I just had a go on one of this....

[Manonabike]

and to be honest I was really impressed - one can still get a fair amount of exercise unless one gets used to the motor doing all the work.

Lets put it this way, before today I would have not consider an electric bike at all but I would now consider one of these for riding around town when wearing non-cycling gear and one does not want to be all sweaty.

 

[upsidedown]

There's a shop near me called Best Buy, they do all sorts of electronics/TVs etc. They have a section that has about six or seven different electric assist bikes and even electric Vespa lookalike scooters.
If i couldn't ride a normal bike i'd get one, they cost next to nothing to run, no tax and hardly any moving parts. If this country would lse it's obsession with the internal combustion engine they would sell millions of them.

 

[trickletreat]

If you were impressed by that then you would be blown away by this...

Lots more torque and off road hill climbing ability...plus it was designed for paratroopers to jump out of planes with, land and then carry them and packs.

If you have a bit more money to spend then have a look at this
http://electricmountainbikes.blogspot.com/2010/04/rig-racer.html

 

[Arch]

and to be honest I was really impressed - one can still get a fair amount of exercise unless one gets used to the motor doing all the work.

And if one has a pedelec - the sort where the motor will only work when the pedals are turning - then even if you don't push hard you're still moving the legs, keeping the joints moving.

And the more people get out on bikes of any sort, the better for us all - safety in numbers and all that.

 

[Shaun]

Electirc bikes ... you'll get shot for that!!!

(May retract this post when I'm older and my knees are buggered!! )

 

[trickletreat]

Electirc bikes ... you'll get shot for that!!!

(May retract this post when I'm older and my knees are buggered!! )

Worth getting shot to have a go on one of these

http://www.grace.de/#/main/product/pro/

http://www.grace.de/#/main/video/

 

[Shaun]

Damn - can't see it from my iPhone. I'll have a look later from the laptop. Will I be suitably impressed?

Cheers,
Shaun

 

[2Loose]

Worth getting shot to have a go on one of these

http://www.grace.de/...in/product/pro/

http://www.grace.de/#/main/video/

Yum, liking the looks of that...

 

[trickletreat]

Damn - can't see it from my iPhone. I'll have a look later from the laptop. Will I be suitably impressed?

Cheers,
Shaun

Yep

 

[Shaun]

Ah, that's better. Agree - looks pretty slick. Thick frame, fair do's, but much better than humping one of those box/motor affairs around.

Tell you what, send them an email and see if they'll send us one over for review?

Let me know what they say ... lol

Cheers,
Shaun

 

[Arch]

Um, may I say I think that's pig ugly? Well, it's marginally nicer in white.

It's trying to be two things, and failing. It's not a motorbike although they seem to want it to be (how many people would look at it and say motorbike?), and it's needlessly chunky for a bike - the pedals are presumably to get round the Euro legislation and avoid tax etc. So really, it's a bike, but they are trying to call it a motorbike, to appeal to lazy people.

I see they say it's 'more stable than an e-bike', which is daft, the stability comes with the rider.

And the 'Race' model has suspension forks?

And it claims 'full motorcycle lighting systems' which I must say are jolly well hidden in all the photos...

Also, I assume you plug the bike in, to charge, as the batteries are integral. Bit of a pain if you live upstairs. Why not have, say, a battery you can remove and plug in easily?

No, rack, no mudguards....

I'll shut up now....

 

[Jezston]

I thought it looked ugly in those photos, but looks quite good in action!

Not sure what their target market is, though. Young-ish cool 'extreme' people? They'll either be rich enough to get a motorbike or be too poor to spend however many thousands of euros one of those costs.

But no mudguards is pretty ridiculous.

 

[Arch]

Ah, that's better. Agree - looks pretty slick. Thick frame, fair do's, but much better than humping one of those box/motor affairs around.

You're still humping the battery and motor around. The motor is in the wheel, and the batteries are in the tubes. And you can't even take the batteries out to ride it without them.

(I'm assuming it isn't 30 AA's shoved down each tube...)

If you want an electric motorbike, fair dos. But why make it look like a pedal cycle?

 

[trickletreat]

I like to consider its looks more as quirky than ugly. This is an emerging market, and it's good to see that some companies are trying to come up with something other than the elongated and very heavy bikes. They are attempting to incorporate the batteries and controllers in the frame, which will hopefully become more pleasing to the eye.

This would be something you would only consider if you could garage it, as these bikes are awkward to carry with the extra weight in the rear hub. With more development these are hopefully destined to become lighter. For now I prefer the approach of gruber...see my post here..Trek 6300wsd+Gruber Assist The kit fits in the frame of the bike and weighs less than 1kg, compared to approx. 5kgs+ for hub motors. The battery is another 1kg and can be easily removed for charging.


I agree that some of the offerings appear to be confused with regard to their market, and legality of use on the road. The one I have linked to, shows this as it is neither man nor beast, and current uk regs. limit assist to 15mph. So if you were to ride this on the road you would be considered to be riding an unregistered, uninsured , unlicensed motor vehicle...thats a big whoops!

 

[Arch]

I like to consider its looks more as quirky than ugly.

I appreciate that ugliness is in the eye of the beholder....

That was just my gut feeling. It was reading the bumfph that got me cynical.

If they ever feel the need to be reviewed in our mag, I may become a convert.