A Jolly Good Machine!

I read with interest your comments about the Giant LAFree Lite electric bicycle. A few days after reading your review, I stumbled upon a chance to test one. It proved to be everything you said it was.The bike is a revelation. It was indeed almost completely silent, and my best estimate is that the pedelec motor arrangement did about two-thirds of the work of moving bicycle and rider.

At the same time, I tested one of the Sport models, and the difference in handling was dramatic.The Sport model (and others of its weight class) rides like a moped; the Lite model rides like a bicycle.The light weight of the bike and battery opens up a new world for the long-range rider. For longer range, carry a spare NiMH battery.This is not a serious option with a heavy lead-acid battery, but it is perfectly reasonable with the battery pack of the Lite model.

Thanks to your review, I have seen the future of the electric bicycle. It provides a quiet, easy and sweat-free ride.Your comments were spot on, as usual.

Martin Snelus
Torrance, California

The US cycle trade has interpreted the Giant electric brand as ‘L.A.Free’, whereas Europe insists on ‘Lafree’. The Sport model seems to be known here as the E-Trans or E-Race. (Eds)

Bottom Preload

I think your review of the Giant Lafree is unfair and incorrect in the comments on suspension seat posts: ‘…the saddle to crank distance varies as you ride…’ and ‘There’s no easy answer, other than fitting a proper suspension system.’

It is important to set the preload to about equal to the rider’s weight so that when you sit on it there is little if any deflection. It appears that the seat post on the Giant Lafree (and the Powabyke Commuter) had little if any preload and when the rider sat on the saddle the seat post moved down quite a bit and he was in effect sitting on pogo stick.This would give a wallowy ride with varying saddle to crank distance and, as your reviewer found, make stopping at traffic lights a hazardous and uncomfortable experience as well as making pedalling inefficient.

A suspension seat post can give most of the advantages of rear suspension without its major disadvantage – the bouncing when riding out of the saddle. Neither the seat post nor rear suspension accommodates high frequency irregularities in the road surface – the annular pneumatic suspension deals with these, together with the padding in your pants.

Mike Lenton
Kirkby-in-Furness, Cumbria

Quite so. Our escape clause on these occasions, is that we always adjust bikes as prescribed in the manual. Giant doesn’t put any information in its manual because the bikes come with a leaflet from Post Moderne (ours didn’t). Powabyke says nothing because its older seat posts are non- adjustable.This has now changed, and Powabyke says the manual will be updated. (Incidentally, don’t try unscrewing the plate under the seat pin on older Powabykes, or the spring will fly out).

The disadvantage with preload, of course, is that a given setting will only work properly for people of similar weight, and the abrupt travel stop on rebound can be annoying. Post Moderne suggests adjusting for a fairly large static deflection of 10-15mm, out of 40mm travel.The company also provides springs of three different rates for fine-tuning. (Eds)

Easy on Auto Lights!

I normally respect the technical aspects of your reviews but it seems you are still in the dark about lights – namely the operation of the Nexus hub dynamo (unless you were sent a duff). I recently fitted an identical system and can report that it works perfectly. I leave the switch on auto all the time and it comes on ‘like magic’ as it should, in any low light conditions – it does not need to be very dark.The only thing you cannot do is switch between modes while moving. However, once set to ‘Auto’ while stationary there’s really no need to ever fiddle with it again. I’m very pleased with mine and recently completed a 10- hour night ride, running the dynamo continuously without any problems. Drag seems much less than with a rim dynamo.

David Kemp
Woodbridge, Suffolk

Auto Conundrums

You commented in A to B 31 that the Lumotec light did not come on under trees/twilight. I have one fitted with the SON hub dynamo, and whilst the instructions were unclear, I found that it has worked very satisfactorily.The problem I have found is getting the rear light to work – I suspect earth connections.The rear light is powered from the SON hub through the Lumotec front light, but I have only used the live wire.

It took me a while to work it all out.There is a switch on the headlamp – ‘S’ is for ‘Sensor ON’ and ‘1’ is ‘Always ON’. So in theory you should always have your lights on when they are needed. It was only after a while that I realised the Lumotec rear light came on automatically too, and I am guessing that when the connection is fixed it should come on at the same time as the front light.

Adrian L Mills
Walton-on-Thames

Readers may recall that our unit worked well, but failed to switch on at dusk unless you stopped and restarting. It turns out that the Comfort (and any other bike fitted with the Nexus automatic hub dynamo and automatic Lumotec lamps) has light sensors on the dynamo switch and the lamp, but one is redundant.With no information as to the meaning of ‘S’ and ‘1’, we used the Nexus sensor switch, which didn’t work too well. But leave the Nexus ‘ON’, and the Lumotec at ‘S’ and everything works perfectly… If you’re buying one of these automatic systems, we’d suggest matching the Lumotec with a non-sensor hub, or the Nexus hub with a non-sensor lamp.

With Adrian’s system (non-sensing hub, but sensor front light and ‘slave’ rear light) a power feed should run to the rear lamp from ‘downstream’ of the sensor – the terminals are under the lamp. In this way, front and rear lights should switch on and off together. (Eds)

Engineered for Safety?

Regarding car ads (Mole, A to B 31), I saw one a couple of weeks ago for a Mercedes, suggesting that the car was ‘better than walking’. I sent a note to the Advertising Standards Authority explaining why it isn’t… I’ve only had an acknowledgement back so far.

I’m not sure about motor manufacturers realising that improved safety features get cancelled out by changed driving practice, as you suggest in the Giant review (A to B 31, page 25). I believe it (and it’s my job to calculate its effect), but I know other safety engineers who deny it. One Swedish engineer I worked with summed it up as ‘Volvo drivers are maniacs’. It’s well explained in Robert Davies’ Death on the Streets and Risk by John Adams.

Peter Stanton
Northampton

New stock? Never!

New sleeper train guards vans (A to B 31, page 14)? Not likely! When these are scrapped, that’ll be the end.They were recently refurbished and should last as long as the sleeper carriages themselves.

As for 12-tooth sprockets (page 17), we have used one on a Brompton for many years, without problems.That said, we used Shimano Dura-Ace, although filing off the splines was very hard work.

Finally,V-brakes (page 21). Perfectly adequate? You testers may not live with most bikes long enough to wear the rims out, but some of us do! And more energy going into the bike means more has to be taken out by the brakes. If an electric bike is used as you advocate – 30 mile round trip commuting – it will see lots of rim wear. Even on a Dawes Galaxy, the rims fail before the tyres now.

David Edge
Derby

We’ve now done 500 hard miles with a 12-tooth sprocket without a hint of trouble.We take the point about rim wear, particularly with a fast and fairly heavy commuter machine like the Comfort, although we’ve heard that Shimano roller brakes can be less than reliable in the long run. Good old drum brakes are still the best choice, but discs are getting lighter and cheaper all the time. (Eds)

Like That Bike!

We bought a secondhand Like-a-Bike through your small ads. It arrived on Thursday afternoon and by Tuesday afternoon our four year old could ride her own bike – built in obsolescence! We have since lent it to various friends.

Catherine Girvan
Worcester

These little pedal-less bikes are a great learning aid, and fun too. At 21/2, Alexander very quickly mastered balance on a Like-a-Bike, despite having lost all confidence on a conventional bike with stabilisers. Eight months later, he rode straight off when placed on an ordinary bike. Now aged 31/2, he’s quite proficient, and proof enough for us that the system works.

We couldn’t sell our Like-a-Bike – it’s become a much loved family heirloom. (Eds)

Unnatural Desires

I have an irrational desire to own a recumbent and I like the idea of being able to convert my T5 Brompton, if only so I can convert it back if it proves to be a bad idea.The web site address I have isn’t supported any longer and I wonder if you have any up to date contact information for the manufacturer or an importer? I thought you had reviewed it in A to B but can’t find the item.

Secondly, I have had a reliability problem with the Basta rear standlight fitted as an upgrade to my Brompton.As the dark nights are drawing on I took it to pieces and found on close examination of the batteries that they are alkaline not rechargeables (as I had thought). Fitting a new set of long life batteries seems to have solved the problem. I mention this as others may be having similar problems and it could be a cheap and easy solution.

Paul Denyer
Portsmouth

The Brompton recumbent kit is still produced in Germany by Juliane Neuß. Juliane can be emailed at , but Bikefix (Lamb’s Conduit Street, London, tel: 0207 405 1218) usually has a demonstrator available.We reviewed the kit in A to B 8, and great fun it was too. The Basta Standlight is a hybrid dynamo/battery rear lamp giving the best of both worlds – plenty of light underway, but remaining on for four minutes when stationary too.The batteries should last for years, but Brompton says a few early lamps were faulty, and yours could be one of these.We’d recommend a visit to your dealer. (Eds)

Any hub info?

Can you give me a few handy tips, or guide me to where in your esteemed publication you have mentioned adjustment of hubs other than the Sturmey 3-speed. And could you explain why the Brompton should not be adjusted ‘on it’s haunches’ – why not do it upside down? Finally, if money was no object would you buy a Rohloff hub? Are you still happy with your crank-mounted Speed-Drive system?

Mark James
Edinburgh

There really is very little consumer information on this subject (see below), so it’s high time we tackled hub gear adjustment – one for Professor Pivot. As for the Brompton, when the rear wheel is folded under the bike, the cables are pulled tight, making a nonsense of any adjustment. And if the bike is upside down, the shifter may be slightly depressed, giving similar results.With the 5-speed in particular, the only sure answer is to adjust the hub in the ready-to-ride position, then grovel about on the ground, or use a small mirror to check the indicator position.

No, we wouldn’t buy a Rohloff – we’re delighted with the Speed-Drive and the wide-range Brompton 2×3, both of which give adequate gear range for a lot less money and trouble. (Eds)

Ditto

Can you tell me how I can get instruction manuals for bicycles, similar to the Haynes manuals for cars? Alternatively, do firms like Shimano and Sturmey Archer supply maintenance/overhaul literature?

Kenneth Smith
Ulverstone, Cumbria

Haynes does produce a bicycle book (‘The Bike Book’, Fred Milson, £14.50).We haven’t seen it, although we understand it has just been reprinted. Otherwise, the best general guide book these days is Richard’s Bicycle Book (ISBN 0 330 37717 5).

For hub gears and older bicycles, the ‘Reader’s Digest Home Maintenance Manual’ (ISBN 027 6000 064), was published for about twelve years from 1972, and includes a superbly illustrated bicycle chapter.This was published on it’s own from 1974 as a paperback: ‘The Reader’s Digest Guide to Bicycle Repairs’ (ISBN 027 6000 722), but went out of print long ago.

Both Shimano and Sturmey Archer can supply information sheets, but they’re designed for professional workshop staff and can be hard going… Although we say it ourselves, we dealt with day-to-day maintenance of Sturmey 3 and 5-speed hubs rather well in A to B 23. (Eds)

The Final Word

In which you get your say… briefly

Gloriously unglamorous . Pithy, pungent, progressive and perfect . An absolute gem The best . An information magazine par excellence! Entertaining and much needed A beautiful magazine .A treat waiting to be read . Extremely interesting . Still a great read Excellent read . A very interesting read . I read it cover to cover – even the technical bits An instant read on arrival . Good value for money . Full of intelligent comment without a surfeit of jargon . I am not too excited about electric bikes, but that could change The only reliable resource for railway information . Don’t change the content, style or format Priority to bike tests, please . Fab! Please review the Birdy Green . I’m interested in tricycles Like news on what politicians are doing . Keep up the quality reviews and political comments Too political and serious recently . Historical articles would be nice . More general articles More news, less nudes please . [The nude], Issue 31, page 5 is not acceptable, but don’t take me off your mailing list . Please do not publish this comment . Knows its stuff – serious soul I could pop my clogs soon, but must subscribe for another two years . Occasionally incomprehensible to post-colonials . Get the feeling you’re fighting a losing battle? [No]