RE: McLaren launches world's most potent e-bike

[samoht]

Perhaps worth noting that to count as a bicycle, an e-bike must have no more than 250W power, must only provide assistance while the rider is pedalling, and only at speeds of up to 15.5 mph.

Anything outside these parameters is legally a motorbike and needs a proper helmet, tax, insurance and MoT and must be kept to roads (not cycle paths).

At least, that's what the law says.

[Gav10]

I hope it’s better than the cars (speaking from experience)

Perhaps if they focus on the car build quality they might keep customers.

[James6112]

Bikes made by car manufacturers.
Invariably inferior to those made by bike manufacturers.
Then sold at half price a while later in the sale.

[President Merkin]

James6112 said:

Bikes made by car manufacturers.
Invariably inferior to those made by bike manufacturers.
Then sold at half price a while later in the sale.

There's history of car manufacturers punting bikes & they're nearly always terrible. Neither steam nor sail, you end up with an overpriced push iron that isn't a good bike, or a good brand extension. Some of the Porsche ones have been laughable & others have merely been restickered bikes from decent manufacturers with the price cranked 40%, yes Audi, I'm looking at you.

Buy a car from a dealer & a bike from the bike shop & you'll be golden.

[Cold]

Caddyshack said:

My 5000W Stealth e-bike would beg to differ that this new bike is not the most powerful in the world.

[Captain Smerc]

[dunnoreally]

samoht said:

Perhaps worth noting that to count as a bicycle, an e-bike must have no more than 250W power, must only provide assistance while the rider is pedalling, and only at speeds of up to 15.5 mph.

Anything outside these parameters is legally a motorbike and needs a proper helmet, tax, insurance and MoT and must be kept to roads (not cycle paths).

At least, that's what the law says.

Yeah, but if you're going to point that out to the yooves barrelling down our pavements on the things, you're braver than me!

[Lotusgav]

Lotobear said:

I can't really see the point myself, may as well get a Suron for a couple of grand.

We were having the discussion last night when out on our analogue MTB's, we are all what you might call old blokes but have no intention of going electric until we have to. In the meantime we decided that what might tempt us is a very lightweight electric MTB with only limited assistance just for those ball busting climbs you get on certain rides that you might otherwise have to push on (you know, the ones where it's a much effort to keep the front wheel on the deck as it is to pedal).

The bike would remain light enough to pedal unassisted all other climbs while still retaining good agility for gnarly descents.

Trek EXe will do that. You can dial the assist right down if you want to be a masochist…

[ballans]

Hoofy said:

evojam said:

Bladedancer said:

I'm sorry, but a supercar with a bike on the roof just looks ridiculous.

The only thing that looks cool ontop of a supercar is a pair of skis..

What about

Surfboards look quite good

[Firebobby]

dunnoreally said:

samoht said:

Perhaps worth noting that to count as a bicycle, an e-bike must have no more than 250W power, must only provide assistance while the rider is pedalling, and only at speeds of up to 15.5 mph.

Anything outside these parameters is legally a motorbike and needs a proper helmet, tax, insurance and MoT and must be kept to roads (not cycle paths).

At least, that's what the law says.

Yeah, but if you're going to point that out to the yooves barrelling down our pavements on the things, you're braver than me!

I'm sure my walking stick through the front spokes will bring them swiftly to task!

[RosscoPCole]

In the promo photo on with it on the Artura, where is the front wheel being stashed?

[Kermit74]

Ahhh, but how much does it weigh???

[Digga]

Pughmacher said:

modeller said:

Spend your money on a proper MTB brand. 19kg / 450Wh battery and 450W boost. It's an absolute blast!

https://www.santacruzbicycles.com/en-GB/bikes/heck...

Edited by modeller on Friday 17th May 12:01

Mmmmmmm Santa Cruz lovely! Personally I’d go for a Yeti (not the Skoda). Enough MTB nonsense! I’ve got expensive hobbies already. Don’t need to rekindle an older one!

I rode a Heckler SL, just like the one pictured. Had no expectations, never been a Santa Cruz fan. It was just a bike a mate was demoing, amongst others, on a test day, but I was smitten. The overall package, how it felt light but also well assisted, but not dead above assistance speed, plus the way it jumped and the plushness of the rear suspension was IMHO outstanding.

Him and another mate also rode Yetis on that day and said they felt solid. Like they could take anything, but in the terrain we were in, were almost 'too much'.

[C n C]

ballans said:

Hoofy said:

evojam said:

Bladedancer said:

I'm sorry, but a supercar with a bike on the roof just looks ridiculous.

The only thing that looks cool ontop of a supercar is a pair of skis..

What about

Surfboards look quite good

Not so sure about kayaks though...

[phaeton760]

Can’t help wondering whether a ‘special edition’ car at 40% above average price for its material/components would sell because Trek put their name on it and claimed their knowledge
of carbon fibre layering made it better than any car manufacturer efforts in carbon fibre production.

[MrBig]

Great, lets hope the UK government get their fingers out of their arses and bring in some way to regulate and legalise such things so that we can buy the hot model without risking our driving licence.

[Digga]

MrBig said:

Great, lets hope the UK government get their fingers out of their arses and bring in some way to regulate and legalise such things so that we can buy the hot model without risking our driving licence.

The current law is a bit stupid. You can already exceed the arbitrary 15mph power assist limit with any ordinary, meat-powered road or mountain bicycle.

The issue with the assist cutout is that on approaches to speed critical trail features - gaps - it makes the approach tricky to manage. On many bikes, there's no 'clutch' so the hard limit on the electric torque assist suddenly changes to you not only having to put pedal effort in to move the bicycle, but also to turn the 'dead' resistance of the motor. It feels horrible. There are a few, flat-ish trails with gaps where I will only use my analogue bike.

[driftingphil]

Lotobear said:

I can't really see the point myself, may as well get a Suron for a couple of grand.

We were having the discussion last night when out on our analogue MTB's, we are all what you might call old blokes but have no intention of going electric until we have to. In the meantime we decided that what might tempt us is a very lightweight electric MTB with only limited assistance just for those ball busting climbs you get on certain rides that you might otherwise have to push on (you know, the ones where it's a much effort to keep the front wheel on the deck as it is to pedal).

The bike would remain light enough to pedal unassisted all other climbs while still retaining good agility for gnarly descents.

Don't hold out, e bikes are amazing i bought a haibike lyke 11 only a couple of months back, you can go places / climbing routes that you couldn't do without the assist, and also go much further.

[Gemaeden]

Nowhere near the most powerful, nor is this, but quite amusing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JtW3rhfCE8&pp...

[Digga]

Gemaeden said:

Nowhere near the most powerful, nor is this, but quite amusing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JtW3rhfCE8&pp...

"Careful with the throttle!"

I think it needed different gearing.

Anyway, perhaps the ultimate emtb: