East of England Electric Bicycle Rally - some thoughts

[covehithe]

I went to the rally with 3 friends as we are all looking for ebikes (I am wavering slightly as I am tempted by a Honda Innova).
The main thing about the rally were the wide range of bikes on show - something you would not get in most showrooms. I tried out 2 bikes with direct front wheel drive as I have a knee problem but felt comfortable riding the bikes. I have tried out a crank drive in the past and could not get on with it.
Two of my friends are still working and commute a total of 15 - 20 miles a day. They have gone for crank drive models (I think they tried every model there !!). One of them asked a dealer if they could change the spec. of a bike (fit Shimano hub gears and Marathon SP tyres). He was prepared to pay a premium as he is not into DIY but the dealer said no???

An interesting point is that none of the guys I went to rally with have heard of Pedelecs and the Forum. I did speak to 3 other people who were trying out bikes and they had never heard of it either. My friends are very anti DIY and when I explained that they could get help and useful info from site they said they have no interest being in a garage "fettling" bikes.

 

[flecc]

The problem is that it's doubtful anyone will hear of this site easily since doing an internet search for electric bikes or similar always brings up dealers and agents hogging the first page. The term "pedelecs" isn't widely known outside of the e-biking fraternity.

Some dealers are less than helpful and many are anti e-bikes anyway, but in most areas there are some helpful ones who will change a bike's specification. Of course one problem is their awareness that doing that can invalidate a maker's warranty and affect one's rights under the Sale of Goods Act. That in turn could lead to future unpleasantness if a problem arises.

 

[Kudoscycles]

Thanks to all who attended the East of England e-bike rally,there were 11 exhibitors present including Raleigh,Biocycles,BH Emotion,Wisper,Hero,Batribike,Storck,Ebco,Kudos,also a chinese direct company-not sure of their name. The weather was bright but bitterly cold with a classic North sea Northeaster blowing. So many attendees had never ridden e-bikes before,the usual surprised smile when the power came on. Between us all I think we offered almost all types of the e-bike spectrum and potential customers were definitely both grateful and impressed.
First time I visited Great Yarmouth,a classic UK seaside resort,some charming parts but a lot of faded elegance,bit rough round the edges. I hope the council and the Electric Bike Company make it an annual event.
Interested what Pedelec forum members were there and their comments?
Our next event is the London Test an e-bike day on May 27 at the Redbridge Cycling centre,that will have the advantage of the circuit having hills and bends.
Dave
KudosCycles