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Deleted member 4366
Guest
A little bit of feedback about the electric bike scene in China.
There's lots of people riding electric bikes and scooters. They're not as bike-like as ours because they don't pedal, so lots of small scooter like ones, and lots still with lead-acid batteries.
Here's the KFC delivery fleet. The batteries are on charge, so only on the bike when used:
This is my favourite, which can carry a passenger and costs from £160 to about £240 depending on cooking or deluxe version. Note the handlebar muffs, which a few bikes had - presumably for winter riding:
About 50% of all the electric bike had old clear selotape hanging off the lights (front and rear), which looked a mess. It was even on brand new scooters. I think it means your lights don't work and avoids getting a ticket from the police.
In the rain, everyone wears capes. No waterproof suits or trousers.
It was totally flat in Shanghai, so very suitable for bikes. There were cycle paths/roads on both sides of the car roads. It was difficult to see the separation from the footpath on the smaller roads, so you had to watch your back all the time. They often rode on the footpath too, and on the road. Here you can see some at a junction coming off the cycle path to cross the junction:
I think that policing is pretty lax. We saw a guy go diagonally across a junction and, while on the wrong side of the road (going the wrong way), cut-up a police car. The police didn't seem bothered. At the junctions, it was a free-for all. There were lights,which people seemed to obey, but when the lights changed, somebody at the front would cut across three lanes of traffic to turn right. They didn't seem to worry about getting in the right lane to turn right. There were green lights for pedestrian crossing, but the cars and bikes still keep coming. I think you have right of way, so they mustn't hit you.
The food was nice, but where we were nobody spoke English, so it was nearly impossible to order anything. Even by pointing at stuff, you usually got questions, but you didn't know what the problem was, so in one case we left the restaurant empty handed. KFC/burger king and Chinese chain restaurants were easier because there was less choice.
Chinese hotels have very thin walls. You can hear everybody shagging down the corridor, so you don't get a lot of sleep. The guys in the next room to me had a party every night from 11pm to about 2am. It's now nice to be home.
There's lots of people riding electric bikes and scooters. They're not as bike-like as ours because they don't pedal, so lots of small scooter like ones, and lots still with lead-acid batteries.
Here's the KFC delivery fleet. The batteries are on charge, so only on the bike when used:
This is my favourite, which can carry a passenger and costs from £160 to about £240 depending on cooking or deluxe version. Note the handlebar muffs, which a few bikes had - presumably for winter riding:
About 50% of all the electric bike had old clear selotape hanging off the lights (front and rear), which looked a mess. It was even on brand new scooters. I think it means your lights don't work and avoids getting a ticket from the police.
In the rain, everyone wears capes. No waterproof suits or trousers.
It was totally flat in Shanghai, so very suitable for bikes. There were cycle paths/roads on both sides of the car roads. It was difficult to see the separation from the footpath on the smaller roads, so you had to watch your back all the time. They often rode on the footpath too, and on the road. Here you can see some at a junction coming off the cycle path to cross the junction:
I think that policing is pretty lax. We saw a guy go diagonally across a junction and, while on the wrong side of the road (going the wrong way), cut-up a police car. The police didn't seem bothered. At the junctions, it was a free-for all. There were lights,which people seemed to obey, but when the lights changed, somebody at the front would cut across three lanes of traffic to turn right. They didn't seem to worry about getting in the right lane to turn right. There were green lights for pedestrian crossing, but the cars and bikes still keep coming. I think you have right of way, so they mustn't hit you.
The food was nice, but where we were nobody spoke English, so it was nearly impossible to order anything. Even by pointing at stuff, you usually got questions, but you didn't know what the problem was, so in one case we left the restaurant empty handed. KFC/burger king and Chinese chain restaurants were easier because there was less choice.
Chinese hotels have very thin walls. You can hear everybody shagging down the corridor, so you don't get a lot of sleep. The guys in the next room to me had a party every night from 11pm to about 2am. It's now nice to be home.
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