Sarge1892

in my opinion if your gonna get 9into tinkering and modifying your bike you should get yourself something off the shelf in a more open format avoid the fancy mtbs with the built in batteries and go for something with a external shark or behind the seat style battery you can ride that around for a few months figure out what you like what you don't like then replace parts as you go you can swap out the battery for higher capacitys and voltages and replace the controllers with relative ease to options that suit your needs your not going to know what those needs are until you've had some quality time with a e-bike I thought pedal assist was going to be the worst thing ever but having ridden one I don't mind it at all I started with a 11ah battery now I'm thinking i might want something a bit bigger for the milage i do (around 100-200 miles per month)

you know they do make a device for military humvees that protect it against rpg's if a RPG is detected within a safe zone of about 3 meters around the humvee it deploys explosive counter measures to destroy the rpg perhaps we can adapt this technology to work on cars if they come within half a meter of either handle bar it just blows the car up lol

tiptoe carefully through a childs room full of legos slowly then sprint through you'll feel the difference

well I've never had a parked car shove me into the kerb or run me off the road when I was filtering through traffic at 3mph I have however had plenty cars overtake me and almost slap me with there wing mirrors as they pass me at 30 mph

depending on what you want in a bike you can get folders that have all the benefits of non folders like folding mountain bikes and such typically they just fold in the mid frame there not as compact as say a brompton but half theresize when folded that being said how committed are you to commuting on this? is this just a spring summer mid autum venture or are you planning to ditch the car for this if your planning to ditch a brompton might be the choice for you as when the weather turns you retain the ability to ride home with a co-worker or take a bus I was actually amazed at how small bromptons fold when I was on a train and a guy walks up sits beside me on the train and places his promotion between his knees and the seat infront that being said for me I went for a folding fat tyre with a larger frame as I use my bike exclusively for transport in all four seasons so I needed cargo capacity and wanted a wider tire so it handled nicer less speed wobble more traction etc idk how you might go about this maybe talk to a bike shop but perhaps take some trial rides on the different frames that interest you see what you like the feel of the most

you know i just got to thinking isn't it funny how no one complains about mobility scooters which are usually driven by senile idiots who think they can do stuff like drive on motorways

honestly when a motorist says tax bikes and make them get insurance its usually because there envious that they have to pay those things to sit in there multi tonne fossil fueled arm chairs and don't think its fair the reality is tax is based of vehicle weight (bigger weight more damage to road surface) and its emissions so how much exactly should a10kg bike with no emissions pay? cause I just looked and the tax rate for a car that's electric appears to be £0 so why should we pay tax? i mean we can do what cars do and get a £0 tax disc on the principal of the matter but why create the extra beurocracy for registration and identification to give a bike a tax disc that wont even generate any taxable revenue? as for insurance as someone who has had a bike stolen I already have insurance and I didn't get it cause I was worried about the 60 quid of damage to some guys car and fully comp costs like 120 quid a year if you was to force tax the bare minimum tax for a bike is gonna be like 20 quid for third party only insurance

I always find this ironic the tax is one thing and honestly is never going to be a issue 20 quid tops as for the insurance I've been looking into this and the funny part is for as dangerous they think we are our insurance is some of the cheapest you can get I think a quote I got was for 1200 quids worth of bike 300 quid of accessories and covered like 800k of third party damage short of crashing head first into a Lamborghini dealership with a trailer full of hammersand bowling balls I cant imagine how id ever rack up that much damage meanwhile the most minor damage the car could ever inflict is still gonna be 100 quid but all this still only cost I wanna say 150 a year they even tossed in a crappy cable bike lock its like they want to see my bike stolen so they can finally make a decent pay out

well that's where the law is on your side we can use traffic case law to help us there has been plenty of cases where speeding tickets have been successfully contested because they police either used a uncalibrated measuring device or a non certified method to judge your speed for example the officer claims he was going 40 and you was not getting closer or further away therefore you was going 40 but upon court case its found the car has never been certified to have a calibrated speedometer so there's no guarantee his speedo was correct so how this applies to us they could do some funky stuff with a clamp metere but unless they have calibration certificates and permission to use those reports as evidence there findings are worthless ontop of this do they have the relevant training and qualification to do the test? a 250w ebike doesn't just give up after 250w on a hill or from a start it can spike its current above 250w is the officer trained to know this and perform the measuring test but as I said before I don't think the officers care unless your blatantly taking the mickey blasting down the road at 35mph or popping wheelies orriding a bike like a suron that's obviously illegal there just not going to give you a second thought I've always worked off the idea that its cozy in those cars its warm/cool depending on ac and weather the seats are comfy and there favorite tunes are on the radio there probeblt over worked as it is with reported crime so unless your being obnoxious they aren't going to want to generate additional work for themselves unless you make them when I had my 800w it was a folder frame nothing too hey look at me in style didn't scream speed when looked at I wore a bright orange high vis a helmet had mirrors and just rode around following any and all traffic laws as if I was a car I yielded for traffic I stopped at lights I just gave off the vibes of being just a chap on his way to and from work and the police never paid me any attention I might as well have been invisible starting out if I spotted a police car id just clown pedal a little bit despite being on throttle but after a while I found myself just pedaling along lightly just for the minuscule exercise it gave me (which mind you got me some killer calfs and really began toning my belly) there is a rule that your supposed to have a power rating sticker on your bike...stickers do fall off and not that I advise you break the law but if a sticker is evidence enough to a officer that your legit then give them what they want and slap a sticker that says your a good buy on the motor if left up to me ebikes would be way way more fun my personal opinion for ebike law motor restrictions mostly gone I see no major benefit to restricting motor wattage new speed restrictions to ebikes are as follows category 1 25mph category 2 35mph category 1 requirements must hold a provisional license no certifications needed just your green cardyou can acrue points and disbarments on this license if your being unsafe or a idiot) must have attended a cycling profficiancy course category 2 requirements must have either CBT certification or a higher motorcycle qualification no longer can usebike paths possible can still use bike lanes (the road ones)idk must have a real horn and appropriate signaling lights for turns cat 1 is your average commuter 25 is plenty to keep you safe in light urban areas your average road is 30 you can do 25 cars can still pass you if need be but at 25 few will probably desire to as 25 is a normal cruising speed for many cars cat 2 is your serious ebiker/comutter you've got the speed to hold your own on fast roads like dual carriageways and roundabouts but at the same time you need your brain switched on some training in highway code and motorcycle usage would be beneficial as for tax and insurance insurance is nice but as for tax NO WAY IN HELL GO DUNK YOURSELF if a motorbike pays 50 quid tax and there's electric cars that don't even have to pay tax clearly the money isn't going on road maintenance because a heavy ass car suddenly does not damage roads because its electric? yeah no bike tax ain't gonna happen till I see some heavy HEAVY improvement to cycling infrastructure and I start seeing drivers being prosecuted for being aholes to bikes

batteries most the time are easy to replace they fall into several catagoes and are fairly standardized 1 battery from 1 type should fit another from the same type even the behind the seat batteries are all the same battery with only minor non consequential differences (2 vs 3 pin) controllers are a different story but still no hassle the chances of you finding your replacement controller again might be challenging as they contain little to no details on them but good news it hardly matters when you buy a new controller you usually get all the accessory parts along side it so you can just do a full controller replacement which will include pedal sensor throttle if you have one controller screen and maybe even lights there trivial to replace if you can buy a xbox and install it into your living room tv setup you have more than enough technical knowhow to swap controllers and people here can help you find a suitable replacement if need be but don't expect to be replacing controller for a while as for proprietary stuff batteries are beyond dumb when it comes to talking to the controller they just send voltage and the controller figures out charge level based on that over charge and over discharge are handled by the battery itself the controller has no say in the matter over amp is handled by the controller and the battery separately the 2 do not talk as for the controller its going to want to talk to its screen in its own special way but a replacement controller will include its own screen and probably any other accessories that also talk its language for batteries mostly standardized tbh if you buy something where they hide the battery in the frame or moulded in somehow possibly you might have issues but if the battery is either rack mounted behind the seat mounted or looks like it got bolted to the frame as a afterthought its gonna be a standard battery you can get anywhere recalling the battery is a option.... id rather you just bought a new one as cost wise that isn't going to be cheaper and your inviting trouble to the door if its not perfect which negates any benefits to recelling

yup and if he does not have a rack there's companies who make racks that mount only to seatpost which will carry a battery just fine topeak make some nice ones but just looking up seat post rack on amazon will show some other options otherwise if your issue is getting onto the seat with your current medical issues would perhaps going a size or 2 down be the answer to account for this

avoid 13ah if you want 30+ miles of range idk what mix of pedaling and motor assist your planning to use but id say start at around 20ah if your planning to do all pedal assist and 30ah if your doing all throttle the way batteries are priced you will spend the biggest chunk just getting ANY battery but the amount to go from say 13-20 wont be much extra and you'd be better served having too much battery than not enough and having to spend a chunk on a new one when you say pedal assist with the kids? do you mean with them in a child carrier or a trailer? I'm not sure what you mean by that it sounds like you plan to be manpowered most the time but hybrid man power and motor when with kids but I'm wondering if you infact mean throttle mode but pedal assist when with kids which if you do mean throttle mode then yes 20+ah battery is going to be a must

id ask a few more questions 1 is this to be used fulltime for commuting or just when the weather is nice if full time you might want something with a little widertire tread than say a brompton to handle rain and even snow a little better 2 do you have ANY intentions of using public transport as a backup if so a folder might be of interest a brompton in this case would be perfect as those can fit between your legs and the seat infront 3 do you have other forms of transport? i know you say you'll only go 3 miles buti thought id be the same too but with no other transport I go everywhere so some cargo capacity might be of interest 4 whats the storage situation like at home? do you have a shed garage or utility area where this bike can live or would something compact be of value so it could live in the hallway or under the stairs 5 what kinda weight your looking for? do you have to carry it up a lot of stairs? 6 whilst at work where will you be storing it if a private carpacrk no big issue but if your only option is street parking I might suggest going ultra small once againbrompton so it can come inside with you and be stwoed out the way in your place of work

from what I've seen its generally 2 groups of people I see getting there stuff confiscated 1 suron or suron style ebikes my guess is that either A they are the easiest bike to spot at a glance that is 100% not legal or B given the demographic and the behavior I've seen there the most likely to be behaving like idiots on the roads then there number 2 which is food delivery workers which I cannot explain the logic in anyone head the police and government love to boast and show off there flat bed truck filled with 30 or 40food delivery workers ebikes as if this is a good thing and I'm left thinkingwhat a waste this is food delivery generates ALOT of milage so taking away there bikes is not only taking away there livleyhoods but also forcing them onto gas guzzling scooters and cars which especially in the city I see these in means that there would also be clean air penalties personally though I've owned 2 fat tyres 1 in 800w and one in 350w the folding frame variety and the police don't even pay attention to me so I think as long as your not obviously breaking the law they either don't care to get out the car to check or just don't care what your riding

that's good to know what is the restrictions for l1e? a project of mine is to do a fully custom build ebike at some point I was going to go msva route but I might look into l1e if the restrictions aren't too bad in the end although at present I don't think my 350w will pass even if ironically when derestricted it only lets my fat butt go 15mph

whilst not a requirement of course and in a car you wouldn't do this for your bike it might be worth throwing a little sign on the back warning cars of the load your carrying ie fuel it sounds silly yes I know but car drivers can be nob heads at the best of times so anything that disuades them from there nobbery when your transporting fuel is a plus only thing id say is keep your towing capacity low as with your smaller wheels and what I'm guessing are rim brakes you might not have the oomph to slow down when you've got 10kg pushing you from behind ask me how I know that pulling 30kg of b&q paint going down a hill is a fun time

well that settles it bring in the laws from now on to operate a car it must comply with the following regulations 250w maximum power flintstone assist only no throttle must not propel the driver faster than 15.5mph with motor assist must wear a bike helmet cannot be used anywhere where people might frequent these cars are just dangerous!!! srsly though a haldfull of ebike related incidents a year everyone's loosing there mind isn't the mean time between car accidents involving pedestrians measured in hours? and the fatality rate like triple or something

I could verry well be wrong but I remember something about this I do remember type approval being a thing but the manufacturer must do it and most manufacturers who make the bikes that people want throttle on (pretty much china) don't wanna go through the hassle and the ones who might like bosch and such are about as full of themselves as road bike users and would much rather get legislation passed to further restrict ebikes and kill of a budding industry that could solve some real world problems l1e however and the bike by bike basis I thought was the msva route which whilst a option is a minefield to navigate requires you get a tester who is chill and does not hate ebikes so much hell run you through the ringer and when your all said and done your left with what amounts to a moped requiring insurance which for a custom idk if that would be cheap and all the tax and other things lumped ontop as well as a few hundred if not a couple thousand tyed into application fees and license fees

honestly why only the disabled? just on the surface there's people who don'tqualify as disabled but would benefit from throttle only such as those with bad knees or joint pain which does not reach the levels of qualifying as disabled but even beyond that throttle ebikes are a safety feature in of themselves most bikes will have either power lag between when the user starts to pedal and the bike delivering traction force from the motor, will require a significant amount of effort from the user if in a high gear or fast pedaling if in a low gear or even both of those when at traffic lights this causes a slow departureoff the lights which can pose a risk to the rider for example a car along side youpulling off then cutting across your path for a left turn but with throttle it gives the user imidiate power to get across the junction safely and quickly often before any other cars have had a chance to engage there clutches and start rolling that alone is a huge safety feature another example is when a bike lane ends and your must rejoin a fast road you can't and you must not dawdle you need fast and immediate power to be at your max traveling speed when merging then there's how most pedal assists work the law seems to think a pedal assist is a linear assist up through the power band where the more you work the more the bike works so if you wanna go fast you have to work hard but the reality of the situation is unless you have a torque sensor (never had one so unsure but I belive they would do as described above) then your bike doesn't do that it detects a movement from the crank and shoves 100% of the modes power into the wheels you could be clown pedaling in first gear and your bike is delivering the full 15.5mph heck you could even take the chain off so what exactly is the point of requiring pedal assist? your just getting a all or nothing throttle with a goofy trigger mekanism so combined with the bad knees and joints crowd just allow throttle fully on all bikes its not going to make the change government thinks it makes to the situation and just restricts people from participating whilst increasing risk and danger to others to sumerise throttle for all it helps those who are disabled it allows those who are not disabled but suffer with conditions which affect there participation such as knee and joint pain sufferes it improves safety by allowing riders to get fast and immediate power to avoid potential hazards its impact if allowed can only serve positives when used within the current framework of ebike restrictions