Thinking now is it all worth while ?

soundwave

Esteemed Pedelecer
May 23, 2015
15,971
6,292
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i can buy new seals for the front forks and do it my self for 20 quid but i hammer the crap out of my bike and nothing lasts forever but still good as new 5 years later.

5 years ago id not even taken a wheel of a bike in a long time yet when i went to a evens bike shop for a new tyre to be fitted to my rim with tubeless sealant was going to cost £100 and take 3 days i said fook that.

i pissed half the bottle of sealant all over the floor trying it with a foot pump gave up and used the compressor at the garage in blown tyre mode.

i have never had a flat tyre since and can now service every part of my bike as bought all the tools i need to do it my self as cant afford lbs prices for a crap job! and plenty of youtube vids to show you how to do it.
 

budsy

Banned
May 16, 2020
269
36
it was done at the time when aluminium alloys were not as rigid as now. You could make lightweight frame with a trapezoid. The bigger the triangle / trapezoid the stiffer the frame.
A thought aluminium came later ..anyhow good to know thanks

But who invented this mans style of bike with a bar along the top of the bikes ?
would be interesting to know .. and I aint googling for now anyhow .
 

Woosh

Trade Member
May 19, 2012
19,407
16,387
Southend on Sea
wooshbikes.co.uk
the good thing about crank motors being attached to a pentagon like Bosch bikes is the torsion generated by motor and pedalling is much better spread compared to hub motors.
 

budsy

Banned
May 16, 2020
269
36
it was done at the time when aluminium alloys were not as rigid as now. You could make lightweight frame with a trapezoid. The bigger the triangle / trapezoid the stiffer the frame.
Have to say though I still am sure Aluminium frame bikes came later .
 

nightrider

Pedelecer
Sep 11, 2014
134
43
69
I am quite happy to stay with bosch, had a few bosch bikes now, never a problem. I know they have there critics, what doesn't?, even heard years ago anything bosch was regarded ' a load of old bosch' anything Japanese were also ridiculed years ago, and look at them now.
 
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Alyrpal

Finding my (electric) wheels
May 22, 2020
5
5
Cheers for the answers folks much appreciated .

As ocsid said I also prefer to cycle without all motor
although with the aid of hilly parts via gears and a motor
would be a good help when going up hills.

Though I do prefer gearing inside the hub of a bike , id also like a rack on
the back of bike to hold a pannier .

Would like also a suspension on the bike possibly front handlebar area of bike
along with also suspension under seat .

Would be cycling mainly on roads but all types of terrain, also prefer the upright position
for handlebars and a Trapeze type frame in which is between the conventional
cross bar and a step through frame would be type bike id possibly go for .
You just described my bike... https://www.bikester.co.uk/ortler-bozen-performance-e-trekking-bike-trapez-black-901050.html
 

nigelbb

Esteemed Pedelecer
Sep 19, 2019
330
305
Unfortunately useful life of an electric bike is likely to be relatively limited; maybe 10 years. Our push bike is a bit over 25 years old (electric tandem, shared electric sole, shared non-electric solo) and my son is still riding my 40 year old Claude Butler (probably only the frame is original by now).

One reason is that technology for 'ordinary' bikes has not advanced much over that time, but for electric there have been, and I think will be for a few years yet, significant (not just marketing) advances. That means that even a 10 year old electric bike working as it did when new is still very dated (in a meaningful way).
The technology for 'ordinary bikes' has advanced an awful lot since that Claude Butler was built eg suspension forks & hydraulic disk brakes to name but two major improvements.
 

Ocsid

Esteemed Pedelecer
Aug 2, 2017
441
265
81
Hampshire
The technology for 'ordinary bikes' has advanced an awful lot since that Claude Butler was built eg suspension forks & hydraulic disk brakes to name but two major improvements.
But, would the likes of a Claude Butler really have benefited at all from gaining a suspension fork or to any great extent from disc brakes?

The lovely swept chrome moly steel forks worked well and sapped little energy, and out of any mud plugging role the rim brakes coped, if not perfectly, pretty well and added a minimum of weight.
 

Woosh

Trade Member
May 19, 2012
19,407
16,387
Southend on Sea
wooshbikes.co.uk
a fairer comparison should be how a bike looks after 1000, 5000 and 10,000 miles.
You may have a 30 year old Claud Butler in the shed but would it be a good donor bike for conversion compared to a £300 new bike?
 

flecc

Member
Oct 25, 2006
52,763
30,349
And the thing is many years ago this > and the manufacturers all went to make up " The man bike" this with the steel bar along the top of the frame and many thousands of people went for it crazy or what :D
Actually it was never a mans bike, when the crossbar frame bike was invented to replace the dangerous "penny farthing", it was called the Safety Bicycle.

It was only later when the step through frame was created to accommodate the ladies long dresses that the original was christened "gentleman's bicycle".

The first bicycle to be called a "safety" was designed by the English engineer Harry John Lawson (Henry Lawson) in 1876, although other bicycles which fit the description had been developed earlier, such as by Thomas Humber in 1868.
.
 
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Ocsid

Esteemed Pedelecer
Aug 2, 2017
441
265
81
Hampshire
Then of course cross bar frames have, to my knowledge, not been the exclusive domain of males. My wife through our decades of cycling used cross bar frames, some even specifically designed and sold for the female skeleton's geometry.
 
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flecc

Member
Oct 25, 2006
52,763
30,349
Then of course cross bar frames have, to my knowledge, not been the exclusive domain of males. My wife through our decades of cycling used cross bar frames, some even specifically designed and sold for the female skeleton's geometry.
Indeed, there was a thirty year gap between the first safety bicycles and the first step through, so the women had no option during that period than ride with a crossbar. Those few brave souls were sometimes prepared to shock by wearing "plus fours".
.
 

mike killay

Esteemed Pedelecer
Feb 17, 2011
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Indeed, there was a thirty year gap between the first safety bicycles and the first step through, so the women had no option during that period than ride with a crossbar. Those few brave souls were sometimes prepared to shock by wearing "plus fours".
.
Bloomers Flecc, Bloomers!
 
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flecc

Member
Oct 25, 2006
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Bloomers Flecc, Bloomers!
Some did much later, but that was after the step throughs had arrived. Bloomers were more commonly used externally in association with the bathing stations used to permit concealed emergence into the sea.

The first outrageous-for-the-time wearing of mens plus fours by a very few female rebels was during the crossbar only era of 1866 to 1899, though it continued right through into the 1920s.
.
 

Charliefox

Esteemed Pedelecer
Feb 11, 2015
322
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Culloden Moor Inverness
anything can fail no matter how much you spend on any bike but i have not had any motor problems with my bosch motor bike and it is 5 years old and have a dongle to remove the speed limit and have 2 batts now.

you got 2 years warranty motor wise so best to try kill it b4 it ends just depends what conditions you ride the bike in every day and what you do to look after it long term.

a bike with a £1500 fox fork is going to cost £150 to service each year if you cant do it your self it adds up fast and the tools are not cheap.
Which is why I am happy with Suntour EONs, nearly the same performance as Fox forks but easy to service with one sealed grease unit. I remember the messiness of taking Rockshox apart to service with not much improvement.
 

mike killay

Esteemed Pedelecer
Feb 17, 2011
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Some did much later, but that was after the step throughs had arrived. Bloomers were more commonly used externally in association with the bathing stations used to permit concealed emergence into the sea.

The first outrageous-for-the-time wearing of mens plus fours by a very few female rebels was during the crossbar only era of 1866 to 1899, though it continued right through into the 1920s.
.
I think that they must have been knickerbockers.
Plus fours (ie Knickerbocker plus 4 extra inches ) came about in the 1920s
 
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budsy

Banned
May 16, 2020
269
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Actually it was never a mans bike, when the crossbar frame bike was invented to replace the dangerous "penny farthing", it was called the Safety Bicycle.
That's fair enough flecc but hey I wasn't around in the days

eh the Penny farthing bikes :D
 
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