electric bike book

[Bigbee]

Im not sure about David Henshaw's comment on Chinese rubbish . He's not been keen on electric bikes in the past ?

Electric Bicycles: the book | Bicycle Business | BikeBiz

 

[Tim]

Im not sure about David Henshaw's comment on Chinese rubbish . He's not been keen on electric bikes in the past ?

Electric Bicycles: the book | Bicycle Business | BikeBiz

On the contrary, he's very keen on good electric bikes.

"At the moment the quality bikes from European and Japanese manufacturers are starting at £1,250 with plenty of good choice at £1,600, but the Chinese rubbish is costing almost as much, with some brands boosted into the £1,800-£1,900 region."

I'm looking forward to getting a copy, something to devour over the holidays.

 

[dan]

"At the moment the quality bikes from European and Japanese manufacturers are starting at £1,250 with plenty of good choice at £1,600.

Name the European manufactures who don't have their electric bikes made in china. Would also like to see his list of Japanese built bikes available in the UK.

Just shows his lack of real in depth knowledge of the electric bike trade.

I have always found David to be biased towards pedelec machines and anything made by Giant (which I think he thinks is Japanesse).

If he thinks any Chinese built electric bike is rubbish, he has just condemed most of our bikes

 

[flecc]

Derby Cycles, Sparta and many other EU makes are not bikes built in China, though inevitably many components are made there

The authors are referring to the electrical side when they mention Japanese, so Panasonic, Yamaha, Sunstar etc.

David is well aware that Giant is Taiwanese. It's utter nonsense to say he's biased against Giant since he has long been a huge fan of the Giant Lafree, tried to be kind to the undeserving Giant Revive Spirit, is favourably inclined to their latest series of torque sensored hub motor bikes like the Freedom and has given some of their unpowered bikes a welcome.

He has plenty of knowledge of the e-bike trade, but I agree he is biased towards pedelecs. The EU including UK future is heavily on his side, so he's merely forward looking. Just look at the huge shift in the pattern of our e-bike sales in the last four years to see how true that is.

Read the book before condemning on the basis of a very brief review picking out one point.
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[EdBike]

I read it as he thinks of the Chinese clones as rubbish. Every bike seems to have at least a little bit of China in them!

 

[flecc]

Every bike seems to have at least a little bit of China in them!

Especially the ones with ceramic coated rims.
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[bode]

I have always found David to be biased towards pedelec machines and anything made by Giant.

Stick; wrong end of:

It's utter nonsense to say he's biased against Giant since he has long been a huge fan of the Giant Lafree, tried to be kind to the undeserving Giant Revive Spirit, is favourably inclined to their latest series of torque sensored hub motor bikes like the Freedom and has given some of their unpowered bikes a welcome..

 

[ronipozn]

Name the European manufactures who don't have their electric bikes made in china. Would also like to see his list of Japanese built bikes available in the UK.

Just shows his lack of real in depth knowledge of the electric bike trade.

I have always found David to be biased towards pedelec machines and anything made by Giant (which I think he thinks is Japanesse).

If he thinks any Chinese built electric bike is rubbish, he has just condemed most of our bikes

I think he aimed more to the electric componentes other then the bicycle parts.

 

[Old Timer]

Whats wrong with Chinese gear!

You see, because China makes gear cheap to satisfy the world markets for wanting more and more doesn`t mean that everything made in China is rubbish. Actually, apart from owning a number of E bikes made in China and being very satisfied with price and performance I own many many items made in China. Some things I`ve purchased direct from China and most things that sell on the high street are made in China. I purchased some new earphones the other day that are from an American manufacturer that I know to be good and there were USA signs all over the packaging and very tiny in a corner was "made in China" me thinks"will they come up to the sound and class that I`m used to" they did!!
My latest home wieless hub is 100% better than the previous one and it`s made in China!
As I`ve said before on here and have proof, lots of different high street outlets have products being produced on the same production lines and just packaged differently.
Not to rake up the past but remember a while back when a Cyclamatic bike battery had a Wisper label on it? You tell me how it got there.

Like it or not China can and does produce some good stuff at a fraction of the cost of other countries and as I see it E bikes are no different in my eyes.

 

[flecc]

True Bode, I took it the critical way as Dan concluded the sentence with the smear about David thinking Giant was Japanese and was hardly complimentary about anything else.
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[flecc]

Like it or not China can and does produce some good stuff.

Absolutely true, they produce some of the highest quality manufactured goods it's possibly to buy, as well as being big enough to produce low end stuff also.

They are following the path Japan took many decades ago, starting with rubbish they've been continuously improving standards and will eventually be noted mainly for it's best rather than it's former worst.
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[Tim]

Absolutely true, they produce some of the highest quality manufactured goods it's possibly to buy, as well as being big enough to produce low end stuff also.

They are following the path Japan took many decades ago, starting with rubbish they've been continuously improving standards and will eventually be noted mainly for it's best rather than it's former worst.
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This is of course true, some of the most desirable objects ever made (thinking of the ipod, iphone, ipad) are made in vast factories in China, but with world-class international teams of designers and researchers spending hundreds of millions of dollars involved in the process. But this generally isn't the case with Chinese ebikes is it?

 

[Old Timer]

This is of course true, some of the most desirable objects ever made (thinking of the ipod, iphone, ipad) are made in vast factories in China, but with world-class international teams of designers and researchers spending hundreds of millions of dollars involved in the process. But this generally isn't the case with Chinese ebikes is it?

Who Knows? and even if it isn`t , as I said I have a number of Chinese E bikes and every one of them works when I turn it on and gives me a lot of satisfaction.
I`ll add to that. If you have a limited budget and are forced to look at the lower end of the market then there might be a tendency to feel like you are having to ride a budget bike and if you had spent another £1k you would be so much happier.
Or! like me (after many years of hard work) could buy what ever bike I wanted but had a problem in seeing why there was such a vast difference in price when a lot of the acc`s and equipment were made in the same place and if(I say if) they were to fail early are easily replaced from the local shop or E bay.

 

[EdBike]

This is of course true, some of the most desirable objects ever made (thinking of the ipod, iphone, ipad) are made in vast factories in China, but with world-class international teams of designers and researchers spending hundreds of millions of dollars involved in the process. But this generally isn't the case with Chinese ebikes is it?

What Apple and everyone else producing goods, especially branded electronics, is they know how the Chinese work and how to make sure they deliver the goods up to scratch. A mix of culture and contracts...?

 

[flecc]

But this generally isn't the case with Chinese ebikes is it?

No it isn't, but as ever there are the exceptions, the Giant bikes from their Chinese production are of an excellent standard.
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[onmebike]

China is currently producing in access of 20 million ebike's a year and they're all rubbish?
I wonder if that include's all the Chinese made components made by Panasonic in their many subsideries across China?

 

[EdBike]

I've been looking for this link to show you guys - finally found it!

Ed Benjamin is an industry researcher some of you may have come across. He's got a great powerpoint on 'Source LEV Product in China' which explains some of the difficulties

It's near the bottom of this page: eCycleElectric - Industry Information

 

[Wisper Bikes]

Not to rake up the past but remember a while back when a Cyclamatic bike battery had a Wisper label on it? You tell me how it got there.

Hi Old Timer

Unfortunately this kind of thing used to happen a lot in China. Fortunately China is now moving into a new era and like Japan will soon be manufacturing even more the best products made anywhere in the world. As you know many superb products now come out of China, including as Apple computers, Olympus cameras and a lot of parts for BMW and the like.

It is now ridiculous to think that just because a product is made in China it is not going to be as good or better than one made in say Germany. (Well said Onmebike!)

I am sure David is not talking about any of the superb electric bike brands that we are all aware of that are made in China. The Chinese factories in most cases like Derby Cycles are simply building bikes out of readily available components that come out of the far east, the trick is to make sure the bike is built using the best components for the job.

It may surprise a lot of people but having a bike built in China is not as cheap as they may think. If you buy a Shimano Alfine 8 gear box in China it is the same price as in Europe, both gear boxes are made in the same factory. The real advantage to building in China is the close proximity to the best electronics and bike components in the world and Shanghai being a fantastic logistics center. I would estimate savings over even Germany to be in the region of only 3 to 4%.

HOWEVER..... there are still many small factories in China (as in the rest of the world including Europe) that simply copy (badly) what is going on around them and this includes labels. The Cyclamic bike people rather than translate a label into English copied ours, they left our name on the label probably because they did not understand what was printed there. As you know I have had letters of apology from them and those apologies were accepted.

I strongly believe that if you have a problem with Chinese product is not due poor manufacturing it is due to poor buying.

All the best

David

 

[Wisper Bikes]

This is of course true, some of the most desirable objects ever made (thinking of the ipod, iphone, ipad) are made in vast factories in China, but with world-class international teams of designers and researchers spending hundreds of millions of dollars involved in the process. But this generally isn't the case with Chinese ebikes is it?

Yes Tim it is generally the case already and Chinese made bikes will certainly become the best in the world if they are not already there..... I have been in China at least every three months for the last 5 years and the difference is mind blowing!

Of course as in any country there are bad as well as good. However the new factory where Wisper bikes are now being made is as advanced as anything in Europe.

As a matter of interest we at Wisper have just signed a contract and are in the process of manufacturing the first batch of bikes fo a new German electric bike company. After visits to our OEM factory in China he was convinced that he would get a better product (not cheaper) than more localy.

As soon as the bikes are launched I will post details.

Let's now stop this nonsense about only poor bikes coming out of the far east and concentrate on publicising the use of good EPACs in the UK.

Best regards

David

 

[Old Timer]

HOWEVER..... there are still many small factories in China (as in the rest of the world including Europe) that simply copy (badly) what is going on around them and this includes labels. The Cyclamic bike people rather than translate a label into English copied ours, they left our name on the label probably because they did not understand what was printed there. As you know I have had letters of apology from them and those apologies were accepted.



All the best

David[/quote]

Thanks David, I knew there was an opology but didn`t realise what had caused the problem. Now you have explained it, then it`s put to bed.

Thanks

Dave