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That looks like a really promising machine. I'd been pondering a Gazelle for my next machine but was put off by reports of its weight. Well done 50cycles for expanding consumer choice.

Just to add my twopennorth to the thread: I ride a Synergie Mistral and suspect it would be too slow for you. Electrical assistance seems to run down from around 12-13mph onwards and is gone by 15mph. My riding style is more flaneur than frantic though, so it suits my purposes.

Sorry for the long delay in updating, I've been away. It turns out that the rim wasn't cracked at all, just buckled. My friendly local bike dealer pointed out that the 'crack' was actually the seam. All that was needed was the wheel to be re-trued. I got both wheels done while I was at it: cost...

I have to say I find that amazing. Wouldn't the join then be a weak spot in the wheel? I thought aluminium was tricky to weld, and it's not as if there's a lot of surface area for a join to be made? Mind you, I wouldn't go back to steel rims, I quite like being able to stop when it's wet!

Bentley every time I'd say, Flecc. Rather :D

Further inspection has revealed that the rim appears to have split on what looks like a seam. Are bike wheels made from an extruded strip which is then formed into a circle and then joined? Pardon my ignorance but I always assumed they were cast in one piece. Looks like I'll be needing a new rim...

Thanks Flecc, there was a metallic sound when I hit, I'll check the rims. I don't suppose that aluminium rims can be manipulated back into shape? I always tried to avoid potholes/kerbjumping too, as it isn't a very comfortable experience - something to do with the mass of the machine? It's no...

Thanks to the close attentions of 'White Van Man' I was forced into a pothole on my bike which resulted in a rather bone-jarring thwack. I thought I'd got away with it (no punctures, everything seemingly intact) until I came down a hill and applied the brakes. Now everytime I brake I get a...

32mph is the best I've got out of it (downhill admittedly)! Not something I'd want to do too often, didn't fancy falling off at that speed. But here's something wierd, perhaps Flecc might be able to explain: up to about 22mph (coasting downhill) there is a distinct drag occuring through the...

Hi Flecc, done a bit of research and it seems that: Sustain Halley = Synergie Avanti Sustain Edison = Synergie Vivace Sustain Newton = Synergie Mistral The motor looks the same on all the bikes, but with the Newton/Mistral it's a 36v battery instead of 24v.

Hi Griz, glad your enjoying your Mistral too. If we started a Chinese e-bike appreciation society I think that'd include pretty much everyone on this forum (Panasonic motors excepted) as I reckon most e-bike parts are sourced from China these days. In fact isn't everything "Made in China" now...

My charger for my Mistral packed up the other night, so I rang Synergie the next day to report this and they said they'd send a replacement straight away. It arrived by courier the following morning. That's what I call good service. There was enough charge left in the battery on the days when...

As comparing hill climbing performance between bikes is tricky without a standardised test, may I suggest we create the 'Baldwin' unit? Basically ship out the bikes to NZ and see how many times (if any!) they can climb this hill: Baldwin Street in Dunedin - the steepest street in the world...

Regarding my post above: I've just spotted Fleccs 'New Technical Thread'. That's exactly the sort of concise information I'm talking about. Whilst the debates are good, it can be tricky to form a conclusion from them. So more along the lines of the 'Technical thread' would be of great use to us...

. It would be useful I think for those of us without much bicycle knowledge (other than that gleaned from people trying to sell something) for a summary of what consitutes a 'good (conventional - i.e. non-motorised) bike'. Suspension vs no-suspension, aluminium vs steel, hub vs derailleur etc...

Anybody got any clues what that thing attached to the rear of the chainguard might be (on the Helkama bike that is)? Oh, and check out the bizarre e-trike on their site too.

I hadn't clocked that Flecc, 10 million units in 2005! Be a while before we shift that number here, if ever. I guess it's wishful thinking against those kind of numbers of having any kind of influence at all.

Sorry Miles, that's just my poor writing. I took the statement "the body is only 22% efficient in turning food energy into work" to mean that out of the 100% of food energy available when ingested, only ~22% can be converted into 'mechanical' work (in this case turning the legs). In other words...

Absolutely right Miles. Comparing relative efficiencies in transport systems is tricky and depends on where the boundaries of comparison are set. Does one just consider the bike itself, and/or it's fuelling services, and/or it's manufacture etc etc. Fascinating stuff though, and with a lot...

It may be true that the best efficiency you can get out of a human being is around 20-25% (the rest of the energy being used in maintaining metabolic processes, i.e. keeping us alive), though this is still somewhat better than the 15-20% efficiency of electricity generation and losses through...