Recommendations for Electric Bike Insurance

[StuartsProjects]

Need to renew my cycle insurance. Total value is circa £7500, 2 electric bikes and an upcoming new Brompton. All legal.

Needs to have public liability.

Barclays Home Insurance stopped providing cover some time back.

 

[guerney]

Total value is circa £7500

upcoming new Brompton

Are you about to drop the hammer on a titanium eBromnpton with fat 20" tyres and disc brakes? I approve. Potholes will be less troubling. Also, where do you usually leave your bike out locked?

 

[saneagle]

Need to renew my cycle insurance. Total value is circa £7500, 2 electric bikes and an upcoming new Brompton. All legal.

Needs to have public liability.

Barclays Home Insurance stopped providing cover some time back.

If you just want 3rd party insurance, you get that free when you join British Cycling. I think membership has now gone up to £50. You can sometimes claw some of that back if you buy anything from Halfords because they give a discount.

 

[StuartsProjects]

Are you about to drop the hammer on a titanium eBromnpton with fat 20" tyres and disc brakes? I approve. Potholes will be less troubling. Also, where do you usually leave your bike out locked?

I have a 16" Brompton, non electric, kept by the front door which I use for local shopping trips etc. I dont like leaving the eBrompton (with battery) by the exit route out of the house.

The front door Brompton is about the be replaced by a non-electric G-Line, yes nice fat tyres and disk brakes, which should be a bit safer on the local moonscape (roads).

With the Bromptons, electric or non-electric I dont often leave them outside shops, they are both set up with rear racks and decent rolling wheels and are real easy to take with you and push around.

The titanium e-MountainBike, is locked up outside and with a couple of decent locks and usually left in view when sitting in a cafe having a tea.

 

[StuartsProjects]

I will look at how much the cycle companies add to a policy for 3rd party insurance, if you insure 3 bikes, they might be adding a 3rd party wedge for each bike, when you normally would only be using one bike at a time.

 

[thelarkbox]

If unavailable through home contents cover, consider switching insurers?? otherwise iirc it was circa £8-10 per £100 insured per annum for a 'specialist' policy..

 

[matthewslack]

If unavailable through home contents cover, consider switching insurers?? otherwise iirc it was circa £8-10 per £100 insured per annum for a 'specialist' policy..

So somewhere between 1 in 8 and 1 in 10 insured bikes stolen each year wipes out their profits!

 

[guerney]

The front door Brompton is about the be replaced by a non-electric G-Line, yes nice fat tyres and disk brakes, which should be a bit safer on the local moonscape (roads).

I daresay you'll feel a sudden urge to electrify the new G-Line, every time you hit a pothole with your e-Brompton. The pedals of the G-Line don't fold? These are brilliant:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Unisexs-FD-7-Folding-Pedals-Metallic/dp/B004ALNICM

The titanium e-MountainBike, is locked up outside and with a couple of decent locks and usually left in view when sitting in a cafe having a tea.

I'm going to need precise GPS co-ordinates, one of those newfangled LCD invisibility cloaks, anti-sound, anglegrinder and steroids.

 

[StuartsProjects]

eBrompton does have a removable pedal, but for rolling round shops it can be left on.

Removable pedals are a security feature too, if on the rare occasion you lock a bike up outside, you can take the pedal with you, at least then a thief wont be able to crack the locks and make a quick getaway on the bike.

The G-line does have a removable pedal, which is OK I think, using one has not been a significant issue on eBrompton.

My eMountain bike has removable pedals too.

These might be OK, about £15 ;

 

[guerney]

If Liteplus is a brand of Litepro, those might be ok as you say, but my feet would slip off those pedals - I got rid of the original Dahon folding pedals, because my feet kept slipping off, and I didn't want 80's style toeclips, or to get specific shoe types in order to clip my feet to pedals. Limiting, especially in a collision. The treadplates of FD-7 pedals are grippy, even when my shoes or boots are heavily mudded from gardening. They're very sturdy pedals. Heavier? But very well made.

The other useful thing about folding pedals is, (when folded) they don't graze your leg as you pass by your bike, when it's leant against the wall in hallways, because you didn't want to fold it, though with the G-Line you could remove the removable pedal, turning the bike around if necessary. Or fold it. You won't accidentally lose a folding pedal, unless a perp takes a fancy to it.

Also, you can fold either pedal if walking the bike, saves having to carry around bandages, tetanus shots and a blood donor of the right type. Having transported around the wrong type would be disappointing, but deadly for haemophiliacs. Brompton really should have thought this through. Around one in 2,000 men, women and children in the UK have a diagnosed bleeding disorder. And diabetes is rife, they don't heal fast. Fat legs are everywhere.

Distance from pedal to crank arm is pretty small (sorry about the mud), doesn't significantly increase Q-factor.





They've released an ultra wide version, available to buy out there somewhere.

FD-7 WIDE | MIKASHIMA INDUSTRIAL CO,.LTD

www.mkspedal.com

 

[StuartsProjects]

Brompton really should have thought this through.

I think they have.

The original folding Brompton pedal is a classic, nothing I have seen folds flatter. It projects only about 18mm from the crank when folded, and is shin skin safe.

But its heavy and not cheap, and the T-Line (titanium) used a removable pedal as a weight saving. And then probably as a money save they started using removable pedals on the newer models.

I modified my removable pedal on the eBrompton to stop the shin problem;

 

[sjpt]

I got rid of the original Dahon folding pedals, because my feet kept slipping off, and I didn't want 80's style toeclips, or to get specific shoe types in order to clip my feet to pedals.

I used 80's style toeclips some time ago (in the 80's?) but never got on with them. I've been using half toeclips since, which for me work really well. Keep the foot more or less in place, very easy to get out of, and easy to lift the pedal ready for start at traffic lights etc.

Zefal Christophe 45 Half Toe Clips | Merlin Cycles

Buy your Zefal Christophe 45 Half Toe Clips at Merlin. Free worldwide delivery available on most items!

www.merlincycles.com

Possible downsides. You can't apply power on the upstroke, but I never did anyway; and you can still push forward at the 1 o'clock position. Not stylish, but they wouldn't fit in with me and the rest of my equipment if they were. Might not work well with folding pedals.

 

[guerney]

I used 80's style toeclips some time ago (in the 80's?) but never got on with them. I've been using half toeclips since, which for me work really well. Keep the foot more or less in place, very easy to get out of, and easy to lift the pedal ready for start at traffic lights etc.

Zefal Christophe 45 Half Toe Clips | Merlin Cycles

Buy your Zefal Christophe 45 Half Toe Clips at Merlin. Free worldwide delivery available on most items!

www.merlincycles.com

Possible downsides. You can't apply power on the upstroke, but I never did anyway; and you can still push forward at the 1 o'clock position. Not stylish, but they wouldn't fit in with me and the rest of my equipment if they were. Might not work well with folding pedals.

Cheers for the tip! I used to use 80's style toeclips in the 80's, but without the straps, for easy foot removal - still have them somewhere, but they can't be installed on folding pedals. Happily, due to a legal 720W mid-drive on 20" wheels and firmware finangling, I very rarely need to make an effort, and even then it isn't much at all, nothing like the 80's with my racer, so MKS FD-7 suit me fine. Enough grip on the pedals for all but the deepest potholes. Like Trump, I'm addicted to power. I'm maddened with power like THE HULK!

 

[thelarkbox]

See no trump,
Hear no trump,
and most definitely don't speak ANY trump..

Needs to be Everybody's mantra moving forward imho

 

[guerney]

non-electric G-Line,

I daresay you'll feel a sudden urge to electrify the new G-Line, every time you hit a pothole with your e-Brompton.

How wide are the rear dropouts on the G-line? Could you get a rear hub motor in? Make an e-G-Brompton? Rear driven 48W and 22A on fat tyred 20" wheels would ride epic, unworried by potholes and hills.

 

[StuartsProjects]

How wide are the rear dropouts on the G-line?

I dont know, its not arrived yet, probably picking it up Friday.

The non-electric G-Line has an 8speed Alfine rear hub.

There is an electric G-Line, rear hub motor with 4-speed gear; see here for pictures;

https://www.wired.com/review/review-brompton-electric-g-line/

 

[guerney]

I dont know, its not arrived yet, probably picking it up Friday.

The non-electric G-Line has an 8speed Alfine rear hub.

There is an electric G-Line, rear hub motor with 4-speed gear; see here for pictures;

https://www.wired.com/review/review-brompton-electric-g-line/

Looks fun, and has a very capable battery.

"The redesigned battery pack clips neatly into the front bracket, and offers 345 kWh of power and a range of 20 to 40 miles (30 to 60 kilometers)."

 

[StuartsProjects]

I wonder if we will see front hub conversion kits for the G-line ?

I did some tests on my front hub motor eBrompton, and it was difficult to detect the amount of drag there was, from the motor, when the eBrompton was used un-powered.

A 8 speed G-Line with front hub motor and the removable bag\controller would be an interesting combination. Yes in non-powered mode it would be slightly heavier, but not a lot, if there was no battery and controller in place.

 

[guerney]

I wonder if we will see front hub conversion kits for the G-line ?

@PC2017 found this motor wheel building dude dude.

https://www.pedelecs.co.uk/forum/threads/29er-mxus-xf07-wheel-build-good-idea-bad-idea.47991/page-2#post-734760

Does the G-Line use 406 or 451 rims? You could also build into Ryde Andra.

 

[StuartsProjects]

The tyres and tubes I have seen are stated as 406.

The supplied rims are tubeless ready, if you want to convert to sticky stuff instead of tubes.