Search found 109 matches

by allen-uk
24 May 2010, 1:30pm
Forum: Non-standard, Human Powered Vehicles
Topic: e bikes
Replies: 19
Views: 2523

Re: e bikes

Sorry Geoff, and sorry to JuicyBikes. Don't know how I forgot them, as I too have been comparing them with Wisper and with Kalkhoff.

The only thing that puts me off JuicyBikes is that I live in the soft south (London) and Buxton is such a long way from here. But they certainly look as though they have all the good bits of the more expensive bikes, and even their top top models are still under a grand.


Allen.
by allen-uk
21 May 2010, 2:56pm
Forum: Non-standard, Human Powered Vehicles
Topic: e bikes
Replies: 19
Views: 2523

Re: e bikes

I've been looking at them for a few weeks now, because although the spirit is willing, the flesh (minus a left leg and somewhat too much of it otherwise) is weak.

There are three distinct categories of ebike: the cheapies (£300-£500-ish), which are okay if you are a fit not-very-heavy cyclist who just needs a bit of a push on hills and the like. The motors and more importantly the BATTERIES on these are adequate.

At the other extreme are the ebikes that you couldn't tell from ordinary bikes. The motor is concealed in the downtube, and gord knows where they put the battery. They are in the £3K+ (and PLUS) range.

The middle range starts at about £1000 and goes up to about £2000, with some good models in the middle of that. You have to take the battery range figures with a pinch of salt, of course, particularly if you are overweight. The heavier you are, the more work the battery has to do. There is usually a choice of smaller batteries (6 or 8Ah) up to the biggest, (14Ah). Where you live makes a difference. Loads of hills will shorten battery range from a very optimistic 50 miles down to a probable 20, again depending on your weight and fitness. The more you pedal, the less the battery runs down. Wisper (Chinese) and Kalkhoff (German) lead this sector of the market, and both produce top-quality bikes.

There are two basic sorts of drive mechanism. Hub drive does that - it sits in the centre of the wheel and turns the wheel. The 'Panasonic' system, fitted to the Kalkhoffs, actually pulls the chain, and (as mentioned above) has a very clever sensing mechanism which varies the amount of electric pull in relation to the amount of pedal push.

The 'Pedelec' forum is a good place to get more information - friendly bunch, as usual for cyclists, and always willing to give advice to a beginner!

Allen, London.
by allen-uk
5 Sep 2009, 1:51pm
Forum: Does anyone know … ?
Topic: 'Sold secure' ratings
Replies: 26
Views: 3466

Re: 'Sold secure' ratings

Wonderful. Thanks S.Dave. And good bye.


A
by allen-uk
5 Sep 2009, 9:32am
Forum: Does anyone know … ?
Topic: 'Sold secure' ratings
Replies: 26
Views: 3466

Re: 'Sold secure' ratings

Sodiddave:

Have a read of the various answers on page 1. It might help you understand the problem.


A.
by allen-uk
11 Jun 2009, 11:58am
Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
Topic: Decent lightweight bike lock
Replies: 12
Views: 6700

Re: Decent lightweight bike lock

Have a look at these (3 pdf pages out of a Cycling Plus lock review from 2007).

Basically the products are all still the same, and the test results are interesting (and scarey).

http://b6.s3.p.quickshareit.com/files/locks1f68d4.pdf
http://b2.s3.p.quickshareit.com/files/locks223c2d.pdf
http://b3.s3.p.quickshareit.com/files/locks35330a.pdf

Allen.
by allen-uk
21 Jan 2009, 4:12pm
Forum: Does anyone know … ?
Topic: 'Sold secure' ratings
Replies: 26
Views: 3466

Just another last word...

Having looked at the various specialist cycle insurers and found them wanting, I phoned my contents insurer, Churchill (rotten adverts, good prices), and asked them.

a) they said the bike was covered as part of the (cheap) house and contents policy already, indoors or in a locked shed;

b) for an extra £15 a year I could have UK-wide cover (i.e. securely locked to railings or whatever). £100 excess from main policy still applies, but no Approved Locks list, no other stipulations.

Not sure how good Churchill are on paying out, of course, and I hope I never know! The bike only has a value of £500, so not sure how dearer machines would fare.

A.
by allen-uk
4 Jan 2009, 2:43pm
Forum: Does anyone know … ?
Topic: Bad saddle height = how much power loss?
Replies: 15
Views: 2240

Yes, thanks indeed Andy.

Rikk and I are both in London, (inevitable that we are both at the other end of the country from you), but I shall certainly pursue those links.

We both have, by perseverance and modifications (like the Gravitydropper) made cycling enjoyable - Rikk's modesty prevents him from describing his 20-30 mile jaunts on and off road, and me, old, fat and one-eyed that I be, manage a few miles at a time round north west London's urban jungle after just a few months. But I think we would both jump on a CF machine if we saw one, just to see!

I'll let you know if we progress.


Allen.
by allen-uk
4 Jan 2009, 11:32am
Forum: Does anyone know … ?
Topic: Bad saddle height = how much power loss?
Replies: 15
Views: 2240

Working on the ideas, for which thanks.

But andyh2, I must say that is an amazing concept! Can you buy the things in the UK? Googling doesn't throw up much, except a few sites in the US. Wow!

One question, though: how do you start off? Amputees always have a problem with that, as we find it very difficult to perform the 'classic' way of standing between saddle and bars, standing on one pedal, and lifting up to be seated and moving. I mount à la cowboy (throw one leg over), then sit, push like heck on one pedal, and hope to get enough forward movement to be able to bring the other foot into play.

How is it done on the CF bike?


Allen.
by allen-uk
2 Jan 2009, 12:21pm
Forum: Does anyone know … ?
Topic: 'Sold secure' ratings
Replies: 26
Views: 3466

This is the Cycling Plus review that DaveP referred to above.

http://a1.s3.p.quickshareit.com/files/l ... 17ef52.pdf

http://a1.s3.p.quickshareit.com/files/l ... 2aad4a.pdf

(It's a PDF, in two parts, and not a web page, so you'll need to open it in your PDF program and handle it accordingly.)

An interesting read.


Allen.
by allen-uk
30 Dec 2008, 8:02pm
Forum: Does anyone know … ?
Topic: 'Sold secure' ratings
Replies: 26
Views: 3466

Thank you Paul, thirdcrank, for those replies; interesting, and points definitely taken.

(Although I must say I am wondering what 5 edits you made to your nicely expressed message, Paul).

A.
by allen-uk
29 Dec 2008, 4:57pm
Forum: Does anyone know … ?
Topic: 'Sold secure' ratings
Replies: 26
Views: 3466

Ho ho, Chris J.

There is, I think, a third reason for buying insurance. It isn't a question of the insurer being an idiot, but each of us taking a calculated risk. I live in NW London, on the edge of a couple of fairly notorious estates - high youth unemployment levels, high rates of petty crime, etc. The insurer wants, say £65 a year for my bike's cover. To replace the bike and its bits would cost me around £500, or eight years' worth of premiums.

I don't INTEND to get my bike knicked, as it would take weeks to gather together and replace all the expensive accessories (necessary ones, I would add, to enable me as an amputee to ride my bike). I shall lock it up, not leave it in dark places, etc., etc., but MY gamble is that in the next five years I stand a good chance that a man in a Transit with an angle-grinder will take a fancy to my bike.

And if he doesn't, and here I am in 2014 £500 worse off and still riding my bike? That's life, ain't it. (And I don't like insurance companies much, either, but living in a capitalist and generally rotten society, well, you have to live with them).

Allen.
by allen-uk
28 Dec 2008, 2:48pm
Forum: Does anyone know … ?
Topic: 'Sold secure' ratings
Replies: 26
Views: 3466

Addenda and apology:

Soldsecure DO put out a 20pp PDF called snappily SS Nov 08 word.pdf pdf which does list all the products to which it gives its standards. You still have to use PDF-program searching facilities to find the ones you want, but it is better than I thought.

Now, wouldn't some web bike supplier really CLEAN UP if they put a section on their site called "Soldsecure locks and chains" and listed what they sold plus security ratings. SJS go a little way down this road, but if I was in charge of Wiggle, or Evans, or whoever, I would do it first thing tomorrow!


Allen.
by allen-uk
28 Dec 2008, 12:48pm
Forum: Does anyone know … ?
Topic: 'Sold secure' ratings
Replies: 26
Views: 3466

Thanks for the various replies.

Rikk: the torc.anchors site is interesting, but mainly if you want to buy their products.

Hemipode: that Cyclechat thread is excellent, and confirms what we all know - take your bike around in an armoured car if you don't want it knicked.

DavidT: yes indeed, it does help, if only to confirm that the route I've gone down so far has been trod by others, too. And it's not just CTC that demand that you hump a gold-standard chain around with you. It's the same story at the other main bike insurers, once you read the small print.

I have the various PDFs as given out by ETA, Cycleguard, and the like, and they are not a lot of use. The 'Cyclecover' pdf on 'definition of an approved lock' just lists the Bronze, Silver and Gold ratings, and then redirects you to another site, Soldsecure itself, which again isn't really much cop. It lists products to which it has awarded the various awards, but no clickable link for them. You either have to telephone a paid-for number, or launch a separate browser window and Google-search for each product in turn.

It just strikes me that if the insurers are going to say 'We'll insure you BUT.... only if you use the right lock', it really is down to THEM to supply a fully comprehensive list of approved locks, not to leave it to us mugs to spend hours making sure that an expensive (£40+) top-name (Abus, for example) sound-looking cable and lock is only a BRONZE rating (bikes worth £250 and less), or in many cases has no rating at all! And it seems that the Wiggles, Evans, etc., who you might think would trumpet that such-and-such a lock is Silver Standard, keep remarkably quiet about it all.

As it happens, my contents insurer, Churchill, will give me an up-to-£500 bike cover, but I am suspicious. They want to know the name and model of the bike, which tells them the replacement value is about £160, and then get a little defensive when I talk about the accessories which take the value up to the £500 mark.

Ah well. At least it's not raining here.

Allen.
by allen-uk
27 Dec 2008, 1:30pm
Forum: Does anyone know … ?
Topic: 'Sold secure' ratings
Replies: 26
Views: 3466

'Sold secure' ratings

Anyone know where I can find a comprehensive list of 'Sold secure' lock ratings? I'm going mad looking up what seems to be a decent lock then searching in vain to find out what 'Sold secure' rating it has. The insurance companies, you would think, would provide such a listing, but the place to which they refer you is out of date and incomplete!

Help...


Allen.
by allen-uk
22 Dec 2008, 4:34pm
Forum: Does anyone know … ?
Topic: Rules of thumb: handlebars, saddle
Replies: 13
Views: 1025

Was it in A Day at The Races where Groucho ended up buying a cartload of code books from Chico, each new one being necessary to discover the secret of the last one?

Get your Tutti Frutti Icey Creamo.


A.