Photo's of Bikes with Regenerative Braking

The battery bike photos I posted in the last blog appear to be the same bike twice - I wonder how I managed that? Here they are again this time hopefully I've got it right.

Regenerative Braking Experience

Battery Bikes Ride Out!

We (Ralph and I) were holding the fort at the showroom in Lincolnshire on Friday and Saturday, it made a nice change to be there to see customers at base rather than out in a field at a show. Nice too to meet customers that said that they read the Blog, it's good to know that you're out there.

When we closed up on Friday the sun was shining and it was shaping up to be a great evening for a ride on an e bike so we took the opportunity to take a Granite and Diamond out to Marton Hill to give the regenerative braking the once over. I had been doing all the distance testing but had left the others to work with the regen. so it was good to get the chance of some hill work.

Regenerative braking works by making the motor act as a brake, the energy created using the momentum of the downward journey puts power back into the battery.

We took the demo's out of the showroom and set off, I had my trusty GPS strapped to the handlebars showing that we were doing a very respectable 15mph, even with the head wind, as we rode out to the level crossing. The long drag up to the top of the hill past the school posed no problems, this is not a steep hill but a one mile drag that really takes it out on your legs when you're not on a battery bike.

Wizzing over the brow of the hill at 15mph does seem a little mad as you start the descent...I'm usually a little more cautious on hills being rather accident prone...but I started to back pedal (no pressure, just rotation) to initiate the regenerative braking mode, the motor braking cut in very smoothly and my descent was very controlled, as the ground leveled out I started to pedal normally and the assistance cut back in again just as smoothly. I had survived the hill with no drama at all!

Now it was time to go back up the hill - 1 in 10 steepening to 1 in 8 - I know this is not a huge hill compared to other counties but the sharp kick at the top can be quite interesting. I set off in top gear (7) on power level 3 (out of 4) I thought that I would have to change down towards the top, but no, I made it all the way....

So just the drag down to the level crossing and then another drag back up to the showroom, the sun was still shining, it was a lovely evening and a very enjoyable ride, only one thing left to do - repair to the local hostelry for a spot of dinner.

Battery Bikes at the Western Motorhome Show

The weather has been mixed here at Malvern but the reception for our battery bikes has been warm. The Western Motorhome Show is a themed event with a re-enactment village from the American mid west so there are many visitors dressed in period costume. I was delighted to photograph a well dressed couple with our Mercury bike.

There was also the oportunity to meet up with some of our past happy cutomers and discuss the finer points of out new models.

Batribike Test Route from the Air!

Just over a week ago I was lucky enough to go up in a hot air balloon. The flight path took us over my battery bike test route and I was able to get some photos.

1) 2)

In the top right of number 1 is the lake where I often see the water fowl, travelling along the tree line I pass the single white house (marble corner). In the bottom left corner is the Animal Care Unit of the college.

Number 2 has a closer view of the buildings.