ebikes on BBC Click

[mjr]

This week's BBC Click has Reise&Muller e-bikes and swytch conversion kits, Garmin Varia rear radar, exploding collars, auto-variable-flashing user-tracking lights, AI spin bikes and Chris Boardman.

[Jdsk]

BBC Click "On your Bike"
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000kyvd/click-on-your-bike

Jonathan

[Cowsham]

BBC Click "On your Bike"
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000kyvd/click-on-your-bike

Jonathan

Watching it now --- the search on iplayer won't pick it up till you type in the whole title ie On Your Bike. maybe type "click"

[al_yrpal]

Watched it. As is usual with brief TV stuff IMO uninformative and peppered with misleading statements. Could have dedicated a whole episode to all the stuff a person interested in ebikes need to be aware of. Instead too much time dedicated to stupid unecessary gadgets practically no one will ever buy.

2 out of 10 BBC.

Al

[fastpedaller]

As I stopped to let a bike through (driving my van yesterday) he also stopped and I saw he was riding a VROMPTON, which looked like a (non-folding) budget E-bike!

[Cowsham]

Watched it. As is usual with brief TV stuff IMO uninformative and peppered with misleading statements. Could have dedicated a whole episode to all the stuff a person interested in ebikes need to be aware of. Instead too much time dedicated to stupid unecessary gadgets practically no one will ever buy.

2 out of 10 BBC.

Al

Ditto

[reohn2]

Watched it. As is usual with brief TV stuff IMO uninformative and peppered with misleading statements. Could have dedicated a whole episode to all the stuff a person interested in ebikes need to be aware of. Instead too much time dedicated to stupid unecessary gadgets practically no one will ever buy.

2 out of 10 BBC.

Al

I'm inclined to agree,particularly pointing out the Reis & Muller £4,500+ price tag in an 'it's only a bike' sort of way for what is the Range Rover equivelant in the e-bike,whereas a similar bike to your Otler at sub £2k would've been a much better illustration of mid range machine,but no,they choose to go to the extremes of price range..
Such short badly put together pieces by journos who know practically nothing about cycljng or e-bikes are missing the point on so many levels IMO.

[Sweep]

Anyone got any views on the swytch conversion kit they featured?
Will probably go at least partly electric at some stage and rather like the idea of converting one of my old cheaply bought frames. I don't much care for the designs of a lot of modern bikes and some ebikes seem less than sleek.
(Am aware of the racy ebikes but that's not my thing)

[stodd]

A little overpriced when bought on one of their 'special' pre-order deals. Very overpriced at 'regular' price.
but see my comment below, it may be cheaper than I thought.

Quite neat; battery on handlebar convenient in some ways, but not the best place for good steering.
I think no brake sensors to cut off the motor, which can make some manoeuvres quite awkward (eg if motor kicks in while navigating bollards)
Very low capacity battery (especially considering price).
Customer service patchy.
see https://www.pedelecs.co.uk/forum/thread ... ost-570126 and other Swytch threads on that forum.

You'll get much better service from Woosh. https://wooshbikes.co.uk/?hubkits Cheaper than Swytch but not the cheapest.
Also consider Yose. https://yosepower.com/

Whatever, avoid big direct drive hubs. Temptingly cheap to buy eg on ebay. Inefficient, heavy, illegal, need big battery, bad on hills.
Only good for going illegally fast on the flat.

[philg]

I've had one for ~18 months and am very happy with it, at the price I paid (£375 with 50% Indiegogo discount)

It's a very neat installation - at first glance the power pack looks like any other bar bag and the motor is small enough for some to assume it's a dynamo (I did say first glance!), no bulky growth around the BB or downtube battery to give the game away

The FWD suffers on very steep hills, like any other FWD, but other than that it's fine.
I notice the latest battery packs are much smaller though with lesser capacity than mine, that may or may not matter especially those peeps in flat areas.

This thread might be useful
viewtopic.php?f=55&t=135272

ETA: What ^ says, especially Yosepower

[Sweep]

I notice the latest battery packs are much smaller though with lesser capacity than mine, that may or may not matter especially those peeps in flat areas.


viewtopic.php?f=55&t=135272

ETA: What ^ says, especially Yosepower

Sounds like a very bad idea to shrink the battery.
Would be interested to see a pic of yours with the "full size" battery.

Seems I may have been born at the right sort of time for this sort of thing - the tech will surely develop before I need one and real prices fall due to greater uptake for all sorts of reasons.

[stodd]

(£375 with 50% Indiegogo discount)

I can't see a price now on the Swytch site. I must admit I thought it was a lot more than that even on pre-order.
If it is still near that it seems a reasonable price (given the small battery) and I withdraw my comment on price ... other comments remain.

[philg]

I notice the latest battery packs are much smaller though with lesser capacity than mine, that may or may not matter especially those peeps in flat areas.

Would be interested to see a pic of yours with the "full size" battery.

Your wish.... it's rated at 36V 10.4Ah so 374Wh which is small enough, though it does give a good range (30+ miles) even here on Exmoor.

[mjr]

Is hub drive illegal like stodd says? That's not on https://www.gov.uk/electric-bike-rules or other summaries I've seen.

[Sweep]

I notice the latest battery packs are much smaller though with lesser capacity than mine, that may or may not matter especially those peeps in flat areas.

Would be interested to see a pic of yours with the "full size" battery.

Your wish.... it's rated at 36V 10.4Ah so 374Wh which is small enough, though it does give a good range (30+ miles) even here on Exmoor.

thanks - am rather impressed - that hub looks fine.

And I like the bike it's on.

Battery might be a bit more "out front" for me since I'm a flatbar person.