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  1. R

    Do you think my bike can handle this journey?

    Mine wouldn't even get close. My 11Ahr got me about 35 miles when the battery was new. Now after 2 years of abuse, wearing studded tyres and in freezing weather I don't think it would get 20* I'd go with d8veh's suggestion, use a light unpowered bike. Unless there are places you can top up...
  2. R

    EBMA files an anti dumping complaint on chinese e-bikes.

    Is there any way for customers (as opposed to manufacturers) to get involved in this? My concern would be the effect of anti-circumvention measures on the cost of spares for existing bikes.
  3. R

    The "death" of the car, (as we know it)

    Probably my view is coloured by not living in a city (I rarely have trouble parking, for example), but I tend to see the inefficiencies resulting from shared vehicles simply not being where they are needed (whatever system is used to control them) as greater than the inefficiencies of owned...
  4. R

    The "death" of the car, (as we know it)

    But probably not for taxi use, since EVs need (with current technology) to spend more time parked on charge than they do in motion.
  5. R

    The "death" of the car, (as we know it)

    True, and there certainly are savings there. Not sure how the environmental impact of a parked car compares with that of a moving one. It's got to be a fair bit less, but still not negligible. We can't apply the costs of construction and disposal though, since the taxis will be doing 12X the...
  6. R

    The "death" of the car, (as we know it)

    But those journeys aren't "saved", that's the problem. All those 12 individuals still used a car to travel the distance they were traveling. So not a case of one car doing the work of 12 (that's called a "bus"), but one car making 12 journeys, plus the bits in between. That is assuming Uber...
  7. R

    The "death" of the car, (as we know it)

    Interesting. How much land do you have? I'd guess you have to be quite isolated to get away with putting up wind generators? Do you run your oil generator on biofuels (ie chip fat)? Wood or oil for heating, or does it run your heat too. Waste heat off the generator perhaps? I'm planning...
  8. R

    The "death" of the car, (as we know it)

    All good points (though the cost of manufacture/disposal one is perhaps more an argument against scrappage), but are they enough to overcome that 40% of mileage done "empty"? That nearly doubles the "cost" of every taxi mile. Of course that inefficiency is likely to decrease with increasing...
  9. R

    The "death" of the car, (as we know it)

    Cheaper and more efficient than ordinary taxis, certainly, but the Uber system still doesn't address the problem of the vehicles travelling without a fare. That's at least 40% of their mileage (according to the source given) which is completely wasted. Private cars do very few miles that don't...
  10. R

    The "death" of the car, (as we know it)

    Reduced number of cars certainly. But number/duration of car journeys? The Uber must have run empty to reach the pick up point, unless it dropped one fare and picked up another at the same point which is likely to be unusual. Anyone know what percentage of an Uber car's mileage is done empty...
  11. R

    The "death" of the car, (as we know it)

    Nice idea, but it would only work for a borrowing a vehicle which is also insured by it's owner. It's a response to the abolition of the "any driver" policy, not a way of tailoring insurance to actual usage on a car which you own. The reason: continuous insurance. It's actually illegal to own...
  12. R

    Beginning of the end?

    Strange noise has departed as suddenly as it came, so it seems d8veh was right; just an odd motor noise.
  13. R

    EBC kit to 25yo MTB Commuter?

    When I ride my unassisted MTB, I'm often "caught out" by the way the front digs in and the rear spins out. My e-bike, which is front motor, (2WD) seems much better behaved on slippery surfaces, even though it's on road tyres. It's like comparing a rear wheel drive car with a four wheel drive...
  14. R

    The "death" of the car, (as we know it)

    That depends on your definition of "cheap". They are still a lot more up front than second-hand ICE cars. I can see me owning one in the future, though. Leafs can't tow, so we'd still "need" a bigger car as well.
  15. R

    The "death" of the car, (as we know it)

    I considered what I really needed a car for and I probably don't, but it is really useful for things I want to do. So I ended up buying a bigger one, an old diesel 4X4 (Boo, Hiss) and using it less. I intended to run it on Biodiesel, but I can't find a source at the moment. It's really good at...
  16. R

    Are good times just around the corner? It seems they may be!

    Helmeted cyclists are 14% (IIRC) more likely to suffer injury in an accident, but that won't stop some people wearing them, or politicians trying to make them compulsory (got to be seen to be doing something). Personally I tried one, but found I got a lot more close passes (quite noticeable)...
  17. R

    Beginning of the end?

    11,000 miles, more or less. I've got the odo set in miles, though I suspect the reset at about 7000 was when it reached 10,000Km. It's done 25 miles a day, 5 days a week for almost two years. Only thing that's been done to the kit has been charging, though the bike it's fitted to has needed a...
  18. R

    Beginning of the end?

    It might not be, I just don't like the noise. It does seem to be occurring under the minimum load condition (when the motor is driving just enough to keep the clutch engaged?) so it could go for some time like it. Or the grease could move and the noise disappear. I think I'll run it until it...
  19. R

    Beginning of the end?

    0w with assist set to 0 or not turning the PAS, 9w over the cut out. So that sounds right, that the motor keeps turning without applying any power above the cut out, but is stopped when on assist 0 or not being pedaled. So the worn gears rattle. I didn't know they did that, thanks. I imagine...
  20. R

    Beginning of the end?

    Does the motor stop rotating if assist is set to zero? That does seem a likely explanation, given the mileage. Unfortunately the motor doesn't have screws, it's the kind which requires a special tool and so far I've failed to identify the motor and discover a source for the tool. I've also...