Can we discuss electrically assisted bikes here too ?

[Graham]

Another call for an electric bike section . . .

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[ Electric bikes ] . . . This is fast becoming a genuine form of cycling, with my limited experience so far it is still cycling and would be good to see an Electric section on this Forum if possible?
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viewtopic.php?f=5&t=116387

[[XAP]Bob]

We *could*, but I'm not sure it's a natural fit.

this has always been a 'not DF' section, and e-assist doesn't really fall into that.

[UpWrong]

Definitely should be a separate section. In a sense they are the opposite of this sub forum.

[canoesailor]

Definitely should be a separate section. In a sense they are the opposite of this sub forum.

That's not necessarily the case. Electric Pedal Assist is getting more bums on seats than anything in the recent past. When you have been cycling all your life, you forget there is a large part of the population who haven't ridden since they got a driving licence. These people (I'm one) need help to get started again, particularly with recumbents which they almost certainly never rode before. In both cases the pedal assist is helpful on going up hills.

Pedal Assist helps when your cadence drops, if you stop pedalling the assist stops. It just helps to take up the strain, but because you have to keep pedalling the bike/trike is still human powered, you just have a little assistance. I know most wont, but when you are fit again and can keep up with other cyclists, it can be removed.

I know most systems also have a throttle so you can override the pedals, but if you use this you wont go far before the battery runs out.

I agree it warrants it's own forum, but not because it is the opposite of this forum, the bike is still human powered.

[Cyril Haearn]

It is like having a baby I think

One can not be slightly pregnant

So a cycle with a motor is not a cycle, IMVHO

Alternative facts welcome as always

[Graham]

I'm trying to accommodate Electric bikes without creating yet another forum section.

My simple binary split is conventional bikes & unusual bikes/trikes.

[thirdcrank]

When I started cycling - 1958 - when J.B. Wadley's new mag was still called Coureur, the much older comic had become Cycling and Mopeds. Even though mopeds were not the speed machines they are today, it was a daft combination and mopeds were eventually dropped as having virtually no interest for cyclists.

I'm not clear why the current suggestion for a separate section of the forum was made because the linked thread was about adding electric assistance to an existing bike to give somebody a well-earned boost. I can't see why threads of that general type don't fit in with the existing technical section.

A quick google of "ebike forum" suggests that there are at least half-a-dozen already, so we may have missed the boat, even if we wanted to embrace pedelecs and the like.

This is a vote for the status quo.

Graham posted while I was typing but it's not changed my view.

[gaz]

A quick google of "ebike forum" suggests that there are at least half-a-dozen already, so we may have missed the boat, even if we wanted to embrace pedelecs and the like.

The boat did at least let us know when it set sail.

I think all of the arguments for and against any of the existing specialist forum boards apply in equal measure to one for e-bikes.

Perhaps we've reached the point where we need a vote, the precedent being the HPV board. That was created on the strength of a 75% majority from a total turnout of 32 forum members: http://forum.ctc.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f ... w=viewpoll

[thirdcrank]

FWIW, I can't see the point of separate sections for anybody who is logged in. Whenever I visit the forum I just go to "Unread posts" and then click on whatever takes my fancy. For the remainder, I click "Mark all read" and that's generally me done. My own biggest dislike is cryptic titles: in that context I'd appreciate an "ignore this thread forever" facility but that's just me dreaming.

Apart from that, I'd want to avoid anything which increased the administrative burden for no significant benefit.

===================================
PS Shifting the games into their own slot restored the value of the search facility, for which I'm grateful and sorry I forgot to mention it.

[[XAP]Bob]

It is like having a baby I think

One can not be slightly pregnant

So a cycle with a motor is not a cycle, IMVHO

Alternative facts welcome as always

A cycle with a motor is not a motorcycle.
I have e-assist as one of my trike options - it's not used at all for most of my journey, because it's illegal over 15mph.

Makes it great for those sharp hills, or for triking through snow...

Still a cycle though

[Tigerbiten]

So a cycle with a motor is not a cycle

If the motor is under 250 watts, then the law says it's still a pedal cycle .....

[reohn2]

I'm trying to accommodate Electric bikes without creating yet another forum section.

My simple binary split is conventional bikes & unusual bikes/trikes.

IMO Ebikes/Ecycling needs a section of it's own and not an infringment this section.
I think Ebikes popularity is about to explode in the UK much as it's done in the rest of Europe.
To ignore it and try to lump it in with another section is to miss it's appeal as another facet of cycling in its own right IMO
My 2d's worth

[reohn2]

So a cycle with a motor is not a cycle

If the motor is under 250 watts, then the law says it's still a pedal cycle .....

And so it is,whatever some may think.

[landsurfer]

I have posted many times about my feelings about EBikes or as i have always called them Motorbikes.
Last Friday i had to face reality.

My wife took delivery of a Viking Pedalec motor assisted Bicycle.
Although young, <55, she has a minor disability as a result of abscesses in the bone marrow of her lower tib and fib leading to major surgery.
She cannot exert much force on pedals.
Today we set off from ASDA in Hayle, rode to St Ives then back to St Erth then back to Hayle ... 9 miles in total.
She pedalled all the way, the motor in her bike does not assist unless you pedal.
She was so excited, full of confidence.
Portreath to Deveron, coast to coast in the morning ....
Brekkie at Bissoe cafe ....

I am unworthy .....

Wish i had encouraged her earlier ....

[climo]

I'm trying to accommodate Electric bikes without creating yet another forum section.

My simple binary split is conventional bikes & unusual bikes/trikes.

IMO Ebikes/Ecycling needs a section of it's own and not an infringment this section.
I think Ebikes popularity is about to explode in the UK much as it's done in the rest of Europe.
To ignore it and try to lump it in with another section is to miss it's appeal as another facet of cycling in its own right IMO
My 2d's worth

It should be a separate section with sub sections such as 'Battery Charging' or somesuch. The CTC has missed the boat by ignoring Ebikes. They are the future of urban transport and the CTC should be in there pushing for their usage and the inevitable changes of infrastructure they will bring. Better to steer something than to be pulled along in its wake.