Interesting reading - DVSA prosecutes UK company illegally supplying unrestricted e-(motor)bikes

[Planemo]

My understanding is that just by calling it an ebike, it suggests it fits the usual legal requirements and is generally misleading.

I kinda get what you are saying, but personally I don't think it's misleading to call them 'ebikes'.

I don't see the situation any different to the 1000's of retailers selling 60mph+ escooters, but those retailers aren't getting hit by the DVSA.

I am sure the ebike case must have something more to it, but I don't know what (yet).

 

[Growmac]

This might be a mistake, but.

I do think there's something to da51's insistence on Shimano vs Bosch differences. I've had E8000 for 27 months and about 5,000 km, and I've just moved to a Bosch Gen4 2021 Rail. I'm talking about both in their stock restricted setup.

The Bosch is not the vast step up in power that I was expecting. The burst and overrun is great for navigating steps, and low-cadence torque is better (I think this may reverse when comparing to the EP8, I don't know?). But when wanting sustained assistance, say going along the canal on the limiter, I think he might be right.

If you put the E8000 in boost then you can tickle along putting in almost no effort and the motor will bounce off the 25 km/h limiter. You just need to keep the cranks rotating. Very similar in Trail. On the flat you just need to turn the pedals and it feels like a hand is pushing you along the path. The Bosch, in comparison, seems to require a little more of the rider to keep the assistance coming. You have to pedal. Not hard, but you do need to put some effort in before it notices the torque and kicks in.

That was not what I was expecting if I'm honest. It's not a problem, but I thought the Bosch would feel much more powerful and it turns out to be more complicated than that.

 

[Mikerb]

Its pretty simple..........the Bosch Gen4 just needs a higher cadence so get used to using a lower gear and spinning. The same applies comparing the Bosch gen 4 with the Brose motor in a Levo. The Brose clearly allows more amps at a lower cadence and so feels more responsive.........but if you use one or two lower gears than you would on the Levo, they feel the same. I sussed this after my Levo was stolen and I started using my Whyte E180 RS more when riding with my mate on his Levo. At first I thought the kinematics, greater travel and heavier duty tyres were the reason why I seemed to have to put in more effort than him on trailhead access fireroads etc, and those are certainly a factor, but merely by maintaining a higher cadence than my mate, the rider effort was much the same as I experienced on my Levo.