pjvenner

With respect, I'm not blaming parents so much as our government(s). I don't know how old you are - I'm 42. Do you remember the Green Cross Code Man or Tufty? They both taught children to "STOP, LOOK, and LISTEN" and it worked just fine. You hit the nail on the head by mentioning reckless drivers. Speed humps and 20mph zones do nothing about reckless drivers. The humps cause more damage to my 25kph e-bike (and to me) than to a car travelling at 30mph.

I'm not sure how widespread greenways are but I recently tried a couple (Route 66 & Route 69). They were mainly tarmacced lanes alongside rivers/canals/disused railways. It was a pleasant ride apart from the midges & dodging the piles of horse poop. My opinion is that whilst they are great for a ride in the country, the vast majority of the route is miles from civilisation making it useless for e-bike commuters. If our leaders really want to promote cycling, they should extend the greenways using the currently active rail network (fenced off of course). It's flat and perfect for cyclists. It leads to practical locations. It will cost a few quid but in the grand scale of things it's probably cheaper than resurfacing 10 miles of motorway, after that it's almost zero maintenance (provided that they do it right in the first place).

Back on topic This thread appears to have drifted way off topic. My 2 cents says that cycling or e-cycling will never take off in the UK... firstly there's the weather which we can't do jack s*** about... secondly, UK roads are in a notorious state of disrepair - Especially at the kerbside - Even where there are dedicated cycle lanes. Bicycles, electric or not cannot absorb shock like a car. PS: Those suggesting more 20mph zones should go to YouTube & check out Tufty & the Green Cross Code. Back in the day it was safe for a child of school age to cross a 30mph road. Children were educated by parents and parents were educated by public information ads. Nowadays it's ok to let pre-school kids play by the road because bad parenting is a thing of the past. Nobody gives a s*** about their child being killed anymore because they can blame it on the motorist and get a s***load of money in compo. I should add that I am an e-cyclist. I commute a 15 mile round trip 5 or 6 days each week. My ride sucks mainly because of the state of our roads, but at £2 a month it is still cheaper than driving - and WAAAAY cheaper than the government's other pet project (public transport) which worked out at £75 per month. Additionally I now get to work in under half an hour as opposed to 1 or 2 hours depending on my shift.

Didn't mean to make a repeat thread but I used several variations on the title for a search & found nothing. Could you point me in the right direction?

Thanks for the tip Frank. I'll look for a high rated Iron & hope that the batts are OK. . I got my current batteries from batterybay & no complaint with them personally, but if I have to spend another £100 on batteries my bike is going to break speed records for an ebike - albeit vertically off a cliff edge. After 9 months unemployed I need something cheap AND reliable. TF it's a long weekend so I have time for a test-ride. I'm still guna cry if I don't make it home!

Fair point... Some of the coppers may have been on duty - and they'd probably have made more arrests if they'd taken the slightest bit of interest in crime that affects us common scumbags - Such as attempted theft of batteries from pedelecs. I'm a staunch victim of attempted theft which although unsuccessful has left me me a £100+ bill for a new set of batteries so I would say that wouldn't I... Oooops.. I almost forgot that £100 is nothing to most staunch royalists.

£20million for 5,000 police officers? I never realised that cops were paid £4k for a few hours work - I'm obviously in the wrong job! Even if £20million is generated through tax, we still lose out because tax is paid to the government. Never forget that the government have no money of their own, only what they can tax from us commoners.

Don't rely too much on the speedo - they can be wildly inaccurate. Mine reads 33KPH (just over 20MPH) cruising on flat but the GPS tells me I'm doing 17-18MPH.

Thanks Bob. My batts are VRLA. I'm going to get a soldering iron in the morning to make the connections more resillient. Is there any way to test the batteries' capacity individually with nothing more expensive than a multimeter?

Browsing eBay I stumbled on this: 2000w Off-Roads Electric Motor e Bike Bicycle Kit ebike | eBay UK This particular 75MPH [extremely illegal on road] variant is strictly for suicide jockeys, and it's not cheap, but there are smaller versions from the same guy for those of us who would rather eat a cabbage than become one. All the UK sourced kits appear to be hub-motor based but these frame mounted motors appear to be more efficient and easier to fit. Would be interesting to know if anyone has tried these out, and if there are any UK based suppliers.

Hi folks. My bike suddenly died on my way to work. I've managed to cure the symptom, it's now running again, but I need help finding the cause so it doesn't happen again. It runs on 3x12v SLA batteries. I connected the wires by feeding them through the holes in the tabs & securing them with the silicone sheaves provided with the batteries. When I opened the battery compartment up there were 2 areas of concern: A small amount of clear odourless liquid which I thought was water, but after wiping there was light erosion to the plastic battery box so I'm assuming it's battery acid. Secondly (and what caused the breakdown), The silicone sheaf on the '+' terminal of the 1st battery in the series had melted. The wire was still hooked onto the tab but obviously not securely enough to keep a good connection. My main questions are: If a battery has leaked would that be a likely cause for the overheating terminal? If this is the case, how can I tell which battery has leaked? There's no visible sign of damage on any of them, and the amount of seepage was tiny - much less than a teaspoonful so I don't think weighing on normal scales will be an option. Assuming I find a faulty battery, I have an unused spare. If I were to use the spare would it need charging separately to match the charge of the other 2 or do they balance themselves out? Any help would be greatly appreciated. I'm in a new job so being late for work isn't good. I'm wary about using the bike again until I can fix the cause of the problem, even though it costs £2 a month to run - £73 less than a bus pass! Even more importantly it has reduced my daily travelling time from 2-3hrs (depending on shift) to under an hour, so for obvious reasons I would like to feel confident about using it again ASAP. PS: It looks as though somebody has tried to steal the batteries. The battery box locks into the footplate & has folding plastic handles. Both handles have snapped at the hinge on 1 side. I can't see how this would damage the batteries inside but I thought I should mention it in case it is relevant.

Well done guys. The new site is much easier on the eyes. It's my first logon since the change so I can't comment on functionality but first impressions are good. Keep up the good work.

Even if they could get a conviction they#d have a hell of a job finding where to send the summons coz we don't have registration plates

Back on topic (for this forum) I'd rather we became the 51st state of the USA (I've heard rumours that we did get an invitation). Far from perfect but they recovered from the recession far quicker than the UK or Europe. AND THIS IS THE BEST BIT FOR US... 350W for e-bikes - but you have to be 16 instead of 14 which kinda makes sense to me. Despite passing my cycling proficiency I was still pretty reckless at the age of 14.

Knew it would happen sooner or later with my scooter-style e-bike but I got my 1st pull last night. Fortunately I was riding on the flat and doing 17MPH (GPS). The cop was nice as pie and let me on my way after I explained that it is just an electrically assisted pushbike. Earlier on I was going down a steep hill at about 28MPH when the GPS (on a phone mounted with sticky backed velcro) announced "safety camera ahead". I pedalled like f*** and made the GPS speed indicator go red (31MPH) but I didn't get flashed Has anyone on here successfully tripped a speed camera?

Woteva!

You've seen my bike on my thread about upgrading the batteries. Could you lift that with a straight back? I'd need to attach a sling to it in order to do so.

Good luck It sounds great in theory but it will be fraught with difficulties. Even operating as a non-profit, it would be subject to UK consumer regulations if sales are made outside of the group. Even though import duty has been paid, there will be more tax to pay on every sale. Items sold online or by mail-order can be returned for no good reason (at the supplier's cost). I think these are some of the reasons that big businesses haven't seized the opportunity - You'd think that with ever-rising fuel prices and the drive to go 'green' that they must have considered the idea already. These niggles would hit the profits of a profit making organisation. They would bankrupt a non-profit organisation.

42kg - and my back hurts after picking it up to stand on the scales (unbranded chinese made scooter style pedelec)

IEC connectors ON the battery? & charger too? That could work for me. The charging port on the bike & battery box is IEC - You can see the reverse of the battery box inlet/outlet in the picture. What make are yours? I'll have to see if they do a higher rated version.

Hi Frank. I did notice the extra space (thanks anyway skip1) - If I stuck with SLA for now, do you think the controller could handle 42v if I added a 6v battery, or would that require a new charger as well? Charging the extra battery separately would be a little awkward as it would bean dissembling the battery box every night - unless I drilled the box & left the wires poking out with spade connectors (& sealed the hole to prevent flooding when it rains). Failing that, would adding 1 more identical battery in series provide an additional 5Ah (one third) of capacity?

Hi Synthman. The battery box is in the footrest. It probably is made by the same people. Mine had a luggage rack/box but I had to remove that to fit in the lift to my flat. If you're getting 11 miles from a 10Ah pack then 15Ah should be sufficient for me so thanks for sharing.

Thanks Thanks to everyone who responded. Esp d8veh for letting me know that I'd need to change the controller if I upped the voltage. Changing the controller might place me out of my depth... there's an awful lot of wires & if they aren't a perfect match for my existing controller I'd be screwed! Also I forgot to mention my bike is a 200w model (I assume that means a 200w motor) and the lowest wattage I've seen for a 48v controller is 350w. Despite differing opinions on which technology I should use, the consensus appears to be that switching to Lithium won't cause any complications (apart from wallet shrinkage) so thanks for all the advice. I think I'm going to plump for a Ping because of his general reputation. I'd like the 20Ah unit but I'm thinking 15Ah on cost grounds.... Does anybody think that this WON'T be sufficient for getting me to work (6miles on level, 0.75 miles moderate climb) & back again? Anybody who owns a Ping battery, what sort of terminals does it have? My current pack (pictured) just has wires soldered to drilled tabs. It also has a reset button in the circuit - anybody know what that is for? http://vudpha.blu.livefilestore.com/y1pjcmj2eY1k0XuA-xQpDzSevmJy7hvTmIgIivH5LW48y9uNAsGbNAXykJbV1dr1GHoJbvvkFHviuyVTm_uujRggFqA-Zc-s5Jz/BatteryPack.jpg

Hi, I just got got my 1st pedelec (used) and found that the range is inadequate for my needs - I'm getting around a third of the quoted 20 miles with only about 15% use on moderate inclines with pedal assistance (I weigh about 190 lbs). I found out after buying it that it had been stood in a garage for a year. My guess is that this won't have done the SLA batteries any good right? I'm hoping a battery upgrade will allow me to travel the 14 mile round trip to work but I'm not sure what to go for. The bike is unbranded & made in China & looks like this... http://www.fun2ride.co.uk/v2/fun7pic/fun7silver.jpg The existing batteries are 36v and rated at 9Ah (but probably not holding that now). My main question is, are there any complications in switching from Lead Acid to Lithium batteries? I'm aware that it won't be a perfect fit for the battery compartment and the terminal types may be different but I can manage such basic modifications, and I don't mind charging the battery offline. I've been looking at 'Ping' batteries but the 20Ah unit is quite a bit more expensive than the 15Ah one. Should the 15Ah be sufficient for my trip (6 miles on flat and 0.75 mile moderate incline & back again)? Lastly, would upgrading to a 48v pack provide a power boost or is it likely to just fry stuff? I don't know anything about the voltage tolerances of the components. As you can probably tell I'm a bit of a noob to all this so any advice would be greatly appreciated.