The UCI held the first ever eMTB World Champs at Mont St Anne, Canada. You may know that it was won by Alan Hatherly from South Africa on a Specialized Levo, who described it as one of the tougher races he had ridden. Think about it – the field is levelled by a 25kph speed limit, so the way to
Read moreI tend to get a bit frustrated with facebook groups at times because there is no order to them and it’s hard to find information through search, or simply to go back to something you saw before. Also, there are related and duplicate groups springing up here there and everywhere and I tend to get FOMO (fear of missing out).
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Outside of the main cities, eMTB is the hottest ticket in ebikes. If your goal is to be able to go up any mountain in sight (Queenstown), ride longer and higher without shuttles (Rotorua) or simply keep up with your stronger, fitter, younger or less-injured mates, an eMTB might be for you. It’s a great equalizer for a couple too.
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Liv is the women-specific sub-brand of Giant bicycles. I had the pleasure of catching up with Nikki Jan and Cassandrou Chou from Liv based in Taichung City, Taiwan. They were in Aotearoa to better understand our market, meeting dealers and Liv ambassadors around the country. We started with a passionate explainer from Nikki about why they have the Liv brand.
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Yes, but… This is one of the ‘Frequently Asked Questions’ in the current ebike market. A nice eMTB costs upwards of $6k and most now can do 32km/h which is a perfectly respectable commuting speed. They generally have big comfortable tyres, around 500Wh of battery and enough grunt to get up any hill. So comfortable, fast enough, powerful. And anyway,
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A year ago I wrote a retrospective. That first year involved lots of learning and discovery. The second year has been more of a ‘business as usual’ period, but I still enjoy every day as much. For me the benefits are fun, no frustration, fitness, friendliness (of other riders), freedom. Maybe financial too. Summary: f’ing good. Lately the bottom bracket and
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While outside Aucklanders were rushing around in their cars in increasing numbers, getting frustrated with traffic, yelling at cyclists, and generally getting stressed, I was learning about the future… and that is eMobility. I met with Catrin and Timo visiting from Germany — who look after international markets for Riese & Müller. They were visiting Maurice from Electric Bike Team, their dealer in New Zealand. The company was
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The first thing to note is that ebikes are bicycles. Generally, you don’t need special tyres for ebikes. But because you have the assistance, you can tolerate special tyres that are a bit heavier and give you puncture protection. That’s a really good thing for commuting! For eMTB, that means you can go wider, 2.6″ or 2.8″ being de rigeur.
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I’ve been hearing all manner of myths and rumours about “what is imminent” mostly originating from a few retailers who have a certain thing to sell, and are intent on spreading FUD (fear, uncertainty and doubt) on everything else. Here is what I believe to be true, from reliable sources: There is currently no progress on LEV legislation at NZTA
Read moreTLDR: ebikes make up 1/4 of the fatalities. People over 65 make up 2/3. via More cycling fatalities than deaths in cars
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While I have a few reviews in the pending state including some co-branding initiatives due, I thought I’d offer some benefits of my experiences. Tyres I have been running Schwalbe Marathon Plus and Energizer tyres on my commuter. These are amazing in that you are unlikely ever to get a puncture, and they wear really well. I got over 10,000km
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ElectricMeg, ElectricBazza and AcousticRobin were all at Crankworx Rotorua. Most of the manufacturers had ebikes on display. Notably Specialized didn’t have any bikes on display at all, and Giant didn’t bring any ebikes. Electrify.nz had an ebike display and so did Bosch. In fact it was Bosch who did a media ride attended by AcousticRobin and had a range of
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The European Union styles itself as “The Masters of Regulation” and continue to over-regulate and under deliver on ebikes. In New Zealand, we are largely free of such political meddling and will come up with our own sensible approaches. I’ve often heard people say: “Why do we need our own regulations for ebikes? The Euros practically invented the ebike, make
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Wai Won Ching is the enigmatic and offbeat founder and CEO of eZee Bikes. He was in Auckland for a few days so I took the opportunity to interview Mr Ching. Learn why bigger is better with batteries, why power ratings are nonsense, why throttles rule, and why you should invest in Bitcoin (I just put that in for the
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It’s available on the NZTA Website https://www.nzta.govt.nz/resources/research/reports/621/
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This popped up on my email today, and I thought wow! only $1099! I should buy that! NO, I DIDN’T! It is being sold at $1099, “elsewhere up to $3999*”. No, it is not $3999 elsewhere. Not even close. Now I don’t know if I’m crossing some sort of professional line, either moral or legal, but I feel like I have
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Your first e-bike is a big investment. Someone will probably say: “But you could have bought a car for that money!” So it’s worth getting it right. Also see “You get what you pay for, it is that simple“. Step 1 – Understand what you will use it for If you don’t really know, then you probably shouldn’t buy one.
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Ask almost anyone in ebike sales and they will tell you ‘torque sensors are more sophisticated/ more expensive/ more better’. It is partially true (i.e. not an overt lie) but it doesn’t mean that a bike with torque sensor is the best for your needs. Anyway, what’s the difference? A cadence sensor detects if you are pedalling, tells the controller, which then
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Oh ye seekers after perpetual motion, how many vain chimeras have you pursued? Go and take your place with the alchemists. — Leonardo da Vinci, 1494 I keep on seeing articles referencing a new (proposed) ebike on Kickstarter that can “charge itself while you ride” and it drives me insane. I also field lots of questions about ebikes from people who
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Let’s be clear, the rules in New Zealand are not the same as the USA, Australia, Europe or the United Kingdom. So whatever a distributor of bikes from elsewhere tells you is probably wrong. Even some of the locally designed ranges spread incorrect information. So, what are the facts? there is no speed limit other than the limit posted on
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