My wife and I have been cyclists for many years - utility (ie commuting/shopping); touring (cycle camping/ CTC tours/ Audax etc); racing the odd time trial. We've ridden tandems (I edited the Tandem Club Journal for a few years in the late 80s/early 90s), trikes (we still have a couple of Higgins trikes in a sorry state) as well as lightweight singles. We're both in our late 70s and finding our Derbyshire hills a bit harder than we once did so I elected to convert our decent solos with a 250 watt front wheel conversion.
I think the addition of a little help on the hills to bikes of our choice suits us better than buying ready rolled eBikes. I've usually built up our bikes by choosing the components to fit on hand-built frames even building our wheels. However the choice of ready built bikes has expanded recently so my wife has a Marin on which she'd ridden over 30k miles before I added the motor and I've recently bought a Trek hybrid with a step through frame because I can no longer lift my leg easily over my lovely Kinesis Racelight.
I had what's turned out to be a serious accident back in 1990 when a cat decided the shortest distance across the road was through my front wheel. Luckily I'd bought a helmet a few weeks before just for commuting but the spinal shock which paralysed me for a few days still causes me problems and are getting gradually worse. Hence my need for a step through frame.
Many of our cycling friends are able to keep riding and healthy becuase of electric conversions. These are all who have ridden many 1000s of miles touring and racing and never really stopped. It's giving us a new lease of healthy life. I'd rather ride without but it's better to have electric assistance than not ride at all.
Geoff
I think the addition of a little help on the hills to bikes of our choice suits us better than buying ready rolled eBikes. I've usually built up our bikes by choosing the components to fit on hand-built frames even building our wheels. However the choice of ready built bikes has expanded recently so my wife has a Marin on which she'd ridden over 30k miles before I added the motor and I've recently bought a Trek hybrid with a step through frame because I can no longer lift my leg easily over my lovely Kinesis Racelight.
I had what's turned out to be a serious accident back in 1990 when a cat decided the shortest distance across the road was through my front wheel. Luckily I'd bought a helmet a few weeks before just for commuting but the spinal shock which paralysed me for a few days still causes me problems and are getting gradually worse. Hence my need for a step through frame.
Many of our cycling friends are able to keep riding and healthy becuase of electric conversions. These are all who have ridden many 1000s of miles touring and racing and never really stopped. It's giving us a new lease of healthy life. I'd rather ride without but it's better to have electric assistance than not ride at all.
Geoff
