Speechless

[Michael R]

This is the height of absurdity

http://road.cc/content/news/90042-vivax ... ts-lighter

[Si]

It's for wannabe Cancellaras

[thirdcrank]

It's for the man who has everything except strong legs. (How many times have a been in a bike shop and asked whether new legs have been added to any top end groupsets? )

What does 200 watts represent in terms of a bike going faster, as opposed to light bulbs?

[661-Pete]

Being wholly unfamiliar with this sort of transport - explain please: because the electric assist goes straight to the BB, does that mean you have to keep pedalling whilst the motor is running?

Not really an electric bike as I understood it, then.

[squeaker]

What does 200 watts represent in terms of a bike going faster, as opposed to light bulbs?

Have a play here
I struggle to maintain 150W for any length of time, so 200W would be significant for me, especially on hills

[squeaker]

Being wholly unfamiliar with this sort of transport - explain please: because the electric assist goes straight to the BB, does that mean you have to keep pedalling whilst the motor is running?

Not really an electric bike as I understood it, then.

AFAIK it's known as a 'pedalec': quite a few electric bikes work like this (a opposed to a completely separate throttle controlled drive).
HTH

[Michael R]

I see the value of e-bikes for some. I met a couple in their 60s doing a short ride ; she had had a stroke and he had a leg missing, and was very impressed. The same with a many in his late 70s toddling around 30 odd miles on an e-bike. He needed e-assist to get over the steep bridges over the canal. Again impressed.

But this is just laughable in the extreme

[thirdcrank]

I remember a report about the 1960 Giro by JB Wadley who wrote that on the 25% climb of some huge pass, whenever the eventual winner, Jacques Anqetil attacked, the Italian rider Nencini freewheeled back onto his wheel, pushed by the tifosi.

I only mention this trip down memory lane to suggest that anybody posing on an Ultegra-equipped road bike, probably won't want to be seen freewheeling when they should be pedalling.

PS Squeaker - thanks for that. I'll accept your assurance that the difference it makes will be significant. Back down a different bit of memory lane, I have a mental image of Sir Robert Mark advertising car tyres.

[Mr. Viking]

my uncle was always fascinated by assisted bikes, as he enjoyed cycling but didn't like hills. He bought one off an acquaintance, with a small petrol engine driving the rear wheel somehow. He was very disappointed though, when he found he still had to pedal up the hill to his house. He weighed about 20 stone, where the man he bought it from was thin as a rake

[[XAP]Bob]

on thisversion you must pedal with the motor, that's not alwayes true of bb drive

[eileithyia]

If people wish to keep cycling with some assistance, indeed if it keeps people cycling with assistance... why not... if those cyclists want something that looks more like a club road bike than something that looks like it is power assisted.. why not?????

[gentlegreen]

What does 200 watts represent in terms of a bike going faster, as opposed to light bulbs?

Have a play here
I struggle to maintain 150W for any length of time, so 200W would be significant for me, especially on hills

On my morning hill, 0.4 miles, average gradient 5.8%, 123 feet of climb.
Strava tells me that yesterday it took me 4 minutes and 22 seconds to haul my borderline obese body and heavy bike up it at an average of 5.6mi/h - apparently that's 242 watts.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8OcveRTP3kg

On that bike I reckon I could commute for a week on a charge !

(I'm only playing with Strava out of curiosity - the results are tinged with occasional horror and a lot of dismay)

[Mick F]

A push of the start button delivers a 200 watt power increase, designed to assist you on the hills and flats. Running time is a claimed 70 minutes under full loads.

200w - we push that figure just climbing a decent hill. If we produce 200w from pedalling normally, another 200w would make a massive 400w.
You wouldn't need gears!

It takes me less than 20mins to climb Gunnislake Hill all the way from the river right up to the top. 2.5miles - and according to my records, I average 186w. The steepest bit takes 5mins at 227w at about 5mph.

Just imagine the speed I could do up there with that bike!

[Mr. Viking]

Perhaps this is the tipping point and electric bikes are becoming the most viable form of transport?

[BeeKeeper]

It really needs to be called a Q Bike after the disguised ships used in WW II. I can just see an old wrinkly like me shooting past a young whipper snapper on a hill. 'Cept the price of the bike is even steeper than the hills around here.