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Re: Touring on an electric bike?
Posted: 22 Sep 2019, 7:51pm
by willp01908
Dunno how common they are but on my just completed tour in France, I did see some e bike charging lockers dotted around. Idea seemed to be that you took the battery off the bike, put it into the locker, plugged your charger into the provided socket and locked the whole thing up, taking the key with you while you went for a meal or whatever. Put a Euro in a slot to get the lock and get the key out - like swimming pool lockers.
Saw a number of loaded tourers on ebikes too. One particular elderly couple from NZ who`d been touring Europe since July. He was on conventional pedal power, but she had quite severe joint problems and used an ebike. I`m not a huge fan of them, personally, but it was great to see them still able to enjoy a mutual hobby well into their later years due to the assistance the motor provided.
Re: Touring on an electric bike?
Posted: 22 Sep 2019, 8:29pm
by ossie
willp01908 wrote: I`m not a huge fan of them, personally, but it was great to see them still able to enjoy a mutual hobby well into their later years due to the assistance the motor provided.
Agree totally and I will have no hesitation in my later years of using some electric back up if it means I can still enjoy this great hobby of ours. The knees still work within reason so should be some time off.
Re: Touring on an electric bike?
Posted: 23 Sep 2019, 12:35am
by mjr
willp01908 wrote:Dunno how common they are but on my just completed tour in France, I did see some e bike charging lockers dotted around. Idea seemed to be that you took the battery off the bike, put it into the locker, plugged your charger into the provided socket and locked the whole thing up, taking the key with you while you went for a meal or whatever. Put a Euro in a slot to get the lock and get the key out - like swimming pool lockers.
Saw a number of loaded tourers on ebikes too. One particular elderly couple from NZ who`d been touring Europe since July. He was on conventional pedal power, but she had quite severe joint problems and used an ebike. I`m not a huge fan of them, personally, but it was great to see them still able to enjoy a mutual hobby well into their later years due to the assistance the motor provided.
In the Netherlands, there are green bollards where you can charge e bikes, usually in town centres. I expect they're on OSM.
Re: Touring on an electric bike?
Posted: 23 Sep 2019, 8:38am
by reohn2
Oldjohnw wrote:....?..Using hookup on a site might be problematic as I believe you need a special lead and waterproof plug as well as your charger. A lot of extra weight.
Missed this post.
All that's needed is a waterproof plug with a 100mm(or less) lead with a 13amp extension lead socket to plug your charger into.Not a lot of additional weight really.
Re: Touring on an electric bike?
Posted: 23 Sep 2019, 9:25am
by Oldjohnw
reohn2 wrote:Oldjohnw wrote:....?..Using hookup on a site might be problematic as I believe you need a special lead and waterproof plug as well as your charger. A lot of extra weight.
Missed this post.
All that's needed is a waterproof plug with a 100mm(or less) lead with a 13amp extension lead socket to plug your charger into.Not a lot of additional weight really.
Thanks. Will look into.
Re: Touring on an electric bike?
Posted: 23 Sep 2019, 9:29am
by reohn2
Oldjohnw wrote:reohn2 wrote:Oldjohnw wrote:....?..Using hookup on a site might be problematic as I believe you need a special lead and waterproof plug as well as your charger. A lot of extra weight.
Missed this post.
All that's needed is a waterproof plug with a 100mm(or less) lead with a 13amp extension lead socket to plug your charger into.Not a lot of additional weight really.
Thanks. Will look into.
Here:-
https://www.amazon.co.uk/PowerMaster-34 ... th=1&psc=1PS, sorry about the amazon link
,first google hit
Re: Touring on an electric bike?
Posted: 23 Sep 2019, 10:37am
by Oldjohnw
reohn2 wrote:Oldjohnw wrote:reohn2 wrote:Missed this post.
All that's needed is a waterproof plug with a 100mm(or less) lead with a 13amp extension lead socket to plug your charger into.Not a lot of additional weight really.
Thanks. Will look into.
Here:-
https://www.amazon.co.uk/PowerMaster-34 ... th=1&psc=1PS, sorry about the amazon link
,first google hit
Thanks again. Presumably I could plug my charger straight into the socket but it would need to be in a plastic bag or similar.
Of course, sites charge for hook up and so far I've just needed to put a couple of pounds in the mountain rescue/air ambulance or whatever charity the site supports.
Re: Touring on an electric bike?
Posted: 23 Sep 2019, 10:38am
by Oldjohnw
Oldjohnw wrote:Thanks again. Presumably I could plug my charger straight into the socket but it would need to be in a plastic bag or similar. Or a longer extension into my tent (where I could charge other stuff if necessary).
Of course, sites charge for hook up and so far I've just needed to put a couple of pounds in the mountain rescue/air ambulance or whatever charity the site supports.
Re: Touring on an electric bike?
Posted: 23 Sep 2019, 12:50pm
by simonhill
I doubt that many campsites would be happy with that arrangement. Having an unprotected 13 amp socket dangling from the hook up outlet is probably 'illegal' within the hook up rules (electrical standards). Normal hook up leads have waterproof plugs at both ends if they are used outside.
Some people do use hook up in tents, but you need the longer lead to go from hook up outlet to tent. Using something like this
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Lengths-Socket ... 8773&psc=1
Re: Touring on an electric bike?
Posted: 23 Sep 2019, 12:52pm
by ajj
In my experience, most French campsites have a few spare hook-up cables, so I don't think that should be a problem.
Last year on EV6 somewhere on the Saone a site was offering free hook-ups for cyclists. Madame seemed quite suprised that we weren't on electric bikes!
Re: Touring on an electric bike?
Posted: 23 Sep 2019, 1:26pm
by Vorpal
Last summer, I met a German family touring the UK with electric bikes. One parent pulled a child trailer, and the other pulled a trailer with camping gear in it and solar panels on top. They had 4 batteries (2 on the bikes & 2 charging) and about 1.5 sq. m. of solar panel, which they said was enough to keep their battery packs charged.
Re: Touring on an electric bike?
Posted: 23 Sep 2019, 1:40pm
by reohn2
Oldjohnw wrote:Thanks again. Presumably I could plug my charger straight into the socket but it would need to be in a plastic bag or similar.
Yes if it's raining,but then you'd need to protect your charger too.
Of course, sites charge for hook up and so far I've just needed to put a couple of pounds in the mountain rescue/air ambulance or whatever charity the site supports.
I think that's a good enough approach on a campsite,pub,etc.
Re: Touring on an electric bike?
Posted: 23 Sep 2019, 2:30pm
by reohn2
simonhill wrote:I doubt that many campsites would be happy with that arrangement. Having an unprotected 13 amp socket dangling from the hook up outlet is probably 'illegal' within the hook up rules (electrical standards). Normal hook up leads have waterproof plugs at both ends if they are used outside.
Some people do use hook up in tents, but you need the longer lead to go from hook up outlet to tent. Using something like this
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Lengths-Socket ... 8773&psc=1
Most if not all,modern UK and European caravans have 13amp household socket on the outside of the 'van,these are not waterproof ones just covered with a water resistant flap.
There's also these:-
https://www.sparkswarehouse.com/product ... 90QAvD_BwE
Re: Touring on an electric bike?
Posted: 23 Sep 2019, 2:38pm
by landsurfer
Touring on an electric bike ..... or motoring as it's known ......
I'm joking .... honest ....
Re: Touring on an electric bike?
Posted: 23 Sep 2019, 2:41pm
by reohn2
landsurfer wrote:Touring on an electric bike ..... or motoring as it's known ......
I'm joking .... honest ....
There'll come a time when ............