On my cycle ride to La Roche Posay guess what I saw

[Oiseaux]

Having been inspired by Morphix's ride and needing to drag myself away from this forum, I decided to take myself and my Claude Butler (as yet unassisted) to La Roche Posay, about 7km from where I live. Dew was on the grass, the sun was bright, buzzards wheeled in the sky, heron searched in a newly mown field of grass ( I thought they were fish eaters !!) and I took some pics;

and then I saw.......

the postman on an electric bike who, when I told him that I was hoping soon to electrify my own bike, became very animated and said how superb his assisted bike was and told me about a shop in my nearest large town which was "tres serieuse" and stocked "beaucoup marques". I asked about motors and batteries on his trades bike but I think he could see that I was about to become very boring so we exchanged the ", au revoir, bon journee, et vous aussi" routine and off he whizzzed.

On the way back I bought an absolutely delicious 'roule aux pepites chocolat', sat on a seat overlooking the town and thought how pleasant life can be when retired.

Oiseaux

 

[Oiseaux]

Oh dear, I don't seem to have any pics yet the editor is showing 4 http's. ?
Then I learnt something else!

 

[morphix]

Having been inspired by Morphix's ride and needing to drag myself away from this forum, I decided to take myself and my Claude Butler (as yet unassisted) to La Roche Posay, about 7km from where I live. Dew was on the grass, the sun was bright, buzzards wheeled in the sky, heron searched in a newly mown field of grass ( I thought they were fish eaters !!) and I took some pics;

and then I saw.......

the postman on an electric bike who, when I told him that I was hoping soon to electrify my own bike, became very animated and said how superb his assisted bike was and told me about a shop in my nearest large town which was "tres serieuse" and stocked "beaucoup marques". I asked about motors and batteries on his trades bike but I think he could see that I was about to become very boring so we exchanged the ", au revoir, bon journee, et vous aussi" routine and off he whizzzed.

On the way back I bought an absolutely delicious 'roule aux pepites chocolat', sat on a seat overlooking the town and thought how pleasant life can be when retired.

Oiseaux

Some lovely views there! I'd be inspired to paint if I lived there. I'm glad I inspired you to go out in the sun, it looks lovely. Incredible to see the postie riding electric too. France must be way ahead of UK in adopting electric bikes in that regards?

Wait until you get your conversion done, you'll have so much fun! You can go exploring further and not get tired or sweaty. I just absolutely love my bike and I always want to ride it.

Morphix

(I copied your image URL's into a separate browser window as I don't think this forum likes some image hosting services (I have the same problem with my own website, site admin if you're watching, errhmm).

 

[morphix]

Oh dear, I don't seem to have any pics yet the editor is showing 4 http's. ?

You could try removing the s, just do http:// and if that doesn't work, either put URL links instead, or use ImageShack® - Online Photo and Video Hosting to host them if you want, that service works ok with the forum.

 

[NRG]

It works with this (remove the space between the TAGs and URL):

 

[morphix]

It works with this (remove the space between the TAGs and URL):

ooo I wonder if that technique would work with my own image hosting software (Gallery)..will have to try it! Thanks for that NRG.

 

[deadmonkey]

Good for you, that sounds like a pretty charmed life

 

[Oiseaux]

Thanks Morphix and NRG. I'm not only learning about electric bikes but computer techniques as well.

As you say Morphix, I can't wait, all I need to do is to make a decision !! The ride today was perfect, but just a teeny weeny bit of assistance up those slight gradients would widen the grin.

Oiseaux

 

[Oiseaux]

Good for you, that sounds like a pretty charmed life

It's very beautiful round here, sort of North Suffolk but with more trees. I would highly recommend it for cycling with electrics or without.

Now Iv'e got the hang of it here are a couple more pics from today

and one from a bike ride a few weeks ago along a former railway track

I decided to search for electric bikes used by the French Post and discovered that they currently have 3500 and intend to add another 2500 by the end of 2012. Good huh !!

Oiseaux

 

[flecc]

Interesting that they are using the Panasonic units too. Their Gitane brand uses them on ordinary e-bikes, but I think Gitane must have specially designed this for their post office, roll-on stand like the German post bike included with the front carrier.
.

 

[lectureral]

We have lots of bicycling French postmen around here (Pays de Gex) but I have yet to see one on an electric bike.

 

[kitchenman]

Thats one happy postman!
Great photos. Nice workl
My wife loves anything French. Trying to pursuade her to get a pedelec. This may be the clincher.

 

[Oiseaux]

Thats one happy postman!
Great photos. Nice workl
My wife loves anything French. Trying to pursuade her to get a pedelec. This may be the clincher.

Thanks kitchenman, good luck with the 'persuading'

 

[banbury frank]

Gitane bikes

Hi

My first look at there bikes I thought just more Chines Bikes with a french name on them

HOW wrong I was Why cant we be like the french and only buy MADE IN UK

Site de production - Gitane


If they can make there bikes at The prices they charge so can we

I cold not find a UK retailer in the UK on there site

Frank

 

[HittheroadJ]

Great Postal Service.

I'm not sure about the name of some of the ebikes.

Is it a "No Car eBike" or a "no care bike".
Nocar e-Bike - Vélo de ville électrique et E bike - E Bike : Cycles Gitane

 

[dmcgoldrick]

thanks for sharing.....looks like cycling heaven....beautiful part of the world....did you already live/work in france before retiring ?
regards

 

[HittheroadJ]

This is still my favourite pedal assisted french mailman.

 

[z0mb13e]

Hi

My first look at there bikes I thought just more Chines Bikes with a french name on them

HOW wrong I was Why cant we be like the french and only buy MADE IN UK

Site de production - Gitane


If they can make there bikes at The prices they charge so can we

I cold not find a UK retailer in the UK on there site

Frank

That made me wonder what it would actually cost to have a frame design made in China vs the UK. Would the cost of shipping and import duty off-set the cost of higher wages in the UK?

 

[morphix]

That made me wonder what it would actually cost to have a frame design made in China vs the UK. Would the cost of shipping and import duty off-set the cost of higher wages in the UK?

Good question..

I suspect even with the all import costs it would still work out cheaper to import from China. The problem is not just the cost of the actual frame, it's the cost of designing it and all the operating and running costs of the business.

There are a few small frame makers in the UK who will make you a frame, either to your own design, or to their standard designs, but they cost a lot. I've seen some prices starting from around £700 and going into several thousand pounds for custom designs.

Obviously they're catering for a small customer base and need to earn a living so have to charge much higher than what you'd pay per frame on a big production run. The other thing too is that Chinese factories are much more geared up towards automated mass production and high volume so over there manufacturing costs are lower.

You might even have trouble getting a one-off frame made in China. I think often Chinese factories are not interested in doing one-off designs or custom made stuff if you ask them. They have high minimum order quantities and even higher minimum order production runs on manufacturing.

 

[flecc]

Within today's common retail prices range (£1400 to £2600) we could have a British designed and manufactured e-bike using the Panasonic unit and batteries.

The minor additions to make it a post bike would not cost much, front and rear robust carriers and a roll-on stand.

It would be tougher to compete with a hub motor model, given the choice of low cost models already available (£320 to £1000).
.