extraenergy delay

[Leonardo]

Any idea of what's going on with the second part of the Extraenergy test? It was scheduled for December, then delayed till March (Taipei Show) and till now no news... Unwanted results?

 

[flecc]

Could be Leonardo, I've seen no evidence of any progress on e-bike design in the last year, and think some developments have been a step backwards.

Maybe they've found that out the hard way, half way up the hills!
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[Flying Kiwi]

Progress... towards maximising profits

I've seen no evidence of any progress on e-bike design in the last year, and think some developments have been a step backwards.

Aint that the truth!! And to think I was actually initially annoyed to find out shortly after I bought my Twist Comfort that it was being superceded with a new 'improved' model....

 

[electric.mike]

just to back that up it looks like i could have bought an improved powabyke system with a lithium battery, it would have cost £300 more and from what i can find out would give about 10km more range, i dont think thats much of an improvement for £300.
if i tow a trailer with a spare lead acid battery in that cost £135 i bet i could get that much improvement.
mike

 

[Beeping-Sleauty]

SLA going cheap

if i tow a trailer with a spare lead acid battery in that cost £135 i bet i could get that much improvement.
mike

or perhaps even less, depending on which SLA you use,

eBay.co.uk: Electric Bike Battery Pack Cyclone Whirlwind Synergie (item 270106300823 end time 05-Apr-07 18:16:19 BST)

and they're good for about 35 miles on a 40kg bike,
beeps

 

[Ian]

You could put three 12V 110Ah leisure batteries in the trailer, cost £140, range probably 300 miles.. it would be a bit heavy though!

 

[flecc]

Aint that the truth!! And to think I was actually initially annoyed to find out shortly after I bought my Twist Comfort that it was being superceded with a new 'improved' model....

Yes, there was no fear of that on the Twist, but my oh my, how the price has been "improved".
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[Flying Kiwi]

Yes, there was no fear of that on the Twist, but my oh my, how the price has been "improved".
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No fear at all knowing they've gone over to hub motors and even the Sparta Ion (which is also a hub motor bike seems to have got a better AtoB review). I think for the price of the new Twist, the Gazelle Easy Glider seems to give more for what you pay, I know I'd much rather have an Easy Glider to replace my Twist Comfort than anything else in a similar price group.

 

[Baboonking]

I wasn't much impressed with what they've done so far. Seems quite Euro focussed, and short on technical detail. I don't see why they didn't review the ezee bikes. I suppose I'm not in their target audience as I don't have £2000 for an electric bike. I learn more from forums like this one. Although that said I'd love to see some thorough testing of electric bikes, especially with a sophisticated dyno that could meausre overall system efficiency whilst simulating different terrain.

The other thing is that the website seems quite 'top down' in structure, as if they're the high priests dispensing appropriate truths to the uneducated masses - remind me a little bit of the european commission

 

[nigel]

Nigel

By flying kiwi
I know I'd much rather have an Easy Glider to replace my Twist Comfort than anything else in a similar price group. Trouble is its nearly 30 kilos it is still to heavy if battery was going flat and you are riding into a headwind it is still to heavy yes it is similar to the twist with some nice features i wish my torq was 20 kilos or less at the moment most electric bikes are to heavy nigel

 

[Flying Kiwi]

Weighty issues

By flying kiwi
I know I'd much rather have an Easy Glider to replace my Twist Comfort than anything else in a similar price group. Trouble is its nearly 30 kilos it is still to heavy if battery was going flat and you are riding into a headwind it is still to heavy

Although it's 27.6 kg, this is still lighter than many other electric bikes and particularly ones with all the same low maintenance features it has such as roller brakes, Shimano 8 speed hub gears and full lights/mudguards. I weigh over 100 kg and often load up my Twist with shopping - this is quite managable unpowered on the flat and it's only moderate hills or worse that pose a problem unpowered. Having 8 gears and a wider range on the Easy Glider would likely help compared to my bikes 5 gears. Weight will not have an effect with regards to headwinds, it's the riding position and rider size which has the most effect on ability to penetrate headwinds (I'm 6' 5"). It's another downer if your going uphill with a flat battery though, just as with any bike.

 

[flecc]

I wasn't much impressed with what they've done so far. Seems quite Euro focussed, and short on technical detail. I don't see why they didn't review the ezee bikes. I suppose I'm not in their target audience as I don't have £2000 for an electric bike. I learn more from forums like this one. Although that said I'd love to see some thorough testing of electric bikes, especially with a sophisticated dyno that could meausre overall system efficiency whilst simulating different terrain.

The other thing is that the website seems quite 'top down' in structure, as if they're the high priests dispensing appropriate truths to the uneducated masses - remind me a little bit of the european commission

I feel the same about their efforts, very limited value. The trouble with all published e-bike testing is the way in which the riders are all to often reporting on the combination of their own abilities with that of the bike, rendering the results useless for informed judgment of the bike. That's often compounded by inadequate or inaccurate reporting of the territory used for testing.

I know it's a little difficult to separate the rider and bike ability, but it is possible.
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[flecc]

That's certainly true 50cycles, and their great strength is that they have nearly a decade of e-bike testing experience with mainly the same three riders involved so at least some consistency is there for comparisons. That helps with detection of how much is due to the bike in any reporting.

It's still a problem area unique to e-bikes though, and with no other consistent source for testing the position isn't wholly satisfactory.

The fact that Velovision are to start testing electric bikes is an interesting development though, since with time this could become the informed second opinion we lack at present.
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