Anyone ever had one of these things?

szzhixin-motor.en.made-in-china.com/prod...-Scooter-ZX-HB-.html



Interesting huh?

Supposed to do 15mph max under leccy motor but I swear blind the guy in the vid looks well past 20mph to me!
Looks like he's buying 'em 10 at a time from China too

I notice they're making 12000 a year of just those things alone, christ the Chinese have some manufacturing ability.

its interesting but running on a 48V12AH lead-acid battery seems a bit old hat, low-tech to me - not that is necessarily a bad thing, but much more advanced technology has been shown wanting. I cant see the video though?

here is a UK designed (but prob still made in china) one with a lithium battery

Video is on the ebay page, I didn't expect the ebay link to get put in a media box like vids etc

andyh wrote: yeah I posted an ebay link and that turned into a weird media box too!

if I was a city dweller, I would definitely consider one of these bikes, but I'm not and never will be, unless they force all the plebs into the cities eventually. I wouldn't like to ride one on the open road, but then again I wouldnt ride a pushbike on the open road either, or motorbike these days (my biking days are long gone), but plenty of people do. if the range is enough and the battery lasts a reasonable length of time, I think they would be great city transport.

Here in Cambridge we can't move for bikes, but no hills, so no need for electric assistance really.

I think both bikes are basically 200W output as a legal limit, so voltage is really irrelevant.

andyh wrote:
yeah its more the lead acid versus lithium issue, with regards to charge time, number of charges and range etc that would need looking at. Lead acid batteries are cheaper but have generally have much fewer total charge and discharge cycles for example, lithium batteries can also handle abuse better in terms of high output bursts and have about twice the energy density per pound plus can last 4-6 times longer. At least, that's what I have read, far from an expert on batteries:-)

They're both lithium batteries by the looks.

andyh wrote: Ah OK, the China link you posted had lead/acid 48v, but the ebay link appears to be a different model with lithium ion battery, didnt notice that at first. I thought it was the same bike in both

diforumreject wrote:
Me too! They look the bloody same

Hmm its amazing to see how much car boot stuff is on that china direct site too
You have to buy some serious amounts of it though, whole pallets by the looks.

Getting back to being ms knob has a Giant leccy mountain bike.
Its awesome.
Be very wary if you want a leccy bike. Anything cheap is shit and a lot of expensive ones are shit too.
We had a Kona...it was shit.
Even this Giant had to go back to Giant for reprogramming.

Getting back to being ms knob knows a lot about this stuff if anyone wants info.

Well, my eldest is 16 shortly, I'm after getting him a moped but had the fright of my life when I got some insurance estimates.
A leccy bike would do the same job, costs more than a moped to buy ofc as they're only a few hundred quid even if only a year or two old mopeds seem to rapidly devalue and I was tempted by an aprilia 50 locally that the lad would love and it was only £300 with MOT and even some tax on it but the insurance...holy sheeeite!!

Moped insurance used to be pennies. What is it now?

Aprillia eh..

seriously any daily usable electric bike is around 1300 upwards. Second hand can be a waste cos batteries are 3/400 quid and you couldn't vouch the battery is good.
I'd have the aprillia meself.

I've been on the back of an electric trike in Amsterdam & it was great. Just pedalling through the street bits then click the motor on going down the canals it seemed really fast..... Pretty good way to earn a living doing that in Amsterdam they must make a fortune. I'd have one with a quality sound system on it. Bit of a dream I've been having..... no more mither getting a smoke, fairly hassle free tourist cash, & tunes all day. Just that pesky weather.....

dubmeup wrote:
Cheapest quote I got for him was £970 third party only lol.... on a bike worth £300 that can only do 30mph.

The electric bike I've been looking at there is £700 new and thats it. No other costs, its bloody slow though, meant to be 15mph which is in itself a bit of a danger outside of town and we're fairly rural ish.

970?

ok. Avoid the scooters like the plague. Utter crap. And being cheapo they will fail quickly if you want it as a commuter.
I actually turned a brand new one down for 100. They are that shit.
In leccy bike land, anything less than a grand will weigh a ton and be festooned in parts you'd find on a halfords 70 special.
You will spend a fortune buying decent parts more or less straight away. The electrics will be poor quality and the whole thing will have the feel of being thrown together.

When you get to the main brands like Giant and Trek you'll find it has been designed as a leccy bike from the ground up. This makes it better. Though as i said, the kona we had was shit so there are no guarantees that branded equals good. Giant fucking rock. They have been brilliant with us over the years.
In leccy bike land. Cheap

Used to have one well an electric scooter ,
Biggest problem was were to use it legally
Law needs fixing imho .

On a side note I was stopped by police on cycle path as it crises shopping centre near canal
In Glasgow ,
Reason was I had two Siberian huskies pulling me ,
It was late around midnight ,
They took my name and ran checks on legality of it and I was left alone as I pointed out husky races and bikjoring
Is what these dogs do and they aren't forced or mis treated and I don't use public roads etc
Police were great apart from stopping me in first place ,
And they played with dogs while base ran checks
Nothing illegal and no further action taken ,
They watched as I have the cnd hike and the dogs took off Speedo read over 20 mph oops .

I've admired the electric bicycles in the past. Cool for pedaling along on the flat road & powering up hills. They were quite dear though. I just looked now & you can get one for a few hundred, where the ones I'd seen were a couple of grand.

Ebikes used to be extortionate ,
And not the best looks wise but they were and are amazing for anyone who might require one .
There's an old guy who I sometimes see doing his shopping on one
The motor and battery are very discreet
The major downside is confusion over the law
Many people think you can't ride them on roads others think you shouldn't ride them on cycle paths
As rule of thumb if you would ride a normal bike on a route it's ok for Ebikes
But don't quote me on that .

To some extent they are becoming less popular amongst able bodied cyclists who soon learn a good road bike is faster
And easier to ride and costs bit less
Notice how most Ebikes are designed around hybrids or MTB frame setups
This is possibly down to the fact they came about off the back of the craze for MTB bikes
And nowadays most people buying a bile chat to staff in a good bike shop
Who point out that for most people a MTB is complete overkill and more hard work than a roady or hybrid
Over smooth to medium terrain

Anyone could pick up a hybrid or full road style bike and be doing 15mph for miles on end
On a fat tyred heavier MTB that would be 12 mph if your lucky for about ten miles
And on an ebike with assistance from the motor less still so if battery died you've a slog home
But if your a casual user or not as fit they are great things
Everything has a a place a road spec bike won't a valid replacement for 74yr old with arthritis who's ebike has died for example
And an ebike isnt what a 25yr old wants to replace his trail eating MTB
Or full spec roady .

Gilly wrote:
You can buy 10 on a pallet from China for a couple of grand Mad innit.