not required to pass any tests and they don't need insurance / tax or anything else. They're not very quick though - less so if you don't assist by pedalling.
Depressing. Could be seen as people going from car to assisted bike - good thing. But more likely people going from bike to assisted bike = depressing totally ungreen and a bad direction.
So not a licence to print money. Just a licence to ride home from the pub pissed.
One of the contract cleaners at work rides one, I see her arriving every evening (if the weather is nice) when I’m leaving. The bike looks shit to be honest, heavy, ugly and styled like a 1930’s shopper. I can’t imagine it being much use beyond journeys of about 4 miles…
To be brutal she looks like she could do with pedalling more as well, basically it’s a push bike for unfit, fair weather cyclists who don’t like pedalling and don’t want to go very far or very fast.... The next big thing then…
where do they stand in terms of traffic law?
As long as they can't do more than 15mph it stays as a push bike.
The Trek one is great fun, it assists you, rather than powering you, so you have to pedal, it just makes you go faster when you do. If you have the setting high it could be a real handful though!
go-cycle?
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shame it it not fold (it sort of comes apart itstead)
£1500 from evans et al
I'm really fed up of this e-bike sh*t.
Every jumped up ball-bagger, middle management/marketting BS'er calls this the future.
People just don't buy them! We don't have the infrastructure, or cycling culture in the UK. People who spend £1,500 on a bike are (obviously) into bikes. Therefore, they want to pedal. If there was a £400 e-bike that i could sell to people too tight/scared to run a car/moped (which realistically is the target market) then maybe...
if its a still a bike can i take one to my local trail centre and use on bridleways? Has anyone ever built an electric mountain bike?
Has anyone ever built an electric mountain bike?
yes! visited the Munich F.R.E.E. Trade Fair a few months back. i was excited (sad, i know) about visiting the bike section. got into the hall and it was full of trekking, lay-down type bike and e-bikes.
KTM, Focus and a few other large brands are selling them.
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the one above has some sort of drive in the rear hub
video of Focus bike:
don't quite know what i'd say if someone arrived at the top of a mountain on one, though.
www.onbike.co.uk
www.tourdeprestigne.co.uk
The go cycle is actually good for short hilly commutes. It only allows a burst of assistance when you need it. There is a motor that can fit inside the seat tube too and lets you use the gears.
Dinna knock them till you try them BTW. For lugging stuff and commuting I can see them being fantastic. And for older keen cyclists that need a bit of help I don't see why not. And the unfit will probably get fitter just by doing something.
oh, and this is more the future as far as urban bikes go.....
still have to charge it up, but it only goes when you pedal.
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nightmare!!!!
recent article in the economist
[url] http://www.economist.com/businessfinance/displaystory.cfm?story_id=16117106 [/url] (think this is non-subscriber)
1 in 8 bikes sold in NL is electric
capacity in china current/y 60m/units per year could easily double
margins are attractive
coming to a walmart/tesco near you soon
maybe the economist should start a new graph:
petrol price:electric bike sales
i'd guarantee lots fighting for pavement space if petrol hits say £1.80/litre at the pumps
i say pavement space because whilst in the gym yesterday i watched the main road outside - hard bit roadies on the dual carriageway/commuters on the shared use pavement
i presume our local authority is takimg this into account when stating that any changes to roads can't result in any loss of carriageway space to vehicles