"dgk" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 11 Jan 2011 12:37:15 +1300, "Fred"
wrote:

I think I might add an electric bike to my collection of trusty and rusty
two wheelers. . They look like a bit of fun with a practical use. Am
looking at the Trek sprint 7 or the Wisper 905. Anyone know much about
these
things? Or any other brands?


I don't know anything about a Trek Sprint 7, but I have the Valencia+
- just went past 3000 miles. The only problem I've had is breaking
spokes on that rear wheel with the hub motor. I'm supposed to get the
wheel rebuilt on Wednesday but a snowstorm will likely kill that for a
bit.

The bike makes the commute massively easier to deal with. No throttle
so it isn't a cheap motorcycle - well, at $2500 it isn't cheap at all.
But when I hit those big hills or nasty headwinds, I turn on 25-50%
assist and my knees sigh with relief.

Several years ago I bought a studded tire for winter riding but the
rolling resistance was so insane that I never used it. It's now on the
front of the Valencia because if I just leave the bike on 25% assist
it wipes out the rolling resistance (and a bit more I would think).

I went for the commuter type bike; lots of other folks seem to want
ebikes for greater speed (ie, over 25). By law most US states limit
ebikes to 20 mph. Those are considered to be bikes rather than motor
vehicles. Non-pedal things that look like bikes but go 20 mph aren't
bikes in my humble opinion.

If you want good info on ebikes, try

http://www.bikeforums.net/forumdispl...Electric-Bikes

or almost any forum here

http://endless-sphere.com/forums/

Thanks for interesting reply. Sorry but had my brain switched off. The
models I meant were the Wisper and the Ezee sprint 7 (not Trek). This might
be similar to the Valencia. I'm in New Zealand, and they are not common in
my city. These seem to be the best two available. Will have a look through
the site you sent.