Do I get a medal for reading this lot?
The Forum used to be a constructive place to discuss e-bikes,I have to say that Eddie-O could be colourful in his language and quite emotional ,but he bought objective criticism to the forum and the discussion around his comments did make some of us traders think about how we could make improvements.
I have been involved in e-bikes for about 6 years,initially we imported the bikes that were readily available from China,these tended to be the Dutch style 'sit upright' type bikes,the Dutch still liked these.
Eddie commented on the rack mounted,rear hub drive produced a tail heavy bike that was also very heavy,in those days about 27 kgs,also the Brits liked Mountain style bikes so why couldn't we have Mountain style e-bikes....Kudos listened and produced the Tornado/Arriba series,the battery moved on the down tube and the bike overal lighter down to about 22/23 kgs.
I see a new category of e-bikes in the immediate future,even sports bike riders are coming round to understanding that they won't always be able to do a Wiggo up the hills,they want to keep the sports riding style with low rolling resistance tyres,stealth batteries and motor,they don't need big grunt motors or very long range batteries,they are still cyclists but need some help up the steep hills,the weight will be down to 18/19 kgs.
In six years we have taken almost 10 kgs out of the weight of these e-bikes,it has all been done without recourse to expensive bespoke parts or expensive materials.
I have a big commercial incentive in killing off these illegals but surely my foregoing posting is more interesting than these aimless and political postings which must be so boring for so many.
Where do members think that e-bikes will progress in the future?
KudosDave