Hello from N.Somerset

[Ptarmigan]

Greetings all,
some background and then a broad question that you may be able to help with :
Not sure if I should park this in the "Intro" section or in the "What bike" bit !

A few years ago I had a couple of heart attacks, blocked arteries, first relieved by 2 stents followed by a 3rd stent on the 2nd happening.
(aside)That was all a bit of a surprise since I have (had!) an active lifestyle, no desk job for 30y, 1.5acres of garden/veg patch (on a hillside) to maintain, nonsmoker, good diet of raw veg, optimum BMI etcetc !!! (/aside)
So I am supposed to do 30min brisk excersize frequently (as if I didnt already get enough chasing my chickens up & down hill all the while !)

Going for a brisk 30min walk is recommended, but without a purpose (like going to the shops, 2mile, too far away, I am in the middle of nowhere) there is no motivation.
An excersize bike does not appeal, doesnt go anywhere !

What ebike should I be looking for ? For excersize, recreation, minor shopping to save getting the car out ?
I live 2/3 the way up a hill (or 1/3 down the other way round !) approx 200ft above local towns and villages (shops etc between 2 and 10mile away)

I have tried to read up on ( this forum + elsewhere ) about front and rear hubs as well as crank drive, pedal sense and/or throttle and am totally confused with all the options !!
Seems to me ( without yet trying an ebike, that is another long story, local bike shop totally useless) a lot of the motor drives would leave me pedalling to catch them up OR they would be the main drive leaving me not much to do.
I was totally confused about what I wanted or even how to express my needs ,,,

until I came across the "Throttle use Poll" back in Jan2012
in which d8veh (#12 4Jan 16:40) says
"I have a cruise control that sends an adjustable, but continuous signal to the throttle input. I pedal all the time, so I decide how fast I want to go and then adjust the cruise control to adjust how much effort I put in, so I use it as an effort control rather than speed control."

This "effort/cruise control" seems to well sum up my need, ie. I can put in moderate (more or less) excersize going somewhere and then let the electric take over the extra effort needed (and to get me home on the last leg uphill when I am creamkernackered ! )
Sadly he does not say which bike this is, !,

any suggestions most welcome,
thanks.

 

[Cyclezee]

Hello Ptarmigan,

A warm welcome to the pedelec forum, the best place for advice on the subject of electric bikes.

Although I am a trader, I am not going to bombard you with a 'hard sell', but suffice it to say that I am sure we have bikes that would fullfil your needs.

eZee bikes are equipped with powerful hub motors and can be used in several modes, pedelec, throttle only and cruise control.

To see the full range of what we have offer please take a moment to look at our website here electric bikes and conversion kits - Home

I will now leave you in peace, but if you require any further information, please dont hesitate to contact me.

Regards,

 

[Alan B]

Hi

Go to Atmosphere Electric bikes in Hotwells. They have a variety of bikes and you can cycle them round the block, including Park Street, to find out which configuration you prefer.

cheers

Alan

 

[Deleted member 4366]

The reason I can use my cruise control to always adjust my effort to a comfortable level is because I have a very powerful motor that can drag me up more or less any hill without pedalling. I built the bike myself so I was able to choose a more powerful battery, controller and motor than you can buy ready-made.

The BH Emotion Neo bikes (must be Neo, not other BH Emotion) have a similar motor and control system to what I have. The only difference is that you do have to pedal all the time, albeit with minimal effort. The motor's not quite as powerful as mine but it's enough to get you up steep hills without effort. There's a control panel where you can turn up/down the power to suit the amount of effort that you give. I think that you'll find one of these bikes ideal for what you want .

 

[hoppy]

Hi,Ptarmigan.I've had heart attack and stent and need exercise like you.My answer is a Tonaro which is unique on the market at the moment with crank drive through gears with a throttle.This means I can pedal just how I want to and continuously adjust the amount of assistance with the throttle.The gears enable the legal power motor to cope with any road hill.

 

[Ptarmigan]

Thanks for all the nice welcomes.

John/cycleze > (shame you're not over this side of the country !) prompted by d8veh comments about more powerful motors I had a look through your kits. Do you do a kit fitting service into one of your frames, or is that not allowed, for you as dealer, by the regulations ?

Alan > Yes, Hotwells-Park St would be a good test/demo, but oh dear what a location for a shop - no customer parking and little chance of onstreet parking anywhere near (it has been many years since I have ventured into Bristol, so things may have changed - prob for the worst !!) I'll have to see if my chauffeur* can take me in and collect me later, sometime. (*aka swmbo )

d8veh> Ah I see, thanks, I like the idea of a more powerful motor for use when needed.
I note from the Neo website that the motor is limited to 250w though.
I guess that there wont be a user-switch to override this ?
Probably need to delve into the innards which would upset the warranty ?

I may need to go looking round the web for sites about diyEbiking !!

hoppy> thanks, now that is a special recommendation !
Looks good, I like the idea of the motor driving thro' the gears, however, a little but, are they standard cycle gears ?
(ie. any problems I wonder with both the rider and motor powering through standard cycle chain/sprockets)
and the price is within range of what might be sanctioned by my financial secretary
How do you get on with the weight ? I am just a wee fella (70kg) and the bike may need to be stored up some steps along a pathway.

 

[Atmosphere]

Hi . This is Alistair from Atmosphere Electric Bikes.
We do have both Hotwells Road and Jacobs Wells Road with free parking and St Georges Road with meters or a large carpark a bit further a long.

We also have some great hills to really see what the bikes can do.

Be good to talk about your requirements and what would actually give you the performance you are after.

Look forward to meeting you

Alistair

 

[Ptarmigan]

Hi Alistair, that was a quick reply, thanks.

,,, Jacobs Wells Road with free parking ,,,

Ah, my mistake then, sorry, what are the chances of finding an empty slot ?
suggestion = maybe prepare a map of the vicinity and facilities for us out-of-town hicks in the stix
Dont suppose you have thought of moving to Cribbs Causeway teheheee

Be good to talk about your requirements

Yes indeed, I'll do a reccé soon

 

[JuicyBike]

You could also try Reaction Electric, 84 Priory Bridge Road
Taunton, Somerset, TA1 1QA 01823 27 44 44, who have a comprehensive range of bikes.

 

[hoppy]

Good idea to try as many bikes as possible; fun too! I've had no trouble with gears or weight of Tonaro but in the end it's a personal choice.Overall though electric bikes are a great way to get enjoyable exercise.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

d8veh> Ah I see, thanks, I like the idea of a more powerful motor for use when needed.
I note from the Neo website that the motor is limited to 250w though.
I guess that there wont be a user-switch to override this ?
Probably need to delve into the innards which would upset the warranty ?

It seems that the 250w from some bikes are a lot bigger than others. Take it from me: the Neos are very powerful. You don't need any over-ride switch.

 

[Ptarmigan]

Bob/JucyBike: Thanks, that's one that I had not seen previously in my webwanderings.
Any idea about their access (parking etc in/out of town etc) funny how these things never come up in FAQs !

hoppy: "great way to get enjoyable exercise"
Yep, better than rehab/physio :-(

d8veh: "It seems that the 250w from some bikes are a lot bigger than others"
I understand.
All I have to do now is clear it with the Chief Financial Secretary to the Treasury , , , gosh, it's about 1/4 the cost of a new (small) car !

 

[Cyclezee]

Thanks for all the nice welcomes.

John/cycleze > (shame you're not over this side of the country !) prompted by d8veh comments about more powerful motors I had a look through your kits. Do you do a kit fitting service into one of your frames, or is that not allowed, for you as dealer, by the regulations ?

Hi again Ptarmigan,

Shame you're not over this side of the country

Slightly confused by your question, but hopefully I can clarify.

We supply complete eZee hub motored bikes, eZee conversion kits for customers to fit to there own bikes, or we can fit kits to customers bikes.

Essentially, I think what you were asking was could we fit a kit to your bike and the answer is in 90% of cases yes.

In addition we have limited number of Tonaro models available at the discounted price of £925.

 

[JuicyBike]

Bob/JucyBike: Thanks, that's one that I had not seen previously in my webwanderings.
Any idea about their access (parking etc in/out of town etc) funny how these things never come up in FAQs !

Park right outside!

 

[Ptarmigan]

Hi Alistair, that was a quick reply, thanks.

suggestion = maybe prepare a map

edit : on your website /edit

of the vicinity and facilities for us out-of-town hicks in the stix

 

[trev]

The BH Neo are great bikes - but make sure you don't ride them in the rain as there's a good chance you'll be cycling home without assistance!

 

[andy slow coach]

The BH Neo are great bikes - but make sure you don't ride them in the rain as there's a good chance you'll be cycling home without assistance!

Why would that be then? Have you had a problem today?

 

[flecc]

Why would that be then? Have you had a problem today?

This post from trev refers.

 

[andy slow coach]

This post from trev refers.

Thank you flecc I'll have a read.