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On Sunday 15th July, Pedelecers converged on the New Forest at the South of England's first annual Electric Bike Rally held at the Sammy Miller Motorcycle Museum. |
Sunday July 15th saw the first electric bike rally held in the South of England. The event took place at the Sammy Miller Motorcycle Museum at Bashley Cross in New Milton, Hampshire and was organised by David and Doug from Wisper Electric Vehicle Co. Ltd.
After a very early start, the day began with setting up our stand kitted out with a couple of laptop computers which visitors could use to access the Pedelecs site live during the day. A complimentary bacon roll and coffee from the organisers helped restore the calories lost during this strenuous process!
Comfy chairs after those exhausting test rides
Along with A to B magazine who were on hand to provide impartial advice, Wisper Bikes were showing their complete range of bikes including a mock-up of the forthcoming Works 905se due later this year.
Newcomers Sustain Cycles brought along two bikes on the day, the Halley being a dual-suspension electric MTB-style bike fitted with a 24v 10ah battery retailing at £599 and the Edison, a folder at £399.
Katja from Pedelecs on the Halley
50Cycles demonstrated three models from the eZee range including the Liv and F series models, the Forza and Forte. We briefly rode the Forza back in June and this latest bike now has the new eZee Assistance Factor which allows fine tuning of the motor's assistance via a dial on the handlebars - more on this later.
The local PowaByke dealer was also in attendance with several PowaByke models and electric scooter manufacturer Vectrix also turned up in a rather trick van fully kitted out with plasma screens and PC's. They were providing demo rides of their latest electric scooters.
Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it's the eZee Forte
The venue provided an interesting location, with the motorcycle museum ensuring a flow of leather clad passers by and the farm location meant that alpacas, goats and geese watched bemused as pedelecers buzzed around the tarmac trying out the various bikes on offer.
During the day, we saw a small but steady flow of people visiting and we were kept busy chatting about the site to newcomers and a number of regulars to our forum. It was great to finally put some faces to names at last!
Forthcoming Works 905se
At various points we also had chance to check out some of the bikes on display. First up, we had a ride on the mock-up of the forthcoming Wisper Works 905se. This new model, available later this year, will come with a whole raft of modifications and improvements over the existing model, the 905e. Unfortunately it was only fitted with a 180W motor for testing on the day, so we will have to wait to get our hands on the 250W version!
Next up came the Halley and Edison from Sustain Cycles. While both are powered by 24v 10ah batteries, the Edison felt the much zippier of the two, mainly due to the lower weight and smaller wheels. The Halley struggled up the slight incline of the car park on power alone and really needs input from rider, this bike overall being much more suited to shorter distances on flat terrain. Of the two, we much preferred the Edison.
Sustain Cycles Edison
Finally of the production models, we rode the eZee Forza from 50Cycles. We last had a ride on this bike briefly just before launch and this model now includes the new eZee Assistance Factor. Basically the 1-9 dial on the handlebars replaces the throttle making the bike pedelec mode only. By adjusting the dial, you can control the amount of assistance you receive from the bike. 3-4 ensures a gentle pull-off from standing start increasing up to 9 where the bike lurches forward quite aggresively. It took a little while to get used to it and one particular issue came to light. When braking and ceasing pedalling, it takes a full second or so for the power to cut out which could be a little disconcerting if you need to stop quickly. Hopefully eZee will be looking into this and modifying the behaviour accordingly.
Glen prepares another 'wheelie'
After lunch, Team Hybrid performed a stunt display with several riders and machines. First up was Glen Wicken, whizzing around the car park on a converted Giant Trails team Series. Glen has been a trick cyclist for over 10 years. His electric bike has no seat post and the battery was contained in a backpack to enable power assisted jumps and stunts.
Mark from Team Hybrid on the Viper
Mark Higgon, the owner of Team Hybrid was on a Viper whelchair conversion which performed very impressively. The company builds electric vehicles for allcomers including wheelchair conversions and hand cycles to enable the disabled to integrate with conventional cyclists. The Viper uses a Heinzmann 250W motor with a 10mph top speed, although Mark's version does 17mph and very swift it was too with very quick acceleration.
A nice surprise on the day was the appearance of the Tidal Force electric bike which never made to it our shores. This unique electric bike utilitises a battery in one wheel and the electric motor in the other. Unfortunately the company went bust after spending millions developing it. However the silver lining is that French company Matra have purchased the rights and have started to sell the bike once again. Currently negotiations are taking place and hopefully the Tidal Force will make an appearance in the UK soon.
Katja getting ready to ride the Tidal Force
We managed to grab a test ride of the bike on the day and its performance was phenominal, easily reaching speeds of up to 30mph in pedal assist mode. Obviously this far exceeds the UK regulations so the bike will be fitted with a limiter to restrict the top speed to the UK legal limit of 15.5mph as seen on some other bikes.
By 4pm most visitors had left so we packed away the stand and headed for home. We all had a thoroughly enjoyable day and are looking forward to the next electric bike event at the O2 Sustainability Show in October this year. More details to follow.
We would like to thank David and Doug from Wisper Bikes for organising the event.
Richard Beniston
Pedelecs UK
More photos from the event:
