A Dawes Kalahari is fitted with it's own personal tail-wind in the form of a Bafang® 250W mid-drive motor and a Samsung® 10.4AH battery. Never tried it? Get in touch about converting your bike of choice.
More Smile per Mile.
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There's a great piece of footage (0.50 secs) of traffic flow in Copenhagen. It's interesting how infrastructure and cultural change brought it about. Hats off to this chap, riding roughly 70 miles a day for nearly 5 months is quite a feat even if you do have a little battery powered assistance.
He's a professional electric bike mechanic who he knows his stuff, so it's interesting to note that his motor of choice for the journey was a Bafang BBS, the same as recommended and supplied by Brighton E-bikes. The photo above highlights one of the many advantages of mid-drive motors compared to wheel hub motors. The diary of his journey is a good read and there's some great photography in there too. Click on the image to read the Loop the U.S.A. pages. More Smile per Mile Get 'Steve' with his suplerfly Michigan Panniers, presumably stuffed full of 18650 battery cells.
This image comes from a recent article in Good Magazine entitled "What Happens When Detroit Puts Down Over 150 Miles of New Bike Lanes? - Cycling Skyrockets." "If residents of the Motor City can switch to pedal power, what’s stopping the rest of us?" To read the full story by Rafi Schwartz CLICK THE ABOVE IMAGE. More Smile per Mile with Brighton E-bikes. "Back then what are now quiet one-way streets lined with flowers, trees and bicycles, looked like British streets, dominated by motor traffic. I saw the legacy of the kids’ work in the Pijp: children drawing with chalks on the pavements, playing football, people sitting outside bars and restaurants". "Where British residential streets are too often a race track for rat runners, Dutch streets are quiet, clean and peaceful – an extension of people’s homes, not simply thoroughfares for motor traffic. It was a revelation to me just how great residential streets can be and how easily, with a bit of investment, our streets could become better places for everyone" - Laura Laker, writing in The Guardian. Hopefully the UK will adopt more of this way of thinking in the future. Below: An interesting short video explaining how the children living in the Amsterdam neighbourhood De Pijp fight for a play street without cars in 1972, arguably the start of the Dutch cycle revolution. Pictured: Gentleman's town bike, the Dawes Consulate, out for a ride along the seafront after the Brighton E-bikes treatment.
A champion in British frame design and manufacture over the decades, Dawes cycles have long been recognised as one of the UK's biggest names. Often favouring to work with 'Reynolds' tubing, they still make a very nicely put together bike to this day, albeit built overseas nowadays. The above modern gents town bike model, the Consulate, lends itself brilliantly to being transformed into an affordable Dutch style E-bike. With the complete bike and electric pedal assist package coming at £999, expect to see more of these in the future. A sure case of More Smile per Mile. Help is here, and it's remarkably good! + Add electric pedal assist to your own bike for £658.16/10/2015 Owning a bicycle enables us to travel around our local area for free, get exercise and fresh air, enjoy the outdoors together; and do it whenever and practically wherever we want to.
No worries about parking, no vehicle registration, tax or insurance costs. No problem to drop in and see a friend, have a coffee or pick up some shopping on the way, it is quite simply an ideal way to travel, especially around cities like Brighton and Hove. According to our research, the most frequently stated reasons why people don't use their bikes to get around more in Brighton and Hove, is because of the hills and the strong winds along the seafront. Unlike the Dutch and Germans (to name just a couple of European neighbours whose bicycle sales are now up to 50% e-bikes), the UK as a whole have been rather slow on the uptake of electric bikes, after all, the government only changed the law in April 2015 to bring us into line with the rest of Europe. If ever there was a place for a little electric motor that can be fitted between the pedals of your own favourite bike adding 9 levels of pedal assist, it is here in Brighton and Hove. Being a mid-drive motor, our recommended system, the Bafang BBS01, retains all the bike's existing gearing at the rear wheel, meaning optimum motor power can be harnessed at all speeds. The result is the ability to cruise at 15-20 mph whether uphill or into strong winds, for some forty odd miles between charges. Quite simply, it flattens the hills and nullifies the headwinds, making the humble bicycle one of the quickest and most convenient ways to get around for more and more people. Don't for a moment think this means the rider doesn't have to do any work like on a moped, it still needs human pedal power to make it all work. It just means you can travel further in less time, breeze up hills that were previously avoided, tailor your effort depending on the day/occasion, and perhaps adopt routes that had previously not been considered. Riders who switch over to e-bikes report their average journey distance doubles and their frequency of journeys quadruples. Please visit our website to read more about E-bikes in Brighton or to get in touch and discuss converting your bike. Kelly Roberson, 45, with her daughter Sophia Roberson, 8, of Iowa USA, pedals through Des Moines on a motorized bike on Wednesday afternoon, September 16, 2015. Roberson uses the bike to commute to work, run errands like buying groceries, and to pick up her two children from school. Click the image above to read more and watch the video at The Des Moins Register. More Smile per Mile. Brighton and Hove has recently won an award at the inaugural Cycle Planning Awards in London last Monday. Brighton and Hove won the award for 'Best Cycle Network Infrastructure Project'. Best Cycle Network Infrastructure Project Joint winner – Lewes Road Scheme, Brighton & Hove – Brighton and Hove City Council & Mott MacDonald The Lewes Road Cycle Scheme involved significant reallocation of road space on a busy 4.5km dual-carriageway in order to accommodate improved cycle facilities and enhanced priority for buses. The scheme is most well-known for its introduction of 14 floating bus stops along the route which remove the previous conflict between buses and cyclists that was often seen as a significant barrier to cycling. Lewes Road (A270) is an important part of the City’s road network, linking the city centre northwards to major employers and destinations including: two universities, the Brighton & Sussex Medical School and the Amex Community Football Stadium and beyond. Click on the road.cc logo below to read the full article by Simon MacMichael. "Now it's clear this is one of the best DIY kits on the market...and the most popular" Electric Bike .com -August 2015.
Two years after their first review, an updated article bringing current views once again praises the many merits of the Bafang BBS01/BBS02 mid-drive e-bike motors. Click on the Electric Bike .com logo below to read the full article. Electric bicycles can be a clean and green method of transportation, and building your own ebike is not only possible, but is also affordable. Micah Toll, the author of a popular DIY electric bike conversion book offers us 6 tips for getting started with building your own electric bike.
There's absolutely nothing wrong with using a conventional manually-pedaled bicycle, as they're fun, inexpensive, simple to work on and maintain, and about as low-carbon of a transportation option as you can get. But an electric bicycle offers some advantages over a standard bicycle, including speed and convenience, and require significantly less effort to get from one place to another. However, before you lay out a big chunk of cash on a ready made ebike, consider doing a DIY electric bike conversion. Q: Why do you think people are switching to commuting with an ebike? Toll: I've actually seen a wide variety of people switching to ebikes for many different reasons. A large group consists of college students and young professionals, especially those living in cities, who use ebikes as an alternative to buying a car or relying on public transportation. The main benefits for this group include being able to commute on their own schedule, not paying for a car, insurance, parking or a yearly bus pass, and being able to beat traffic in crowded cities. I also see a lot of eco-conscious adults in cities and suburbs who use an ebike as a second vehicle, allowing them to leave their car in the garage for many of their 'around the town' trips that don't really require a 3,000lb gas guzzling machine. Lastly, there are many people who would like to get into cycling, but due to their age or previous injuries, haven't been able to succeed. With an ebike, they can get back on two wheels and have total control over how much they are pedaling and how much the motor is assisting them. To read the full article by Derek Markham click the Tree Hugger logo below. A really very nice to ride Spesh Stumpy frame from the mid/late nineties having some Bafang treatment.
Don't think the B.B. ever met grease upon installation, if it did it was so long ago it forgot. A job well jobbed. In short, it's quite possible that the collaborative effect of the best way being 'by bicycle', and the best day being 'Sunday 27th September 2015', could result in one of the most enjoyable days of cycling and exploring Parisians have ever seen. Climate Action reports: "Paris will ban motorised vehicles from the roads for the day on 27 September as an experiment in its efforts to reduce carbon emissions. The city will implement the ‘Une Journée Sans Voiture’ (A Day Without a Car) next month to coincide with European Mobility Week and a United Nations climate change summit, both of which will also be in Paris. Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo (pictured) said: “Paris will be completely transformed for a day… This is an opportunity for Parisians and tourists to enjoy the city without noise, pollution and therefore without stress.”" So long as it's not hissing it down with rain and gusting a gale, a Sunday ride around gay Paris, electric or otherwise would surely be a great fun day out. It would be great if more cities felt able to implement similar arrangements in coming years. As new forms of sustainable transport become available the likelihood seems ever more plausible. More Smile per Mile. There are many schools of thought about the best way to protect your trusty steed from the potential threat of theft when you're apart. Parking in a busy, open area where even the most brazen thief would feel uncomfortable is generally a good idea; a quiet, secluded back street on the other hand can offer an all too tempting proposition to the wouldbe thief. The raw reality is that the likelihood of seeing a stolen bike again is very slim these days. Bikes are sold on quickly and often stripped down so components can be sold separately online or used on less identifiable bikes. Even if it were to be replaced under insurance within 24 hours, the sudden abduction of a trusty steed is an unpleasant experience and one that is largely preventable. Always securing to a solid piece of street furniture (cycle parking hoop, fence or pole) is a must, ideally this will be in a bustling public area. If leaving out of sight it's advisable to loop another cable through the lock and wheels, especially if quick release (QR) skewers are fitted. If there is the option to secure either wheel, always opt for the rear. If a bike is rarely left locked up alone then QR skewers are less of a theft risk. Replacing them for 'Security Skewers' makes it tidier and easier to lock the bike up whilst still reducing the chance wheel theft. Other components commonly targeted by thieves are the saddle and saddle post (sometime along with the seat post clamp) where a QR seat post clamp is fitted. Again these can be replaced with a secure equivalent. Some suggestions are to spend 10% of the value of the bike on the lock to secure it. This works to a degree, but investing in a good quality D-lock, spending say £50-60 no matter what the bike's value is a very sound move. For some time now Abus and Kryptonite have been the leading names to look for in this price range. The 'Abus Granit X-Plus' is of particular note. Ranging from £50 upwards, it's been a highly recommended purchase for some years, mainly because it generally makes thieves walk-on-by. The presence of some recognised armoury will cause unwanted gazes to be quickly averted elsewhere, and gradually over time, as with theft in the motor industry, it will be the case that thieves are afforded less and less opportunity. John Stevenson wrote a very good article recently for Road.cc pedal powered website, click the below link to read the full article. By Derren Walliams for www.brightonebikes.co.uk Aug. 2015.
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