Birmingham Bike Show

[Deleted member 4366]

I had a look round the show today, but I didn't see anything specially new. Still worth a visit though because there's a huge range of bikes to try on the short test track. I finally got the chance to try a Kakhoff Impulse and I wasn't particularly impressed. It was not as smooth or powerful as a Bosch nor some of the hub-motors. I had just stepped off an Oxygen Emate City, which had about the same power, but was much smoother and easier.I found that the Impulse was a bit like the old 26V Panasonic, but with slightly more power. The one I tried was the big tall one with pull back bars and the handling was bad. I thought I had a nearly flat tyre, so I had to get off and check, but it was hard, so it looks like the steering geometry is wrong or maybe badly adjusted steering head bearings. I only wanted to see what the motor was like, so I wasn't too bothered about that, but I would have expected better.

One bike to look out for in the future is one from Green Zebra Bikes that has RockShox forks, nice hydraulic brakes, LCD control panel and BPM2 motor with 12aH battery for I think he said £1299. It has the same motor so should go like the Emotion Neo, which is one of the best hill-climbers at the moment. It's going on sale in January, so the one at the show is just show model with maybe one or two changes to come.

If anyone comes to the show come and say hello to me. I'm helping Andew on the Oxygen stand - hence my reason for trying the Emate, which I quite liked, and so did all the others that tried it. It's a very nice all-round bike: Very easy, quiet and logical, nice handling and quite fast. I see now why all those on this forum that buys them always enthuse about them.

 

[dmcgoldrick]

"but I didn't see anything specially new"....... i thought wisper had the new grace bikes there ?
would be interesting to hear any opinion of these if anyone gets chance to ride them....

regards

 

[TobyAnscombe]

I'll be up tomorrow with kids in tow; will try to swing by and say hello ;-)

 

[Eagle]

d8veh,
The Oxygen Emate City does seem like a very nice bike and it looks a lot like my FreeGo Eagle in looks and spec.
I notice that in some advertising it is referred to as "The Beast". I take it that the OEC is strictly road legal in the UK?
I hope you are not too worn out at the end of the show to build your own bike.

 

[trickletreat]

Hello David, it was good to meet you on Thursday when I visited with Steve from Electricmountainbikes. Checked the Rocky Mountain out as well, great work!
Nigel

 

[Deleted member 4366]

d8veh,
The Oxygen Emate City does seem like a very nice bike and it looks a lot like my FreeGo Eagle in looks and spec.
I notice that in some advertising it is referred to as "The Beast". I take it that the OEC is strictly road legal in the UK?
I hope you are not too worn out at the end of the show to build your own bike.

The Oxygen bikes are all legal; however, the Emate city can be re-programmed for higher speeds in the display panel settings for off-road use. I forgot to mention that it did win the Electric Bike World Championship in Bristol so it can't be that bad.

I found Sunstar crank-drive kits today and they had a couple of demo bikes at the demo track, so I tried one. They're very light 24v, so not fantastically powerful, but enough to give reasonable assist. No hills on the track so couldn't assess its climbing ability. It wasn't as smooth as a Panasonic or Bosch and had a rather sudden cut-off. ower comes by sensing crank movement. The speed is measured by a magnet on the back wheel, so I asked the guy whether the max speed cut-off would still work if the magnet fell off. Guess what - the answer's no. I thgink the best application for the kit would be a lightweight folder because its main strengths are its lightweight and easy fitting to the bottom bracket. Ther'll be a stronger 36v version soon, so something to loo out for.

I'm a bit disappointed not to see many forum members today. i guess you're all comong onSunday

 

[Deleted member 4366]

"but I didn't see anything specially new"....... i thought wisper had the new grace bikes there ?
would be interesting to hear any opinion of these if anyone gets chance to ride them....

regards

Yes, the Grace bike was there. I forgot about it because I've seen a lot of press articles about it, so somehow it didn't seem so new. No point in a test ride because the track is too short and crowded, and no chance to get any speed. Might be worth trying just to try the belt/gears. Maybe tomorrow then.

 

[Kudoscycles]

Yes, the Grace bike was there. I forgot about it because I've seen a lot of press articles about it, so somehow it didn't seem so new. No point in a test ride because the track is too short and crowded, and no chance to get any speed. Might be worth trying just to try the belt/gears. Maybe tomorrow then.

Sorry,Kudos not there,our reasons are reinforced by some of the previous comments.
I don't think that conventional bike shows are the best place to view and test e-bikes,actually any bike-the success of our Redbridge Cycle Test Day is definitely the best place to test bikes. The circuit has hills,sweeping bends,sharp bends and fast straights. The cost is minimal so even the smaller e-bike supplier can afford to attend. We will have similar events at Rutland Water,Carsington Water,Blenheim Palace.
I did ask the organisers of the NEC show to alter the layout,I wanted a longer test ride ideally with a ramp-also I asked if the stands could be arranged direct to the test track,that way the staff on the stands could be same as staff on test track,exhibits on the stand could be directly linked to bikes on the test track-they promised to do this but failed to deliver.
We will have a small stand at the London Cycle Show but this is principally as a feeder to our other events.
Eurobike show is the only show which really is set up to properly test bikes.
Dave
Kudoscycles

 

[Deleted member 4366]

I spoke with Wisper today about testing the Grace. He said that it had been withdrawn from the test fleet because it was too fast for the rather small test track, which sounds right because it was not even that easy to get a normal ebike round it - very short straights and very tight corners and inexperienced riders wobbling round in front of you. maybe another time. The other Grace looked quite interestin too. Not sure what it was called but it had a frame battery and rather large rear hub-motor.

Just to make it clear, I wasn't saying all Kalkhoffs have strange steering. It was just the one I rode. It had very high pull-back handlebars. The wheel was so far away, it felt like you were steering somebody else's bike - sort of. Maybe something wasn't set right, but I think it's more of a geometry issue, but I'm not sure. It wasn't my cup of tea, but like those chopper-style motorbikes, some people like them.

 

[Oxygen Bicycles]

I wanted to say big thanks to Dave for joining me at the show and giving his best expertise to many visitors who are new to the electric bikes. Dave has been extremely passionate in the way he spoke to all visitors and i have to say never met anyone before with such a knowledge about electronics.

Once again BIG THANK YOU

Andrew

 

[tappy]

We have just returned from The Cycle Show in Birmingham (rather shattered) and I have to say a number of points:

General Enquiries from Public: The level of interest and questions asked at the show were much more informed than ever before. Considerably larger number of enquiries too and it was great to chat with so many people.

Test Track: As part of E4, we worked closely with the organisers regarding the layout and length of the test track and also to include a climb section. Clearly there were many more e-bikes (and city and road bike) than the organisers expected so the test track soon became very congested. I'm very confident this will be addressed for the show next year. I have to say also the staging area and test track was very well marshalled during the show.

Number of e-bike exhibitors: Considerably more than last year with new and regular faces.

Quote of the show from an e-bike fan: "If batman were to ride a cool e-bike, it would be this one" : Storck Raddar - Storck Raddar Electric Bikes - Products - Pedelec - Multitask Bosch

I think Upper Street Events did a great job organizing the show (again) and also saw increased exhibitors and visitor numbers over past years.

As E4, we also got a chance to sit down and discuss our exciting plans for next year, which we will soon be launching

Cheers,
Ian

 

[Kudoscycles]

Ian,the timing was wrong this year for Kudos,but should be back next year. I couldn't get a straight answer out of the organisers why the test track could not be extended inside the building so that testing started and finished at each stand,that would mean stand employees could do both stand attendance and test track duties,at present these are split. If safety is a problem then testers could dismount as they enter the building.
Dave
Kudoscycles

 

[JuicyBike]

...the staging area and test track was very well marshalled during the show...
...Upper Street Events did a great job organizing the show...

Absolutely agree Ian, a very pleasant and useful event for us too. Met many kind and helpful cyclists and once again reassured that the vast majority of those within the bike industry, particularly amongst the many small, independent and often family-run businesses, are indeed the best of folk.

Really enjoyed the good humour and cooperative nature between our neighboring stands and the friendly respect shown for each of the developing niches within the market.

I did mean to find the time to come over and meet you, particularly since not managing to do so at Blenheim. Perhaps we will manage it some time soon. I do enjoy the competitive but friendly taunts and teasing from the Wisper team, and Mark from Hero is always quick to better my attempts at witty repost.

I was meaning to ask you all at E4: Is it true you all hang out together in the same large house, being filmed by a C4 fly-on-the-wall documentary team? It's true right? That's what I heard from the FreeGo guys anyhow...

And Andrew at Oxygen: You do know that when you weren't watching Dave (d8veh) was sending your visitors over to the ByoCycles stand...

Did you spot that Jeffrey at Powabyke got confused and went to the Powacycle stand for half of day 3 until they turned up (late again) and took him back to his own stand (we were all knackered by day 3)...

Matt and Naomi from our team were deployed amongst the test track area under instruction to generally help the cause by appearing genial and helpful, but point riders towards our bikes and where possible cast negative comments about our competitors. I did catch Matt being a little too enthusiastic about some german crank driven nonsense, but the threat of having to walk home seemed to quieten him down.

My lowest point in an otherwise brilliant show occurred on the Trade-Only Day, not finding my glasses quickly enough to read the badge of the Halfords buyer. "We really are short of brochures. If you still want one when you've been around all the other stands then come back" didn't leave a great impression!

Will definitely attend again next year!

 

[tappy]

Hi Bob. It did get rather busy from the moment the doors opened, to finish. Inter-company fun, banter and a little bit of customer espionage when our backs are turned.....all part of the Cycle Trade. (I have been involved for the past 28 years).

The Freego guys are very knowledgeable...... and yes we (E4) do hang out at a very large house, drink lots and discuss business etc. Those C4 cameras get everywhere .....

Just recovering now and building lots of bikes for customers from the show.

 

[Ro Thomas]

The Oxygen bikes are all legal; however, the Emate city can be re-programmed for higher speeds in the display panel settings for off-road use.

Old post but, how to - Emate city can be re-program for higher speeds in the display panel settings for off-road use?

 

[Deleted member 4366]

Press and hold the up and down buttons on the mode switch at the same time until it enters set-up mode. Single-press the mode switch to scroll through the settings. When you get to the speed limit (25kph), press the up button to increase it to 40kph, then press and hold the mode button to return to normal operation. This change only affects the cut-out speed, which is a bit annoying (the cut-out that is). You don't get any more power.