Why would anyone want an electric bike?
Electric bicycles offer the same great benefits as traditional bicycles including cost savings (no licensing, tax or insurance required), no traffic queues, easy parking, improved health and fitness to name just a few. The real advantage to e-bikes in my view is efficiency in climbing hills or fighting the wind combined with better range. If you experience knee pain or exercise induced asthma for example, electric bikes can breath new life into the sport of cycling. They might convince your friend or significant other to join you on the trails more often or they might enable you to commute to work in extreme heat without perspiring so much. I've owned cars and mopeds before and neither felt as safe or refreshing as cycling along community paths, away from traffic. To read the full article CLICK HERE > Extract shared from a great article written by Michael Graham Richard for Treehugger.com on Smartertrends.co.uk
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Back in 1991, a photographer was commissioned by the City of Münster's Planning Department to take photographs of 72 people travelling in their city by bicycle, car and bus; the message the images portray is quite clear, yet 24 years on and the scene in the centre is still the one we see in most cities around the world. The series of photographs were entitled "Waste of Space". There is, however, a lot of hope for us all in forthcoming years since the advent of genuinely viable E-bike conversion kits. So effective were the iconic images from Germany in 1991, they have been replicated a number of times since. Below, with the use of computer graphics showing 200 people and again the images are quite striking. And again below, the message recreated by the Cycling Promotion Fund in Australia. Even if five percent of people were prepared to forego the undeniable additional luxury & comfort of the car it would be a great start towards less congested & polluted cities for everybody. Plus, the five percent who took to their bikes would soon become healthier and happier in life. Not to mention the cost savings.
It is understandable why, in hilly areas such as Brighton & Hove, people have chosen to use the car over cycling; after all there are some really stinky hills to be scaled in most directions. However, with the arrival of lightweight, affordable & reliable electric bike conversion kits, the recent change in UK e-Bike law (April 2015) allowing electric bikes up to 250 watts to be used on UK roads for free, the continued investment in cycling infrastructure by Brighton & Hove City Council, then the arrival of a new era where cycling becomes more accessible to more people as a form of transport is upon us. With the addition of a mid-drive electric conversion kit, bikes that commonly sit dormant for months, sometimes years at a time, that get just a handful of outings a year, are transformed into a very practical, usable and enjoyable way to get around. The struggle of carrying children or heavy luggage on the rear of a bike can present stability and acceleration issues, particularly when pulling away at junctions and roundabouts. Electric pedal assistance improves both stability and acceleration, but most importantly it improves safety for the rider. Even with a loaded bike, the system can laugh in the face of steep hills and punch it's way through otherwise power-zapping seafront headwinds. The potential for more people to find travelling by bicycle in Brighton and Hove agreeable could mean that we start to see a shift in the choices people make about how they get around our wonderful city. More Smile per Mile. www.brightonebikes.co.uk The newest addition to my Bafanged up Lynskeys On One Inbred. A rather tasty 42 tooth Bling Ring from the talented people at LEKKIE bike.
A 7075AL T6 CNC machined piece of niceness. Ride reports to follow, but it certainly looks pretty bling compared to the stock ring & weighs in at a snip of the original. More Smile per Mile. www.brightonebikes.co.uk Two comparatively life-changing events with two very different results.
"Oh Bafang it!" I exclaimed, as I realised the momentous occasion had passed me by despite preparing for it just moments before with a photograph for the family album at 999.4 miles. Arriving home, my memory was quickly jogged when I noticed an unfamiliar fifth digit staring back at me from the on-board computer display; there it was, 1004.0 miles of smiles, fun and enjoyment. It's not quite the lovely round figure of a clean 1000.0 mile reading that I had in mind for the family album, but it'll do, and I have plenty of photos of my son to make up for it. As you can probably imagine, there is rarely a spare seat in the house for our family album slideshow nights, & with new additions as above it's fair to say we might have to source a bigger venue in future. Until next time, look after yourselves, & each other. www.brightonebikes.co.uk Not a common frame style choice in the UK, but one of these would make for a great E-bike.
Aluminium frame with steel forks, so it'll be lighter than it looks in the photo. This set up with a Bafang BBS01 & on a pair of something like 700 x 32C Panasonic Panaracer RiBMo tyres would create a stylish everyday ride for any dandy gentleman. The frame & forks are available from Luna Cycles. The long and short of it is that ALL of the other 12 teams who entered were using a Bosch Motor on their rides, Team Bafang were using their own branded new innovative Max Drive System.
'Bike doping' is clearly encouraged here so no chance of an enquiry on that count; it seems the good chaps at Bafang simply nailed it! The accolades just keep coming: 1st out of 15 mid drive systems tested & reviewed in 2015 by electricbike.com 9.5/10 review by ElectricBikeReview.com Winners of 24hr E-bike race 2015 at Nürburgring, Germany To read the Official Bafang Press Release (albeit a little garbled in translation) CLICK HERE > To get a bit of Bafang in your life & receive the More Smile per Mile guarantee visit Brighton E-bikes > We were delighted to be asked by Firefly Clean Energy in Lewes to help assemble & prepare bicycles to use with their 'PEDGEN' products for one of their upcoming events. Part of their 'You Power' range, the Pedgens allow the rider to produce enough electricity to recharge their mobile phone or mp3 player. In mass, like at this event where there are to be 20 riders simultaneously producing electricity, far grander feats can be achieved by pedal power alone. Find out about more Firefly Clean Energy products and what else they can do - CLICK HERE. First little ramp session with Fred.
As a very generalised statement, I think it's fair to say that dogs just love a ride on an open-top bus. Well our two are no exception. Here's Martha & Daisy passing through Churchill Square on the way home from the beach. The 77 bus run predominately open-top buses on this route from mid June until the end of August. It gives a nice twist to a day out in Brighton. To see information about the 77 bus service CLICK HERE A good friend badly injured one of their knees some time ago now. They struggled to keep active during the recovery period. A keen rider before the injury meant not being able to ride was like a bird having it's wings clipped. The short clip below is them now, loving riding more than ever. Yet another way that E-bikes are making cycling more accessible to more people. More Smile per Mile @brightonebikes.co.uk TO SEE FULL ARTICLE CLICK HERE
Some good points made by www.electricbike.com : Benefits of a mid drive over a hub motor 1. Climbs steep hills MUCH better than a hub motor. There are videos of mid drives climbing stairs…(a feat nearly impossible to do on a hub motor electric bike). 2. Places the weight of the motor low and centralized in the frame (instead of a heavy hub in the rear wheel) which means a better balanced feel. 3. The motor can use the bikes gears, so the RPMs stay up in it’s efficient range = More range per battery-Ah. 4. Keeping the motor in it’s best RPM range means lower peak-amps drawn from the battery. 5. Giving the motor some gears to use, also means you can get a broader range of performance from a smaller and lighter motor. 6. Easy to change a flat tire with no hub motor. 7. No more broken spokes from hitting a pothole with a heavy hub motor in the wheel. Announcing, hot off the press, brand new logo for Brighton E-bikes.
With great thanks to Jacqui Clark www.coroflot.com/jacquiclarkart for help with the design & making the whole process a breeze. Creative input from Nid Osman. Conceptual input Derren Walliams. New helmets use an accelerometer like in smart phones to provide a visible warning that the cyclist is slowing down.
FIND OUT MORE HERE An article from the Telegraph about 6 weeks ago.
Battery assisted bikes may offend the purist, but all the evidence suggests they'll soon be a fixture on Britain's roads CLICK HERE TO READ MORE Electric Motorcrosser. Unfortunately it doesn't comply with UK regulations.
Read the full article - click here. Review of Bafang mid drive rated it 9.5 out of 10 by Electricbikereview.com > Kind of speaks for itself really.. More Smile per Mile. Martha & Daisy before their red envelope spa day. Now they be fresh from the barbershop, fly from the beauty salon.
Cycling with any style of child seat fitted to the bike can unsettle the balance & control of the bike once it's got the little one strapped in. With power available from a mid-drive pedal assistance system on an E-bike, the overall ride becomes more stable & feels safer, especially when setting off from junctions & ascending hills. Click here to find out more. Ti or not to Ti? ..that is the question.
Would it be rude to Bafang all over one of these? More smile per mile :) |
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