Yes but apparently trails and beaches are not classed as private land they are public areas so same as roads for legal purposes. I have just received a call from a lady at dillenger who says their fat bike is legal in the UK. Explained i received an e-mail from a guy at dillenger yesterday saying they were not legal. She is going to get back to me.
Fat Bike
- Thread starter AMc
- Start date
She probably means that their fat bike is legally bought and sold in the UK. I saw a guy on one yesterday going around the park. I also saw a guy on a Segway, another legally bought and sold item in the UK. 
D
Deleted member 4366
Guest
As I said, It's a bad idea to take an electric bike on the beach where there's salt water. It's going to end in tears.
I wouldn't know. Never been on one myself. Obviously they look smart and beefed up with the tyres, which should handle sandy and boggy areas quite well. My tyres are 2.5" I think and they do 'ok' around the bogs. Hence my mudhugger video. The fat tyres would throw up a ton of mud, sand and muck. So, you'd undoubtedly also need mudhuggers.
If the time ever came, they'd probably be a nightmare to pedal manually. That aside, it surely must be a primarily cross country, off road means of transport.
If the time ever came, they'd probably be a nightmare to pedal manually. That aside, it surely must be a primarily cross country, off road means of transport.
Last edited:
D
Deleted member 4366
Guest
Fat bikes would be great on sand, mud, rough surfaces and things like that. I can remember my bait-digging days at Southend, where you had to trudge half a mile out before you could start. A fat bike would be perfect for that. The problem comes with electric fat bikes: In the desert, great; on Southend mud flats, disaster waiting to happen.
Received another call from the same lady earlier to say the bike i was looking at buying is not legal in the UK .
I hired one of these bikes for my son a couple of weeks back in the Lake district and to be honest there was little difference in weight and resistance than a regular off road bike but with front suspension added they would be a very comfortable ride and with the addition of a motor the slight increase in weight should not cause any problems.
Regards the bikes and salt water i take it that the battery is likely to run into problems rather than the bike in general?
I hired one of these bikes for my son a couple of weeks back in the Lake district and to be honest there was little difference in weight and resistance than a regular off road bike but with front suspension added they would be a very comfortable ride and with the addition of a motor the slight increase in weight should not cause any problems.
Regards the bikes and salt water i take it that the battery is likely to run into problems rather than the bike in general?
Regards the bikes and salt water i take it that the battery is likely to run into problems rather than the bike in general?
As d8veh has pointed out, salt water and electricity don't mix well.
Salt water is conductive, get it on your battery terminals and it so long & goodnight.
I run RC trucks and I'm happy to see them in a stream under water, motor and Lipo batterys working fine.
But when I want to dispose of an old or unwanted lipo, I just drop it into salt water to kill it dead before it gets binned.
Sea water to e-bikes is like kryptonite to superman
As d8veh has pointed out, salt water and electricity don't mix well.
Salt water is conductive, get it on your battery terminals and it so long & goodnight.
I run RC trucks and I'm happy to see them in a stream under water, motor and Lipo batterys working fine.
But when I want to dispose of an old or unwanted lipo, I just drop it into salt water to kill it dead before it gets binned.
Sea water to e-bikes is like kryptonite to superman
D
Deleted member 4366
Guest
Thank you for the information regards the salt water i will make sure i stay on the sand and well away from the sea when i get to ride on the beach at some point.
Received a further communication today via e-mail saying the bike is legal in the UK after all - the lady i spoke to had it confirmed from the boss man that they restrict the power to 250w at their side before delivery. In most states of the US they are legal at 750w so i assume this is the reason for the bike having a 750w motor fitted.
I have asked if there is any way i can use the increased power when i am using the bike on private land - seems a waste to be restricted to 250w when the motor is actually rated at 750w.
Received a further communication today via e-mail saying the bike is legal in the UK after all - the lady i spoke to had it confirmed from the boss man that they restrict the power to 250w at their side before delivery. In most states of the US they are legal at 750w so i assume this is the reason for the bike having a 750w motor fitted.
I have asked if there is any way i can use the increased power when i am using the bike on private land - seems a waste to be restricted to 250w when the motor is actually rated at 750w.
D
Deleted member 4366
Guest
There's a lot of misunderstanding about the legality of ebike motors. You cannot restrict a 750w motor to 250w to make it legal. It's perfectly legal to run a 250w motor at 750 w though.The regulation is on the motor, not the way it's used.
Also, any bike limited to 250w max would be useless. Even the common or garden hub-motored bikes normally run at 630w max from the battery, which would be over 400w of peak output power.
Nobody is checking at the moment. Nobody seems to care. who knows if that'll change in the future? If they did check, the first thing would be the markings on the motor. You'd be in trouble if it says anything more than 250w. Without marking, you'd have to provide evidence that your motor is rated at 250w, which would be tricky because our Chinese friends write things like 250w-500w in their specifications. I guess that would be interpreted as 500w by any lawyer or engineer.
The only way that you can prove that your bike is legal is if it has an EN15194 certificate for the whole bike.
Also, any bike limited to 250w max would be useless. Even the common or garden hub-motored bikes normally run at 630w max from the battery, which would be over 400w of peak output power.
Nobody is checking at the moment. Nobody seems to care. who knows if that'll change in the future? If they did check, the first thing would be the markings on the motor. You'd be in trouble if it says anything more than 250w. Without marking, you'd have to provide evidence that your motor is rated at 250w, which would be tricky because our Chinese friends write things like 250w-500w in their specifications. I guess that would be interpreted as 500w by any lawyer or engineer.
The only way that you can prove that your bike is legal is if it has an EN15194 certificate for the whole bike.
Last edited by a moderator:
I think in the future it will not be legal to build bikes yourself
D
Deleted member 4366
Guest
The Kudos Tornado is fully certified. It's basically a standard MTB with a nice kit fitted. You could change the motor, controller, display and/or anything else. It wouldn't be easy to regulate for that. They would have to set up an inspection system like they have in Germany to stop people modifying their motorbikes. I can't see it happening unless we all vote to join the federal Europe in a few weeks.
I borrowed a fat bike for half an hour..the tyres absorbed more bumps etc than any suspension could..they take out different frequency to suspension..actually preferred it on marbles/ biggish stones but ( and its a massive but) the moment it went over limit it felt like brakes were on.
Also found it quite bouncy, you could actually sense when bumps/ speed coincided with a sort of resonant frequency... Didn't find enough benefit over 2.5 tyres ( it was on 4inch.. Was considering one ,,put me off.
On the mud thing...dobt agree with that at all..in mud secret is to get through it to hard ground underneath , generally thinner tyres will find traction and pick up less mud doing it...ok sand...but not much of that in Derbyshire...
Also found it quite bouncy, you could actually sense when bumps/ speed coincided with a sort of resonant frequency... Didn't find enough benefit over 2.5 tyres ( it was on 4inch.. Was considering one ,,put me off.
On the mud thing...dobt agree with that at all..in mud secret is to get through it to hard ground underneath , generally thinner tyres will find traction and pick up less mud doing it...ok sand...but not much of that in Derbyshire...
Tmy tyres are 3.5 front and back
I,d guess with about 3kw as well...my tyres are 3.5 front and back
They have there place...just not in my garage...
Related Articles
-
MTF Enterprises announces acquisition of EMU Electric Bikes- Started by: Pedelecs
-
Wisper 806T folding bike wins Which? ‘Best Buy’- Started by: Pedelecs
-
Sustrans calls for protected cycle lanes- Started by: Pedelecs
-
Amazon launch their first UK e-cargo micromobility hub- Started by: Pedelecs
