Search found 406 matches

by Bonzo Banana
25 Mar 2024, 11:52pm
Forum: Does anyone know … ?
Topic: Cycle Retail In Meltdown.
Replies: 195
Views: 24396

Re: Cycle Retail In Meltdown.

I see now the Chain Reaction and Wiggle sites are back up with stock as basically alternative store fronts to Evans mostly. They have Pinnacle bikes and of course there is a minimum £5 delivery charge whatever size the order and considerably more for delivering bikes. They look nice enough sites but the £5 always prevented me from doing small orders to Sports Direct etc. However I accept this is probably to protect their margins and if the other products are cheaper because of it then £5 delivery costs can save you money but again only with larger orders.
by Bonzo Banana
23 Mar 2024, 1:06pm
Forum: Does anyone know … ?
Topic: Cycle Retail In Meltdown.
Replies: 195
Views: 24396

Re: Cycle Retail In Meltdown.

Bmblbzzz wrote: 17 Mar 2024, 1:09pm So that would make Marin an Indonesian owned company, with HQ in Switzerland and design based in California, operating in over 40 countries worldwide. Like a great many companies, it's impossible to ascribe it one single nationality. How does that related to the state of retail in UK?
There maybe a legacy office in the US but surely the designs would likely be from Insera Sena themselves and many Marins seem to resemble Polygon models. I'm not sure what the Swiss connection is for this brand. Also even before Marin was bought most of their bikes would have been imported from Asia and almost all the real design, engineering, certification and manufacturing happens in Asia. In the past perhaps Marin gave them frame colour designs and choose their geometry and components they wanted and then the real manufacturer would get on with the real work. So many products pretend they are designed elsewhere for commercial reasons and yet what they import is something designed fully in Asia. I used to be a compliance officer and would deal with certification for power tools and often the Chinese manufacturer would put multiple brands on the certification to save costs. So one certificate would list lots of different companies all importing the same product with minor manufacturing variations, critical components etc and yet when you see that product on the various sites of these brands they make full claim to designing that product which is a complete lie. Ultimately its all about extracting the most money from consumers.
by Bonzo Banana
19 Mar 2024, 1:32pm
Forum: Electrically assisted pedal cycles
Topic: Hill Starts - E-assist not helping
Replies: 68
Views: 9198

Re: Start assist availability in the UK

Vantage wrote: 11 Mar 2024, 4:27pm
CJ wrote: 31 Aug 2023, 5:48pm
More good news: according to this post on the Pedelecs.co.uk, DfT allow throttles on e-bike conversions, provided the converted bicycle has previously been used as a purely muscle-powered bicycle and subject to the usual 250W and 25kmph restrictions. So if you are doing a conversion, you may fit the throttle (that typically comes with a conversion kit) and use it as you wish, e.g. for starting.
Can anyone find the exact wording on the official gov site for this? Coz I sure can't.

Edit: I have still not found any official documents specifying the use of a twist and go throttle on a converted ebike however, after much digging and scrambling I have found further info on the matter and it is not as straight forward as we'd like to think. Again, it is not a link to a UK gov web page but it is contrary to the original link posted above and again, from the pedalics forum itself

https://www.pedelecs.co.uk/forum/thread ... ost-558483

Basically, it appears that there are no laws whatsoever relating specifically to ebike conversions, only manufactured ebikes. We conversionists are in a black hole.
Yes as far as I understand that letter was received as clarification from the department for transport you could call it a black hole that no further clarification exists I guess but even their general page regarding twist and go throttles does exclude or omit end users at the beginning. They seem to be only interested in importers, retailers and manufacturers. I've personally never heard of a throttle controlled ebike being prosecuted. Yes I've read of high power ebikes that assist beyond 15.5mph owners being prosecuted that also happen to have a throttle but not ebikes that have legal assistance speed and a throttle and considering all the pre 2017 ebikes with throttles which never needed to be registered etc I wonder how they work out the legality of throttles especially if the throttle only operates to 6km/h or only operates when pedalled like some newer ebikes, ebikes with throttles are not easy to prosecute its very complex. Even certified 250W ebikes are using close to 900W power which is ridiculous, it's like every ebike is called 250W even if its actual wattage is hugely different which makes no sense. The only real consistency in the law is not assisting beyond 15.5mph and there is a 10% tolerance in that so allows up to 17mph assistance. I think the DfT's lack of involvement/interest in converted ebikes is a blessing.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... ycles-eapc
by Bonzo Banana
15 Mar 2024, 6:11pm
Forum: Does anyone know … ?
Topic: Cycle Retail In Meltdown.
Replies: 195
Views: 24396

Re: Cycle Retail In Meltdown.

PH wrote: 14 Mar 2024, 6:59pm
pliptrot wrote: 14 Mar 2024, 11:05am I have had 3 bikes made in Taiwan. All expensive. The top-of-the-range Marin bike had balls missing from the headset, a bottom bracket which was hugely out of spec.
You were not the customer of that Taiwanese manufacturer, Marin were. The design, specification, tolerances and QC were all set by Marin. That's how the bulk of modern mid volume production works, the actual manufacturing is sub-contracted. Taiwanese manufacturers are capable of producing to any specification set, if you've bought tat, aim your displeasure at the right people.
Marin has been for quite a few years a Indonesian brand as it was bought by Insera Sena who also have their own inhouse brand Polygon. It seems extremely likely most if not all Marin's nowadays are made in Indonesia but maybe even they have to farm out some production to Taiwan for certain models which are technically too difficult to manufacture themselves.
by Bonzo Banana
10 Mar 2024, 11:35am
Forum: Electrically assisted pedal cycles
Topic: Is 250w enough power for modest speed up steep hills
Replies: 332
Views: 29498

Re: Is 250w enough power for modest speed up steep hills

Bmblbzzz wrote: 9 Mar 2024, 12:22pm Think of continuous rated power as FTP and peak power as a track sprinter's 1-second acceleration (very approximately and inaccurately.) It's physics so it's the same for all motors, wherever in the world they're made or operate.
This continuous rating doesn't work, a Bosch mid-drive motor climbing a long hill for 5 minutes just uses it's maximum power for those 5 minutes which could be in the region of 800-900W. Yes mid-drive motors do have thermal throttling more than other motors and that is mainly due to the controller and motor both being in the same space and being down in the bottom bracket area you can't have open ventilation but they still manage high wattage for long periods. There is no way these are actually 250W motors, probably operated outside of their casings without the heat of the controller board you could probably rate them at 1000W continuous. The certification just states they must operate at 250W rather than be limited by it. It's very strange certification clearly designed to benefit European manufacturers who have been offering ebikes well over 800W for sometime while legal authorities on occasion have been prosecuting hub motor ebikes that use half that but now Chinese manufacturers have got wise to the certification and just declare their 750W motors as 250W so now you get some hub motor ebikes maybe fat bikes with wider hubs to allow for larger windings that also operate at close to 100Nm of torque. The critical bit is they mustn't assist over 15.5mph which is all that seems to matter.

I've heard so much nonsense in bike shops about how mid-drive is more efficient hence its ability to deliver high torque but it was marketing lies. Hub motors can deliver similar torque with similar wattage. Yes if you have very low gearing on a e-mountain bike you can amplify torque output a bit i.e. a 32T front chainring and 48T rear cog gives you a 50% boost in torque minus the losses in the chain and drivetrain but that is only for slow speeds and very steep inclines however many commuter based mid-drive motors actually have overall high gearing so the mid-drive motor torque is actually reduced in real terms, a 40Nm Bosch mid-drive motor might end up at 32Nm due to its overall higher gearing for example a 42T front chainring and 32T maximum rear cog is 40 x32/42 minus 1-2Nm lost in the chain which is about 29Nm down from the original 40Nm. So you have lost power there. Also as the drivetrain wears you lose more efficiency and of course because you are putting both the riders power and the motor power through the same drivetrain you have massively accelerated wear rates on drivetrain components.

There is no efficiency gain in actual higher gears because you lose some power through the drivetrain and a hub motor ebike just needs to reduce maximum electrical power in higher gears where less is needed there is no mechanical benefit to mid-drive there.

Anyway we just need to move to honest and fair certification in the UK more inline with US certification which seems to have an accurate and realistic rating for ebike motors.
by Bonzo Banana
9 Mar 2024, 11:53am
Forum: Electrically assisted pedal cycles
Topic: Is 250w enough power for modest speed up steep hills
Replies: 332
Views: 29498

Re: Is 250w enough power for modest speed up steep hills

Nearholmer wrote: 6 Mar 2024, 3:04pm
In terms of power, it is important, in the context of this discussion, to be aware that the current crop of 250W e-bikes produce a wide range of differing power outputs, depending on motor type and sophistication. Some are designed to be legally capable of producing 600W or more, but only for brief periods of intense demand, e.g. when tackling steep hills and/or heavy loads.
So far as I understand the law, it only limits the continuous rating, and for reasons that I explained earlier today (whether in this thread or another, I forget) any motor will have higher ratings short-term. A good quality motor that is genuinely 250W continuously rated for a wide range of ambient conditions will certainly be able to provide far in excess of 250W in typical UK conditions for defined periods.
Is it not the torque figure which is of more relevance with reference to accelerating a heavily loaded bicycle?


Yes, but, and …..

To rate a drivetrain, motor through to wheel/road interface, requires consideration of motor torque-vs-speed characteristics, any gearing, and multiple other things, and the speed at which rated power becomes the limiting factor depends on a lot of choices.

As an instance, even quite teeny motors can be arranged to yield high starting torques (think small electric screwdriver), but they would only have the power to maintain a very low speed if applied to a bike.
I've followed many threads on the pedelecs forum and questioned how Bosch ebikes could use over 800 watts of power and sometimes up to close to 900W of power and yet in the forum many people are complaining about the legality of hub motors that are rated to 350W or 500W. At first the pro Bosch forum members stated the continuous rating explanation which made no sense at all and then someone posted text from the certification and all the certification is really doing is stated the motor will work at 250W nothing more so how much wattage is allowed is pretty much open ended. In my opinion it is completely corrupt certification designed to be difficult to interpret to give European manufacturers like Bosch an advantage. They have controllers of 20-25a in their motors designed for ebikes that allow them to generate torque of up to about 100Nm or just below. So we already have so called legal 900W ebikes which are still classed as 250W. Eventually Chinese suppliers got wise to this and now you see 750W ebikes with 250W stickers like Cyrusher models.

Of course we should never have accepted this corrupt legislation anyway and there was no reason to legislate against throttles either which is the main control method for most ebikes in the world.

Ebikes wattage should be rated by the controller not the motor. A direct drive hub motor can work with 200W to 3000W but what matters is how much power the controller gives it and this is just the same for geared hub motors and mid-drive motors. 250W only allows for a 7A controller at 36V or 5A at 48V yet we have mid-drive motors with controllers of 20-25A at 36V.

Does a new 500W standard mean Bosch can sell 1800W e-mountain bikes and call them 500W? I would hope any new legislation would get back to fair and honest legislation and rate the power of the controller not the motor and bring it inline with other electric product certification like e-motorcycles, washing machines etc where you state a wattage it can go up to (not momentary peaks) but typically operates much below that level. So a 500W ebike can have a controller around 14A at 36V.

I personally think the new legislation should be 750W but fair 750W i.e. something like a 20-22A controller and this way all the existing pretend 250W mid-drive motors for e-mountain bikes would not suddenly need to be recalled and scrapped like Bosch, Shimano, Brose etc.

I'm unsure if this new legislation will replace or work in parallel with existing legislation when it finally comes out but as it stands the existing 250W legislation allows for more powerful ebikes than fair and honest 500W legislation.
by Bonzo Banana
9 Mar 2024, 11:24am
Forum: Electrically assisted pedal cycles
Topic: Decathlon 920e speedo misting up
Replies: 2
Views: 173

Re: Decathlon 920e speedo misting up

I remember seeing a Viking ebike parked up with a similar issue it made the ebike look pretty rubbish but then while at Weymouth I had a look in a bike shop right by the sea front and saw an updated version of the same bike and it just had a black LED light display with foil bubble buttons to effectively remove all water ingress and while less information is displayed it looked much better as it just had individual LED bulbs to indicate mode and the battery level meter.

I had a quick look at the Decathlon display and it looks a poor design to prevent water ingress with physical buttons with a gap around them. However it does look like a fair weather only bike with its basic front and rear suspension and V brakes. It doesn't really look ideal for riding in wet weather with a lot of maintenance required and reduced braking performance. So maybe Decathlon thought it would be an ok display for such a ebike as suspension getting wet can lead to water ingress past the seals and require regular disassembly, cleaning and regreasing.

I've seen someone keep riding a cheap dual suspension mountain bike with both the rear and front suspension seized with rust/corrosion and the reason I know that is he rode off a pavement in front of me and neither the front or rear moved at all. I reckon with some effort you could waterproof the bike better perhaps home made gaiters for the front suspension and possibly rear suspension and a thicker plastic sheet over the top of the ebike display, a bit like a clingfilm wrap but neater looking and easier to read the display but still allow use of the buttons. You'll need to disassembly the display and clean it thoroughly first though.
by Bonzo Banana
18 Feb 2024, 12:21am
Forum: Electrically assisted pedal cycles
Topic: Help buying first ebike
Replies: 7
Views: 761

Re: Help buying first ebike

rareposter wrote: 17 Feb 2024, 6:25pm
Bonzo Banana wrote: 17 Feb 2024, 3:31pm A quick look at the Haibike Trekking 5 shows it has a total weight limit of 130kg including bike weight as well which I would of thought would put you above the weight limit of that ebike.
Yes, you're going to be on or near the limit on a lot of bikes. The Vado has a structural weight limit of 300lb / 136kg (that's rider weight plus cargo weight, NOT including bike weight) so you'll be OK on that and out of the bikes you've listed, its the one I'd have chosen anyway.
The Vado is a very complicated bike though with its internally geared hub and I assume the Specialized motor is just a rebadged Brose motor which don't have a great reliability reputation. Also the internally geared hub has a maximum motor torque pairing of 50Nm and the motor is 50Nm so there is absolutely no gap between the two which surely can't be great for long term reliability either. It seems like another short life premium product. Great at the beginning when it works but then becomes an over-complicated nightmare with huge bills. Also the average efficiency of that hub is only 83% so a huge loss of power and the lowest gear is actually quite high so you won't be getting anywhere near that 50Nm. Also you get further losses with the gates carbon belt compared to a chain. The 50T chainring and 24T cog is basically the 2:1 ratio that the hub manufacturer recommends as a minimum ratio. Ultimately because of its configuration is actually quite a low power ebike, much lower than many cheap sub £1k hub motor based ebikes which will happily produce 40Nm or more. Just seems like another Specialized innovation purely for innovation sake a bit like that awful suspension stem they put on some of their road bikes that no one has spares for.

The Low Gear That’s Not That Low
The Enviolo hubs require a minimum front-to-rear sprocket ratio of 2:1. This results in a climbing speed of 8kph when you’re pedalling at 60RPM or a low gear of approximately 28 gear inches.

To put this into context, the climbing speed on many mountain bikes is often 30 to 40% lower. And even lightweight gravel bikes have a 10% lower climbing gear.

While this climbing gear is perfectly adequate for most urban uses, if you’re planning on cycling in hilly terrain without electric assistance (think 10% or steeper), the Enviolo climbing gear is likely not low enough.
by Bonzo Banana
17 Feb 2024, 11:50pm
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: UK Politics
Replies: 951
Views: 74489

Re: UK Politics

Nearholmer wrote: 17 Feb 2024, 3:23pm If we are in trouble on that score, so are several other large economies, given that we’re not by any means at the top of the table in either debt as a ratio of GDP, or national debt per capita (are you are your figure for that is correct?).

Where we do seem to be in serious trouble compared with others is in terms of productivity, which is an indicator of how we might/not be able to service or pay-down debt in the future.
Increasing productivity is not that complicated, we just need to manufacture more of our own goods and grow more produce. The huge amount of factories we have lost in the last few decades has directly effected our productivity. The issue we have is sterling is very over-valued and we have a minimum wage which means its expensive to manufacture and grow here. We have ended up in a situation where imports and foreign holidays are much cheaper than our own products and even staycations. We need to be much cleverer in how we lower our costs to improve our exports and return to a trading surplus without sacrificing living standards. Even countries like Bangladesh have politicians completely focused on improving export figures and enhancing and growing their industries. Our politicians seems to be obsessed with trivia and minor issues.

Debt and liabilities aren't just simple government debt but also all liabilities for example the public sector pension deficit. Their pensions are paid from day to day taxation rather than saved funds and this is a huge liability in the coming years. Quantitive easing has meant a huge amount of sterling is now foreign owned which is a liability as they are entitled to goods or services to that value.

You have to compare countries across a broad range of statistics, a very good one is the NIIP rating which shows all our assets vs liabilities and our liabilities are quite high due to a huge level of foreign ownership. A country broadly similar to us is France but countries like Italy have a different set of values, maybe more exports but more government debt. There probably will be an EU economic crash at some point too, many of our own problems are reflected in some EU member countries with France being the biggest.

The time when we need an IMF bailout will be when we default on our payments for government debt or realise we are close to it and seek IMF assistance before that happens. The government may try some desperate measure like more quantitive easing but this time it is a catalyst for a collapse in our currency. A huge drop in sterling's value could effect our ability to payback government debt. There are so many variables but ultimately the government is still borrowing and adding to the debt pile and those payments are getting harder and harder, austerity will get much worse and more services will be cut back etc.

We have left the EU but the government has not focused on policies to restore our economic health in fact they have often focused on free trade agreements which was part of the problem with the EU, a huge trade inbalance because we weren't competitive and it was much cheaper to produce goods in mainland Europe plus we had to pay more for goods that came from outside the EU due to high tariffs that mainly helped EU factories and farming. We need to get back to policies that restore trade surpluses and this may mean careful use of tariffs and increased sales tax on certain items with that tax used to invest in factories and farming.
by Bonzo Banana
17 Feb 2024, 11:26pm
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: UK Politics
Replies: 951
Views: 74489

Re: UK Politics

Stradageek wrote: 17 Feb 2024, 6:09pm
Bonzo Banana wrote: 17 Feb 2024, 2:58pm We are heading towards an IMF bailout at some point, you can't just keep adding to the debt pile forever and we are getting close to un-manageable levels of debt. There is about £150k of debt on every single head in this country from a newly born child to a person on their deathbed. About 1/3rd of a million per household. I don't agree with their overall views of low taxation especially in the state we are in but the taxpayer's alliance worked out all the liabilities although it is out of date now.

https://www.taxpayersalliance.com/pictu ... per_person
Sounds like you've twigged but do beware the Tax payers alliance, it is an opaquely funded, right wing pressure group with about as much credibility as Liz Truss's IEA.

For real information on taxation I prefer The Tax Justice Network or the Fabian Society :)
I don't agree with the motives of the Tax Payer's Alliance but they have spent the time calculating all the debt and liabilities from the office of national statistics and possibly other sources. What are the tax justice network figures for comparison? I had a quick look at the Fabian Soceity and on face value it seemed like a ridiculous idealistic society which sadly isn't connected to the real world of economics. However I'd still be interested in their figures if they have any. The Tax Justice Network seemed more realistic but still has to be incorporated into realistic economic policies. There is no point raising more tax on the rich and less on the poor just for the country to continue running a huge trade deficit and sending huge sums of money abroad. We have to get the economic structure of the country right which isn't directly related to fair taxation.
by Bonzo Banana
17 Feb 2024, 3:31pm
Forum: Electrically assisted pedal cycles
Topic: Help buying first ebike
Replies: 7
Views: 761

Re: Help buying first ebike

A quick look at the Haibike Trekking 5 shows it has a total weight limit of 130kg including bike weight as well which I would of thought would put you above the weight limit of that ebike. While Yamaha mid-drive motors are probably one of the best for reliablility it is still a very proprietary motor system which requires professional repair. Looking at forums it would seem those close to the max weight limits of mid-drive motors get a disproportionately higher number of problems and failures. 75Nm torque added to your own with your weight is quite a lot of force on the drivetrain and I would think you would get a high rate of wear and many chain snaps.

While mid-drive motors seem best for e-mountain bikes and serious off-road use I'm still not convinced they are a great option for those who mainly stay on the road it seems un-necessary complexity to me and I hate proprietary systems with ridiculous repair costs.

Looking on the Halfords site I quite like their new B98 model but ultimately I would suggest going to a Halfords with a wide rang of ebikes and testing the models you are interested in or at least seeing them and sitting on them.

Also the Haibike only has a 38T front chainring so you won't have decent high gearing so it will be a slow ebike for general riding. The assistance is only to 15.5mph so many conventional bikes and other ebikes will be considerably faster due to better high gearing. It might take a higher chainring on the front but that would put the motor under greater strain. However on the positive side a front 38T front chainring and perhaps a 42T maximum cog on the rear means you will get all that 75Nm of that motor plus a little bit more for hill climbing.
by Bonzo Banana
17 Feb 2024, 2:58pm
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: UK Politics
Replies: 951
Views: 74489

Re: UK Politics

We are heading towards an IMF bailout at some point, you can't just keep adding to the debt pile forever and we are getting close to un-manageable levels of debt. There is about £150k of debt on every single head in this country from a newly born child to a person on their deathbed. About 1/3rd of a million per household. I don't agree with their overall views of low taxation especially in the state we are in but the taxpayer's alliance worked out all the liabilities although it is out of date now.

https://www.taxpayersalliance.com/pictu ... per_person

We all may have different views how we got to this position although its not hard to understand the figures of a huge trade deficit, sending huge sums abroad and spending beyond our means for 40-50 years.

However whatever your views we are heading towards a huge financial crunch caused by both Conservative and Labour governments and the people of this country who have exported so much of their income on imports creating huge financial damage and debt.

Once the IMF are involved we will probably be forced to have trade tariffs and cut back services horrifically to balance the books and have 50 years or more of debt to payback. We have a long period of austerity ahead whatever happens. Austerity well beyond what we currently have.
by Bonzo Banana
17 Feb 2024, 2:39pm
Forum: Does anyone know … ?
Topic: Importing a new or 2nd hand bike into the UK from the EU.
Replies: 50
Views: 4151

Re: Importing a new or 2nd hand bike into the UK from the EU.

rareposter wrote: 16 Feb 2024, 3:34pm
Bonzo Banana wrote: 16 Feb 2024, 3:00pm Those Radon ebikes look like fairly generic Astro ebikes from Taiwan as sold under the Haibike brand and many other brands including Voodoo but with Radon's choice of geometry and components.
They're an in-house brand for discount-bikes.de (kind of like how Triban is the in-house brand for Decathlon). They're made by Cube so I'd assume (without actually being certain) that most Cube e-bike retailers would probably be OK dealing with them.

I'd echo the concerns about warranty though. If you have what is effectively a "secondhand" bike (secondhand by virtue of you trying to escape taxes by having a family member purchase it and then sell it to you) then you've got no warranty unless you go through a roundabout method of getting the bike back to the continent.
Bonzo Banana wrote: 16 Feb 2024, 3:00pm Surely better to get something with warranty here in the UK especially something so proprietary and has to be maintained by dealers for many of the parts.

There has been so many bargains recently with overstocked bikes it feels like a high risk and high cost strategy to buy abroad like this.
This - you can get a £10,000 Specialized Turbo Levo or Turbo Kenevo now for under £7000. Trek and Giant have similar offers. Limited sizes in some models but good discounts.
Canyon are well known for good value for money too, their Spectral is on offer at the moment (and unlike discount-bikes.de, they do ship to the UK!):
https://www.canyon.com/en-gb/electric-b ... e=M129_P07
Cube don't make any bikes though, again they rely on factories in Asia, they did partner with a Bangladesh factory where they jointly own the factory but the factory is run by Bangladesh's people and it just feels like commercial manipulation so they can state they have some factory ownership. A factory known for fairly poor quality bikes too typically at the lower end of pricing like Apollo's at Halfords which have been supplied by Meghna and the lower end Raleighs. Cube I believe are still using Giant for some of their high end road bikes and likely other factories in Asia for different price points. I would imagine if these ebikes are sourced through Cube it could be like some Aldi or Lidl power tools that are sourced through Einhell the importer but the products come from various Chinese factories. For most US and European brands its all a bit of con the engineering skills that develop and manufacture these bikes and ebikes is in Asia. At best we get assembly plants in Europe fitting together almost all components from Asia. Yes there is some design element to many brands but they still hand over those designs to the real engineers in Asia who have to work out how to make the bikes to that design in their factories with their manufacturing equipment.

I used to be a compliance officer for an importer and got to see a lot of famous brands on the same certification as the products we were importing. Cheaper for the factory to do one lot of certification that adds in the variants from various brands around the world rather than certify each different variant. However look at the marketing material and the German firms would be pushing German engineering and design, Japanese brands would be doing the same as would US brands but the product itself is 100% engineered, certified and manufactured in China. Like most importers we were just choosing the final spec we wanted and having a critical component list that included higher quality electronic components, copper windings rather than aluminium etc, US importers at the value end could choose cheaper components as only a 3 month warranty. Unfortunately most people have busy lives and more to think about so are easy to manipulate with marketing.

https://www.thedailystar.net/business/n ... es-1632277
by Bonzo Banana
16 Feb 2024, 3:00pm
Forum: Does anyone know … ?
Topic: Importing a new or 2nd hand bike into the UK from the EU.
Replies: 50
Views: 4151

Re: Importing a new or 2nd hand bike into the UK from the EU.

Those Radon ebikes look like fairly generic Astro ebikes from Taiwan as sold under the Haibike brand and many other brands including Voodoo but with Radon's choice of geometry and components.

https://www.astroeng.com.tw/page/news/index.aspx?root=7

Those are highly proprietary ebikes and surely buying abroad would mean no guarantee at all and repairing or replacing motors, batteries and other parts are extremly expensive on such proprietary ebikes and they are mechanically complex with a high rate of drivetrain wear and failure especially if used off-road.

Surely better to get something with warranty here in the UK especially something so proprietary and has to be maintained by dealers for many of the parts.

There has been so many bargains recently with overstocked bikes it feels like a high risk and high cost strategy to buy abroad like this.
by Bonzo Banana
29 Jan 2024, 11:06am
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: The state of the nation?
Replies: 127
Views: 4124

Re: The state of the nation?

Surely rising crime is expected with rising poverty and rising poverty is because we are a bankrupt nation that has sent huge sums to the EU and has a large trading deficit. We were never a suitable country to join the EU because sterling is overvalued to the city of London being such a major part of our economy. The fact people can't recognise the obvious damage caused by joining the EU just shows how economically illiterate we have become. Just factoring the net payments we have made to the EU of about 7 billion a year and the compound interest on that payment is around £600 billion or more over the 40 years. However that is in no way the real damage of joining the EU and being in a single market we cannot compete in due to currency value. Once in a single market obviously cheaper supplier of goods or larger companies start dominating that market and of course any company that has a factory in the UK can easily move to another cheaper country within the EU and still sell unrestricted into the UK. Before we entered the EU we had tariff situations with other countries to protect our own industries and farming and the EU itself has huge tariffs with external countries but those tariffs benefit the major industries in Europe not us. We are heading for an IMF bailout and probably at that point they will force tariffs on us. The whole idea that a small country can compete head on in a free market is just nonsense that many seem to believe. Small countries protect their own industries and make it difficult for their own companies to be taken over.

Ultimately we have to stop being political and focus on the bottom line, a trade surplus and living within our means. Free markets are no good to us because its very expensive to produce goods and services here. It is pointless having a free trade agreement with Japan when they have a huge amount of goods to sell us and we don't have so many goods to sell them or the goods we do have aren't as competitively priced as other countries goods which also sell into Japan. We are also now grossly overpopulated with a very high population density and we need to focus on reducing our population as much as possible and adopt some policies like Japan who have to manage an overpopulated set of islands.

After WW2 both conservatives and labour had good policies to create industry and they created that industry within a controlled economy which blocked many products being imported or taxed them highly. This meant many firms started factories in the UK to sell into the UK.

99% of our efforts should be focused on living within our means, being efficient and most importantly not sending money abroad or having a trade inbalance. As it stands with everything taken into account there is £150k of debt on every single person's head, be it public sector debt, pension liabilities, government bonds etc. That equates to about £330k of debt for every home.

We aren't going to solve anything with political rhetoric or the blame game. Everyone should be focused on paying off our debts, living within our means and returning to a trade surplus which should really be every conversation and what we demand of our government. Yes its going to be horrible but there is no other solution.

I'm 100% certain joining the EU is a huge chunk of our economic woes but totally accept the rise of China as a manufacturing powerhouse is another huge factor but none of this really matters now. We are where we are and need policies to return to a successful economy. It really doesn't matter if you do or don't blame the EU for past debts one thing is for sure is we cannot return to the EU because we need full control of our economy to repair it and one thing we can't have is a trade inbalance with Europe as a priority. It just means more government borrowing as more money is syphoned out of our economy creating more debt. We probably have 50 years or more of austerity to payback this debt and repair our economy. It's a nightmare scenario that really we need to face up to. Whatever the conversation should be about real solutions not the blame game.