new wheel for converting your bike to an e-bike

As both Pierre and I wrote after Stockholm Bike Expo, e-bikes are all the rage. But what if you already have a bike you love, don’t want / can’t afford to shell out for another but like the idea of an e-bike?

Well maybe the FlyKly wheel could be the answer to your problems. An electric wheel that you can attach to pretty much any bike. Not only that but you can also control it via your smart phone to lock it and track it if stolen (you should know why I’m in favour of that!)

FlyKly Smart Wheel

I still don’t see myself as an e-bike owner and, at the moment, it’s at the Kick Starter stage but it’s a fantastic idea that deserves to get some support. Watch their Kick Starter pitch here.

bike basket lid

By going to a bike expo you probably couldn’t tell that the largest cycling crowd out there just wants to go from point A to point B and has no or very little interest in carbon frames, electronic shifting and power meters. Too few manufacturers try to innovate and spend time and money on designing accessories for casual riders. So when I saw the bike basketlid booth at Sweden Bike Expo and after I talked to guys for a couple of minutes I knew I had to write about their fantastic product.

The bike basketlid is the modern storage solution for active bikers and can easily be fitted on to any bicycle model. It has an easy open and close lid equipped with a lock that enables you to leave your belongings in the basket.

The bike basketlid is (surprise! surprise!) a basket with a lid that can be locked. The idea and realisation is so simple that one could wonder why bicycles (the ones with a basket) aren’t equipped with such a thing already.

And, the company behind the product being Swedish (Solna), I could not leave Sweden Bike Expo behind without mentioning this brilliant accessory. The wife already loves it and she’ll be a first adopter, for sure. For more information, feel free to visit their website or Facebook page.

Electric bikes just got a lot more attractive

Let’s be clear: many people won’t agree with me but I simply don’t see a valid reason why a healthy person (and by that I mean anyone with two legs and a pumping heart) would ride an electric bicycle (or any other electric-assisted machine for that matter).

I just don’t buy made up excuses that usually come in a discussion about electric bikes and often include “sweat” or “green”. What’s the point in riding a bicycle if you are not cool with the fact that you might sweat? What’s the point in riding a bicycle because it’s green but do it with the help of a motor and a not so environment friendly battery attached to the rack? Yes. You get the point. There’s absolutely no reason you should be riding an electric bike when you could ride a regular bike. So just get a mopped already.

On the other hand some people can’t ride bicycles without assistance (for real) and they were, until now, left with pretty much only ugly solutions: take a bike, add a battery and a special hub. Done. The tank is ready to drive.

There were lots of e-bikes at Sweden Bike Expo this year and one manufacturer (Pro-Movec) really got my attention as they were the only one offering electric bicycles that actually did look great ! Here is one of their city models: Breeze.

Promovec Breeze

And that’s how you make a battery almost disappear. Simple and elegant.

Promovec Breeze

Breeze – with LED display
250W Motor with 3 year warranty
7 speed gear, Shimano Nexus
Coaster brake
LED display
5 assist levels; walk-assist up to 5 km/h
Panasonic Li-ION battery, detachable
9AH x 36V = 324 watt hours
Charge time approx. 7 hours
Weight 20 kg excl. battery
Battery weight 2 kg
Size 28″ (48 cm)
Range up to 100 km

Nice to see some effort being put into making electric bicycles look nicer. Hope next year will bring its share of innovative ideas so the electric bicycle as we know it today is history. What do you think? Does the Breeze look nice to you? Does it look better than e-bikes you’ve seen so far?

Sweden Bike Expo 2013

Over the weekend I spent a few hours at Sweden Bike Expo at Kistamässan in Stockholm. As you would expect there were big stands for the big names including Shimano, Scott, Nishiki and Cannondale, some local interest groups such as cycle clubs and political organisations who plan to improve cycling around Sweden and then the obligatory sellers of gear that you didn’t know existed or didn’t need to replace but now absolutely must have!

After a quick walk through the hall I then tried to narrow down what I actually wanted to look at. Since my bike has been stolen (again) I need a new one so had a look at a few people who had hybrids within my fairly modest budget. There was always either something I didn’t like about the bike or it was slightly too expensive. I homed in on a Nishiki but the bike was 600SEK over my budget and then I’d need to buy lights, a decent lock etc on top of that so I decided not to go for it.

For years I have been sporting a very nice pair of Specialized gloves while cycling. If I’m honest though I only had them cos I thought they looked flash. Then I started cycling more seriously and, one rainy day, forgot my gloves. Then I realised just how much use they were. They’re getting a little old (about 15 years) and, worse still, they don’t match my current gear, the horror! I had a look around and found a pair that fit nicely, felt good and were really clever. I’ve always had trouble getting my gloves off cos they’re tight and stick to my sweaty hands. These ones had little pulls between the fingers so you can just tug them off. Simple yet effective. Did I buy them? No. The bank seems to think I have to have money in my account before they allow me to spend any.

That Nishiki really was nice. And only a little over budget. Maybe just one more quick look.

The most popular thing seemed to be electric bikes. My friend was interested in getting one so we had a look at a few. While I’m sure they are all very cool in their own little ways, a large number had to be immediately removed from consideration. They were so damn ugly and I’m sorry but I’m never going to buy a bike that is just ugly. Others were fine looking bikes until you put the battery on. It seems that the battery had to be as obvious as possible so you could say, “Look at me, I have an e-bike. Look how green I am.” Others though had really clever solutions. One had a very old fashioned style leather saddle bag which gracefully concealed the battery with just a few wires giving the game away. Others had them mounted inside the frame tubes. We gave one a try and for the first three seconds of pedalling I was entirely unimpressed. It was heavy and oh so slow. Then the support motor kicked in and the bike shot off down the tiny test track. I managed to avoid the children who were trying electric scooters and handbikes (I’m sure all of them were serious customers) and hung on for a couple of laps. I have to say, I’m sold. Since I’m using cycling as a way to get more exercise and lose some waist, I’ll stick to my unassisted pedalling but if you just want an easier commute, I can highly recommend it as long as your destination is within the bike’s range!

e-bike

Oh just one more look at that Nishiki…

We looked at a bit more equipment that I absolutely needed but the bank manager was still saying no. Then I found the most fantastic helmet for my son, said, “Stuff the bank manager!” and nicked some money from our savings to buy this…

Shark helmet

Like his dad, my son is a little mental and I think he’ll love this. The only bad thing was they didn’t have them in my size.

One final look at that Nishiki?

No, I must resist. Quick, get me out of here before I do something my wife will regret…

All in all I was pretty impressed with Stockholm Bike Expo. They had a lot of interesting stuff and while a lot of it was aimed at the serious cyclist, there was enough to keep a hobby cyclist interested too. If anything was missing then it was actual bike shops selling bikes. A lot of the manufacturer stands had bikes on show with prices but I was never sure which were and were not for sale there and then. Maybe your local bike shop can’t afford a stand at an expo like this (it’s not cheap) but surely the Sportsons, Cyklotekets and Cykel Citys of this pedal-powered world could? I’ll be back next year. Let’s see if any of them listen to me…

Sweden Bike Expo, Stockholm

I don’t really know what I was expecting from Sweden Bike Expo (a bicycle fair in Stockholm) apart from having a nice time with a couple of friends but in retrospect I must say I was a bit disappointed.

I knew I was going to see bikes, lots of bikes and there were bikes, lots of bikes. Lots of racers and mountain bikes and very few alternatives but one cargo bike, a couple of single speeds, 3 “Dutch bikes” (yes, three), some electric bikes and – maybe it was well hidden and I missed the stand – no cyclo-cross.

Sweden Bike Expo, Stockholm

When you go to a bike fair you must be prepared to see bikes – no doubt about that – but I guess I was looking forward to discovering “new things”, some cool accessories and smaller brands than Trek, Corratec & Scott. To simply put it I was looking forward to seeing things that are not all over the magazines. Some “out of the ordinary bike porn” would have been very appreciated and I certainly did not go to Sweden Bike Expo to buy lycra clothing and tires on sale (the sales area was surprisingly the most popular part of the fair it seems).

But I did find one interesting accessory: the Tacx Lumos. It’s probably not a new concept and might have been around for a while but I’d never seen it before. The Tacx Lumos are basically drop bar caps that replace regular caps but provide better visibility thanks to the back/red & front/white LED lights they are.

Tacx Lumos

Since I don’t ride a racer I haven’t tried them myself but it’s an interesting and rather non-intrusive piece of safety on a commuter bike (if you commute with drop handlebars that is).

Don’t get me wrong though. I was a bit disappointed but I still enjoyed the fair and good company. It was a well spend Saturday morning in November Stockholm and I even got a brand new ice scraper! Seriously? Ice scrappers for goodies on a bicycle fair?