Winter...

[Marc Draco]

…is a way away yet - but there's nothing like being prepared.

Since I'm new to e-biking is there anything to be concerned about? Water ingress rarely causes shorts these days since most things are well sealed but it can cause longer-term damage and corrosion.

Also what about tyres, lights and such.

Any thoughts on going for "winter" tyres? Are such things even available or desirable?

Lights are a major bugbear for me. I really want a set that I don't have to unclip ever time I stop for a bottle of milk. Any suggestions (pertaining to anti-theft systems, etc.)

 

[Nealh]

The only thing I do for winter riding is warmer clothes and Scwalbe spike tyres for my 700c Norco town/commute bike. My other bikes I ride with no changes.

Don't leave bikes out in the rain for too long, ok to ride in the rain but not to leave standing for hours on end without cover.

Water can still get in to Julet type connectors, I have suffered from throttle and pas short before.

My Norco has permanent wired lights via the KT controller, other wise for my longer rides I prefer usb charging lights or the Fly 6 camera/light combo.
Rear lights I also use a pair of £2 - £3 slim (75mm x 30mm) bright led usb charge lights which have a 12hr use time.

 

[LeighPing]

There's a great headlight discussion and recommendation here.

http://www.pedelecs.co.uk/forum/threads/the-new-best-headlight.25228/


Here it is in action.

Reflective clothing helps you to be seen.

 

[anon4]

Bright lights, spiked tyres, ski gloves and some sort of face coverage and I'm good to go

 

[Warwick]

Regarding lighting; please do your fellow riders a favour and don't get something for road use that is designed for off-road illumination. There is something very annoying about being dazzled by a thoughtless rider who blithely lights up his/her path at the expense of all coming the opposite direction.

If your bike isn't a front-hubbed drive model, consider a dynamo hub wheel. Not only is it a reliable source of power always on tap, but the lights need to be attached to the bike.

I used a pair of Schwalbe Ice Spikers the last two winters. They aren't cheap and don't work well in snow, but you can ride on a sheet of ice (& I did very often last winter) and not come off. Schwalbe do a line of studded tyres and you may find them on sale this time of year.

It's probably my age, but 25 years ago I used to ride a normal bike in Sweden in the winter down to -15C without feeling the cold too much. Last winter when it was 0 to -5C my hands were block of ice after my 45-minute ride home and the thaw out was very painful. I had better gloves and clothing last year, but I suspect it's the reduction in effort that did it. The bike simply took the effort out of the ride at the low speeds I was having to travel at.

 

[oyster]

I'll repeat that one of the best things I did was buy a pair of cheap (Aldi) neoprene wellies. Less than £20.

In the winter, they are much, much nicer than ordinary wellies, very flexibile, waterproof, good grip on sole.

 

[Fat Rat]

Regarding lighting; please do your fellow riders a favour and don't get something for road use that is designed for off-road illumination.

Agree completely but and this is a large but
find a suitable on road lamp that gives ample road illumination basically with a cut off resembling a car headlight
the only thing i can find that i would want so far is the Lupine sl
lovely flat cut off line and plenty of light off to the sides and where you need it on the road , it also has a DRL built in for day time use
problem is the price .

 

[anon4]

Agree completely but and this is a large but
find a suitable on road lamp that gives ample road illumination basically with a cut off resembling a car headlight
the only thing i can find that i would want so far is the Lupine sl
lovely flat cut off line and plenty of light off to the sides and where you need it on the road , it also has a DRL built in for day time use
problem is the price .

I know mine glare even though they aren't meant to. I just put them on dimmest and dip them down a little

 

[soundwave]

https://www.bikelightsuk.com/lights/front-bike-lights/?Page_ID=3610&refpid=58781&id=741812

 

[LeighPing]

If you're blinding oncoming traffic they'll let you know soon enough by flashing their headlights at you.

It's easy enough to push the light forward for a more dipped option.

 

[Fat Rat]

It's easy enough to push the light forward for a more dipped option.
]

The problem with what you suggest is that you end up staring at a lit road right in front of you
It’s ok ish in well lit towns but when you get out of the towns it doesn’t work at all for user visibility

 

[Marc Draco]

Wow guys - this is great! I've never had so much (good) information in such a short space of time.

If your bike isn't a front-hubbed drive model, consider a dynamo hub wheel. Not only is it a reliable source of power always on tap, but the lights need to be attached to the bike.

I'm rather attracted to this option - assuming the lights have short supply so they work when the machine is slow or stopped. I used to use a bottle dynamo (wow, we are largely "of an age here") many moons ago and while I always had light when I was on the move, once I'd stopped things went dark.

I wonder why (or even if) anyone has considered this option for re-charging the main battery while we're coasting or breaking - I think this is called regeneration? Obviously something for a different discussion which I'll start unless someone else already has. A modified front hub generator - rigged to engage when we're not peddling - would be idea for this.

 

[soundwave]

you would have to ride the bike 1000s of miles to charge it with a dynamo as there 12v.

you would need 36v at 4a to charge it in a few hours.

 

[Marc Draco]

I'm familiar with the electronics - it's not that we could use existing 12v tech, but we already have regenerative braking on cars. The laws of physics are fairly clear that we can't get back everything we put in - not even close - but that doesn't mean we can't get 36v out of an efficient FWD. (It's the energy we get back that counts, as it's easily possible to raise the voltage with corresponding loss in current. That's how stun guns work - sometimes with just a 1.5v battery, clever bloke that Tesla fellow.)

 

[soundwave]

a ebike is not a f1 car that can do 200+mph tho sure you can use super capacitors ect to bump up the voltage and amps but buy the time you have all that extra waight it just becomes pointless atm the tech is just not there atm.

all we need is 1g of antimatter

 

[Marc Draco]

Don't leave bikes out in the rain for too long, ok to ride in the rain but not to leave standing for hours on end without cover.

Good point - excellent point in fact. How do you prevent some little **** from stealing the cover or do you seek out somewhere indoors to park? This is my main fear of having an ebike (bit late now I've bought one) - some little **** deciding it was better in his hands than mine!

Water can still get in to Julet type connectors, I have suffered from throttle and pas short before.

Ugh... what's the deal with heavy rain in this case? Does WD40 or similar help?

 

[soundwave]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-45096400

 

[LeighPing]

The problem with what you suggest is that you end up staring at a lit road right in front of you
It’s ok ish in well lit towns but when you get out of the towns it doesn’t work at all for user visibility

The new best headlight's just on a rubber band that pulls back and forth as required. Although, I've never had any issues with it's illumination. Or oncoming traffic for that matter.

 

[Marc Draco]

Damn... that's … damn!

Find out what sort of bike lock he had - and don't buy that one.

I guess removing the battery is always an option for some of us - the price of replacement is (in my case) almost half the cost of the bike!

No wonder insurance is so crazy.

 

[soundwave]

Damn... that's … damn!

Find out what sort of bike lock he had - and don't buy that one.

I guess removing the battery is always an option for some of us - the price of replacement is (in my case) almost half the cost of the bike!

No wonder insurance is so crazy.