Photomap

[Image taken 25.1.22] Rail station, York. [Note: No street view at this location.] This cycle caught my eye as I pedalled past. It was still on the top layer of the two-storey storage racks (see: #170490) but… the person approaching it had aimed his key fob at is, as you do with a car, and… the front and rear lights had come on. There is also a further (green) light but the owner has obscured this perhaps to make it less obvious this is an e-cycle (and high value). The owner explained it is made by a company in Tallinn, Estonia, called Ampler, (amplerbikes.com/en/e-bikes. The owner guessed it weighed around 14kg. So it’s likely the Curt (amplerbikes.com/en/e-bikes/curt). It’s no heavier than my touring cycle. But all the tech is integral – the lights, the locking, the battery. So less stuff to have to carry around separately and, in my case as my frame is very small and I don’t have an exposed seat post, to find a way to transport. Less stuff to get nicked or vandalised, damaged or broken during daily use such as while parking it. This seems to me a huge plus for a cycle design. A further point worth making is that I’d put the male owner as in his late 20s or early 30s, and professional. Mobility issue was not the reason for choosing a e-cycle. E-cycles with smart tech are attractive and practical. This means the trope of owners being older, less fit or mobility impaired needs to be dropped. Another reason why the choice of rail operators such as LNER and TPE to buy a design of train that requires people to upend a cycle and lift it onto a hook if taking it on a train is so out of date. If this owner wants to travel with his child and the one on the way in a trailer, or on his cycle, he won’t be able to take the train. And, given how important fitness is to many people who cycle of all ages, potentially damaging your back due to the need to manoeuvre a cycle onto a hook (see: #173797) in a very limited space (see: #173798), is not going to appeal. Two of the designs specify “Rear carrier and trailer compatibility”. Frustratingly I see I am too short for this range of cycles. The owner wanted a Van Moof but the waiting time was 3 months. For the Ampler it was a couple of weeks. Other e-cycle today: #178199 and links.