Who says manufacturing in Britain is dead?

[CycloTricity]

Hi my dear Pedelecs folks!

Rather that just paste a press release, the following is so close to our hearts that I had to write it in my own words to share with the community here.

Some of you have known this for quite a while now, and although it may not be a surprise them, it's time to let the cat out of the bag for the rest and share quite a pivotal piece of news for the industry which we've been working on for the last 18 months!

You're ready? Hear the drum rolls? Ok here goes:

After incredible hard work and investment, we've moved our manufacturing facilities from the Far East and have set up the first ever complete assembly line for electric bicycles in the UK (right here in Aldershot)! The entire CycloTricity bike range is now fully built in Britain. And the best thing is, in line with our ethos to keep e-biking affordable, we've absorbed the extra costs associated with this venture and managed to keep exactly the same competitive prices we've always been known for!

Whilst many of the components in the bikes continue to be selected and bought from suppliers around the world, we're now taking the step to manufacture some key components in-house with the help of small British engineering firms, taking our assembly process to a deeper level of manufacturing!

We're currently working on designing our own crank drive motor made from parts 100% engineered in Britain!
We're incredibly proud to have reached this milestone and it just goes to show how the e-bike market is maturing in the UK to allow for such a move. And we're ecstatic about the rapid quality improvements now that we are building the bikes under our watchful eye! Our bikes are almost unrecognizable at this stage and it's an absolute joy seeing them come together!

With a fully functional production line, there is no reason why companies shouldn't look for Britain to build their e-bikes here instead of rushing to the usual Germany!
Well, maybe I'm talking ahead of myself as our capacity is 10,000 bikes which is still that of a mini-factory, but we feel a small factory is a huge step in the industry for now which hopefully will bring more opportunities to manage bigger projects.

So there you have it folks, we finally have a bike range made in Britain!
If you are interested in reading more:

http://www.electricbikemag.co.uk/showStory.php?storynum=261
http://www.pedelecs.co.uk/news/cyclotricity-bring-e-bike-manufacturing-uk/
http://www.pedelecs.co.uk/news/interview-cyclotricity-uk-manufacturing-innovation-de-restriction/

 

[shemozzle999]

Are you also going to be the first Company going to fit the nameplate required by law?

 

[CycloTricity]

Hi Shemozzle, if you mean the type approval plates, then I believe some suppliers have already started doing this, so not sure about being the first. But if this law is passed in 2016, then I guess all of us will have to comply.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

That's brilliant. Well done. If only you were nearer to Telford, I'd love to see what you're doing. I wish you evety success.

Are you already assembling motors? If so, which ones? When do/did the first bikes roll off the production line.

 

[shemozzle999]

No, I mean the manufacturers plate which has been required by law since 1983 but now requires, as from 6th April 2015, to show the additional assisted maximum speed, without it it is illegal to ride the bicycle on the road.

See:

http://www.pedelecs.co.uk/electric-bike-guides/uk-electric-bike-law/

It could be easily achieved:

https://www.nameplates-labels.com/Aluminum-Foil-Nameplates.aspx

 

[trex]

congratulations Rami, I wonder for a long time which one of the vendors on this forum is going to start manufacturing.
It seems that painting is the most technically challenging step, are you going to do all the painting in house from now on?

 

[D8ve]

Well done Rami.
It's great to hear that we are making something in the UK.
I wish you a long and successful operation

D8ve

 

[D C]

This should be a hugely popular move with prospective customers and along with your superb after sales service should ensure your future continued success. I'm glad I helped in a (very) small way by purchasing one of your excellent and reliable kits a couple of years back.
Another well done from me.

Dave.

 

[jerrysimon]

Another thumbs up from me

Jerry

 

[flecc]

Yes, a well done from me too, truly enterprising and richly deserving of success.
.

 

[Kenny]

This is great news!

Wishing you every success with your UK assembling operation and future developments.

 

[Cyclezee]

Are you also going to be the first Company going to fit the nameplate required by law?

Uh nope, e.g. eZee motor label.

 

[shemozzle999]

That would be 36V I assume

 

[Cyclezee]

That would be 36V I assume

If V is for voltage, then the answer is yes.

 

[JohnCade]

Yes good luck with it. I’d like to be able to buy a good British made e bike. Particularly interested in your new CD bikes when you strart turning them out.

 

[Cyclezee]

On the other hand this is the motor labelling on a motor of high end German manufacturer.

 

[Jimod]

After incredible hard work and investment, we've moved our manufacturing facilities from the Far East and have set up the first ever complete assembly line for electric bicycles in the UK (right here in Aldershot)! The entire CycloTricity bike range is now fully built in Britain.



/

I wish you every success.

 

[CycloTricity]

Thank you all so much for your support and lovely wishes! We're delighted to have made it to this point, but we also feel it might be a beginning for new dynamics in the industry as a whole. For example, if everything goes to plan, we'd like to open up our facilities for other e-bike suppliers if they'd like to join in and build a portion of their range here in the UK. This way, we get to draw closer to our production targets, but more importantly, we get to make this venture almost like an open source project that other suppliers can make use of and help establish British built e-bikes out there on a slightly larger scale.

In the past, even if suppliers wanted to build their e-bikes in Britain, there was simply no one there to do it for them! Pashleys won't touch anything electric, and independent workshops would only do it on a high cost low volume basis. Well at least now, the option is here...

That's brilliant. Well done. If only you were nearer to Telford, I'd love to see what you're doing. I wish you evety success.

Are you already assembling motors? If so, which ones? When do/did the first bikes roll off the production line.

Thanks a lot D8veh! Please ping me when you're down south, would love to show you around
We're partly assembling motors. The windings and sensors are still imported (from MXUS, but it's not their standard windings, it's an OEM project we've worked with them on). The plates are partly machines here, and partly in the Far East, but everything is assembled by hand and tested here. Although there might be changes to this process soon to make it more cost effective.
Having said that, our anticipated crank drive will be entirely made here.

The first bikes were churned out around September last year believe it or not, but we never made the announcement as we wanted to continue perfecting the process first (I guess we're rubbish PR people...)

congratulations Rami, I wonder for a long time which one of the vendors on this forum is going to start manufacturing.
It seems that painting is the most technically challenging step, are you going to do all the painting in house from now on?

Absolutely right Trex! It takes quite a bit of metal blasting and pre-treatment before the frames are painted. The blasting is done here, but the painting isn't done in-house yet (it goes through a partner company of ours) as we haven't got the skill set to do it ourselves yet. But it's something we're looking to bring in house at a later stage once quantities sold starts justifying this.

This should be a hugely popular move with prospective customers and along with your superb after sales service should ensure your future continued success. I'm glad I helped in a (very) small way by purchasing one of your excellent and reliable kits a couple of years back.
Another well done from me.

Our good'old customer Dave! Thanks a lot for your support, you are well remembered here internally!

Rami

 

[cwah]

Can we buy parts at chinese price from you?

 

[jerrysimon]

Talk about having your cake and eating it

I love your posts cwah.

Jerry