Caterham Electric Bicycle

C

cosmickid

New Member
Electric bike's I'd love to own...
http://news.boldride.com/2014/01/caterham-electric-bicycle-is-so-cool-in-so-many-ways/43174/

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They look great but I can't find prices anywhere but I'm sure they cost more than I'd ever spend on any bicycle. I'm guess the carbon fiber version cost as much as a car. Things are moving quickly in the e bike field and while these high end electric bikes are state of the art now, they won't be for long.
 
They look state-of-the-art, but have meager power and are meant for the wow factor mostly, very beautifully styled bikes for sure, but their specs aren't any better than some kits you can put on your own bike of choice for around $500-800. I think Caterham is having trouble selling Lotus 7 replicas with the economy fizzled, so they are making a new CSR/LMPC sports racer and have the separate F1 team which relies on investor capital.
 
I think the low power ratings may be due to British restrictions on electric bicycles. Here in NZ the official maximum is 250watt and I think it may be the same in Britain.
 
They wanted to have the 250w and you have to pedal to make it move, called Pedlac, here in Canada but fortunately wiser heads prevailed and they made it 500W and no pedlac.
The 250W limit is all through Europe and the British Isles as well as New Zealand and Australia. Were they afraid someone might actually use and electric bike?

Steve.
 
Here in NZ provided you're sensible you can fit larger wattage motors and nobody seems to mind. In all the time I've been riding my trike around none of the local police have ever asked me what wattage motor I was using, but if I was to be seen travelling at too blistering a pace I think they might start asking questions.
 
250W in a middrive is not the same as a 250W hub motor setup. If the gear ratios is done properly, the torque would be around the same as what you would get out of a 500-750W hub motor in the same diameter wheel. Now how long the 250W unit would last is a whole different story.
 
I find the look pleasing, but 250w is bogus. No matter how many gears you have once in top gear all you've got is 250w. That's an 18 mph bicycle if you're lucky.
 
18mph is about right, which is plenty on mtb trails. 750W would be more like it if they plan to hit the US market, like everybody else is doing. For me, fun on a mid drives starts at 1500W.
 
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