Not sure my ebike is any quicker over my commute than a road bike would be.

[Vikki]

I guess I may have slipped up because I was riding a mountain bike, well, it was called an ATB and was made by Huffy. The tyres were quite good, not big knobbly things but they were wide. I've been wondering how I would have faired with a hybrid with thinner tyres or even high pressure tyres.

When my car was in dock I used the bike for three weeks and it was killing my legs but I never seem able to generate extra muscle mass so I never seemed to improve. I always struggled and a head wind (read breeze) would frustrate me no end. Here's why I won't have a car again: I got my car back after the MOT and servicing and paid £600 for the privelege. A week later the auto transmission died. That was going to be £750. THe ABS was playing up with the car regularly telling me "The ABS system has malfunctioned but the conventional braking system is still in operation." My Laguna started to get quite chatty with me. Lord only knows what that was going to cost. There was an odd engine fault that the mechanic said "There's something going on but the diagnostic test says it's fine, we'd have to strip the engine to see what's happening." My love/hate relationship with cars shifted solidly to hate and I phoned the scrap man to take the bleep bleep censored bleep thing away.

Anyway, I decided then to buy an electric bike and it has been the best thing I've ever done (excluding all the other best things I've ever done). I've not regretted it and even felt reasonably comfortable with £1200 for Bikey.

I only ever used the car to go to work and back and the odd trip to Morrisons. With ASDA right over the road it became on expense I didn't need. I like my bike - it frees me.

Vikki.

 

[dazzie]

Laguna's have a very bad reputation for reliability!

"(excluding all the other best things I've ever done)" - I actually lolled at that.

 

[flecc]

Laguna's have a very bad reputation for reliability!

The new model to be announced will be based on the Nissan Qashqai floorpan and other elements, so will be radically changed.

Renault own Nissan of course.
.

 

[Caph]

I like getting to work sweat-free.

That sums me up too. You can keep your speed, I'm commuting, not racing.

Sometimes I switch the motor off on the way home and really go for it, other times I'm so knackered that I would give my right arm to have my motor.

We're lucky really, we can have the best of both worlds.

 

[Vikki]

What i like as well is the higher average speed.

As to sweat. When I was riding my Huffy I would be drenched. I'd get to work and ask a friend to pop the water bubble surrounding me so i could breathe again.

On the electric, even on hot days, no problemo

 

[dazzie]

I didn't know Renault own Nissan. Must be nice to be a state-owned car company. Is the new Laguna the one currently featuring in the tv ads (it seems to have an Aston Martin inspired back-end!)?

See, the only way I could get to work sweat free on my pedelec would be to push it up the hills (using the throttle to help, of course ).

 

[flecc]

I didn't know Renault own Nissan.

Yes, much of Japan's car industry was bought by the west following Japan's long recession in the 90s, only Honda and Toyota remaining Japanese owned

Parts of the industry in nearby countries is also western owned now, such as Proton and Daewoo (the latter now now renamed Chevrolet).
.

 

[RobNYC]

That sums me up too. You can keep your speed, I'm commuting, not racing.

Sometimes I switch the motor off on the way home and really go for it, other times I'm so knackered that I would give my right arm to have my motor.

We're lucky really, we can have the best of both worlds.

Well, actually I have a Quando and although I LOVE it, without the motor I wouldn't want to pedal it much more than say, about 15 feet. I do understand that other ebikes are easier to pedal.

 

[RobNYC]

What i like as well is the higher average speed.

As to sweat. When I was riding my Huffy I would be drenched. I'd get to work and ask a friend to pop the water bubble surrounding me so i could breathe again.

On the electric, even on hot days, no problemo

On really hot days, we have it better than regular bikers who heat up with the physical exertion AND pedestrians who don't have the benefit of the motor-generated breeze. A real plus for somebody like me who HATES the heat but needs to be out and about in it nonetheless.
PLUS I get to avoid the subway which I hate even on the best of days. And during the summer, the temperature on subway platforms can easily approach 100F even in the morning. Even if I wait 5 mins for a train, I get drenched in sweat.

 

[fishingpaul]

I didn't know Renault own Nissan. Must be nice to be a state-owned car company. Is the new Laguna the one currently featuring in the tv ads (it seems to have an Aston Martin inspired back-end!)?

See, the only way I could get to work sweat free on my pedelec would be to push it up the hills (using the throttle to help, of course ).

Most of us heavier riders sweat even on an electric bike,i think on a normal bike you would be sweating far more,and gasping for breath on those hills whilst doing half the speed you do now,i bought a normal bike after a lay off of 20 years, i rode it twice getting up the hill to where i live was just too much,my electric bike gets used because i enjoy riding it even if i do break into a sweat.