I think the reputation has already been tarnished too much by idiots.
Its an already proven concept in Europe, it works well, but I guess chavs just can't control themselves over here.
E-Scooter discussion after fatal collision
- Thread starter ianh
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Its an already proven concept in Europe, it works well, but I guess chavs just can't control themselves over here.
Man of Honour
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I've had converted eBikes for around 9 years and even with 250 watt motors etc they are not road legal unless they go for a test which will cost money.
There is a good discussion on Pedelecs about it.
It is accepted that the law won't do anything unless you are observed doing 30 mph on the throttle.
wow 20kg that's not even a lot... how much do you weigh? I'm like 85kg my bike ways 7kg something.
not a new bike either was 1k about 5-6 years ago so not exactly expensive either but expensive enough that I wouldn't take stupid risks on the road to wreck it.
the vast majority of cyclists are law abiding citizens like the vast majority of pedestrians and the vast majority of motorists....
does any bike even weigh 20kg? oh the ebike with 20kg of batteries? even a cheap halfords bike is probably less than 15kg unless you purposely look only at mountain bikes with big heavy tyres
cheapest mountain bike with v brakes on halfords is less than 16kg at £190
what's next all cyclists run red lights? all motorists are drunk driving murders too busy looking at tiktoks on their phone in that case
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Caporegime
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I've used the rental ones round here a few times - They are operated by 'Spin' and are legal during the trial.
They are geo-locked from places like the town centre and really fast/busy roads.
First time it was limited to 9mph, second time it gives you the full 15.5Mph.
I found them quite convenient for getting across town quickly. They don't have any suspension so the ride isn't amazing.
I'd prefer to get my own Apollo Phantom, but am not going to splash out until they are legal.
They are geo-locked from places like the town centre and really fast/busy roads.
First time it was limited to 9mph, second time it gives you the full 15.5Mph.
I found them quite convenient for getting across town quickly. They don't have any suspension so the ride isn't amazing.
I'd prefer to get my own Apollo Phantom, but am not going to splash out until they are legal.
I dunno, I've seen some pretty attractive corpses.
The suspension is sort of a problem with the UK roads rather than the scooters.
Anyone who has Berlin will be able to tell you have absolutely godlike the scooters and electric bikes are there in terms of convenience, affordability and accessibility. The roads are amazingly smooth. They also have the infrastructure layout to cater for cyclists and scooter riders, which is great. We’ll never have that here, but I do think that scooters can still serve a purpose.
they mostly have better infrastructure for cycles and scooters.
also they have those mopeds you can literally pedal, in switzerland I think they're legal from 14 or so
theyre cheap as hell too, why would you even want a scooter or ebike
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An ebike battery and motor is around 5-6kg specially the cheaper end of the spectrum, high end "light" ebike batteries and motors might be closer to 4kg combined. My emtb which is a full suspension 180mm travel trail/enduro bike with 2.8" tyres is 25.2kg a top end expensive ebike is around 17kg and costs well over 10k.
You can get them here, too. I own one (mine is a Puch Maxi, not a Mobylette). It doesn't solve any of the problems that scooters or ebikes do: you still need a licence, insurance, MOT
yea so the weight added to an ebike is almost nothing and doesn't reduce the stopping power.
the variation between a riders weight will be way more.
also you can go faster with pure pedal power and vbrakes are still considered to have enough stopping power.
https://ukcyclerules.wordpress.com/2011/05/04/the-rules-of-bike-brakes/
yes in this country he was talking about continental Europe though where you can ride one from 14 in most countries.
here it's 16 and you need to do a CBT etc anyway which makes them pointless as a competitor to ebikes/escooters.
but in continental europe why would you want a scooter or ebike that's a hell of a lot less fun than a mobylette and likely a lot more expensive
anyway his point was in continental europe, escooters are amazing and I pointed out that's because they already mostly have good infrastructure for cyclists anyway and we don't.
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The bikes weight is a constant, its a 25kg metal object hurtling towards you at up to 25mph, I'd struggle to get above that speed even going down hill as the rolling resistance of the fat sticky tyres is so high. Now my road bike on the other hand is under 10kg and can easily go well over 35mph down a hill and sustain 20mph+ on the flat. If I were going to be hit by either I know which one I'd prefer it to be.
15kg might not sound like much but the kinetic energy involved when travelling at speed is A LOT. Around 30% more kinetic energy for a 25kg object at 25mph over a 10kg object a 35mph.
15kg might not sound like much but the kinetic energy involved when travelling at speed is A LOT. Around 30% more kinetic energy for a 25kg object at 25mph over a 10kg object a 35mph.
it's irrelevant though when someone could weigh 60kg and another 90kg with neither of them being overweight
I'm 86kg+like 9kg for my cyclocross bike with mudguards, garmin, bottles, toolbag etc.
fastest I've been downhill was 37mph and tbh it was pretty scary
your not getting hit by 10kg or 25kg your getting the bike by the riders weight too
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Dunno about you but when I hit things on my mtb, the bike stops. I don't. The bike is going to do far more damage than the person will.
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Was riding along the canal towpath earlier, just passing Emma Bridgewater, and some absolute lunatic came belting along on an homebrew eBike at one hell of a rate of knots. He was easily doing way above 20mph, not peddling either and just on the throttle. Seriously thought about helping him get a wash in the Caldon, but by the time I'd thought about it he had whooshed past and very nearly took a woman and pushchair out under the Lichfield St. bridge.
Cool your jets, why are you taking offence to my post? At no point was my most anti cyclist or anti scooter. I never once said cyclists or scooter riders are the scourge of the universe, if you look at my posts in this thread they are almost exclusively pro scooter/cyclist because they make sense and everyone should have access and use them.
The post I was responding to said their bike can stop from a fast speed on a dime and there is not way a scooter could do that but that’s just not representative.
The point I was making was that the vast majority of bikes on the roads are cheap bikes with **** poorly maintained brakes ridden by ‘inexperienced’ riders or people who don’t ride for fun e.g. it’s Doris going to the shops.
I’m sorry, but a £1k bike from 5-6 years ago IS the definition of an expensive bike, sure it’s not the highest of high end, but it’s still well into high end territory.
Where you are right is that it’s a few idiots that ruin it for everyone, that goes for pedestrians, scooters, bikes, motorcycles, cars, lorries, buses and any other form of transport that I may not have mentioned.
Saw a guy in the park at lunchtime with an electric unicycle, looked pretty cool. While I think they're still perhaps a bit dodgy on roads, ditto to e-scooters, they should perhaps allow them in parks... don't see the issue there as they're probably no more danger to pedestrians than cyclists who also use footpaths in parks and at least there are no cars to worry about. Allowing them in parks etc.. whether that is local parks or indeed any paved footpaths/bridleways/disused railways etc... wouldn't be too bad and would allow more people to enjoy them than just people with big driveways or private farms with private roads etc..