timidtom

[. So do ebikes take the fun out of cycling what do you think ? With Angina+Asthma+Back pain I'm afraid that cycling had been taken out of cycling! Ebikes put it back again. I've been off road (in the wrong sense) for a little while, having cataracts replaced with clear lenses - brilliant result, the world looks newly polished! I'll be back on track with Lucy very soon, I hope!

'Buyer pays return postage' - to China!

Like it? They'll love it! Bet they don't let you have it back!

Looks majestic! No, that's a Daimler. Graceful? No, that's a Jaguar ... Quietly impressive? Right, that's a Roller! The personification of good taste!

A delight to read! Like I always say, 99.9999% of the humans on this planet are 100% solid gold! Prosper and thrive!

When I'm working in West Africa I often spend a few minutes meditating in the War Graves cemetery at Fajara. There are the graves of the British crew of a flying boat which crashed into the sea off the coast of Senegal, the grave of a French colonel of the Foreign legion, and dozens of graves of young Gambians who died fighting for what they called 'the Mother Country'. All are equally worthy of respect, all move me to tears. I feel it strange that the descendants of most of those buried there would be regarded as 'aliens' if they now attempted to visit the country they fought to defend.

Let's not worry too much. Enjoy Theme Park Britain while the sun shines and until that nice Mrs May presses the big red button the moment some computer sounds a false alarm and all our worries will be as dust ...

We've had experience of 5 eBikes: 1) A PowerByke, built like a tank, weighed almost as much as one, would climb the wall of a house. Sold it for 50% of initial cost after 2 years. It's weight weighed against it but it was good for 20 mile trips. 2 & 3) We bought matching JuicyBike Classics about 6 years ago. Stately, elegant bikes, very nicely put together. Reliable, comfortable. Certainly good for 25 mile trips. We've bought each a new battery and mine will probably need another later this year. J's bike will shortly be up for sale because she has balance problems which led to the purchase of 4) An eTrike, also from JB but not one of their manufacture. Also proved reliable after 2 years. 5) A Woosh Gallego. We're both long retired and used to be bikers. There are brand new scooters and motor-bikes available for the price of a Juicy Classic. Some of these, generally of Chinese manufacture, appear to be quite well put together and economical. Reports about their durability are of mixed content - our sub-£1k ebikes are still in good running order but I haven't noticed many 6 year old sub £1k motor bikes still on the road. How else might you spend your £1k? A beautifully made Canadian canoe? A lifetime of happy boating lies ahead (and you could add a small electric outboard and battery for about £250! Most of the cars I've owned have been £1k bangers - and very serviceable many of them have been, for instance the 1990 Skoda estate which took us camping all over the UK and Europe ..

Has the eBike really arrived? Has anyone spotted one on screen? I'm excepting consumer TV programmes: has one featured as a mode of transport, been stolen, been an object of desire, taken the place of a car, or simply passed by in the background, in a film or TV series?

I'm 80+ but I ain't no lady! Perhaps the beard is a clue?

If you can get to Buxton Juicy Bikes have a range of reliable ebikes and will offer you the chance to ride round the town! They have a great after-sales service too. Whatever you decide on do try to ride a variety of bikes before you buy one. Let us know how you go on! Best wishes, Tom

Thanks, Trex, I'll do that. Tom

[ I live in hope that I will succumb to the charms of what is, to be honest, a very pretty little bike. Fingers crossed. Me: 80 years, 12 stones, mildly unfit, about 600 miles per year. Short up-date. The pinger on the bell has fallen off and the rear wheel no longer locks into position when the bike is unfolded.

Brilliant! If tennis players had to ride them whilst on court Wobledum might be worth watching. Possibly ...

Do the wheels go round?

What fun this referendum has been: plots, sub-plots and still more to come. It has attracted discussion, meetings of minds, unusual applications of statistics, dreams of Utopia, clerics spouting scripture and all manner of facial contortions by politicians attempting to appear sincere. What will the next referendum require of us? Perhaps we should return to buttoned flies - to zip or not to zip? Should the Highway code suggest we abandon left or right and just drive down the middle? And will the mighty intellect that decided we should have a referendum be rewarded with a Nobel Prize or just simple immortality? Keep the questions coming! Nurse, have I had my medication yet? Where's my biscuit? Tom

I'm just a tad worried that if Remain win the vote on Thursday all those talented Brexiters will up sticks, resign their jobs and emigrate to Iraq and similar countries and build schools and hospitals there, perhaps never to return to the UK. How will we manage, bereft of such talent? We'll have a dreadful shortage of politicians and journalists. Oh deary, deary, me!

Hi; it's important to ride a selection of ebikes if you can, and check on both the reliability of the bike and the dealer. For what it's worth we have found Juicy Bikes to have both. Lots of reports here on this forum! Let us know your decision, happy biking.

A Curly Hetchins with stabilizers?

Agree - an interesting and instructive way of passing 5 minutes! Tom

Not that long ago, on a Geological timescale at any rate, Britain was covered by a thick sheet of ice. The ice retreated and humans moved in - immigrants each and every one. According to DNA testing my gang arrived, from central Africa via France, Sweden and Ireland, about eight or nine hundred years ago. We're immigrants. About fifteen years ago an African friend of mine, a skilled engineer, applied to come and live in the UK. he was refused entry and went to live in Sweden with his family. His eldest daughter is now a fully qualified doctor and he's a university lecturer. Every day we appear to be turning away other 'migrants' who could be of equal value to 'our' nation. Crackers. OK. Hands up every UK citizen who has lived here before/during the last Ice Age? No? No body? Rant over. I'm going for a ride ...

Not that long ago, on a Geological timescale at any rate, Britain was covered by a thick sheet of ice. The ice retreated and humans moved in - immigrants each and every one. According to DNA testing my gang arrived, from central Africa via France, Sweden and Ireland, about eight or nine hundred years ago. We're immigrants. About fifteen years ago an African friend of mine, a skilled engineer, applied to come and live in the UK. he was refused entry and went to live in Sweden with his family. His eldest daughter is now a fully qualified doctor and he's a university lecturer. Every day we appear to be turning away other 'migrants' who could be of equal value to 'our' nation. Crackers. OK. Hands up every UK citizen who has lived here before/during the last Ice Age? No? No body? Rant over. I'm going for a ride ...