hobbes748

Thanks, that's what I thought. But then I looked up the legislation and (to me) it looks a bit vague. It just says under 14s not allowed, it doesn't seem to differentiate between electric bicycles and electric bikes (e.g. Oset electric trial bikes). It also only mentioned dongles etc being fine on private land and made no reference to juniors being OK on the same. For the record - I'm trying to create an electric bike and not an electric bicycle. I'd hopefully be loosing the crank and pedals in favour of welding on a pair of folding footpegs. I don't expect it to look pretty and it's only got to last her until the end of the year. It'll give me something to do while I'm waiting for my op for a torn rotator cuff.

To ride in a field?

Hi guys, This may seem a little off the wall but I'm wondering if there's a conversion kit out there for a kids bike (probably something up to a 16 inch wheel). My daughter is 5 and owns a PW50 motocross bike but is still too young, for insurance purposes, to come to a track with me (even the ones that have kids tracks - you need to be 6). We've tried local stubble fields etc but either get the tutting dog walkers, long distance name callers or worse.... We met a guy who was out with his daughter on an electric motocross bike who had been going through the same issues until he swapped for a leccy one. Now, no issues with anyone. So it must just be the 'put-put-put' that makes us sound like hooligans. He told me the price of the leccy one - so I'm not going down that route but then thought about converting a kids bike with a kit that just has a throttle on it so she can work a bit on her control until her birthday. She's a demon on a bicycle and pretty good on the PW considering how much time she's had on it, but really wants to get out more. Thanks in advance

Hey, I contacted my local Haibike dealer this morning regarding doing some work on my bike. Here's what I wrote... 'Hi. I've got a Haibike Sduro Cross electric bike and I'm finding the gearing a little low for my liking (I only ever use gears 7-9) and as it's for commuting from out of town, 99% of the time it's in 9th. I've no wish to go faster but I'm thinking about putting a bigger ring on the front so I'm not always in top to alleviate a bit of wear and tear. Is there a bigger ring I (you) could put on the front to make something like 7th the same as my current 9th?' A couple of hours later I got a reply.... 'Thanks for your email, unfortunately un-like a standard bike changing the gear ratio is not as simple or some times possible on electric bikes, Looking at your bike specifically which has the Yamaha power unit, chaining the front chainring to in-corporate a larger ratio is not possible, as the motor and the torque settings are set for the ratio on the bike and you are not able to re-colaberate the settings I’m afraid. There is room for tolerances but this would be for the cassette on the rear, if you was to change this yourself the motor will either go to-fast and potentially void any warranty or the motor will get confused and go into a error and not work un-till it is put back to the ratio it is set for.' It sounds like rubbish to me, but could someone confirm/deny/explain? Many thanks

I've got motocross bike and have used the helmet (along with goggles) in the past. You look a twat commuting through town, but they do work - albeit a touch heavy for cycling. If that's the look you want I'd go for a proper DH helmet.

Hey d8vey, It jumped on all the gears I used (7-9 mostly). 7 sometimes, 8 a bit more, 9 constantly (unless cruising downhill) As for how it looks, it doesn't look quite the same as this shiny new one. On 9th gear, the teeth look more 'pointy' than on your picture and they've got rough/jaggy/burred edges. It also looks a bit weird as 4 of the teeth have been rubbed from black to shiny metal - the next 2 are still black - the next 3 are shiny - the next 2 are black. On 8th it looks mostly brand new (as it flippin' should) - only a couple of teeth look a bit like 9th. On 7th I can't see anything wrong. If you'd like it to try, study or just for spares just PM me your address and I'll send it over. I've no use for it and I'm just so glad that my new bike is actually working properly now. Thanks again

I dunno. On closer inspection the little one looks a bit wobbly to me.

And the problem was....... The cassette. The shop was great. Checked all the usual suspects but nothing was out or made a difference. Changed the cassette and suddenly all is well again. I've no idea what they should look like so here's a picture of the critter.

Yup - I'm with you there. I paid £133 for my motorbike insurance with an agreed value of £10k yet it's £160 for a £2K bicycle. Possibly because it's a new market, not enough competition or maybe because there's more chance of recovering the motorbike.

Best way is to email them and keep their response. Nine months down the line you can't say 'you said it was fine' if your bike gets pinched. I made the mistake of calling regarding a query I had regarding the additional windscreen cover option for my car insurance. The helpful assistant basically told me what I wanted to hear. In reality, when I had to make a claim, it really wasn't.

The marks on the chain might be due to my (fruitless) on the fly cable adjustments. The bike has been dropped off at the shop so I'll update you all later. Thanks again for everyone's input.

Yeah, I don't know why it looks like that. The paint seems to fall off if you look at it too hard. I noticed it after I got a puncture a few weeks ago. Removed the wheel and carefully refitted but that's it seated.

Thanks for the offer but I've got it booked into a shop round the corner for 9:00 tomorrow. I just can't stand it any longer. But if no joy there I'll be borrowing the wife's kiddie wagon and heading over the new bridge (I'm in East Lothian) to pay you a visit. As for the pulley - in real life it does appear directly below but doesn't seem totally vertical - perhaps only 1 or 2 deg off plumb. Taking a photo at just the right angle (without lying on the wet pavement) was quite tricky. That was the best shot I managed from about 10 atempts.