What bike is best for learning the Knowledge of London (black cab) on?

[Ian-p-e-d-e-l-e-c]

thanks Ian. im going to drive down to hendon and ride from therre, this should save me around 250 a month, and get me fit!
i need a bike with QR front wheel so it fits in car, a rear hub and one with a strong motor/battery or two as the case maybe.
also a sml requirement of mine is to put a knowledge board onto the handle bars, surely this cant be a too hard a thing to achieve..
thanks for your replies
Lee

Ok, so I'm going to hold fire on a 100% recommendation, due to having only just got mine (and an issue with the battery, but I want to let the shop / and or oxygen have a chance to put it right), but the Oxygen CB fits all your requirements and as a bonus it's £400 off at the moment.

I can send you photos of the handlebars if that would help.

 

[Lee123]

Ok, so I'm going to hold fire on a 100% recommendation, due to having only just got mine (and an issue with the battery, but I want to let the shop / and or oxygen have a chance to put it right), but the Oxygen CB fits all your requirements and as a bonus it's £400 off at the moment.

I can send you photos of the handlebars if that would help.

just let me know the model and i can do a search on tinternet, cheers!

 

[Ian-p-e-d-e-l-e-c]

thanks Ian. im going to drive down to hendon and ride from therre, this should save me around 250 a month, and get me fit!
i need a bike with QR front wheel so it fits in car, a rear hub and one with a strong motor/battery or two as the case maybe.
also a sml requirement of mine is to put a knowledge board onto the handle bars, surely this cant be a too hard a thing to achieve..
thanks for your replies
Lee

Lee,

The previous couple of posts by our new m-e-m-b-e-r are confusing at best.

You need to try a couple of ebikes, all the legal ones are much of a muchness when it comes to grunt and the amount of effort required by a rider.

Once you've tried a couple, you will know if an ebike is likely to work for your application.

Love the Criticism RobF...still waiting fro you to put it better.

I've just got mine, I had very similar expectations to Lee, and can't find a single post of yours that explains it any better than mine. At least I'm posting with the benefit of recent in-experience .

Plus what you say here, "You need to try a couple of ebikes, all the legal ones are much of a muchness when it comes to grunt and the amount of effort required by a rider."

Is not what atmosphere, and e-bikes and several others have said, who sell bikes all day long.

Are you really saying a bike like this. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Brand-New-26-Lady-Electric-Bike-E-Bike-Genuine-Samsung-lithium-Battery-/191772365505?hash=item2ca68612c1:g:Q0EAAOSwGotWhqzB

Is going to have the same grunt and effort as a Oxygen CB? or a Stealth, or a Freego Eagle,

How stupid of my in my newness to think that the battery and the motor had a huge amount to do with it.

I bow to your superior knowledge, but have to ask. why pay a small fortune for a "Rose/Bosch 29er trekking bike" if as you say..."all the legal ones are much of a muchness when it comes to grunt " so battery, weight of frame, motor all have nothing to do with according to you. Seems you either ignored your own advice, or wasted several grand...

 

[Ian-p-e-d-e-l-e-c]

just let me know the model and i can do a search on tinternet, cheers!

This is what I got http://www.e-bikesdirect.co.uk/Item/Brands/Oxygen_Electric_Bikes/Oxygen_E_Mate_Electric_Bike.aspx

However, just got it, had issues with the battery, so would at present be unable to say this is it 100%, But. I did 6 months research after similar requirements - want to cycle more, but need help getting my fitness up. Hills are my enemy I can cycle on the flat fine.

 

[flecc]

Thats interesting and thanks for the post Ian. i was really on the understanding that you could adjust the assisstance levels, as they say they have 4-5 levels and if it was up to 100% i thought the bike would do all the work.
i thought i could get the bike to travel at 15mph for the entire journey of the battery i.e 50miles without any input from me, this is obviously not the case then, maybe i hd better have another think!!

Lee, in this respect it's important to remember the importance of the proper name of these e-bikes.

They aren't electric bikes, though often wrongly called that.

They are electric-assist bicycles. In other words, you do the cycling, the motor assists you.

Many of them are pedelecs, only delivering power while you are actually pedalling, and in fact that is what the law now requires, since independent throttles are on the way out now.

How much the motor assists you depends on two things, the capability of the motor and the power delivery level that you select. On the flat with no headwinds the majority when up to speed will carry you along with little or no effort, but when accelerating, going up hills or into any headwinds, you'll have to make a fair contribution.

The more you rely on the motor, the worse the range will be, and on almost all e-bikes, relying mostly on the motor will mean you won't get anywhere near to the 50 mile range you need.

Bearing in mind the wrong impression you had, it's now very important that you try a few to realise just what all this means in practice.
.

 

[Lee123]

Lee, in this respect it's important to remember the importance of the proper name of these e-bikes.

They aren't electric bikes, though often wrongly called that.

They are electric-assist bicycles. In other words, you do the cycling, the motor assists you.

Many of them are pedelecs, only delivering power while you are actually pedalling, and in fact that is what the law now requires, since independent throttles are on the way out now.

How much the motor assists you depends on two things, the capability of the motor and the power delivery level that you select. On the flat with no headwinds the majority when up to speed will carry you along with little or no effort, but when accelerating, going up hills or into any headwinds, you'll have to make a fair contribution.

Bearing in mind the wrong impression you had, it's now very important that you try a few to realise just what all this means in practice.
.

indeed it is flecc, and tomorrow i hope to be doing exactly that!
Cheers

 

[Ian-p-e-d-e-l-e-c]

Lee, in this respect it's important to remember the importance of the proper name of these e-bikes.

They aren't electric bikes, though often wrongly called that.

They are electric-assist bicycles. In other words, you do the cycling, the motor assists you.

Many of them are pedelecs, only delivering power while you are actually pedalling, and in fact that is what the law now requires, since independent throttles are on the way out now.

How much the motor assists you depends on two things, the capability of the motor and the power delivery level that you select. On the flat with no headwinds the majority when up to speed will carry you along with little or no effort, but when accelerating, going up hills or into any headwinds, you'll have to make a fair contribution.

The more you rely on the motor, the worse the range will be, and on almost all e-bikes, relying mostly on the motor will mean you won't get anywhere near to the 50 mile range you need.

Bearing in mind the wrong impression you had, it's now very important that you try a few to realise just what all this means in practice.
.

Well put Flecc.

Lee this was what I was trying to poorly put, but from the other side, when you're pedaling on the flat or a slight downhill, the motor doesn't assist if you're over 15.5 mph so you'd not use the range on the battery at that point, as the motor wouldn't be assisting you.

So as you get fitter, the range will go up and up.

 

[Lee123]

This is what I got http://www.e-bikesdirect.co.uk/Item/Brands/Oxygen_Electric_Bikes/Oxygen_E_Mate_Electric_Bike.aspx

However, just got it, had issues with the battery, so would at present be unable to say this is it 100%, But. I did 6 months research after similar requirements - want to cycle more, but need help getting my fitness up. Hills are my enemy I can cycle on the flat fine.

it does look a nice bike ian no denying that, but im still in the early days and just want the most powerful one now by the sounds of things which your one isnt far short of, i will bear it in mind and thanks for your posts
Lee

 

[Lee123]

Well put Flecc.

Lee this was what I was trying to poorly put, but from the other side, when you're pedaling on the flat or a slight downhill, the motor doesn't assist if you're over 15.5 mph so you'd not use the range on the battery at that point, as the motor wouldn't be assisting you.

So as you get fitter, the range will go up and up.

that is true ian, unless of course the batteries tire with age (like us all) but im sure that is over years where as ill hopefully get fitter with in months

 

[Ian-p-e-d-e-l-e-c]

it does look a nice bike ian no denying that, but im still in the early days and just want the most powerful one now by the sounds of things which your one isnt far short of, i will bear it in mind and thanks for your posts
Lee

I know what you mean, but you have to balance the battery with the motor.

It's fine getting something like the stealth that will power you up a hill at 15.5 mph, but only has a range of 1 mile after doing so.

 

[Lee123]

I know what you mean, but you have to balance the battery with the motor.

It's fine getting something like the stealth that will power you up a hill at 15.5 mph, but only has a range of 1 mile after doing so.

good point well presented, its like a minefield out there!

 

[RobF]

I bow to your superior knowledge, but have to ask. why pay a small fortune for a "Rose/Bosch 29er trekking bike" if as you say..."all the legal ones are much of a muchness when it comes to grunt " so battery, weight of frame, motor all have nothing to do with according to you. Seems you either ignored your own advice, or wasted several grand...

Battery, weight of frame, and motor have nothing to do with it in the sense they are all about the same on a legal ebike, so they cancel each other out.

The £300 ebike in your ebay link will have about the same amount of power as your new bike, the Freego you mention, and yes, even my Rose.

So why pay £2.5K for the Rose?

The short answer is thousands of trouble free miles over approaching four years.

The longer answer is I prefer the power delivery of the Bosch crank drive system which is more expensive than a hub motor, and I like quality bicycle components, which come at a cost on any bike, ebike or not.

As with all things, you get what you pay for.

The battery on your Oxygen has conked out before you've hardly had a chance to ride it.

I take no pleasure in that, it must be very disappointing, but it illustrates the types of niggly faults common on £1K Chinese ebikes.

But on t'other hand, you have £1,500 in the bank which I do not.

I prefer my situation, you may prefer yours.

The OP wants a workhorse, so would be well advised to buy the best quality bike he can afford.

 

[Lee123]

Battery, weight of frame, and motor have nothing to do with it in the sense they are all about the same on a legal ebike, so they cancel each other out.

The £300 ebike in your ebay link will have about the same amount of power as your new bike, the Freego you mention, and yes, even my Rose.

So why pay £2.5K for the Rose?

The short answer is thousands of trouble free miles over approaching four years.

The longer answer is I prefer the power delivery of the Bosch crank drive system which is more expensive than a hub motor, and I like quality bicycle components, which come at a cost on any bike, ebike or not.

As with all things, you get what you pay for.

The battery on your Oxygen has conked out before you've hardly had a chance to ride it.

I take no pleasure in that, it must be very disappointing, but it illustrates the types of niggly faults common on £1K Chinese ebikes.

But on t'other hand, you have £1,500 in the bank which I do not.

I prefer my situation, you may prefer yours.

The OP wants a workhorse, so would be well advised to buy the best quality bike he can afford.

Robf, the terminology 'Workhorse' is exactly what im after.
i currently drive a VW Golf, ive had her 8 years and put on 120,000 miles and shes not once let me down (yet).
what, if any, is the equivalent of this in the ebike world please?
Thanks

 

[trex]

if there were one, it would weigh as much as your car.
The truth is, bikes are no where as well built as cars.

 

[Lee123]

if there were one, it would weigh as much as your car.
The truth is, bikes are no where as well built as cars.

i just want something that doesnt go wrong, or at least reducing the chance as much as possible

 

[Lee123]

i dont mind spending 2-3k, i dont mind buying a spare battery, i just want something that works, doesnt go wrong very often and is sufficient for my requirements, how hard can it be?!... (Very it appears)

 

[flecc]

i currently drive a VW Golf, ive had her 8 years and put on 120,000 miles and shes not once let me down (yet).
what, if any, is the equivalent of this in the ebike world please?

I wish there was one Lee, but sadly there isn't.

Your Golf is like that due to well over a century of car design and manufacture in huge numbers.

E-bikes only started to be seriously designed 16 years ago and have been made in relatively tiny numbers. No-ones even decided where the motor should go yet, front hub, rear hub, bottom bracket or over a front or rear wheel.

Eight years ago the Kalkhoff Agattu seemd to be getting close, but they are currently suffering all sorts of problems with their Impulse 2 drive units. And as I've mentioned previously, the new Bosch motor unit has a chain and sprocket wear problem, ruling out many quality e-bikes from qualifying to be a two wheeled Golf.

Best bet now for reliability and low maintenance in my opinion would be a known quality make using either a newer model Suzhou Bafang hub motor like the BPM or the eZee hub motor, and using hydraulic disc brakes.

As for gears, for the two to three years doing the knowledge, a hub gear would need the least maintenance, but good derailleurs well set up can be ok.
.

 

[trex]

how hard can it be?!...

Very hard.
Firstly, e-bikes are exposed to the elements. Your car's motor and electronics are not rained on like your bike's motor and electronics. You don't pedal your car neither so the pedals don't need to be greased.
Secondly, many bikes that are in use daily are lacking of routine maintenance. Some people will never spend money on grease and never bother to clean their bike.

 

[Lee123]

I wish there was one Lee, but sadly there isn't.

Your Golf is like that due to well over a century of car design and manufacture in huge numbers.

E-bikes only started to be seriously designed 16 years ago and have been made in relatively tiny numbers. No-ones even decided where the motor should go yet, front hub, rear hub, bottom bracket or over a front or rear wheel.

Eight years ago the Kalkhoff Agattu seemd to be getting close, but they are currently suffering all sorts of problems with their Impulse 2 drive units. And as I've mentioned previously, the new Bosch motor unit has a chain and sprocket wear problem, ruling out many quality e-bikes from qualifying to be a two wheeled Golf.

Best bet now for reliability and low maintenance in my opinion would be a known quality make using either a newer model Suzhou Bafang hub motor like the BPM or the eZee hub motor, and using hydraulic disc brakes.

As for gears, for the two to three years doing the knowledge, a hub gear would need the least maintenance, but good derailleurs well set up can be ok.
.

Thanks Flecc. you are right, i guess in these early stages trial and error will always come into play.
from the small amount of research ive been doing ive come across the below bike a cpl of times and it seems to have everything i need, it even has a super battery which goes even further than the regular, may i ask your opinion please?

https://amps.bike/product/wisper-705-torque/

 

[Lee123]

Very hard.
Firstly, e-bikes are exposed to the elements. Your car's motor and electronics are not rained on like your bike's motor and electronics. You don't pedal your car neither so the pedals don't need to be greased.
Secondly, many bikes that are in use daily are lacking of routine maintenance. Some people will never spend money on grease and never bother to clean their bike.

as embaresing as it is to say trex, that sounds like me, maybe give it a birthday once a year but thatll be about it