You got a moped!

cwah

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jun 3, 2011
3,048
179
www.whatonlondon.co.uk
Hello all,

I realise that lots of people are asking me if it's a moped... and some are telling me it looks more like a moped than a bike:



Even without the top box they say it's a moped :(



How can I make it look more like a bicycle? Is it just because of the top box? Is it because of the big tyre? Or the 200mm disc? Maybe the big black bag on the font?

I'm annoyed to see people telling me it's a moped when it's clearly a bicycle!
 

soundwave

Esteemed Pedelecer
May 23, 2015
16,998
6,536
How can I make it look more like a bicycle?

buy 1 that's not **** in the first place be good idea ;)
 

jonathan75

Esteemed Pedelecer
Apr 24, 2013
794
213
Hertfordshire
I think the light plays a role, and the small wheels, and bits and bobs which bulk out the silhouette. I think all of these Banggood lights look motorbike-ish.

I don't think it looks moped-like, but it does look highly modified!

How many Wh have you got on it? Looks like a thousand plus. Very practical. Handy that you're in the city too,it won't be as chilly over the winter to ride.
 

cwah

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jun 3, 2011
3,048
179
www.whatonlondon.co.uk
I keep hearing people saying it's a moped... I need to ask them why they think that later...

It's a 2000wh bag ahah. That is what I call decent amount of energy :)
 
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Alan Quay

Esteemed Pedelecer
Dec 4, 2012
2,351
1,076
Devon
I keep hearing people saying it's a moped... I need to ask them why they think that later...

It's a 2000wh bag ahah. That is what I call decent amount of energy :)
For me, the top box is the most mopedy thing.
 

oldtom

Esteemed Pedelecer
I'm annoyed to see people telling me it's a moped when it's clearly a bicycle!
Is it clearly a bicycle? To me, it looks like something that may have once met that criteria but is now so modified that it probably doesn't meet the criteria for an EAPC, (treated as a bicycle), so how do you suggest it should be referred to in the nomenclature of two-wheeled, road-going machines?

Tom
 
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selrahc1992

Esteemed Pedelecer
Dec 10, 2014
559
218
Hello all,

I realise that lots of people are asking me if it's a moped... and some are telling me it looks more like a moped than a bike:



Even without the top box they say it's a moped :(



How can I make it look more like a bicycle? Is it just because of the top box? Is it because of the big tyre? Or the 200mm disc? Maybe the big black bag on the font?

I'm annoyed to see people telling me it's a moped when it's clearly a bicycle!
how to make it more stealth, as a completely left field suggestion, could the big battery be repackaged as a pannier that would look like ordinary baggage? I would put the smallest disc I could find on and ditch the top box. It's not that I'd give a s%%% about what people think, but more that cycling is more enjoyable, to me, when I go unnoticed and can get lost in some relaxing karma.
 

eHomer

Esteemed Pedelecer
Aug 20, 2012
635
164
Coincidentally, I had a moped that looked like a bike...... :)

(Especially from the left hand side).

It was a Dutch "Spartamet", very popular over there.

In the UK though, it needed an annual MOT (£30), road tax (£17), and insurance (£80).

We're so lucky that electric bikes were invented and have now progressed so well.

Unless the UK government ever decides to burden them with inappropriate legislation and costs too.... :(

spartamet left.jpg spartamet right.jpg
 
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Nealh

Esteemed Pedelecer
Aug 7, 2014
20,982
8,565
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West Sx RH
What has any of this nonsense got to do with the OP's question?

First you are abusive, then you post an irrelevant video.

It may be a good idea to stay out of threads to which you can make no positive input.
Sadly Soundwave has dongle on the brain and needs to seek help, as every time he posts it appears to involve or infer reference to them. Very tedious.
 

Wander

Esteemed Pedelecer
Aug 8, 2013
586
429
I'm annoyed to see people telling me it's a moped when it's clearly a bicycle!
cwah don't get annoyed, to be fair to them lots of mopeds, particularly earlier ones, were converted bicycles.

Please, please carry on as you are. There's many of us on here that really enjoy reading about your adventures in the e-bike world.
 

Nealh

Esteemed Pedelecer
Aug 7, 2014
20,982
8,565
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West Sx RH
It looks like a bike to me but highly modified as already mentioned, I can see why comments are made as most of the bike is obscured and the top box does not help. Also smaller wheels are associated with mopeds a normal large wheeled bike would be more recognisable with its large open frame.
 
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tommie

Esteemed Pedelecer
Mar 13, 2013
1,760
600
Co. Down, N. Ireland, U.K.
A couple of things at first glance, the rear wheel hub looks motorbike-ish, the battery bag says `tank`, also where there`s no rear derailleurs it begins to loose that standard bike look.
Having said that i wouldn`t get too hung up on what people think!
 

flecc

Member
Oct 25, 2006
53,262
30,649
It's a true moped, as they were in the beginning. Hence Mo-ped, meaning motor and pedals. The fully motorised things that are called mopeds these days thanks to DfT silliness are nothing of the sort, they are Motorised Scooters, normally abbreviated to just Scooter.

But as others have said cwah, don't worry about others expressing their ignorance, it's yours, you know what it is and that's all that matters.
.
 

eHomer

Esteemed Pedelecer
Aug 20, 2012
635
164
How can I make it look more like a bicycle? Is it just because of the top box? Is it because of the big tyre? Or the 200mm disc? Maybe the big black bag on the font?
Yep, I agree with many of the ideas so far, the top box, the bulky battery pack, and the exposed large hub motor are what makes it look less like a bike.

I think you'd need to lose the top box and lower the panniers so that they hide the large hub, and fit the batteries in them.

The weight distribution wouldn't be as good as you have it now, but it would look a lot less "motorised"... :)

cwahs stealth moped.jpg
 

KirstinS

Esteemed Pedelecer
Apr 5, 2011
3,224
899
Brighton
I would not worry what people say. Long as you got your ebike grin !

My tuppence though is that Nealh is bang on here- so much of the bike is obscured (by various modifications)
 
D

Deleted member 4366

Guest
It's not what people say is important. I'm a little worried that from behind with the topbox, it looks like a scooter without a number plate, especially when it out-drags all the other bikes away from the lights. I hope you pedal all the time, Cwah.
 
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