Caph

For someone who hasn't passed their motorbike test and doesn't have a grandfathered moped license courtesy of their pre 2001 car licence, would they have to fit L plates to their speed pedelec? It sounds crazy but I'm guessing they would be required?

Hi. Do you have to wear a motorbike helmet? How did you get on with insurance? Lexham might be able to offer you something.

Fortunately, both these problems have been addressed on the TC Max. There has been no reports of the power cut out and I've never experienced it. Also the TC Max has Brembo brakes and they don't squeal in the wet. They're about to release a TS-X model with a more powerful motor. No details yet.

Hi, on the whole it's a great bike but I've found a couple of niggles. I'd be interested to know if you get the same? The throttle is twitchy which means if you try and hold it at a certain position and go over any sort of bump you get a bit of acceleration because your hand moves slightly, then a bit of slowing down because your hand moves back to where it was. It all happens so fast that you end up with a slightly jerky ride. It isn't as bad as it sounds because it is only a slight jerkiness and if you hold the throttle open you don't get it at all, which is why I ride a lot in setting 1 with the throttle fully open travelling at 30mph. The second is that when braking there is a slight judder almost like a slightly warped disc, but it actually comes from the motor. It's not too bad and you quickly get used to it. More of a slight annoyance really. Do you get that on the TC? Other than that, it really does seem to be a bit of a bargain for the money you pay. I'll put a full review up after I've had it a bit longer. I've only done 700 miles so far. It's a pity the UK government haven't handled the speed pedelec thing better. I really like the look of the Scoot moped cruiser which is being launched for public hire in LA at the minute. I was in Krakow recently and saw people cruising around the city centre on the CityCoco Harley style mopeds. They looked great fun, but having to pay out for insurance, MOT, registration, etc. in the UK really takes the fun out of them!

I've been getting a bit sick of near misses and lack of speed on the roads so I've been watching to see see how the new speed pedelecs turned out in terms of price and legislation but its all been a bit of a let down on both fronts in the UK. So, I bought myself a Super Soco TC Max which is actually cheaper than most speed pedelecs. It's been a revelation on the road. People give you way, way more respect and I can out accelerate all but the sportier cars (not motorbikes though!), with a top speed of about 50mph uphill into a headwind and about 60mph on the flat with a tailwind. I get about 55-65 miles on a single charge depending on the terrain. I didn't quite appreciate the hidden costs though - insurance, helmet, jacket, reinforced jeans, locks, CBT, etc. It soon adds up, but on the whole I'm glad with my decision. It's definitely not the same feeling as being on the bicycle and I can't use bike lanes round here, but it makes way more sense to me than a speed pedelec. It's still nice getting back and plugging it in to charge overnight knowing it's only costing a few pennies though.

I honestly did not know that but it would very much explain why most of those brands were in the Raleigh showroom which I struggled to understand at the time.

Not sure what you are saying here? Raleigh don't have the support capability of Woosh bikes? I really don't think you want to have said that! We all know that hub motors are more or less indestructible. Other than that, a hub motor drive bike is a normal bike. But then you already know that.

Give Suzhou Bafang a ring. Give one of the big lithium battery companies in Shenzhen a ring. Knock out a range of one or two standard MTB and/or sit up and beg front hub motor bikes at £500-£700 a pop. Nothing special, but then it doesn't have to be, you can buy a Decathlon bike for £200, a motor for £100 off ebay and a reliable battery for £200 right now which will pretty much match any £2k "complete" ebike currently on the market. If you want decent suspension, decent hydraulic disc brakes and a decent chainset you could plump for a £300 Decathlon MTB and you are then matching the £3K "complete" ebikes. They have the economies of scale, buying power, dealerships and distribution network to dominate the UK ebike industry in volume sales, and change ebikes in to a mass market UK product, but instead they are meowing like kittens in a corner. Am I wrong?

I might have known you'd know the answer Tony. I've been away for quite some time. Good to see you are still here. And nearly 35K posts!!!

It was a Raleigh Captus. I did have it in max mode which is how I ride my hub motorised bike. Basically you have to click down, down, down, down to stop it kicking in when you don't want it, then up, up, up, up when you're off and do want it kicking in. A real pain. Drag was definitely worse. A lot worse. I know because I had to stand and pedal to get the damned thing to make it up the hill. All I can say is I tried hub motor and loved it, I tried crank drive and was non-plussed. Maybe it is a marmite thing as others have said. Pity, because I was thinking about treating myself and I thought a go on a crank drive would convince me to splash out. I have to say, my partner was on the girls version of the bike and the first thing she said was "this isn't as good as your bike". She has only ridden my bike once! Enough said.

Forgot to say, it was also a pig to ride uphill with the power turned off. Absolutely no comparison to my bog standard Decathlon MTB with a front hub motor fitted, which is a breeze to ride uphill with the power off, although obviously in a lower gear. Is that normal?

I was chatting to someone at the Raleigh event last week and they said they'd had multiple spokes snap on their rear hub motor bike. I haven't had one break on any of my three front hub motor bikes in over 10 years. That got me thinking. Is spoke breakage more likely in a rear hub motor drive due to the additional weight being applied to the rear wheel? If I ever ask too much of my front hub motor it spins out which maybe prevents undue torque being applied to the spokes? Has anyone else had spokes snap in a hub motor and if so was it front or rear?

Well I got to try a £2K Bosch bike at the Raleigh event last week. I wasn't impressed. Power seemed on a par with my cheap front hub motor and top speed was slower. Didn't like the lack of a throttle, and having to mess around with the controls to stop it kicking in when I was riding slowly was a pain. The bike geometry also meant that my weight was way too far back in the bike which rendered the sub-par front suspension useless when we rode over the most rocky path in our area. Is this the normal state of affairs for a Bosch crank drive bike?

I bought my 8Ah lithium manganese battery (under 2kg!) direct from BMS Batteries back in 2013 for 140USD plus 90USD shipping. I average about 2000 miles a year mainly commuting. Battery still going strong three years later although max range on full throttle started out at 35 miles and is now down to under 30. Given my daily commute is only a 7 mile round trip it isn't really an issue for me. Average speed still over 15mph. If you buy direct from Ping or BMS and you will be sure you are getting a truly brand new battery which has been properly tested.

If anyone is interested you can try out a Raleigh eBike next weekend 6th and 7th May at a Sustrans talk about the Bennerley Viaduct followed by a short cycle ride from Raleigh headquarters to the viaduct on one of their bikes. All free apparently. http://news.raleigh.co.uk/bennerley-viaductride