You don't get the concept, that's fine, but why attack someone who does?
There's a large number of forum members who just 'don't get the concept' flecc and it's their loss.
I still ride my Cytronex-powered Cannondale occasionally, (it's my other half's ride most of the time), and it never fails to astonish me how quickly it covers the ground when that little Tongxin is switched on. Switched off, it's not much different from any other hybrid on the road although it is a bit heavier than most after the addition of the electrics.
Cytronex bikes have often been criticised in these pages but for all the wrong reasons. The small battery capacity has often come in for criticism yet it's good for 20 miles when still in good condition and lots more if used judiciously. If all the pseudo road warrior critics were truthful, they would admit that most of the time spent on their EAPC doesn't come anywhere close to 20 miles. That fact allied to the ability to charge the battery from near empty to 90% in 30-45 minutes, (full in 90 mins or less) means that the Cytronex system would be perfectly adequate for a lot more people than the cynics might imagine.
Mine, fully equipped with all the same kit I have on my other bikes, weighs in at 17kgs and is pretty quick but more importantly to me, can be easily lifted on to a roof carrier or carried up a flight of stairs. Wheel removal for puncture repairs is simple and if there were a need to go further, a spare charged battery doesn't weigh much and can fit inside a rucksack or pannier bag easily.
Another frequent criticism is that they don't climb hills well but that is nonsense from the ignorant. They may not be the best hill-climbers around but they assist adequately up all the fairly steep hills around my neck of the woods. All too often, the criticisms of these lovely bikes comes from people who have never ridden one but read the specs then give forth with their expert view based on their familiarity of something completely different.
The guys down at Winchester are very good to deal with and can do bespoke bikes so it's not just the stock-list, take it or leave it. If you have something special, they can add their kit to it and can offer a choice of motor windings from hill-climb ability, through regular and up to very rapid, aka illegal!
The bikes are essentially very simple, easy to ride, as fast as most people will need and they are reasonably stealthy, looking not dissimilar to many lightweight bicycles, especially in proper road bike trim.
Is weight important? Hell, yes! For every bike maker and every kit supplier, weight-saving is their major target. It's the same story exactly as with regular pushbikes and that's why the hair-shirt brigade endeavour to shave every gram possible from their steed and hone their physique down to extremely low body fat levels.
My one and only dislike of the Cytronex system is that it isn't operated by a torque sensor but Mark Searles explained his thinking about that and about his choice of power delivery a long time ago. Nonetheless, with power off, it responds just like any regular pushbike and if power is suddenly required, it's there - all of it!
I could probably attach any of quite a number of off-the-shelf kits to a bike of my choice and produce something that betters the ready-made Cytronex bikes but that doesn't make the Cytronex a poor choice - if they were crap, Mark Searles would have been out of business a long time ago. He's a British entrepreneur and offers at least one British-sourced bike among the wide range on his stock list.
All too often, in these pages we read political opinion disparaging our European neighbours and promoting the notion that we would be better off leaving the EU. Curiously, many of these advocates seem perfectly happy to pay their hard-earned money to our German or Dutch friends and the Chinese, of course, rather than support a British business offering something that will do most if not all of what the other legal EAPCs can do. I'm left to wonder!
Tom
