The bike is great,have to pedal tho, only assists up to 15 mph.

hard seat Nead cycle shorts,full suspension tho.

around 30 mls battery range on difficult terrane. 

very powerfull bosh motor Hauls my 85klo easily.

ridden up Simms Hill clean.

i can lift above my head or over gates ways around 30klo tho.

 

ive got a bmw cruise ebike and use of a cube reaction ebike ( neighbour bought one with a knackered battery very cheap, then found out the price of batteries, ) 

my battery fits his bike they are a brilliant bit of kit, 3k plus miles on mine last 18 months means £20 a week less in fuel in the van so more than paid for itself. reason i got one is that i get a pain in my knee after cycling for more than 30 miles and then it hampers me for work the next week. you do get a few moaners saying your lazy etc but they are the ones sitting on their asses all day at work with pent up anger issues, im on my feet all day doing 20k steps and then an hour after work im on the bike, probably wouldnt be so eager if i didnt have the electric.

Am I right in thinking the surron is classed as a motorcycle and will need insurance etc to ride it on public roads , while a electric bike has no requirements 

Yep the Surron is classed as a motorbike it has no pedals the Bultaco has a model road legal Brinco pedele and can be had as a pedelec or a motorbike the Pedelec Brinco is not hack proof and soon whipped up to full power same as the rest of the models not that anyone would do that would they and ride it round like a bicycle it would be just wrong and very naughty. All these bikes are half the price of a stealth bomber now that's a Ebike

I guess the thinking regarding restricting ebikes is that no insurance is required if used in a public place/ RoW, unlike a car that can do 140mph.

So your household insurance ( which is not compulsory) covers you ............

At some point household insurers will start wanting ebike details as more accidents occur involving ebikes.

Interesting side of things connected to mountain bikes / E bikes 

working/volunteering on footpaths/Bridleways its easily overlooked about users not using the correct RoW as I've witnessed + identified a wide range of tyre widths accessing the wrong RoW IE, mountain bikes on FP's this generally gets ignored, horses on FP's ignored, Dirt bike with engine on Bridle way people do get upset! 

Also another interesting issue which will open up abuse/use is the current appreciation for the ageing population to have more freedom of access with stiles being removed + replaced with gates to help gain an easier entry point onto FP's thus making it easier for unauthorised use of other incorrect users

The Short explanation is you won't need to lift a bike over a stile, we've already started in Sidmouth ripping out unwanted stiles plus inserting gates in other places with a width of 1.2 metres (wide enough for a quad  solely for maintenance purposes of course  

Anarchy on the FP's 

The Bultaco Brinco looks a bit hybrid, like the Surron with fat old tyres but for me ...........

ITS THE SEAT !



from www.fullycharged.com/bultaco-brinco-rb-ebike


Powering you up to 37mph (on private property) the 2kW max power motor really keeps you on your toes.
............

Fit for the Road-

The fun doesnt stop on the Brinco RB because of public highways. Equipped with a pedal sensor this allows the eBike to be converted in to a pedal assisted bike fit for British highways. These kits are available on the after market and require installation and activation of the pedal sensor.

Mine - brilliant bit of kit.....

Johnnyboxer wrote:

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Here's mine, love it

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 Is that the Specialized Turbo Levo FSR? It's what my mate has recommended to me. Same price as my Freeride when new!

Going to be harder to get rid of MTB from the trails Pete

General recognition of a power assisted bicycle will be hard to overcome

and theres a lot of MTB users out there

How would any clampdown be enforced ?

If you are involved in an accident will Plod seize your ebike and have the experts assess its power output ?

If you dont have a driving licence all they can do is fine you if you were proven to have used 251 watts of assist on a public RoW.


And I actually hanker after something that looks like a bicycle but feels like a motorcycle under me (-;

Tribey wrote:

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Johnnyboxer wrote:

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Here's mine, love it

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 Is that the Specialized Turbo Levo FSR? It's what my mate has recommended to me. Same price as my Freeride when new!

---

 Yes it is, a 2017 model with the better RShox Yari fork and Fox Factory shock, than the 2018 models have

 

It has the (2018 onwards) later more powerful 1.3 Brose motor and larger 504wH battery

 

Had it a year and it's fab, most natural to ride and the motor is seamless when riding.

 

A mate has a Haibike and I have tried a Trek Powerfly and bought this as it was just a better bike to ride and the back up from Specialized is second to none

None of my Bosch motor riding mates can keep up with the Brose equipped Levo, it streaks away from them

 Mission Control app via your phone is fab - you can a ride (via online OS mapping from Specialized for 99p) and it works out how much motor assist and batter usage you need for a given route and it allows you can enter how much battery power you want (ie 10%) at the end of your route/ride...............so you don't ever run out of battery

Power infinitely tuneable via a phone (like the new 2019 Yam WR enduro's)

Main other benefit is that you can easily change the front chainring on a Levo, from 32t up to a 42t tooth and Renthal makes sprockets, Bosch motor is harder to alter gearing via front sprocket and Levo is a 5 min job, like a motorbike

Plus you can ride it as a normal bike without the battery or with the battery turned off.................it;s so good

 

Try riding a Bosch equipped Haibike or Trek with zero battery, it's like walking through treacle .................whereas it's a cinch on a Levo

 

If you're buying try Chris Reilly at Berkshire Cycle Co - best Levo dealer in UK and better by a wide margin - I travelled a 600 mile round trip to buy from him

 

-- Edited by Johnnyboxer on Thursday 24th of January 2019 10:12:40 PM

-- Edited by Johnnyboxer on Thursday 24th of January 2019 10:14:18 PM

-- Edited by Johnnyboxer on Thursday 24th of January 2019 10:21:49 PM

-- Edited by Johnnyboxer on Thursday 24th of January 2019 10:23:02 PM

So is it an MPV if the battery is flat and the bike can only be moved by pedal power or gravity ?

How hard would it be to put in a restrictor that only allows 250 watts of power to reach the motor ?



Many years ago Olly Cooke was working on an idea for downhill racing using motorbike chassis with engines removed.
This was years before downhill MTB came along .........


And the local plods advice was to remove the sparkplug from your dirtbike if you were going to push it along a public road to the 'waste ground' riding area

Ah them were the days (-;

Johnnyboxer wrote:

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If you're buying try Chris Reilly at Berkshire Cycle Co - best Levo dealer in UK and better by a wide margin - I travelled a 600 mile round trip to buy from him

 

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 Speak to Chris, he is a 'person to person' bloke and his customer service is great

 

The Levo he personally built for me................... has been fab

 

Can't recommend him highly enough

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 Which branch of the Berkshire Cycles shops does Chris work out of?

Has any one converted a excisting cycle to battery assist

Pete wrote:

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bombx3 wrote:

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Has any one converted a excisting cycle to battery assist

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 Works well on the road with hub mounted motors easily added to any bike.

Off tarmac you want the motor between the pedals for better weight distribution. There are many add on motors available, almost all of which compromise ground clearance so badly as to be useless off road.

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Plus, you can end up with a right buggers muddle of wires and bits hanging off everywhere. The tailor made 'leccy bikes are now really neat with everything integrated inside the frame. Pete's point of a crank mounted motor rather than hub drive is very valid off tarmac, and for more reasons than just weight distribution.

My Trek 6500 home build lots of fun whack the power up and you feel like the six million dollar man on the pedals

Since this thread ran it's course my employer went into administration. I found another job, got redundancy money, realized the CRM did not need to go to fund it and bought an e-bike and went for a ride with Mark on Dartmoor which is mostly bog

Our route from Shipley bridge took us over the aforementioned bog on Dean moor

Down the grassy slope of Lamb down crossing the dips between the fields with care

Over Skerraton moor where we paused at a bench to enjoy the view

Then down across the barely visible bridleway through the fields below the moor gate

At Moor cross a lady on a large hairy horse wished us a good day as we paused to wait for her to pass

As did another rider on a tall thoroughbred by the bridleway on the way to Bloody pool

We passed Gingham cross and I pointed out the raised grass verges which are coloured in on the List of Streets mapping meaning we may drive our motorcycles there should we choose.

Mark had never ridden 202-106 before and we both enjoyed splashing down the rock strewn watery road with enough gravity assisted speed not to need electric assistance.

Claim lane 139 took us through a narrow gate before descending  down the long slope to the ford before Lutton

 

We rode around a short UCR at Higher Lutton whose 80 m of mossy broken tarmac never made it onto the DTRFG overlay before descending to Lydia bridge to look at the white water below while wondering about the admonition from the county engineer not to drive locomotives over the bridge without his prior consent.

Ascending 202-385 took us over Ash ridge where we passed the end of the white road 202-241

And we descended into the valley beyond before climbing over Corringdon ball to the ball gate 

A wide drove road took us over Merrifield plantation to the top of Diamond lane which once upon a time challenged national trails bike championship riders like Dougie Lampkins dad, and where today the only diamonds on display are the criss cross angle grinder cuts on the slippery steep rocky steps designed to help travellers find grip

For those who wonder about that sort of thing the following pic shows our route and the elevation encountered along the way. 

We will be riding again on Saturday 23rd March if anyone else wants to join us

-- Edited by Pete on Friday 15th of March 2019 12:09:53 AM

Nice write-up, as usual, Pete.

Is that a Giant Trance SX you've got there?  How does that compare with a Levo you were after?

A very nice write up once again Pete.

It looks like a really well spec'd bike; does the suspension lock out for climbing? I'm on a hardtail Ducati, but am feeling that full sus (like my non-e 'old skool' Pro Flex) might be a better option.

I haven't looked into all the torques etc, but my totally unscientific (and slightly illogical) view is: it gives me up to 3 times the 'oomph' that I put in at the pedals. To my mind, that means that I now have the legs of a 21-year-old - happy days

I have upgraded to to a 500Wh battery for greater range, but on longer rides carry the 400Wh batt in my backpack as 'spare fuel'. It is a little heavy, but a much better option than running out of 'trons on a ride (don't ask how I know!)

I've had mine for a few years now, but these bikes seem to be getting really popular. Of course, the relative price is coming down whilst the range available is increasing massively so they are now a much more attractive option.

As you say, the grin factor is massive

Pete wrote:

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I can lock out the suspension, but do not need to with no bob while climbing, while there are few roads smooth enough to make it worth while 

 

---

 

Yeah thats an impressive time for covering that distance Pete + Paul 

Nice loop around too with so many primroses out its wonderful to see them almost matching Brownies leg warmers 

Another outing co-incided with summer arriving and the highest temperatures of the year so far. Brownie having damaged his knee playing football took a rain check leaving just Mark and myself. Passing the heath land beside King Charles business park reminded me of how so many people learned to ride their dirt bikes on the heath before the eco activists claimed the land back. One particular rise prompted a recollection of a friend and his TS250ER which jumped the bank only to bounce on landing in a different direction to it's owner who was ejected, much to my amusement as I followed him around. Claim lane 028 is no longer several feet deep in mud after funding for new cycle ways was used as part of the Granite and Gears project. Pigs are no longer kept at Wifford piggery but I still recall the huge pink beastie the size of a couch which snuffled around on the road for acorns in season as it's owners exercised their rights of pannage, and it deserved most of the credit for the state of the road.

The e-bikes made short work of climbing 191-081 and the wild strawberry flowers on the eastern hedgerow tell of a tasty fruit crop to come. Google maps cycling overlay shows a track through Bearacleave wood and I narrowly avoided head butting the rope swing as we descended the steep slope before crossing 191-077. The permissive path through Stonelands waste is very pretty this time of year with a carpet of bluebells between the trees.

We climbed up to Poolmill cross where we turned left for the first time and found forestry work had chewed up the ground in the woods west of Trenchford. Mark showed me a lovely long track I had never seen before though the woods passing Elsford and we emerged between Pepperdon and Blackingstone and before long were descending C-116 where in addition to the usual collection of long grass and big rocks a fallen tree forced us to stop and clamber over. 

We rode up the short UCR behind Great Doccombe farm which never made it onto the TRF overlay, unusually not blocked.

The farmers daughter was killed by a horse being ridden down the road several decades ago and the land owner does not want anyone using it since. We paused our climb up the bridleway onto Mardon down to watch nine fallow deer in a horse  paddock at Stacombe fleeing over a fence into adjoining woodland when they spotted us looking down on them. A kestrel paused its pursuit of song birds and watched us until we came too close to it's tree for comfort as we crested the rise on the down where we could see Exmoor way off in the distance. 

The single track bridleway descent wiggles downhill in a very pleasing manner before taking a steep dive down the edge of Woodcok wood and splashing through a ford between two fields. I changed my battery on the hill by Westcott having deliberately flattened it by being over generous with the boost as I am told it is better to completely discharge it on first use. The ground was drier than usual at Burnicombe but the steepest part of the descent into Bridford wood was wet where the stream runs down it all year round. Before the first ford we turned right onto the permissive bridleway which crosses the top of the wood enjoying gravity assisted speed on the downhill before encountering a new gate just before we reached 191-059 and followed the byway back up to the gate at the top where it meets Lowton lane.

C-039 is a cracking lane downhill but we climbed today up to and through the farm where we declined to use the boggy permissive bridleway around the farm. At the public inquiry the inspector refused to make an order diverting the bridleway through the farm at the request of the property speculator owner as in her words 'this could cause an injustice to the land owner who may then find himself with not one but two PRoW on his property as the Devon TRF DMMO Schedule 14 claim has not yet been considered'.

The roundabout with the bush on it was once a cross roads where a bridleway met a public road and two footpaths, but the footpaths were diverted and the land owner had been trying to mislead people about the extent of the road which he claimed ended at his farm gate, until highways gave their evidence at the public inquiry that is. Amused me that did.

Since we were passing the Bridford inn it would have been a shame not to stop and enjoy a pint and I certainly enjoyed mine, while Mark was more sensible and had a half. 

After climbing the new bridleway from Hole to join the one from Laployd we descended to Clampitt where we crossed C-183 and Mark showed me another bit of single track I had never seen before through the plantation before following the path down and along the side of Tottiford reservoir. The rhododendrons have been cut back on 191-072 just after the hairpin bend on the byway and may not provide a purple carpet of petals this year. 

Turing left again at Poolmill cross took us to the lumpy loam churned up by horses on C-078 which was firm but not sticky and we both arrived at the bottom with big grins after winding our way down the steep old road between the wild garlic without catching pedals on loose rocks or roots.

Before long we joined the bridleway around Knighton Heath and my fork needs less air spacers when such a drop as that over the concrete section only uses 75% of travel. After diverting around a number of fallen trees and using one gate we found the next one had been removed and had to lift the bikes over the new section of fence. The route of C-029 across the heath shown on the map is too boggy and nobody uses it preferring to skirt the quagmire which we encountered, then rode around. 

The cyclometer told a tale of 26.5 miles in all, a max speed of 37.6 mph and an average of about 9 mph with three hours spent actually riding and the aching in our legs confirmed how far we had gone. I thanked Mark for leading and showing me new tracks. It will probably be another few weeks before the next ride but I am looking forward to it already

 

-- Edited by Pete on Monday 22nd of April 2019 05:13:45 PM

brilliant write up and pics as usual pete.
will be up for the next ride hopefully.