Currie Electro Drive

/\/\a77 said:

Hi,

I was wondering if anyone has had any experience with the currie elecrodrive
power assist units. I am looking to get one to help me commute to work on
my Carrea Vulcan.

Please don't take offence at this reply.
A quick look at the Halfords website shows this is a mountain bike.
Are you still using knobbly tires on it?
If so, go to a bike show and ask about getting slick or semi-slick tyres
fitted. Then get a track pump, and pump them up really, really hard.
As high as the tyres are rated for - maybe 40psi or above.
Running on smooth tyres at high pressure on the road takes much less
effort.
The site also says this bike has front suspension forks - these will also
sap energy. Can you 'lock out' the forks?

Also consider getting some 'proper' cycling shoes with hard soles - they
do make a difference. Also, as has been discussed in a thread here
recently, 'clipless' SPD pedals make a big difference.

John Hearns said:

Also consider getting some 'proper' cycling shoes with hard soles - they
do make a difference. Also, as has been discussed in a thread here
recently, 'clipless' SPD pedals make a big difference.

You're telling me - I had to ride 5 miles today (it's a long story) on
my wife's bike with rubber platform pedals wearing my Sidi SPD shoes.
My feet slipped so much that I ended up pedalling with my heels. Toe
clips are horrible - straight from platforms to SPDs is much easier.

Quoted message said:

If so, go to a bike show and ask about getting slick or semi-slick tyres
fitted. Then get a track pump, and pump them up really, really hard.
As high as the tyres are rated for - maybe 40psi or above.

Just to echo John's good counsel there I've just changed my standard MTB
type tyres for slicks in the past few days...

It's made a HUGE difference to the machine; I expected some difference but
it really is night and day. A worthwhile upgrade no matter what you
eventually decide to do since they would save you battery power is you do
decide to go electric...

in message <[email hidden]>, /\/\a77

(') said:

I was wondering if anyone has had any experience with the currie
elecrodrive
power assist units. I am looking to get one to help me commute to
work on
my Carrea Vulcan. My commute is 22miles each way, and my level of
fitness is not great at the moment, so i was hoping that a unit like
this will help me not be to knackered by the time I arrive at work.

I could be wrong, but I'm deeply suspicious that these units mean more
work, not less. Because when the battery dies (and it will) you've got
a heavy battery and a useless motor to lug up every hill, as well as
the bike.

John's right. Knobbly, low pressure tyres and inefficient suspension,
along with the sheer weight of the bike, are together costing you far
more energy than the electric assist will save even if it works. Slick
tyres and rigid forks would be an improvement.

Having said that, I used (when I was very fit) to do a 21 mile each way
commute on a light racing bike with very high pressure 20mm tyres. On
that bike I could average one hour fifteen minutes. And I had a car
which I could use on wet or windy days. Twenty-two miles is about the
regular commuting limit for a fit serious cyclist with a good road
bike. It isn't even remotely feasible for an unfit person on a cheap
imitation of a mountain bike, with or without electric assist.

--
[email hidden] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

;; Diplomacy, American: see Intelligence, Military

Quoted message said:

I could be wrong

I suspect you're not Simon....

Perhaps the OP would benefit from investing the funds they might have spent
on the electric motor on a lighter more raod-oriented machine?

Simon Brooke said:

I could be wrong, but I'm deeply suspicious that these units mean more
work, not less. Because when the battery dies (and it will) you've got
a heavy battery and a useless motor to lug up every hill, as well as
the bike.

I don't know this particular system but there are some good electric
assist systems out there, and recently some good electric powered bikes
such as the Giant Lafree. The best place to read up about them is AtoB
- http://www.atob.org.uk/. It has some comments on the Curry which it
describes as technically illegal and brute power without endurance.

Have a look at the Heinzmann systems instead on the Kinetics site -
http://www.kinetics-online.co.uk/html/electric_bikes.shtml
They are much better than the Curry and can recharge in 2 hours for the
journey home. Overall though by the time you've converted you might be
better off keeping the mountain bike a mountain bike and buying a Lafree.

Tony