A Change of Pace

How we Came to Electrify Our Cycling

Barry and Margaret Williamson

Igoumenitsa
Northern Greece

January 2019

Barry has been cycling for 70 years and Margaret for 54, sharing the road for the last 30 or more of those eventful years. Our rides have taken us round the world, across Australia, the length and breadth of New Zealand, across the USA twice (see left, Barry at Key West) and across Europe (east and west) several times, cycling in every European country as well as Turkey, Israel, the Palestinian Territories, Tunisia, Morocco – and India. We have made multiple crossings of the Alps, the Pyrenees, the Rockies, the New Zealand Alps and Australia's Great Dividing Range. Full details of these rides are among over a hundred cycling articles on our website MagBazTravels.

On these journeys we have always ridden traditional English Touring Bicycles, unique in the world in their specialised function and design. Taking heavy loads with five bags each (see Margaret in the New Zealand Alps, on the right and below) the bikes retain the stability, energy efficiency and sprightliness that makes light of long days in the (Brooks Leather) saddle. The characteristics of the bicycles come from the largest of wheels (700 mm or 28”), a light but strong steel frame, long wheelbase, clearance for mudguards, relaxed geometry, up to 30 wide-ranging gears (3x10 derailleur), wide drop handlebars (offering 5 different positions for the hands), toes clips and straps (for sturdy shoes which are also OK for walking), 3 cages each for a 750cc water bottle, high pressure German Schwalbe Marathon Plus Tour tyres (at 80 psi and puncture proof) and above all the optimum geometry for the three points of contact – feet, seat and hands.

The long-distance touring bike can be compared with the horse that carries loads on its back for long distances – for mail, for urgent supplies, for cowboys – with speed, stamina, sturdiness, strength, reliability and willingness. Contrast the skittish racehorse (the racing bike), plodding carthorse (the fat-tired (sic) mountain bike), the hunter good at jumping (the BMX) or the tame pet pony (the shopping bike). The folding bike might fit into the boot of a car, but we don't know how it fits into this extended metaphor.

At a typical 0.15 calories per gram per kilometre, the touring bicycle is the most energy efficient means of movement of any animal, fish, bird or any other human invention. For a 70 kg cyclist on a 15 kg bicycle, this adds up to about 50 kJ for a 16-km (10-mile) ride: a single 5 gm square of Cadbury's milk chocolate provides 110 kJ! For the same energy requirement, a good touring bike gives a factor of 4 compared with walking: for example, a typical cycling day of 60 miles is equivalent to a 15-mile walk and a 100-mile ride is equal to a walking marathon. Regrettably, the power required for the cyclist to overcome wind resistance rises as the cube of the relative wind speed, making patience an essential virtue! On the other hand, we crossed South Australia's 750-mile wide Nullarbor Plain (above) in 12 days, thanks to a good westerly wind.

For many years we rode touring bicycles made for us in Sheffield by a couple of ex-steel workers, appropriately called M & B Cycles (started by Andy Middlemiss and Vernon Barker in 1979). For a number of years they were serviced and maintained by Paul Hewitt at his excellent shop and workshop in Leyland (Paul's wheel-building is acclaimed by Sir Bradley Wiggins). British industry's loss was our gain. In 2007, Paul built two of his Cheviot SE touring bikes (Barry's bike above) to our specifications, based on measurements taken on his bicycle-simulating jig, and they have served us very well for over 10 years to the present day.

However, this winter freshly arrived in Greece and faced with its cyclists' dream-world of endless empty roads linking networks of remote mountain villages, we began to consider many of the developments in cycling design over recent years. In no particular order, the following list of 28 new-to-us features is the result of these ruminations:

 What could we do about these missed developments, at this late stage in our cycling lives? The process began when we wrote to Paul Hewitt: '. . . . we never thought that we would write this email, but . . . . .' and it ended when we returned to Greece a month later with one Volt Infinity Shimano STEPS Electric Bike and one Volt Infinity LS Shimano STEPS Electric Bike. On the left, our first sight of the new bikes in Paul's shop.

The bicycles vary only in size and both contain all 28 of the features listed above. We have also each retained essentials such as 700mm wheels and Schwalbe Marathon Plus Tour 35C tyres, mudguards, bottle cage, bell (essential on cycle paths), mirror, frame-fitting pump, handlebar and rear pannier bags, toe clips and straps.

The electric motor helps to turn the cranks but it doesn't start work until the cranks are first turned by the cyclist and the harder the cyclist pedals, the more power the motor provides. In addition to 'off', the motor's maximum power can be selected from 3 levels: Eco, Normal or High. By EU/UK law (except in Northern Ireland), the motor is limited to a maximum of 250 Watts and it must cut out automatically above a road speed of 15.5 mph (25 km/h).

After our first 250 miles (400 km) on the bicycles in Greece, we have climbed 14 hills with a total height gained of 8,000 ft (2400 m) and we have only recharged the half-used batteries twice (equivalent to one full charge). The batteries are rated at 408 Watt-hours, so this gives a total energy usage of (at most) half a kilowatt hour* for each bicycle. This is the measurement of the assistance given on the hill climbs, and yet that small flow of energy has transformed our riding giving a greater range, wider scope and more enjoyment.

* Half a kilowatt-hour of electricity would cost about 8p in the UK (£0.08 or €0.07) which is less than 5% of the average daily household consumption of electricity. 

The paradox (a good Greek word) is that the presence of the motor and battery is an incentive to save it, by not using it or by doing so on the lowest setting. 

So far we have found the Eco mode more than adequate to turn hills from a pain into a pleasure. It's a revelation that we can have the extra power in hand when needed, while still being completely in control of how much fitter we want to become. Rather than needing to get fit before tackling long strenuous rides, we get fit while undertaking even longer more strenuous journeys!

To write that this has re-invigorated, re-invented and re-freshed our joy in cycling is putting it mildly: there are many more words still waiting in the dictionary that we could use, all beginning with 're'. Our traditional touring bicycles are at ease in a lock-up garage on the outskirts of Blackpool, waiting to see if we change our minds and re-turn (a word we are unlikely to use).

On the left, Margaret's first ride on the new bike on returning to Greece. 

The most thorough review of the bikes that we know can be found at: https://www.stuff.tv/volt/infinity/review

Finally, here on the right is an image of the two bicycles in the garage of our Carado motorhome on their 950-mile journey from England to Greece via the P&O overnight ferry from Hull to Zeebrugge, and the Minoan overnight ferry from Ancona on Italy's Adriatic coast to Igoumenitsa near Greece's border with Albania.

See more images of the bicycles, including some close-ups, at:

http://www.magbazpictures.com/volt-shimano-bicycles.html