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A near miss! Being 'doored' is a constant worry while cycling in urban areas. It happened to me about 20 years ago - a white van opened his door right into my path and my handlebars hit the spine of his door. I was going slowly but was still thrown off, but not hurt. Since then I've...

Hilderthorpe needs to make a profit, but remember that there are fairly high gross margins on electric bikes - around 50% - so it is possible that Hilderthorpe might adopt a different pricing policy and go for volume rather than high margin. Given they are a diversified bike shop with electrics...

I think it was British Rail even beyond her time. It got broken up and privatised during the '90s.

Definitely something wrong. I used to go up a 1 in 15 on my old Powabyke on my morning run into work and it stayed in top gear, and the speed stayed right on 15mph. It was as if the hill wasn't there.

David, The issue is standover height rather than saddle adjustment. The measurement from the 'W' of Works written on the crossbar to the ground. [edit - I've just measured it at 31.5"] I ride with the saddle on quite a high position for pedalling efficiency. But when I stop the bike and...

I had a quick glance at the site, clicked 'full specification' looking for something on gearing, which is often the let down on these bikes. Loads of info there but nothing on gearing. On that basis I'd avoid until that information comes to light! Frank

Getting a cheaper second hand bike is a good way to learn more about your needs, what an electric bike can do and thereby help you make a better decision in the end. I've used my wife's Windsor for my fairly flat commute and it is not a bad bike. On flattish ground it is not as slow as...

My theory is that it is not so much that e-bike throttles are particularly bad, its that while pedalling on a bike you are either pushing or pulling on the handlebars in a way that you don't do on a motorbike. Also Hall effect throttles are almost like on-off switches, so most e-bikers are...

Lots of good advice here! I do a 12 mile each way commute. There are three points I'd make 1. Flecc's comment about the relative speeds of hub motors vs Panasonic - if doing it as quickly as possible is a priority then a high powered hub motor would be your best bet. At the moment the...

I remember reading that, Ian, and at the time I thought it was very odd given that, nowadays, electric motors are usually produced in very large volumes by people who have perfected the performance and reliability. Usually they are one of the things that manufacturers outsource.

To de-restrict the Wisper you have to remove a similar wiring loop from the controller. Perhaps the same trick might work on other bikes too. Obviously you may run into problems as a result, but an interesting experiment nevertheless!

Seems a bit unfair, and against the spirit of the cycles for work scheme, in obliging you to make a further purchase which is neither strictly necessary, nor can be included as a safety item under the scheme. I'd be tempted to do nothing and see if anything happened! If you really need to...

If you want the lowest premium you could self-insure, ie not insure with a third party but be responsible for any loss yourself. If you think your chance of having it nicked are less than 1 in 20, it makes sense!

Just to clarify, insurance is not a compulsory part of the government's Cycle to Work scheme, although I guess individual employers could (and do) make additional rules as a condition of take-up. Is £78 so unreasonable to insure something worth £1500? It's just over one twentieth of the...

I don't imagine David would have gone into print unless he was sure of the facts! It's a good job that replacing brake pads is one of the easier bits of bike DIY

Agreed, Ian - a pretty good site with fuller than normal descriptions. I don't mean to be churlish about the odd comment which is no worse than seen on many other sites. Also, as has been remarked elsewhere, it is good to see them stocking the motor in kit form (although one detail missing...

Well said, Keith! 'We reserve the right to change the spec' 'Failure to inspect the goods before signing for delivery may affect your warranty' 'Trespassers will be prosecuted' ... These are all irritating little phrases with no legal basis but which are used to kid people into...

I stumbled across this - an electric tandem made by Flyer of Switzerland, obviously using the Panasonic motor, and a derailleur, rather than a Nexus hub. Looks pretty good, but I'd want to make sure it had good brakes! Cost is €5,000 Frank

As you say, Rooel, each train company has its own specific rules. I don't believe that any company's rules (yet) make any mention of electric bikes. I'm not familiar with the details of the act but as I understood it, while there is nothing that says they are to be classified as non-motorised...

David, Very comprehensive posting - I think anyone who wants to go there won't fail for want of information! In this amount of information, there's bound to be the odd error, and this one shouts out to be corrected as it's not true - electric bikes are legally classified as bikes and are not...