The tale of woe is the loss of my Vespa bought to commute to the station and get round the £7.50 parking charge. I had it 6 years, in pristine condition without a scratch and always rode particularly carefully since I always felt vulnerable on it; I was the one sitting patiently behind cars at a roundabout rather than weaving in and out. Daredevil or what! Anyway, six weeks ago riding down the gentle hill at 30 mph on the street where I live, it came out from under me on greasy road. No warning, no strange maneuvering or braking, just total shock and bewilderment at hitting that hard, abrasive road and then an interminable number of rolls; I still don't know what happened. Fortunately, I only received cuts and bruises but to every extremity to the body; elbows, knees, hips and ankles but no bones broken and still managed to go jogging the next day. I feel so lucky to have escaped relatively unscathed, but Vespa is a right-off and wife has banned a replacement.
The tale of joy, I had tried my wife’s cousin’s e-bike in Campbeltown last year and thought it very interesting. So I visited Claud in the Electric Transport Shop (ETS) in London who let me try various bikes such as Whisper, Kalkoff and Storck Raddar. Well I was blown away with the Storck and, after getting wifey’s blessing, which took a fair bit of persuading, I took delivery of it just over 5 weeks ago. Everything was sunshine and roses until last week’s showers, or downpours if you prefer. Something didn’t feel right and I had intermittent loss of assist, boy its hard going in the rain and wind! This persisted for a couple of days whilst it rained harder, then I lost assist completely for 3 days. Fortunately, e-mails and phone discussions with Ian Hughes of Storck UK culminated in him sending new switch/controller and battery to Claude at ETS. It turned out to be the switch/controller and what a happy boy I am? It seems to be better than it ever was originally. I just wish that I had discovered the pleasure of e-bikes years’ ago.
Now my route to the station is through the park and a meander through back streets, now the only thing I’m worried about is leaving it at the station. I have invested in 3 good locks and a tracker so hopefully I’ll be alright. But what a joy to whizz around without encumberment? The sense of freedom and release is exhilarating and, although I’m 59, I feel like I am 12 again. The Vespa was a means to an end, it never once left the town where I live. The Storck will travel many miles beyond this.
Before buying the bike I had a good look at the forum and this led to the choice of the Storck. I couldn’t see a bad report and noted that Ian Hughes was an active member and cared deeply about his brand. So I would like to end this with a great big thank you to both Ian and Claud, their responsiveness in resolving the problem was excellent. As a chartered engineer, I recognize that component failures can occur and it’s the quality of aftercare service that counts; I am very well satisfied with the service I received from both companies. So now I’m looking forward to my 13th birthday to see what accessories I might get as presents.
The tale of joy, I had tried my wife’s cousin’s e-bike in Campbeltown last year and thought it very interesting. So I visited Claud in the Electric Transport Shop (ETS) in London who let me try various bikes such as Whisper, Kalkoff and Storck Raddar. Well I was blown away with the Storck and, after getting wifey’s blessing, which took a fair bit of persuading, I took delivery of it just over 5 weeks ago. Everything was sunshine and roses until last week’s showers, or downpours if you prefer. Something didn’t feel right and I had intermittent loss of assist, boy its hard going in the rain and wind! This persisted for a couple of days whilst it rained harder, then I lost assist completely for 3 days. Fortunately, e-mails and phone discussions with Ian Hughes of Storck UK culminated in him sending new switch/controller and battery to Claude at ETS. It turned out to be the switch/controller and what a happy boy I am? It seems to be better than it ever was originally. I just wish that I had discovered the pleasure of e-bikes years’ ago.
Now my route to the station is through the park and a meander through back streets, now the only thing I’m worried about is leaving it at the station. I have invested in 3 good locks and a tracker so hopefully I’ll be alright. But what a joy to whizz around without encumberment? The sense of freedom and release is exhilarating and, although I’m 59, I feel like I am 12 again. The Vespa was a means to an end, it never once left the town where I live. The Storck will travel many miles beyond this.
Before buying the bike I had a good look at the forum and this led to the choice of the Storck. I couldn’t see a bad report and noted that Ian Hughes was an active member and cared deeply about his brand. So I would like to end this with a great big thank you to both Ian and Claud, their responsiveness in resolving the problem was excellent. As a chartered engineer, I recognize that component failures can occur and it’s the quality of aftercare service that counts; I am very well satisfied with the service I received from both companies. So now I’m looking forward to my 13th birthday to see what accessories I might get as presents.
