Fairplay
08-27-07, 08:17 PM
Being in engineering all of my life (starting as a grease monkey) I have yet to see anything that is totally Idiot Proof.
I have come across a lot of spotters that wet their pants at the thought of having this that or the other sort of one upmanship taken to the extreme. Not to be confused with the boasters like the car drivers that claim x mpg or x mph…..
Where is all this heading…. My thoughts of an electric assist pedal bike were/are a bike that is all but similar to a common or garden bicycle in both speed and usability….safety too. It seems we are still a long way away.
Is that a racing bike or a mountain bike or just an old commuter?
The government have sorted out the first issue… you will never be “allowed” to keep up with the racing bikes (the good un’s anyway) without flouting the law. They can easy do 20mph and more than double that down hills.
The mountain Bikes.. you wont keep up with them on their own turf
My electric bike is a mountain bike……..was a mountain bike…. It isn’t any more. With a front hub drive I am not going to start bouncing or jumping over kerbs or rocks or risk jumping it (as if…… the thing weighs in at 60kg) I have already bent the steel back carrier a number of times going over potholes just on the main roads. So it’s mountain days are now over, maybe the odd shortcut over a grass verge
The old Commuter
Now we are talking…hills are so easy…pulling away from traffic lights with no struggle to get into a lower gear, easy life …. Of course you don’t want to be lifting the Damn thing up and down too many stairs….and where can you park and leave it with all those goodies on it unattended… it’s not a 200buck bike anymore.
Just to finish I am not a lycra fanatic (those racing boys are wearing bright coloured lycra???) but I do want some respectability. I wouldn’t be seen dead running round on a bike with a washing machine motor lashed on the back with greasy chains flying round ready to rip off parts of my anatomy. I just want a respectable bike that doesn’t turn heads and I don’t need to tow a mobile toolbox round to keep it running.
Ahhh the last point …… it has to be almost silent… mine is quieter than it’s battery charger…
What are you looking for ???
I have come across a lot of spotters that wet their pants at the thought of having this that or the other sort of one upmanship taken to the extreme. Not to be confused with the boasters like the car drivers that claim x mpg or x mph…..
Where is all this heading…. My thoughts of an electric assist pedal bike were/are a bike that is all but similar to a common or garden bicycle in both speed and usability….safety too. It seems we are still a long way away.
Is that a racing bike or a mountain bike or just an old commuter?
The government have sorted out the first issue… you will never be “allowed” to keep up with the racing bikes (the good un’s anyway) without flouting the law. They can easy do 20mph and more than double that down hills.
The mountain Bikes.. you wont keep up with them on their own turf
My electric bike is a mountain bike……..was a mountain bike…. It isn’t any more. With a front hub drive I am not going to start bouncing or jumping over kerbs or rocks or risk jumping it (as if…… the thing weighs in at 60kg) I have already bent the steel back carrier a number of times going over potholes just on the main roads. So it’s mountain days are now over, maybe the odd shortcut over a grass verge
The old Commuter
Now we are talking…hills are so easy…pulling away from traffic lights with no struggle to get into a lower gear, easy life …. Of course you don’t want to be lifting the Damn thing up and down too many stairs….and where can you park and leave it with all those goodies on it unattended… it’s not a 200buck bike anymore.
Just to finish I am not a lycra fanatic (those racing boys are wearing bright coloured lycra???) but I do want some respectability. I wouldn’t be seen dead running round on a bike with a washing machine motor lashed on the back with greasy chains flying round ready to rip off parts of my anatomy. I just want a respectable bike that doesn’t turn heads and I don’t need to tow a mobile toolbox round to keep it running.
Ahhh the last point …… it has to be almost silent… mine is quieter than it’s battery charger…
What are you looking for ???