Home visiting optician - thinking of commuter bike? 😂 Advice please

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Levo-Lon

Guru
Good to see rampant stereotyping is still alive and well on the forum
...hang on maybe there is some truth in it as all men are fat, greedy, lazy so-and-so's? :whistle:

We are be we don't stress about it :okay:
 

BrumJim

Forum Stalwart (won't take the hint and leave...)
Good to see rampant stereotyping is still alive and well on the forum
...hang on maybe there is some truth in it as all men are fat, greedy, lazy so-and-so's? :whistle:
Eye test arranged, and a pizza turns up:
Bloke: But I asked for an eye test / Woohoo, a pizza
Woman: But I asked for an eye test / woohoo, a pizza
 

Pale Rider

Legendary Member
Good to see rampant stereotyping is still alive and well on the forum
...hang on maybe there is some truth in it as all men are fat, greedy, lazy so-and-so's? :whistle:

Do you honestly think the remark was 'rampant stereotyping'?

I thought you had a little more life experience than that.

But just to please you, in future I will say 'the customer getting the eye test...'.

Or I might not.

'
 

Arfcollins

Soft southerner.
Location
Fareham
Asking the rear wheel to handle that and the torque from a motor might be a bit much, so a crank drive is what's required.

I'm no engineer, but wouldn't the torque be the same, whether it comes from a direct drive in the hub or via the chain from the crank?
(Happy to be shot down on this!)
 
OP
OP
I

ishaqmir

Well-Known Member
A couple of money no object ebike options from Riese and Muller.

The longtail Multicharger, or one of their Load series with a front cargo bay.

https://www.r-m.de/en-gb/models/multicharger/

https://www.r-m.de/en-gb/models/load-60/

Hi Pale Rider

Thanks for the links above. The last couple of weeks I've spent A LOT of time looking into the Riese Muller Load 75, fully loaded spec, with 3 child seats, rain cover, rohlof shifting, dual batteries (1000Wh) etc, and yes, its costing near £9.5k, hence I'm still contemplating going for it. The Dft are hopefully going to give me a £1000 grant towards it as I'm a Ltd company. 1000Wh would be enough for a 70-80 mile round trip in eco/tour mode, but I'm also hoping to charge the one or two batteries in the patient's house (with their permission) for 1 hour while I'm there with the 6A fast charger, and I visit 4-5 patients, so thats like nearly doubling my battery range for the whole day, so I can hopefully stick the bike in Turbo mode throughout the day to stop me from perspiring!

But my question now is, this is a very BIG investment and I'm really unsure if I should go ahead with it. It would be used for school drops, followed by going to work all day (home visits). Taking kids to local activities etc. I have 3 kids, 10 yr old, 6 yr old, and 11 month old (can get a special car seat for the Load 75 specifically for youngest). I also have that fear of horrible drivers on the road, although a Load 75 owner did say that cars tend to give the cargo bike a lot of room as its something big and unusual to them.

What does everyone think? any advice?
 
D

Deleted member 26715

Guest
If you're a limited company why worry, it's 100% tax deductible whether it works or not.
 
OP
OP
I

ishaqmir

Well-Known Member
If you're a limited company why worry, it's 100% tax deductible whether it works or not.

hi Phaeton, isn’t it just ‘up to’ a maximum of 42% that’s tax deductible? To be honest my accountant didn’t really know much about cargo bikes etc.
 
There's a fair few people using cargo bikes in Cambridge including people doing the school run etc and various commercial ventures. Admittedly Cambridge is very cycling friendly compared to some, but generally from what I've seen, drivers do seem to give cargo bikes a much wider berth than those of us on a bog-standard bike.

Cargo bikes are rarer here in the sticks - I went into Ely just before Christmas on my trusty hybrid, and there was a Bakfiets locked to the sheffield stand next to mine. People were standing around just looking at the thing, accompanied by the odd head scratch. It was quite funny in a really weird way.

So unusual will get you noticed for sure.
 
D

Deleted member 26715

Guest
hi Phaeton, isn’t it just ‘up to’ a maximum of 42% that’s tax deductible? To be honest my accountant didn’t really know much about cargo bikes etc.
TBH I don't know, I just presumed it was classed as a tool therefore deductible, I know when I was self employed although my accountant did all the books, if I wanted a tool to do a job I just bought it & gave him the receipt, it than became an asset which was written off over a period of time.
 

tom73

Guru
Location
Yorkshire
It's a bit investment true enough but if you can off set it then all well and good.
Sound's like you've done a good deal of thinking how it will work both for work and at home.
You will sure turn a few head's but why not it's fun to be different are your kid's up it?
Only one way to find out if it will work out.
Go for it and enjoy it some will either think your mad or be thinking if only I could do that.
 

12boy

Guru
Location
Casper WY USA
I don't know what kind of clothing you would wear, but I can't see how pushing 50 plus pounds of bike and gear for 30 miles wouldn't make for a smelly rider. That doesn't mean your idea wouldn't work if you:
Combined a car or van with riding so in foul weather and lengthy trip days you drove and/or rode. I agreed like a fool to deliver pro-new-library leaflets to homes a ways from my place where the houses were far apart. Drove to the area and then took my Brompton from there. Walking would have taken all day and driving only would have sucked the joy out of a beautiful fall day.
Had a painless quick way to bring bike and or trailer along.
Won't offend the customers by being a little sweaty.
Have the time for riding the bike.
Always possible to ride more or less on a seasonal basis and if you did this regularly you would become more fit and strong. Your caloric consumption would increase and you could eat 2 or 3 pizzas and still be slim and graceful.
 
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