JohnInStockie

I have the tailgator, its useless if your child doesnt have good balance as it gives no support, it just pulls (as I discovered to my horror as my little boy was severely leaning out it the road crying) Dont know about the others John

I watch drivers making error after error every day in rush hour traffic, some deliberatly while trying to gain a car length, some accidental (or negligent). It comes back to me that you cannot stop this through legislation these things from happening. The only way is prevention. I am not sure what can be classified as prevention. Planning definately, as this safeguards all regardless of the lack of education or concern with the law. Education and attitude definately helps the 'home grown' population but not with foreign drivers/cyclists Prevention!

I am probably biased, but I blame the planners. Anyone who specifically puts cyclists and HGV's on the same space in the road should expect injuries and deaths, its simply inevitable. No sane person 'wants' to kill or maim another, so why does it happen so often? It must be the traffic system itself, its completely flawed. J

My wife is 4'11", and has a 45cm step thru Pro Connect. Me having the bigger diamond frame version means we can swap batteries / I have the use of 2 batteries / 2 chargers gives us plenty of versatility. A lot of money mind. John

Thats why we should have a standard battery fitting on all electric cars. If we did then peeps could drive into a filling station and just swap over the batteries, and on they go. The cost of this swap would be the cost of the electric and INCLUDE the element of the lease per battery per charge, so that the cost of the batteries would be swallowed by the filling station. This would also allow slow charging of batteries, or even solar charging in some countries. John

Or maybe they will realise a method to swap batteries at all filling stations, althoug I doubt it!

I doubt I will ever see that happen in the UK

Well that is a shame and would be very disappointing to see. That is not the experience where I live, the main route is the Trans Pennine Trail. Most of it near me is extremely poor. Its used by horses, and probably mini moto's too, but I doubt it was the mini moto riders that buried half bricks and broken concrete hard core into the sand/gravel surface, or allow hedges and trees to grow uncontrolled until you cant see the path, or that designed tunnels without lights yet littered the floor are with bricks, glass and gravel. Unless your doing about 8mph its extremely uncomfortable to traverse and even a bit dangerous in places, turns your bike into a bone shaker and you get to your destination covered in grit! The next route to me is the Middlewood way which goes from Marple to Macclesfield. Some of this has been tarmacced, some of it hasnt, and a very large portion of it is extremely loose large stone gravel basically just dumped on top by the ton. Again for all but mountain bikes in-traversable. For me, these routes are nice for a sunny Sunday afternoon with the kids, but they are not really a national cycle network. A true NCN would have a good surface, be maintained and have things like drainage, you simply dont see that. If we really had a good quality National cycle network, then I would agree, but what we have is laughable.

I'd be amazed if anyone could tell

Sounds good - what would you say would be the differences then between your 175, and these type of bikes, light enough to lift, almost silent, (optional pedals)? I can see a purpose, following national cycle routes would be a start. I know your not supposed to but frankly the surfaces are so poor as to be almost unuseable (which really gets my goat, a 'heralded - LOOK WHAT THE CYCLISTS HAVE' cycle route thats dreadful) I'd use it on there I think, silence would make a difference Im sure.

I remember a few times getting to school to find out it was shut, normally because the heating had broken down. I also remember having cross country running in the worst of it, and my thighs stinging when you get back into the school gym after the cold

Really, Im not an ex-biker so I probably am not as familiar as you. Are they as light as 53Kg?

Its about the only time you can be glad if you dont have rear wheel drive

Good feedback guys We do seem to be getting more and more human-assisted electric mountain bikes and while I take the point that its nothing new in principal, these types of bikes generally seem to be much lighter than their petrol equivalents, and designed for off-road too which the vast majority of petrol 'scooters' are not. Not sure they make any financial sense though, as they all seem to be quite costly (A2B, Zero, Optibike, e.t.c.) but as Lemmy said, look fun. John

Heres a new bike that adds to the blurring between very small motorbikes and mountain bikes, albeit that this one doesnt have any pedals. With the emergence of more and more of these, maybe we will one day soon be looking at a completely new class of small electric vehicles on our roads. http://lh3.ggpht.com/_ed6h5y0PLJI/S0snp018puI/AAAAAAAAAWk/83AhnDWerH0/s800/IMG_5449x.jpg Link to article John

Cant disagree, its China's 'communist' governments ambitions that scares me, their pursuit of wealth at almost any expense doesnt bode well for anyones future in my eyes. When the tables have totally turned, and not only manufacturing but all services too have moved out of the UK, Im not sure where we will be

I think it depends on the company. If its a large corporate and the board says cut, then cut it is, with a big knife! All the work youve done, could do and any profits you have ever made make absolutley no difference today to where the knife falls. I've seen this many times, seen the best people go in profitable businesses because of a 'repositioning' in the market. Remember what happened in 2001, after the millenium bug? we saw all the major software companies downsize their IT 'professional' and ship work abroad. John

I think they are different dependant on the purpose being used for. Generally on here we have 2 types of users, Leisure and Commuting. For leisure purposes it adds to the cycling experience, allowing longer ranges, easier travel, and generally just a much more pleasurable experience. For Commuting, its a different story where usually these bikes are as a replacement for the car. I work in an office, and need to look smart, be on time, and work odd hours, and so I need a reliable form of transport first and foremost. A normal bicycle could do it, but I need to carry all my tools with me, as well as a complete change of clothing, possibly files and a laptop, as well as lunch, e.t.c. and it would take longer and be more exerting so I would be tired before I started work after 11 miles in heavy congested traffic during rush hour. The ebike makes this less onerous and therefore more likely that I will ride at all. I would even try without the ebike tbh. Maybe a scheduled bus service would be greener in a one-off situation, but if all cyclist and car drivers started using buses then can you imagine how many buses and services we would need. And buses (at the mo) are not electric meaning that they use maybe 30% of their fuel in transportation, nevermind the raw materials to build / repair / maintain, and the associated distribution centres, part delivery e.t.c., it goes on. Compare that to if everyone cycled on ebikes, the energy from home, allowing government control of supply and production, easier parts / production / distribution, e.t.c., so I would stay still far far greener. John

A lot depends on what you wants the bike for Phil. The Wisper is an excellent bike, and it has a throttle, which is great if you dont want to pedal. If you want to force yourself to pedal (I have mild arthritis in my back), then go for a panasonic equipped bike, check out the eMotion series at the onbike link. Best of all is go and try them on a day out, and try to imagine how you would feel on your home patch. John

I think time will tell, and probably not too long (think support, parts). If you cant get a decent normal bike with 'quality' components for under £300 then can you expect an ebike of 'quality' for similar? If a deal looks too good to be true ....... fingers crossed for you

Whether we like it or not, we are effecting our environment. Every ounce of fuel that is burnt or turned into plastic is releasing toxins into the air and reducing what is an extremely valuable resource. Forests are being cleared and heavy metals mined, consumed and dumped (including by us lot on here). This is all additional and in quantities beyond the natural cycles. Does it make any difference, no-one knows for certain as it takes too long to be able to tell. Do we need trees at all? Why shouldnt we dump in the sea if the land fills are full? I think common sense speaks more clearly than all the science and any ones beliefs.

he he he

Absolutely, that IS one up on the crank drive system

Whether you believe the science or not, In my view you shouldnt dump waste if you can avoid it, not in landfills, not in drums into the sea, and not out through your exhaust into the atmosphere. You wouldnt want your neighbours emptying their bins in your garden everyday, so why should we leave our waste products for the future generations to deal with, its just plain vulgar. What really get my goat is all the plastic in food product packaging. There is absolutely no need for it.

thats probably the most effective way Ive seen for clearing snow yet. Not perfect no, you can see that he need a run up in places, and he is really having to use his leg muscles, but it is much better than a bloomin shovel!