Electric bikes

I don't think I have ever ridden 45kmh in London, outside of a velodrome, race track or Regents Park chain gang.

I have in loads of places. For example when getting green lights going doing Archway Road from Highgate tube. Yet to get flashed by the speed camera, not sure I've got a big enough radar reflection or if I need to be going faster.

Going downhills I have done the same.

I’m not sure that holds up though. It is designed by a company with a track record for building useable bikes.

I don't see why a 45km/h bike shouldn't be allowed to use a cycle lane, that's not any faster than a lot of people ride anyway. Yes the brakes need to be maintained well (I heard in the UK it is mandatory for L1e-B vehicle to have a MOT lol) and I agree that riders should have some kind of mandatory training.

I think key matter when it comes to safety is your speed vis-a-vis that of other traffic. At 45kmh, your speed is much closer to that of motorised traffic rather than other pedal users (which potentially include children in cycle lanes).

Whilst it may take a fair bit of effort currently to get up to 45kmh on an ebike, if thats where you set the regulatory ceiling, youll find that manufacturers aim for that in due course (tech is moving fast in this sector)

I know I am looking at this through a fairly narrow London lens, but most of the time traffic isn't moving at 30mph either.

I guess I have mixed feelings about cycle lanes from a personal level but see them as important for those people who are less confident (eg children) and less able (eg parents with two children in child seats).

Majority of people on this forum are fit and able but my view is that I want cycle infrastructure aimed more at people who cycle rather than cyclists. This way I'm more likely to have friends who don't cycle come out with me on two wheeled adventures.

I know there is the case to be made for the less confident and less able using ebikes but the cost of these bikes puts them out of reach of the less wealthy.

Come out to zone 5. Plenty of driverists going faster than 30 all over the place :(

Majority of people on this forum are fit and able but my view is that I want cycle infrastructure aimed more at people who cycle rather than cyclists. This way I'm more likely to have friends who don't cycle come out with me on two wheeled adventures.

Why not do a 100 miler at 17mph with the boys then chill on eCargo in normal clothes on the same day?

Thats what I do but instead of 100 miles its 30 these days.

Point is; people can be both, I actually kinda hate cyclists.

I guess I have mixed feelings about cycle lanes from a personal level but see them as important for those people who are less confident (eg children) and less able (eg parents with two children in child seats).

This 100%. Anyone doing anything near 45kmh shouldn't be anywhere near cycle lanes - motor or not.

Why not do a 100 miler at 17mph with the boys then chill on eCargo in normal clothes on the same day?

Not sure which thread to quote this in, but feel like it needs quoting somewhere.

As for deliveroo riders, yeah bound to happen. Many are riding legit e bikes (and then be hacked), others just put together some far east express parts and use a hand throttle. That part of it isn't the worst. Its the absolute POS bikes they fit them to that don't have brakes capable of stopping very well even when new (£89.99 of argo's finest with a £600 500w kit attached with zip ties). Regularly get them in the shop with punctures, but unless they commit to £££ brake upgrades

I used to see those when I worked in a shop, and aside from proper maintenance, all those bikes really needed was a Shimano hydraulic front brake, $30.

Oh, and a motherfucking plug so the rear wheel can be removed from the bike without busting out a fucking soldering iron.

They're total shit, but the cable discs and hardwired motor are just utterly beyond the pale.

No I mean the ones that have Canti bosses, and then the worlds lowest £ plastic bodied v brake with plastic brake pads and steel cables that are corroded to death when you get them out of the box. 100% guaranteed to cause harm and injure pedestrians and anyone else who gets near one, and that was before they had a cheap motor kit zip tied onto them.

Mate's building burned down a few year ago due to one of these things being charged up in a neighbouring flat. Lost everything and insurance took 2 years to even vaguely settle some of his lifes collection of things. The flat with the fire wasn't properly insured, the individual not a proper resident or on any contract, and the bike/ekit that caused it not approved for use anywhere, so ended up his own insurance company taking the full hit (and the landlords, and the other flat owners/tenants) due to one crappy e bike kit.

Well Liz picked her Gazelle up today and it’s awesome! It should mean our golf is going to spend a whole load more time sat on the drive, which is nice. A big thank you to Bicycle Links Norwich for sorting it out for her. Just need to add some crates and that’s the shopping run sorted as well.

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On the speed topic ultimately in the USA they don’t have high and low speed, all pedal assist (and even e scooters I think) do 20 mph instead of 15.5, so 22 with 10% variance.

Personally I think that sounds perfect and would like to see UK follow suit, all existing bikes could be updated. Could be a single positive of brexshit.

These are solid, have one in for service right now. remember to unclip the chain cover and oil it a lot in the 1st month of use, then TBH you'll be around 6-12 months between having to oil it.

Nexus gear shifter I can see in that photo is like all of them from Gazelle, needs loosened and turned a little bit as your front brake lever will likely fowl the shifter = no brake power, as its bottoming out against the plastic shifter and not the actual rim of the bike if that makes sense. Pull front brake hard and look at the interaction ;)

Cheers for that, I’ll sort both of those out tonight. Liz has put 50 miles on it in les than 24hrs, I hope this let’s take the bike wears off soon it’s killing me! ;D

I’ve just moved the gear twist shifter round as yes it did indeed touch the brake lever under real pressure, suboptimal. I’ve also put some Pedro on the chain. Thanks again for the heads up.
Oh, I’ve also fitted a gawd awful wicker basket to the front, only temporarily until she finds a ‘nice crate’ or ‘cool rando bag’

Not as much of an issue on an ebike, but cool crates weigh.

Any recommendations for a e-mtb? It will just be a leisure play thing so cheaper is better

Anything by Moustache will be great.

They can't all be updated, Bosch will not change the firmware on an EU motor to allow assistance at higher speeds unfortunately.

Looking for a family-shared ebike that could carry 2 children in a pinch (total rider/passenger weight pushing 140kg) and I am surprised to see that most are really not rated for that kind of weight. Obviously, we could go full cargo/longtail and get a Tern GSD, Surly BigEasy (if we can find one!), a Riese & Muller Multicharger, or something with a big box, but these just seem less versatile for other riding (a normal cycling day out, where the older child cycles independently/on a trail-gator). Also it seems like we'd get a lot more for our money for a "regular" bike around £2.5k than the other options that are at least £3.5k.
I would normally be slightly dismissive of the max weight loads, but it's the little ones, and I would probably not be the main rider (I can also take both children on my own non-ebike if necessary), and to be honest I just don't understand how a bike like the Orbea Keram SUV 30, which is ostensibly meant for this sort of thing, can only support 25kg on the rear rack!?
In writing this, I think I have basically convinced myself what I really want is the R&M multicharge, but I just don't want to spend £4.5k.
Any advice on options I haven't thought of (or something I am missing on the weight limits)?

I had a multicharger, I would go for GSD for this purpose every time

Weight limits are a really hard thing to judge for manufacturers, especially when it comes to cargo as the weight distribution can vary so much. Often, the frame can be super solid and tested for high weights, but unless you find a reliable supplier of a fork that can take the braking loads of 200kg low-slung mass then you have to reduce the approved weight of the whole bike. Same applies to stem, handlebar etc etc. Same with racks, the tests are quite harsh, so speccing a weight over 25kg and taking responsibility if a kid is injured is a huge liability most companies aren't willing to take on.
In almost all cases, if you ride the bike sensibly then you can get away with a much higher weight than the specs allow. I've seen 4 grown men on a bucket style cargo bike and it held up just fine. I believe R&M started with a kids 20" Suntour fork on the front of their bike, Suntour have updated it to be Cargo ready now, but I haven't heard any reports of the original ones being a danger in reality.
Take a look at the Bergamont Cargo models, they do an LT which is similar to that Multicharge.

Haha 'those' forks. Saw so many R+M cargo's over the past 5 years with them wobbling away on the front, looking very sorry for themselves and sounding/handling terribly with all the play they get (after 600 miles/2 months use!!!). Since 2019 approx they seem to have found a better solution, they still get play in them and rust like crazy but not a dangerous amount and dealers seem to spend less time trying to warranty them.

Benno eBoost? Its damn close to a Tern GSD, but a bit lighter, a bit more like a normal bike, quality of accessories is higher, and in 2021 money anyways, its a chunk cheaper than an equiv tricked out GSD.

Yuba Mundo/Surly/Kona/Xtracycle all make decent long johns for less money, sometimes with a mid drive on them, sometimes fully manual and just adapt it yourself!
Cube I have no doubt will make something along these lines in the very near future.