Electric bikes - a special section ?

[meddyg]

is there one - ie for posts on recommendations / experiences ?

[Si]

Nope.
But if enough people wanted one then there is a chance that one might be created.

[thirdcrank]

How times change!

viewtopic.php?p=15533#p15533

[Psamathe]

Why not start a poll ?

e.g
I've got one and would like a forum section
I've not got one but think a forum section would be worthwhile
I've got one but don't thing such a section would be useful
I've not got one and think such a section would be unnecessary/under-used
I'm just uncertain

Ian

[Mick F]

How times change!

viewtopic.php?p=15533#p15533

Good old Gar.
Where is he now I wonder.

............... and Beep Beep.
Where is he?

Happy days.

[gaz]

Nope.
But if enough people wanted one then there is a chance that one might be created.

Last time we counted enough = 24 .

[Si]

Yep, but we've a larger overall population now.

[gaz]

True. In June 2008 there were around 4800 members, now we have nearer 26,500 (thanks in part to the principle of once a forum member, always a forum member*).

Scaling up, enough now would be about 132. Good luck .

Alternatively wait a little over three years, put the idea forward again, find 7 ordinary users and 1 member of the moderation team who support your plan (don't forget to upscale these figures) and voila!

*unless you are very, very naughty.

[stevew]

E-bike are here to stay now and i run 3 E machines and 3 non E machines.

All need effort to ride and depending on the amount of input the motor chooses to give the amount of effort will vary.

Also 3 I.C. powered ones (motorcycles)

Yes please a special section would be nice

Just been on a ride on one of these, best of both worlds i reckon. Should i buy

http://www.momentumelectric.co.uk/produ ... e/upstart/

[stevew]

Oh well. Thought i t was time to re-visit this thread
It's sad that the general cycling community are so conservative.
Sort of sums up my feeling about the traditional CTC member. I know that all the CTC members are not like that but as i interact often with the membership i am noticing that they are getting older and older (like me)

Biggest selling sector of the "bicycle" market in Europe (yes that does include us!) is the E-bike market.
As for the earlier statement that there were only 24 people interested, well that may appear so, but look at how that recumbent section has flourished from the original 24 "interested" peeps. From little acorns big Oaks grow, and all that !!

Also might be worth noting how active and forward thinking the E-bike forum http://www.pedelecs.co.uk/forum/ is.
Not many CTC members there, but there could be

[Graham]

Hi Steve,

The dilemma is always . . . can the users tolerate another sub-section of the forum ?

I'd like to hear a lot more about electric bikes. Particularly the nitty, gritty real-world, as reported by the users themselves compared with the marketing gloss and omissions.

The real-world battery life is of great interest. Battery performance drops off as the recharging cycles mount up. Once the battery depreciation is costed into the running cost per mile they don't look quite so cheap to run as the adverts suggest.
Can you even buy a replacement battery a couple of years later or are they "no longer manufactured for that model". . . . . or hideously expensive ?

Is there a lot to talk about ??

[stevew]

Hi Graham,

There is a lot to talk about, but are people interested ? That i can't answer
Does the CTC forum user want to engage in such heresy !!
May i suggest you pop over to the Pedelec forum for a quick perusal ?

I can answer some of your questions but not all as i'm far from an expert.
In short the major and established manufacturers in the E-bike market do care about their customers and will keep batteries available long beyond the perceived need of the customer. The perceived need and the actual need are miles apart !!
Much more standardisation is making things better for the customer too. Decent batteries offer something like 1000 cycles so if one was to commute every day you worked that would last you over 4 years. Remembering that the 1000 cycles is a minimum, 5 years life from a hard used E-bike battery is easily doable.

Range is always the first question that crops up in a E-bike conversation but it's a moot point really. If you asked the average E-bike buyer how far they want to travel on their bike most will tell you it's no more than 10 miles. Most commuters won't consider an E-bike for anything more than a 10-12 mile (each way) commute. So actually 30 miles is plenty and 20 miles will do for about 80% of buyers.

With the new pedalecs (must pedal) bikes using crank motors like the Bosch and similar these mileages are easy. Even with uneconomical and uninformed use.

Cheers
SteveW

[Edwards]

How about a name change in the Non Standard bike section?