Pedelecs beat seasoned riders in Stuttgart hill-climb

A little late in reporting this.....

 

Green Light for Bike Doping - ExtraEnergy.org

 

 

and some photos.

That article said a Hercules bicycle came in first. I wasn't familiar with that brand so I looked for some information on it. I found this. Even without a motor, that's some hill climber.

Nice one prState.

 

On Sunday I was giving my all with the bike at full power on a long hill where I normally catch the Lycra mob when I was was overtaken by a very casual looking guy on a cheap mtb who looked like he wasn't even trying!

"I found this [http://www.jimlangley.net/brake/hercules.html]."

 

A near vertical ascent, yet every gear a single speed, neither a hub nor derailleur in sight!

De Ja Vue

With no UK production for the home market, those were the bikes from pre World War 2 that I first worked on in the trade as a youngster in 1950, we were Hercules agents. Note the third bike with it's rod brakes with blocks pulling up on a V rim, the majority of bikes were like that. All had steel rims and couldn't stop in the wet, but they were well built and lasted for many decades.

 

At the time of that advert, Britain was in China's position today, supplying the whole world with bikes, Raleigh, BSA/Sunbeam and Hercules the chief makes.

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here in Vienna there are still running old

"Waffenräder" froom WW2 before, during and after WW2

produced by PUCH

 

they are something like cult, cheep to get, single speed

here a newer one, from 1958

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2e/Waffenrad1958.jpg/775px-Waffenrad1958.jpg

i thought the guy that came third did very well as he was dressed in tweed jacket also shirt and tye the bike was a currie come swizbee which no one ever mentions as a hill climber

i thought the guy that came third did very well as he was dressed in tweed jacket also shirt and tye the bike was a currie come swizbee which no one ever mentions as a hill climber

 

The real hill climb problem with the Swizzbee is when setting off up a hill, since it has to pedalled off the mark before the power kicks in. Once rolling they are moderate climbers, and would be better if they weren't so biased for speed. The Currie version may be geared lower, so could be a bit better on hills.

 

Although common in early e-bikes, it surprises me that manufacturers continue to make bikes that have to be pedalled away before there's any power. That makes them initially worse than an unpowered bike which weighs a lot less, and it's completely unnecessary. It's a bit like a car manufacturer launching a new model with a starting handle instead of an electric starter, making you sweat before commencing a journey.

 

And at £2500 for the Swizzbee it's totally unacceptable in my view.

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I thought the zero start-off speed was a precaution against kangaroo starts at the lights etc. I find with the Sparc Sram system on a 20 inch folder the motor kicks in at around 2mph.

 

The solution to any problem this causes is, when stopped, to turn the gear lever to lowest gear (number 1 on the Sram P5), particularly for starting on a hill. I usually have just enough energy, using that gear, to get the speed up in excess of 2mph with a few turns of the pedals and the motor than gives me as much power as I produce myself until the road speed reaches 15mph, when the motor cuts out and I take over on my own.

I'm still opposed to the continuation of this on the very few that still have it, mainly dated designs now.

 

On leaving the local Sainsbury's with the weight of my bike, myself and a load of shopping, I have to set off up a quite steep slope which is one way, so no other option. That alone makes the zero power start unacceptable, and there are also the situations where one wants to walk alongside up a steep slope with the bike powering itself up. I have such a situation to get the bike up to my front door, and for many this is an option when a hill is too steep for them to cope while riding.

 

Since one of the major reasons for buying an e-bike is help on hills, they should be designed to cope with all aspects of hilly areas. Those bikes that need pedalling off the mark fall short of what is needed, making them only suitable for those not facing the difficulties I've mentioned, mainly those in predominantly flat areas.

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This has never been a concern for me so I just went out to check when the motor kicks in on my bike. If I give half a turn of the crank the system has enough speed for the motor to engage when the throttle is used. In pedelec mode there seem to be a time delay of about 2 seconds before the motor engages. When I push the bike (standing beside it) the throttle engages after my first step.

 

Getting back to the results from this hill climb, has anyone seen any pictures or info on the bike that won. They say she was riding a Hercules with a Bionx drive. It would be interesting to see if it was one of the older Hercules bikes with the Bionx installed. I am sure it would be a 350 watt drive to win the hill climb.

On some cheaper bikes the need to pedal initially is merely penny pinching on the cost of the motor, a brushless motor that won't self start only needs 3 hall effect sensors, however an additional 3 are required to sense the static position of the rotor to enable the controller to start the motor from a standstill. The saving from omitting those sensors is small but when combined with other penny pinching measures does keep costs down.