hello from total n00b

[miker71]

Just want to say I have found this forum invaluable in researching pedelecs etc.

I'm one of those 'casual' uncommitted cyclists who has recently ditched his car due to telecommuting and the fact the better half has a toyota lucida.

Really interested in using a pedelec/ebike as the first phase of my transition of mindset to throttle controlled EV (ie, two or four wheeled EV capable of motorway speeds). But that's in my future. I guess what I'm saying is that I want to get used to plugging in my transport in overnight

Although I telecommute, I do want the freedom a runabout can give me. Rather than a car, I figured I'd get an electric cycle and avoid all the admin and expensive maintenance that a 'proper' road vehicle brings. I live very close to the countryside in a somewhat suburban village called Denmead, about ten miles from Portsmouth.

Things are quite hilly around here (close to the South Downs) and although I am reasonably fit and go around on a trusty tourer, I do believe I would go out more often and further afield with a little battery power to back me up on particularly steep inclines.

I am seriously contemplating the gocycle despite the lack of enthusiasm for it here! There I said it.

And if you think I am a design loving, Apple toting, lazy fool - well, you'd be half right

 

[flecc]

As you will no doubt have read here already, the wisest thing is to try before you buy Mike. The GoCycle undoubtedly has style attraction, but things like range, comfort with smaller wheels on our awful road surfaces and high motor noise may not compare well with the alternatives.

If you still prefer it after trying some other hub and crank drive bikes, then of course it's the best bike for you.

 

[miker71]

Yes, I agree that test rides would be useful - but until pedelecs/ebikes get more mindshare leading to more marketshare it's a major mission for me to get to any dealer with stock (I realise there is ElectricBikeWorld.co.uk at Southampton and Cytronex at Winchester) - I'm really annoyed at myself for missing Portsmouth's Love Your Bike Portsmouth event last year when Gocycle were there (also a sponsor of the event).

Anyway, the deed is done and I should take delivery of a Gocycle tomorrow.

I have some longer term ideas around Gocyclocross ...

Like most ebikes they seem to keep a decent re-sale value so if it's really not for me I'm prepared to make a small loss in the name of supporting British engineering (and partial manufacturing as I understand it). Certainly looking forward to ditching my cycle clips.

I certainly intend to post my thoughts and a review after I've done a few of my 10 mile summer circuit on it. Denmead cycle 5 - trip | EveryTrail

 

[miker71]

Here is the same trip, my very first outing on the Gocycle:
Gocycle Denmead pedelec ebike - Road biking trip | EveryTrail

It's 3 minutes quicker than my non-assisted Claud Butler Regent (20-something gears, I forget), but comparing the two profiles clearly shows the Gocycle is NOT geared for downhill acceleration.

I was using electric assist sparingly other than on inclines.

I also found the Gocycle needed some further tweaks, I was riding with the saddle too low and tyres under-inflated. So I will definitely be recording that trip again after adjustments.

This is the first bike I've ever had as an adult with fat 20" wheels and I was pleasantly surprised at the human-powered pedal acceleration and excellent manoeuvrability at low speeds.

One downside I fear is security - because the bike so easily disassembles I'd be nervous leaving such a conspicuous bike around a city centre out of sight for any length of time. I've purchased an alarmed lock&chain to counter that somewhat.

Once I've ridden it about a bit more I'll give a more informative review.

 

[miker71]

I accompanied my 9 year old daughter to the sweetshop (I was on the gocycle, she on a cheerful kids non-electric bike) using pedal power only. No denying the gocycle qualifies as a heavy cycle, but I really didn't notice this at the low speeds travelling with my daughter. No problem bunnyhopping up and down kerbs (I've inflated the gocycle tyres to the 60psi recommended for maximum roll), I weigh around 14 stone for reference.

What I wasn't prepared for - whilst I waited outside in my sandals, shorts and t-shirt a couple of young teen-aged BMX-ers struck up a conversation with me. They were very intrigued by the gocycle and despite the fact I told them it was not really a bike for heavy duty stunts their eyes lit up at the McLaren association and design pedigree.

As an EV advocate and someone who understands how facets of marketing work, this kind of conversation is invaluable in getting EV mindshare. I saw a story earlier on the BBC website that people have "range anxiety" when dealing with electric cars. What utter bunk!

 

[flecc]

I saw a story earlier on the BBC website that people have "range anxiety" when dealing with electric cars. What utter bunk!

I very much disagree with your comment. The first thing that everyone queries about e-cars is the range, and it's long been the main source of discontent with them.

It used to be the same with e-bikes for many years when 20 miles was the most that they were capable of and 12 miles was not uncommon. Since some bikes started to be capable of over 40 miles/3 riding hours, the worrying about range reduced considerably.

Al the indications are that the magic figure for e-cars will be 200 miles, the claims for 80 to 100 miles on some models now not meeting with approval.

Of course we know that most car journeys are much shorter, but people don't want to have to have the expense of two cars so they do need an adequate range for the occasional longer journeys.
.

 

[EdBike]

There's an annoying lack of relatively near electric bike shops in Portsmouth - I've always wondered how well electric bikes would cope on Portsdown Hill. I've seen Go Cycles here in Portsmouth, and its a wizzy thing. The smaller wheels and smaller battery compared with other bikes you can get (since the Go Cycle is designed to be collapsed, it doesn't have the legs of a road/mountain bike).

Suggest going and trying a few out - besides the spots in Southampton already mentioned, Powarider in Woking was suggested to me: PowaRider - Electric Bikes as well as the various dealerships in London Electric Bikes London | 7 Verified Dealers

 

[miker71]

I very much disagree with your comment. The first thing that everyone queries about e-cars is the range, and it's long been the main source of discontent with them.

It used to be the same with e-bikes for many years when 20 miles was the most that they were capable of and 12 miles was not uncommon. Since some bikes started to be capable of over 40 miles/3 riding hours, the worrying about range reduced considerably.

Al the indications are that the magic figure for e-cars will be 200 miles, the claims for 80 to 100 miles on some models now not meeting with approval.

Of course we know that most car journeys are much shorter, but people don't want to have to have the expense of two cars so they do need an adequate range for the occasional longer journeys.
.

The BBC story is here BBC News - 'Range anxiety' may hamper take-up of electric cars

On second viewing they do seem to be saying that an unquantified number of the 3000 electric cars on British roads have owners who are "anxious" about, say, doing an 80 mile round trip on a quoted 100 mile range.

So, anxious like running you petrol tank into reserve, I get that.

So basically there is an opportunity for anyone to resell their mains electricity to EV owners. It's not like the infrastructure doesn't already exist in domestic form, I guess entrepreneurs willing to resell their domestic mains power are not yet clued up about the government's delays (whatever the causes may be).

And there's always breakdown recovery. Actually, that's one advantage of the Renault system of leasing the battery - you can swap it out in service stations, or your breakdown recovery service could change it at the side of the road I would expect.

I agree that throttle-only EV range still has room for improvement, it's taken for granted that a petrol car will easily get you 500 or 600 miles on a single tank.

I also think electric cars are too expensive, it's cheaper up-front to buy petrol.

 

[flecc]

Thanks for the link Mike, I'd read the comment as being about prospective buyers rather than present owners.

Trouble is that our technology is out of synch with our needs, arriving at the point of needing clean vehicles when batteries are still inadequate and far too expensive.

With hindsight, the efforts we've put into progressing into a more technologically intensive future should perhaps have been biased into making what we had 20 or 30 years ago more sustainable.

 

[miker71]

There's an annoying lack of relatively near electric bike shops in Portsmouth - I've always wondered how well electric bikes would cope on Portsdown Hill.

It's definitely a hill I want to give the gocycle a work out on. I'm not sure if I've ever cycled anything up that hill, certainly the thought of pedal-power alone is a massive psychological barrier!

I intend to go a few more places and record the metrics on Everytrail.com and then pull everything into a review as impartially as I can manage.

Today I went with my daughter to Havant, I needed to figure out a route to Langstone Technology Park where I am attending a course next week - naturally I want to use my gocycle for the commute each day.

So I used an iPhone app called Bike Hub to plan the route - following the route was challenging but did allow me to discover some cycleways I knew were around but never knew where there were. However, this took us off-road and as we approached Havant, I realised I'd got a flat!!
Instagram
This was slightly disappointing, but stuff happens. As far as I can tell, the inner tube is not kevlar or any such and there is no "slime" inside.
Luckily there is a Halfords in Havant so I stocked up on inner-tubes and slime. Changing the inner tube was a relative doddle because it was not necessary to remove the wheel. I also managed to get the tyre off without my trust spoon handle. My daughter helped her old man pump up the tyres to a more conservative 40psi (previously it was at 60psi for maximum roll).
Instagram

Anyway ...

For the way back I chose a road based route.
Langstone Technology Park to Denmead - Road biking trip | EveryTrail - speed dictated by my 9 year old.

One disadvantage I've found with the gocycle is it has a thick saddle post which means most seat-post pannier racks will not fit. A front pannier just seems weird to me. So, backpack for now ...

 

[miker71]

Okay, this afternoon I planned to do a circuit up, over and around Portsdown Hill ... however things did not go to plan!

Gocycle battery killer - Road biking trip | EveryTrail

Check the stats profile where the blue line shoots up on the far right side, representing a gradient - the Gocycle began to struggle until I released the throttle and then that was it, game over! No way I could peddle the thing up this hill. (For the record, I have never taken my push-bike tourer anywhere near Portsdown Hill and don't intend to)


Screen shot 2011-05-10 at [May 10] 16.41.31 by miker71, on Flickr

Still, a nice ride back

I intend to try this another day, without releasing the throttle no matter how slow the motor goes.

Tomorrow I begin 3 days of commuting to Havant which is much gentler/shorter inclines.

 

[PennyFarthing]

I wouldn't want to cycle up Portsdown hill either!

Hope you enjoyed your commute to Havant!

 

[miker71]

Last day of my commute today (I'm attending a course - exam today!) - it's been a real blast.

Got some Kevlar tyres on last night, I'm not a fan of the slicks since I got a flat down a gravelly (and possibly flinted) off-road cycle path. Will find out today if the grip has an perceptible adverse affect on performance.


Schwalbe Marathon with Kevlar Guard now on #gocycle by miker71, on Flickr

 

[miker71]

A few more observations (honestly I will tie everything into a review sometime!) -

The Schwalbe Marathons do not introduce any perceptable drag I could detect though the tyres are definitely a few grams heavier than the factory slicks.

There's a USB port on the front fork. I don't remember seeing it until I swapped the tyres - which makes me wonder if a blanking plate has come loose and fallen off and now lost. It's very exposed to wet weather, even I know electronics and water do not mix!

Not sure why it took me so long to find this #gocycle USB port. Have I lost a covering flap?? by miker71, on Flickr

I got around to riding the bike with the battery removed. Without the battery installed this is a very light bike, the vast majority of its weight is the battery - so I'm looking forward to battery technology improving and maybe some sort of weightloss/powergain upgrade in a few years (hopefully without needing to buy an entire new ebike!)

 

[eBikes London Support]

Hi Miker71
If you fancy a go we have them in stock at both Bodium [ propably nearest for you ] or here in London .
As to my views on Go well ............................
Have fun !
Dermot