The Cycle Show

[BazP]

It was over in the top corner near the stage area. They said that the motor and battery were Chinese but isn't everything.

 

[wildrover1888]

I went today. As always, there was old stuff and new stuff. Electric bikes are now starting to appear on lots of stands instead of just in the general electric bike area.
I'll post some photos tomorrow, but some things to look out for that I found interesting were:

1. Double chainwheel on one of the new Bosch motors (Corratec bike)
2. Try the Bosch ABS system. It works really well, though the moment I stepped over the bike, I could feel the heavier steering, like weight on the handlebars. See what you think.
3. Revos friction drive kit with small lithium battery for about £500. It uses a bottom gear teeth proximity sensor as a pedal sensor. Nothing at all on the handlebars. Switch it on and off while you're riding by back-pedalling, which the proximity sensor detects. Total kit weight including battery is about 3kg, which means a 12kg electric bike would be easy.
4. Electric Ice Trikes with Shimano crank motors - looked very neat.
5. Panther carbon framed folding bike.
6. Semi-hard paniers on the Juicy stand
7. Very interesting white Chines bikes from Elite Energy Co Ltd with battery in the crossbar and motor in the down-tube. The frame was no thicker than a normal bike.
8. New Ebco bikes A300 Adventure £1495 with the new tiny Bafang cassette motor. Nice styling - maybe my next bike. U300 general utility bikes (commuter) also with the same motor that seemed a bit wasted on a bike like that. Nice bikes though at only £1395.
9. Loads of bikes with the new Bosch performance motors. Take your pick.

One other thing that for me was very noticeable, especially after our recent discussion about brakes. Rim brakes are now old school. You'll have to look very hard to find any bikes at all in the show that don't have disc brakes. Discs are on nearly all the road bikes now.

love the look of the A300 and its tempting me to hold off on my USR-55 order ......is there anymore specs on it to see how it compares to the USR-55. It looks amazing but wonder what is beneath the looks.

 

[vfr400]

 

[wildrover1888]

cheers much appreciated

 

[vfr400]

I can't see anything to worry about on those bikes. Everything is standard and well-tested apart from the motor, which is new. It's nice to see thin spokes on a bike like that. More and more are getting the message and changing over from the ridiculous 12g and 13g spokes.

Photos are high res, so you can zoom in to see more detail.