eBikes (Open thread)

Dale. said:
Sure, I will do, don't want to hijack your thread though.
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I think I intended this as an open thread. I'll update the title....
 
You guys have some very cool looking bikes....
 
Can you beilieve it?

I rode my new bike 300 metres and got a puncture. Ok, just one of them things, fixed many a puncture in my time, no biggy. Or so I thought.

Turns out, the tyre is tubeless, again, no biggy. It has the sealant in it to seal punctures but turns out the hole was too big. It's barely visible but too big for the sealant to work. So, off to Halfords and I've had to put a tube in it. Again no biggy but irritating nonetheless. Just my luck.

I've just been out on it though and boy, it's a joy to ride. Still gets me out of breath but just lovely to be on.

I'm hoping it will help me rediscover my love of MTBing.
 
@Dale.
If you've not seen them, look for something like these, I've plugged many holes and worn many tyres out with in.

muc-off.com

Puncture Plug Repair Kit

When a puncture is simply too big to seal, the Muc-Off Puncture Plug Repair Kit is the ultimate backup tool that’s lightweight and easy-to-use. The tough and durable handle and 2-in-1 puncture plug/reamer tool comes with 5x thick plugs, 5x medium plugs and 5x thin plugs packed all packed...
muc-off.com muc-off.com
 
Gav. said:
@Dale.
If you've not seen them, look for something like these, I've plugged many holes and worn many tyres out with in.

muc-off.com

Puncture Plug Repair Kit

When a puncture is simply too big to seal, the Muc-Off Puncture Plug Repair Kit is the ultimate backup tool that’s lightweight and easy-to-use. The tough and durable handle and 2-in-1 puncture plug/reamer tool comes with 5x thick plugs, 5x medium plugs and 5x thin plugs packed all packed...
muc-off.com muc-off.com
Click to expand...

Yup, one of these will be in my bag from now on Bud.
 
Been on my Specialized Turbo Levo for over a year now. Done rides i would have found impossible on an analogue bike (61 & poor lung function). 39 miles 4500ft of ascent. Ride in eco when ever possible. Me at the Brecon Gap ride

DSC02903 by Paul, on Flickr
 
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Excellent, well done Paul ;)
 
plloydie said:
Been on my Specialized Turbo Levo for over a year now. Done rides i would have found impossible on an analogue bike (61 & poor lung function). 39 miles 4500ft of ascent. Ride in eco when ever possible. Me at the Brecon Gap ride

DSC02903 by Paul, on Flickr
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Well done, my old stomping ground, years ago on a GT XCR.
 
Much bikeage was done today. It's an absolute beast of a thing. I climbed hills and trails that would've made my legs burn even 20 years ago, when I was much more bike fit.

Yeah, my legs burned, even in 'boost' mode, which is fine as I want to recover some fitness but what a blast I had today. Reminded why I used to do it, I love it but I'd forgotten how much fun it is.

14 miles in total, not bad for a first run out for quite a number of years.

All phone pics.

IMG_1725 tp.jpg


IMG_1727 tp.jpg


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IMG_1730 tp.jpg
 
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Well done, keep pedalling ;)
 
I'me currently looking at pimping an old but in great condition Giant 4,5 into an e-bike with a kit
i can't justify a new unit and the giant bike is in great condition

stock image


st.jpg
 
I have read that it is not that difficult, especially if you fit a front wheel kit.
 
I too, have a Giant frame kicking about, in great nick. I've often considered converting it.

I went for a bimble today, but I don't think that hill was that steep (or long) on the way down. That said, the bike ate it.

IMG_1751[1] tp.jpg
 
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Box Brownie said:
Looks like a sore case of "road pizza" ~ ouch!
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Brambles!! Wouldn't mind but was going extra slow to avoid brambles on one side of skinny path and misjudged something and Roly poyled down hill on the other side!!
Lots of nettle stings as well,very very stingy!
 
My baby is in e-bike hospital at the moment. It's getting new pads but I had noticed, it had become a bit clunky, especially when pulling off. Turns out, I've broken some teeth on the rear sprocket. I'm getting the chain renewed too, plus a general service.
 
Dale. said:
My baby is in e-bike hospital at the moment. It's getting new pads but I had noticed, it had become a bit clunky, especially when pulling off. Turns out, I've broken some teeth on the rear sprocket. I'm getting the chain renewed too, plus a general service.
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Well worth keeping on top of things service wise
 
Norkie said:
I have read that it is not that difficult, especially if you fit a front wheel kit.
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conversions really aren't that difficult - the big thing with the front or rear wheel conversion kits is to ensure that the bike has "old style" quick release dropouts rather than the more modern "through axle" ones.

Of course, there's also the option of the "mid engine" conversions...

462084097_8486315298089636_6841732681581238541_n.jpg

Bafeng BBS01B 36v 250w and (iirc) a 20AH battery pack. UK legal, 25kph limited, pedal assist only, no thumb throttle fitted - and the battery pack IS actually fastened to the frame with 3 rivnuts, the 2 big velcro straps are just there for my own peace of mind and to stop the occasional rattle. Not your typical bodged conversion "Deliveroo Special".

To be honest, hardest bit was getting an appropriate front chainring size - came with a 44t which in all honesty would have been fine for a road-bike - if I sit a pair of road-slicks on there and maybe go back to the rigid forks for a road hack, i'll try it - but but the "offset" of the teeth needed meant that the biggest 3 rings on the cassette were seriously cross-chained and i wasn't comfortable with it, and especially for offroad stuff, I needed something a little more torque-ey anyway (because i'm a big old unit, and 250w isn't quite enough assistance on some of the steeper yorkshire climbs (on and off road...)

Second hardest bit, frankly, was getting the cable management neat enough - think I should have bought shares in a cable tie company...

Of course YMMV - I'm probably at a bit of an advantage in that I actually built the bike from components originally, and i've been spannering on bikes since I got a job as saturday lad at Mick Donnovan Cycles when I was 15 - but it was actually a pretty easy build.

I know there's some discussion at the moment of increasing the power allowance to 500W, and honestly, if that goes legal, I'll be making the upgrade - probably swapping this kit onto a disk braked road bike frame with dropped bars, as I think that 250W is probably more appropriate for the "gentle nudge" on uphills that I need on the road than offroad stuff - again, YMMV, and remember I'm north of 20 stone, so 250w is not a massive power surge - when I was fitter 5-6 years ago, my FTP on the roadbike was around 360w just from my own legs - and that'd only propel me at around 17-18mph average speed...
 
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Norkie said:
This is interesting...
www.bbc.co.uk

E-bikes: eBay to ban private sales over fire safety concerns

The platform will clamp down on the sale of e-bikes and e-bike batteries in the UK from 31 October.
www.bbc.co.uk www.bbc.co.uk
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It's a concern I had before I got mine. I'm a little paranoid about fires at home, my mum, survived a house fire when she was 6, albeit, badly burned, the scars she bore until she passed away, aged 78. The story of how it happened and what happened to her afterwrads chills me to the bone to this day.

Anyway, I looked up E-Bike battery safety. Long story short, it seems to be the cheaper variants that have the problems. The big brands, Shimano, Bosch etc seem much safer, I'm not aware of any of that brand catching fire but that's not to say they haven't, I've just never heard of it happening.

That said, I would never leave my (Shimano) E-bike battery charging overnight, or if I'm away from home. I would also look in on it occasionally, checking it's not getting hot.

Leaving a cheap brand of battery on charge overnight, unchecked, is a potential disaster waiting to happen.
 
I also made sure my equipment is a quality make, Bosch in my case. I think the ‘dodgy’ ones are Chinese origin.
 
Most batteries ARE from China, be they OEM or knock offs! From what I can understand, it's the chargers as much as the batteries themselves that cause problems.

Makes the few EV fires look like a drop in the ocean - although an EV does have rather more cells...
 
Care needs to be taken with all lithium batteries. I have bought and used 3rd party camera batteries without issue. I bought a 3rd party power tool battery 2 weeks ago which was approx one third of the OEM price. Not sure this was a wise move. I would only use a replacement Bosch battery for my ebike.
 
Whilst driving home this afternoon we followed an eBike for a couple of miles, most of which was up a hill. It must have been going 25-35 mph, over took a learner driver, no peddling and no bike helmet. Probably the same bike I have seen before weaving in and out of traffic.

Is it easy to buy/ convert e-bikes that are clearly illegal? It is not a big problem where we live, but it is in some areas according to an article in last week’s press.
 
Brentor said:
Is it easy to buy/ convert e-bikes that are clearly illegal? It is not a big problem where we live, but it is in some areas according to an article in last week’s press.
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Same place I got my legal kit was selling a 1kw 48v version, hard to tell difference between it and mine on the bike. Unrestricting is a matter of plugging a cable into the laptop and the head unit and setting a few parameters that control the speed limits and max currents. Add a thumb throttle and you've got a bike that'll pretty much do what you described. Bolt the kit to a supermarket special rim braked heap and you've got a recipe for disaster. But it's a cheap way to get more deliveries done on your Deliveroo side hustle.
 
Got my bike back today, wallet is £300 lighter but it is money well spent. It's a different bike, loved it before but it's beasting it now, can't wait to give it a proper run out.

The guy said to me he could've sold it several times over with people going in asking how much it was. It's not for sale though, I love it.
 
A year late but finally I jumped on the e-bike wagon

Bought through the bike-to-work scheme. Hadn't heard of the brand before, but I knew I wanted an eBike that was pretty much a mountain bike with some oomph, and that it has. First ride I took on the steepest hill in town, and it got it done with barely any effort from me
 

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A question for you new to e-bike riders...
No one has mentioned getting a sore backside which was always a problem for me whenever I got back on a bike after a (winter) break.
I know it's something you adapt to but maybe saddles have improved - my (peddle, not electric) bike has a Brooks saddle which I was led to believe was easy to get used to but left me saddle-sore for weeks.
 
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