Pedelec Riders Club of Britain

[ghost]

I like the idea but for my needs the membership of a forum serves the same purpose as being a member of a club and its free. The only benefit of a club over say this forum is that it perhaps sounds more official to say you are a members club rather than a forum group when say attending events.
That said I believe this view is quickly changing.
Referring to Subaru Impreza cars (similar in a way - niche, minority group) its the forums that seem to have more or equal gravitas than the clubs now. Cars in general have pistonheads (which I am not a member of but do recognise their huge influence and following), and specifically Subaru have scoobynet, 22b, SIDC, etc all of which serve the needs of members equally if not better than any owners clubs do.
The forums do such a good job of informing, socialising, supporting ownership, and promoting their specific area of interest I cant see how a club differs.
I admire your spirit though as I too wish to see assisted cycling promoted in any way possible.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

Clubs normally involve money, which causes a lot of problems.

 

[Wisper Bikes]

Has anything happened re the club?

We would be most interested in helping out.

All the best

David

 

[HelenJ]

Some thoughts..

One simple way to get this started would be to use this forum to register people’s interest by region, probably starting fairly broadly (south east, south west, north west etc.).

If we set up sub forums for each of those areas then people can register their interest (so long as they’re on 'where do you live' we can see where they’re based) so we can see how viable the numbers are for each area. We could then ask for nominations for an organizer for each area (thanks for the ‘hands up’ David!) ?

We intend to get some Pedelecs t-shirts done soonish anyway so we could print those up with whatever members vote for (just Pedelecs, or Pedelecs Riders’ Club or whatever) and sell those on at cost if anyone’s interested as an extra..

 

[pdarnett]

Dave's right it always gets messy when money gets involved. I'm chairman of the NADJ for the UK and always the main talking point is how we spend the members monies! Plus all the rules and regs of being a bona fide association.

Better off being a club/collective first and seeing how interest it raises and see who offers up their time/help

 

[Wisper Bikes]

Hi Helen, Yep put me down for this region, I would be pleased to help.

All the best

David

 

[tigerbay]

So did anything happen with this club idea?

 

[Dom T]

Just joined and would be interested in club joining. Anything happening ?
So long as mountain ebikes are allowed It would be nice to have the opportunity to meet up with others.
Work commitments would be my only sticking point (nurse doing night shifts only). Fairly certain Hubby would be up for it too (he's also a nurse).
Dom

 

[LeighPing]

Judging by the date stamps on these posts, it doesn't seem to have got off to a good start. However, this could well be the year for it to happen. I'm seeing ebikes everywhere.

Some here do attend events with their e-MTB's. They usually post about them in the MTB section of the forum.

 

[Altop1]

Hi yeah it would be good to have a club of some sort .I would be interested as we could share routes etc would be nice to keep it a friendly not to competitive. This morning im going to explore a canal path ride for example would maybe nice to have company without turning it into a race.

 

[Nealh]

A national club needs running by committee's /member's and thus becomes an organisation and involves fees/payments and running costs. As time goes by fractions decide they need a more localised affiliation and internal politics get in the way.
No reason if peeps want to share routes by posting them under the heading of this sub forum on here to post and share files/routes etc. A simple thread name ' Shared routes ' should suffice to find it easily.

 

[Gringo]

I joined "letsride" back when it was "sykride". It was dead for a long time but 4 of us got together and caled ourselves " Northampton social cyclists" we now have 150+ members (probably only 40 actively get out and ride)
It's not a electric bike club but it is social and there's never been any animosity towards myself or assisted bikes in general and there's atleast one other member with assistance
Someone puts a ride on atleast once or twice a week, I posted a Saturday ride at short notice last week and had two sign up, tomorrow I'll be joining a 33mile ride along a disused railway with 8 others, I'll probably be the only assisted bike there but no one will mind especialy when we go through the tunnels and I turn my floodlight on

 

[TheGnarlyCenturion]

A club sounds like a good idea - it can then be used to lobby for ebike rights and support. Perhaps even a collaborative project with Sustrans? E.g. A promotional video - and then when the public see ebikes in use on normal trials, they can come here, to the 'official home' of ebikes in the UK and get decent advice. Rather than going to a shop and being force fed a POS, or a very highly priced bicycle.

 

[chris_comber]

I think it's a good idea. We can then use this to lobby the government for more charge points etc.

Would there be any interest in establishing a Pedelec Riders Club of Britain?

I write this not long after returning from the Peak District and lengthy discussions with my father-in-law and brother-in-law, both keen cyclists, the latter a keen club cyclist and committee member for many years with the Macclesfield Wheelers.

So what are the benefits? A Pedelec Riders Club can increase interest in electric bicycles. It can bring riders together and provide an alternative to traditional cycling clubs who often frown at ecyclists. Therefore personally I feel there is a need for a national club with regional and eventually more local sections. There could be a whole social side just waiting to be tapped of local or regional meets and rides. A group of electric cyclists pulling up at a cafe or pub before, after or during a ride is bound to get interest and whet the appetite of some people.

Currently riders may live a distance apart, which again makes a club with regional sections (and this forum) even more important, especially in organising transport for possible regional leisure rides and social gatherings.

If an official club with organised leisure rides was to be established it would require public liability insurance. In the first instance this could be sourced via affiliation to the Cyclists Touring Club or British Cycling, however if the club was successful it could eventually source its own insurance cover.

However, initially what could be organised are small rides and gatherings, maybe via a ‘Where You Are Riding’ section in the ‘Pedelecs Forums’ on this website. Riders could post where they are riding, meet up points, times etc, which might encourage other ecyclists to join them.

Any thoughts?

 

[KwikFold]

This is an excellent idea,

Do we have any members who are interested and reside in Birmingham?

 

[KwikFold]

A club sounds like a good idea - it can then be used to lobby for ebike rights and support. Perhaps even a collaborative project with Sustrans? E.g. A promotional video - and then when the public see ebikes in use on normal trials, they can come here, to the 'official home' of ebikes in the UK and get decent advice. Rather than going to a shop and being force fed a POS, or a very highly priced bicycle.

I've tried to approach this organisation about such an event in the past.