Got my Powabyke X6!!

[keithhazel]

Mmm...my wife on her 20 odd year old Raleigh (but lightweight and a decent bike) and my wisper - which looks older?

answers on a postage stamp please

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i wont shout the answer i will just wisper it... oh i cant be bothered as i disagree to agree with myself....good day to you sir !!!

 

[Rad]

Mmm...my wife on her 20 odd year old Raleigh (but lightweight and a decent bike) and my wisper - which looks older?

answers on a postage stamp please

Your wife looks older than the Raleigh.*























But only just

 

[eddieo]

Your wife looks older than the Raleigh.*

But only just

(how sweet) Yes she is unfortunately lol....but, which bike looks older?.... I want answers!

 

[Rad]

Well I don't know about older so much, but to me the raleigh is a far more elegant looking machine. However, if I didn't know it (the raleigh) was 20 years old I'd say they were contemporaries.

 

[flecc]

Your statement regards the Hydraulic disc brakes is bizarre, a good set of V's will work well but nothing like using disc brakes at all, not only is the braking power in wet weather or dry far superior but also the whole feel of braking with discs is far far better & smoother than V's & I am surprised that you think otherwise being in trade as you say. If you look at the modern suspension forks, I'm not talking about Suntour etc I am talking about proper forks, they mostly come in disc only design for good reason & I see many good online bike shops now mostly stock disc brakes & are doing away with V's simply because discs are much better/safer to use.

I will also agree to disagree with you also.

Good day to you sir

So the world of cycle racing is bizarre then? I think you'd be hard pushed to justify that.

I think you are mixing up many factors here. Suspension forks aren't used on serious road bikes, and when included on road bikes they are mainly for fashion. The real application for suspension forks on serious bikes is in the world of off-road cycling which they were invented for, and as I've already said, disc brakes can have advantages off road. Therefore that's why the good quality ones are made for use with discs and we have no disagreement there. However they are intrinsically not more efficient due to their smaller diameter than the rim. Of course a good disc brake can operate more smoothly than a poorly set up wheel and V brake, but the reverse is also true and discs can be awful. Like has to be compared with like.

Of course if you are someone who thinks road bikes should have suspension forks, there can be no point in discussion, since in this as in disc brakes, the highly developed on-road sport clearly shows that's wrong. They never use disc brakes or suspension forks because discs are not good enough and suspension saps pedal effort.
.

 

[frank9755]

The Raleigh is a mixte frame which is very rare nowadays but was common in the 80's. It's a similar frame to the 25 year old Raleigh my wife bought the other week. The low end Ezee model using older parts, the Liv, has a similar shaped frame too.

Also it's made of thin but strong steel tubes, and has slender forks with a nice curl at the end.

All very 20th century!

Your Wisper (and mine as well) is made of fat aluminium tubes. The crossbar is curved and sloping, for design rather than functional reasons. Also it has suspension forks. All of these things mean it would have to be 21st century, or late 90's at the earliest. Flat bars are also modern but could be a bit earlier - perhaps as far back as late 80's.

Other things that give it away but can't be seen on the picutre would include the type of headset and stem. Wisper adjustable stem is modern (although I think it is threaded, which is now old fashioned), whereas your wife will presumably have a traditional, non-adjustable threaded one. I can't quite see if she has downtube shifters.

 

[frank9755]

I can clearly see that the parts fitted to the powerbyke are not of a high standard so I do not agree with you. I am sure that if, as you say, powerbyke is a market leader it is because it's clients are of an older generation & don't go far on these bike & they have designed the bike with that ridiculous looking battery with a very limited range because of this fact.

I agree to disagree with you on this one.

Well, I can't win them all - I'm very happy that at least you now know what older bikes look like!

 

[Barnowl]

The Raleigh looks more modern to me. There seems to be a bit of minimalist trend going on with bicycles at the moment especially since the Olympics.

Fixed wheel, no front brake, dropped handlebars and definately no bric a brac.

 

[frank9755]

Just goes to show fashion does go in cycles (pun unintentional!)

 

[Barnowl]

I think it does. Though with differences. There's the 29 ers now.
Also I didn't mean the front brake I meant both...

Bit like the catwalk, you don't see much of it on the streets but it creates a general trend and a feeling of what's modern.

 

[Rad]

Apologies for resurrecting an older thread but did either of you manage to get a bike computer installed and working? I've had nothing but grief with the two I tried.

 

[Barnowl]

One of them wasn't the Velo 5 was it?

 

[flecc]

One of them wasn't the Velo 5 was it?

I'm happy to bet that it wasn't, never heard of one failing which is why they are so widely stocked.
.

 

[Barnowl]

Thank god for that.

 

[Rad]

One was a Sigma 1606l, t'other was some generic thing I got in Sainsburys a couple of years ago. Neither would work with the x6.

 

[Barnowl]

Maybe there's a lot of interference off that front hub. I think in the same position I'd go for the wired Velo 5 as a safe option. So cheap as well you can't go wrong.

 

[flecc]

One was a Sigma 1606l, t'other was some generic thing I got in Sainsburys a couple of years ago. Neither would work with the x6.

I tried a Sigma a year ago and found it's updating of speeds very eratic and slow. Riding at say 12 mph and then suddenly speeding up to 15 mph, the speedo would first drop momentarily to around 7 mph and then seconds later reluctantly indicate the new 15 mph speed. Slow updating is an issue with quite few of these bike computer designs and I find it irritating.

I have a Velo 5 and Velo 8, the simplicity of the 5 in use most of the time, but the 8 plugs into the same handlebar holder for occasions when I want recording of average journey speed as well.
.

 

[Rad]

I don't think it was an issue with the front hub as I didn't even have the power on when testing the computers. I just couldn't get the sensor to detect the magnet. I have a feeling it's to do with the huge gap between the spokes and the forks but even after bulking the sensor mount out with lumps of rubber I couldn't get a reading. It's more than likely I'm doing something wrong if other people are fitting computers no problem. By the way, both computers were wired. I intentionally went for wired jobs after reading about the problems associated with wireless and e-bikes.

 

[flecc]

The magnet alignment has to be quite close and also in the correct vertical position, usually to a line marked on the sensor. Another issue that sometimes crops up is when the computer carrier is mounted on a slightly curved section of the handlebar. This can distort the carrier base and prevent the computer contacts touching, hence no readings.
.

 

[Rad]

Thanks Flecc, didn't know that about the handlebar. I think I may admit defeat with this and see if I can get one fitted for me at a shop.