Electric bikes

[Pale Rider]

Interesting again! And very close by.
Thanks for the info. It seems there are quite a few options now based around the Bosch system.

Bosch do seem to have the largest market share in crank drives.

I suppose the manufacturers know customers regard Bosch as having a good name, so fitting their bits will help the bike sell.

The drives have proved reliable as far as I can gather, although dealers are thin on the ground and service, where it has been required, has been a bit hit and miss.

I think KTM are better than some in this respect, they seem to have proper franchised dealers, rather than some manufacturers who appear to wholesale a few bikes to any shop that wants to buy them.

Do have a go on a Bosch bike to establish if you can get on with one, they are all very similar so it doesn't really matter which make.

I like the system because of it's nice, smooth power delivery, and its generally unobtrusive nature.

I've done a few 50 mile+ rides in which I've set the power level before leaving and not touched it before getting home.

Using it that way is very like riding an ordinary bike, changing down for hills and pushing a bit harder up them and into headwinds.

If I wanted a button pushing gadget fest on my rides I'd buy a Garmin.

 

[Chrisc]

Thanks, I will test one out. I liked the Kalkhoff Impulse Drive but see no reason why the Bosch wouldn't be just as good.
I already have a Garmin... I never press any buttons except the start/stop tho despite having many screens programmed with myriad possibilities of info. And I ditched the heart rate monitor a few years ago. Decided I could quite easily tell when things were getting hard without the need to be told on a screen as well. :-)

 

[Pale Rider]

The Impulse 2 has a gear change assist feature which drops the power momentarily before changes.

Never tried it, but it is supposed to make for smoother changes.

On a derailleur Bosch bike I tend to 'soft pedal' changes, as I do on an ordinary derailleur bike.

On the hub Bosch bike, stopping pedalling before changes works well, possibly leaving an extra fraction a second for the motor to cut out.

Again, it's how I would ride an ordinary hub gear bike, although I think Shimano say you can change the Alfine 11 while still pedalling.

 

[Chrisc]

Yeah, it's the same thing they introduced to racing motorcycles in the early 90's so they didn't have to use the clutch during a race other than to start, used to be called a quickshifter. The Kalkhoff I rode didn't have it, it was a later development and I did have trouble selecting gears under load having got myself onto a hill in the wrong one. :-)
I soft pedal my dutch bike like that but in my eagerness to blitz the hills I got carried away! I find the ability to change whilst stationary a benefit in traffic on a commute tho, I know you can easily plan it out and I do on my road bike but it's nice to have one less thing to think about on a commute.
Missus wants me to get a small car to commute but I can't see me sitting in those queues all morning, it would kill me!

 

[Salad Dodger]

My wife and I both have human powered MTB's and also electric bikes.

I prefer riding the MTB: lighter, more comfortable and I enjoy the exercise. But the ebike is great for shopping as it has 2 big panniers, plus I can arrive at the shops not all hot and bothered by the ride.

My wife, with a slightly gammy knee and hip, is perfectly happy to ride her ebike for local duties. I suspect I would encounter quite a bit of objection if I suggested she ride the same route on her MTB. But with the ebike, it's no problem. As long as the trip is within battery range. Which is about 15 or 16 miles total journey.

 

[steveindenmark]

I dont know why but a lot of people seem to think you need to be old or infirm to have an Electric bike. I think that is down to bad promotion by the manufacturers.

Jannie and I have both had Electric bikes and they were great fun.

I ride a round trip commute of 36km each day on my road bike. Jannies commute is about 12 km and she does it every day of the year regardless of how much snow or rain there is. So we are not unfit or infirm, on the contrary.

It was just fun to pack our sandwiches and flask and go for a 50 km ride in the country, without Breaking into a sweat. I have used it to ride to work at 4 am in the morning. It made life a bit easier.

Those who claim they would never have one ought to experience one before judging.

 

[anothersam]

My wife has a Kalkhoff Agattu, about 4 years old now. It's great. I've taken it out a few times ostensibly just to test it out after working on it, and it's a lot of fun once I get over my shock at sitting upright. It has a basket in front which I feel should be filled with kittens or something.

This was the ebike she had before, impressively non-ebike-like if ebikes turn you off. It was nice when it was working.

 

[Full Metal Sprocket]

Never really had a problem with e-bikes.Even when I bumped into "Electric Alan".I don't know if he's the same guy who posts on here.Met him riding up the Blackfriars Underpass a few years back,towards Big Ben (said he had knee problems).Then when I visited Karon Beach in Thailand a few years back I had an opportunity to hire out an electric bike as that's all they had.As my fitness was poor at the time they came in quite useful for the hills up to Phuket and I was quite impressed.Even more of my work colleagues now have electric bikes.I think there are three ebike users there now.