FiveFWD - Urban Challenge - Part One video from The Gadget Show

God i cant stand the fake over the top enthusiasm of this show......But I watched it this time:rolleyes:

 

They had quite a few bikes on there. kalkhoff and wisper were oddly not present. the Eeze Forza and the AtoB where the favourites. but X bike and cytronex were shown as well

 

But boy what a truly awful bunch lol

Couldn't agree more, I watched it, but it was rather painful to do so. I love the idea of 'testing' e-bikes by riding them around an oval..... that's bound to give a good idea of what it's like to ride up a hill..... . The rather rather rapturous review given to the Kioga Miyata is a case in point. I'd rather try to ride a cheap mountain bike up the hills around me than use one of them...

Ah well, I'm assured that nobody with a brain watches that show anyway (having just done so myself I'm satisfied that it's pretty unlikely they do) I certainly won't bother again.

Incidentally I've never come across the 'A to B' bike anyone on here tried (or even own) one?

Strangely, although the Kalkhoff's and Wispers were absent, someone seems to have been browsing in 50 cycles - note the Casco helmet and winku mirrors. The mirrors appeared to make the 'A to B' bike extremely wide. A bit of a hazard I would have thought in central London?

 

Phil

sad...

 

don't have TV but was in a chums' house who knows i have electric bike & tuned in, pitiful, this was a gimmick surely, learnt nothing, reminded me why i don't have TV.

 

opportunity lost,

sad beeps

The A2B has been discussed in here previously. It's hardly qualifies as a bike with those moped style wheels and wide tyres. I'm fairly sure there was a Wisper in there, and I believe a Panasonic powered bike, both in the initial range shown leaning on a fence, though they aren't mentioned in the video Frank posted, but the camera pan was too fast to identify the bikes with certainty.

 

It was probably inevitable that they would choose the two most powerful machines present, given the nature of the silly challenge, but anything that might get people enthusiastic about riding around on personal electric two wheelers instead of driving cars is welcome of course, regardless of what they are.

.

Bikes present from memory in no particular order:

 

Wisper

Kalkhoff

Powabyke

Powacycle

Urban

Brompton Nano

Cytronex

A2B

Ezee

Emotion (from OnBike)

 

 

Im sure there were a couple more but can't remember. If I think of them then I will post details.

its interesting that people can make a program with out being encumbered with things like ... information ... facts ... any thing useful about the tech they were playing with.

 

i did not hear them give any good reason for the bikes they selected.

perhaps it was the bikes with largest <promotion> budget

 

i cant imagine the a2b is much faster than the 905 that was there

 

all in all a rotter of a program

Edited August 25, 200916 yr by winterdog

Gadget Show mainstream spotlight.

 

I had many texts this evening regarding the show, most from former colleagues in the design field who know I have an EB and most still in their 20's. Their feedback was very positive. A stark contrast to their first impressions when I told them I had bought one.. comments such as cheating etc.

 

Maybe there is a small chink of light resulting from the show, if only to inform the younger generation that there are some exciting developments in the bicycle industry and to alternative forms of transport. Anyone really interested in parting with over £1000 will surely stumble upon this site and benefit from the feedback and advice, like I'm sure we all have.

 

Most of the main brands were there too, including Wisper and Kalkhoff.

 

Matt

I couldn't help but notice that Jason Bradbury (a quite fit person and very competitive) was actually pedalling that bike for all he was worth in an effort to beat Suzie. Pedalling faster than, I suspect, the bike could go. He's done a number of bicycle challenges and he can go like the wind. So, was it a real test in his case? Suzie is no slouch on a bike either and has walloped Jason in the past.

 

Best regards.

 

Vikki.

I couldn't help but notice that Jason Bradbury (a quite fit person and very competitive) was actually pedalling that bike for all he was worth in an effort to beat Suzie. Pedalling faster than, I suspect, the bike could go. He's done a number of bicycle challenges and he can go like the wind. So, was it a real test in his case? Suzie is no slouch on a bike either and has walloped Jason in the past.

 

Best regards.

 

Vikki.

 

If you ever meet Jason, you will see he is ultra competitive and a big kid at heart. To be fair he loves his gadgets and the bigger and faster the better! The A2B is a fast bike and no doubt he had it derestricted, but he explained his reasons for choosing this bike over all the others to be because it would appeal to the Gadget Show viewers as it was different to everything else. I think Suzie chose her bike mainly for comfort reasons and she only won the challenge due to her superior Satnav system.

 

All in all, it was good exposure for the electric bike industry and I am just happy to of been a part of it on the day.

 

Regards

 

FrankC

Powabyke Ltd

All in all, it was good exposure for the electric bike industry and I am just happy to of been a part of it on the day.

 

Regards

 

FrankC

Powabyke Ltd

 

At least they credited you correctly Frank - they attributed Cytronex to Cannondale "world leader in bike innovation". Apparently a small innovative British company doesn't quite do it for them!

 

Also we really struggled to find anything on the site after the program and when we did we found they had used the main image from our web site Cytronex Electric Bike System - electric bicycles with hidden power assistance, instead of the actual Capo image (which is a completely different bike). So nobody could tie the two together!

 

Still, I'm glad they liked the bike of course and I agree exposure for the industry is generally a good thing.

 

My biggest regret was not bringing Suzie Perry a comfy seat!

 

Mark

A to B magazine seem to think that he didn't actually pick the bike but was told what to pick by the producers.

Gadget Giveaway

 

I was under the impression that all the gadgets the show gives away (the hundreds it seems some weeks) are sent in by the manufacturers as freebies just to get those few seconds of exposure on what seems to be a TV version of the T3 magazine, and hence a marker for what is cool and the next/best thing.

 

It would be interesting to know if the two bikes chosen were freebie/donated to the show? maybe some of the manufacturers present could comment further.

 

Matt

How long has this program been out for i have never seen it before but it looks great i like the lady presenter surly she is the best thing ever to be on an electric bike

I was under the impression that all the gadgets the show gives away (the hundreds it seems some weeks) are sent in by the manufacturers as freebies just to get those few seconds of exposure

 

Matt

 

I doubt they are freebies Matt, many of the prizes are repeated week after week over a long period. The Fifth Gear program gives a car away each week on the same basis.

 

The rationale behind these program giveaways is that they pay for the program's production and reap a profit for the TV company. Each 090 prefix phone call costs £1.50 typically, of which a pound goes to the TV company. Giving away £20,000 worth or so is easy when 50,000 or more viewers phone in an attempt to win!

.

Hi fleccc maybe you should do that with an electric bike sounds like a good idea to me if it costs £1300 and you charge £1.30 a phone call you would only need 200 people to double your money Im sure 200 people from here would do it in a week thats only 30 a day

 

thx

 

Bob

True Bob, but I doubt that this site would like to get involved, since there are legal problems with gambling, and I'm sure the authorities would see this as a form of gambling.

 

It's necessary to have the relevant licences if the site is based in the UK.

.

A2B Metro - Jason's first choice

 

If you ever meet Jason, you will see he is ultra competitive and a big kid at heart. To be fair he loves his gadgets and the bigger and faster the better! The A2B is a fast bike and no doubt he had it derestricted, but he explained his reasons for choosing this bike over all the others to be because it would appeal to the Gadget Show viewers as it was different to everything else. I think Suzie chose her bike mainly for comfort reasons and she only won the challenge due to her superior Satnav system.

 

All in all, it was good exposure for the electric bike industry and I am just happy to of been a part of it on the day.

 

Regards

 

FrankC

Powabyke Ltd

 

Hi Frank,

 

I live in St Margarets London area and apparently Jason lives round the corner from me, I see Jason quite often here and he rides guess what??? A2B Metro, he rides it because he loves it and not because it was different to other bikes. I was at the Velodrome as well and remember what he said when he justified his choice, in fact three days later I saw him at Richmond on the A2B.

 

What I know he was the first one who bought it. I also sell A2B Metro and must say that this a wonderful bike, it's heavy but the power it has is just incredible, plus the comfort that it has, just superb bike.

Here Here

 

I am 100% with you Frank,

 

This was never going to be a scientific test and I can confirm we were all there.

 

It was a great opportunity to have a day off and a chat with the others in the market.

 

Anything that promotes Electric bikes has got to be good!

 

All the best David

 

PS I have only seen gadget show leading up to this episode and I do find the fast forward button a great gadget to use whilst watching!

A few months ago when I started looking into e-bikes the assistant in the first shop I went to said that electric bikes were "heavy and not very reliable" (fortunatley I already knew better), and judging by a lot of peoples reactions to being told about my bike there's a common veiw that e-bikes are slow moped substutes for grannies. I think that the way the show displayed an array of bikes with the presenters running round like excited kids would have been good for helping dispell that myth.

 

It was a short segment meant to entertain and in the process it informed the viewers of two things: there are lots of different types of e-bikes; and e-bikes can be fun. We all knew that of course , but it will be news to a lot of the Gadget Show viewers.

 

Patrick

I just watched it and love the way they didn't lock the bikes up. The last stop was right outside my office and I reckon the bikes would be gone in under 3 minutes.

Thats exactly what I said to my wife as we watched the programme! However I guess with the TV crew on site there was little chance of them being 'nicked ' unless the Jewlers shop was in New Bond st, a popular takeaway location!

If we ignore the 'Top Gear' type hype of the feature then I suppose it does promote the idea of electric bikes, so roll on Clarkson thrashing one around his favorite playground! silversurfer.

Thats exactly what I said to my wife as we watched the programme! However I guess with the TV crew on site there was little chance of them being 'nicked '

 

Or at least they could sell the footage of the theif hopping on the the bike and riding off to Crimewatch

I think this was a great opportunity to get electric cycles into the mainstream. This was a fun way to do it and the fun factor will get people interested! Lets hope we can continue the exposure through other channels!

I enjoyed the show, but was astounded by some of the wreckless riding on show, especially where he was stuck behind the white van!