Spotted an older R&M in Switzerland

[sammcneill]

I’m on holiday and in Lausanne today (a long way from New Zealand!) and I’ve been impressed with the number of e-bikes kitted out for carrying young kids around.

I saw this one today - I don’t even recognise the model?!

I’m enjoying Lausanne - looking out over Lake Geneva this morning and the first real sun I’ve seen in nearly 20 days in Europe.

I did miss riding my bike so much in London i couldn’t resist hiring a Lime eBike and going to check out Westminster Abbey - the cycle lanes in London were impressive!

I also saw this beast in London - loved the belt drive!

Wishing everyone a happy new year

Sam

 

[Stefan Mikes]

I saw this one today - I don’t even recognise the model?!

Must be an old one. Note the microscopic chainring that denotes an early generation of the Bosch motor.

I did miss riding my bike so much in London i couldn’t resist hiring a Lime eBike

I rode a Lime e-bike in London last December and was not impressed with the thing at all A heavy, badly maneuverable vehicle. I preferred a traditional Santander bicycle far more!

the cycle lanes in London were impressive!

I totally agree! Do you also have the left-hand traffic down in NZ too?

I also saw this beast in London - loved the belt drive!

Did you notice a total lack of premium e-bikes on the streets of London?

You may want to read my own impressions from the recent trip
London by e-bike, hike, and a bicycle

 

[sammcneill]

Must be an old one. Note the microscopic chainring that denotes an early generation of the Bosch motor.


I rode a Lime e-bike in London last December and was not impressed with the thing at all A heavy, badly maneuverable vehicle. I preferred a traditional Santander bicycle far more!


I totally agree! Do you also have the left-hand traffic down in NZ too?


Did you notice a total lack of premium e-bikes on the streets of London?

You may want to read my own impressions from the recent trip
London by e-bike, hike, and a bicycle

Hey @Stefan Mikes

Great read of your time in London - I visited many of those places too.

We have Lime e-bikes in NZ but I never rode one before as I’ve got my own ones to ride. They are clunky but got me on a bike and having fun.

We do ride on left hand side in NZ so it was very intuitive for me. We are only starting
To have dual direction cycle lanes on the same side of the road in NZ - I’m not a fan of biking “the wrong way” in a cycle lane… will take some getting used to but I can see how it’s far more efficient to build a single cycle line on one side of the road that is bidirectional.

I didn’t see any premium e-bikes - as your write up said mostly being ridden by food couriers / delivery guys. Cheap and often retro wheel hub conversion kits.

Quite different in Lausanne where I’ve seen a bunch of R&M (including someone wheeling one onto the train this morning) and all I’ve seen a lot of cargo bikes here.

Lastly; Lausanne has by far had the most e-bikes set up to carry young kids on the back - made by heart sing to see parents here riding around with their kids!

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Quite different in Lausanne where I’ve seen a bunch of R&M (including someone wheeling one onto the train this morning) and all I’ve seen a lot of cargo bikes here.

An interesting observation! I hardly know Switzerland as my only visit to the country meant a night driving a car, and that was a long time ago.

You might find this map of London interesting:

Green dots are Santander bike rental stations. As you can see, there is a big blank area of South London (Brixton, Peckham, Lewisham...) The interpretation is: "a high crime area". You would not risk leaving your private (or even rented) bike there!

Did you spend your 20 days in Switzerland and London only?

 

[sammcneill]

An interesting observation! I hardly know Switzerland as my only visit to the country meant a night driving a car, and that was a long time ago.

You might find this map of London interesting:
View attachment 169064
Green dots are Santander bike rental stations. As you can see, there is a big blank area of South London (Brixton, Peckham, Lewisham...) The interpretation is: "a high crime area". You would not risk leaving your private (or even rented) bike there!

Did you spend your 20 days in Switzerland and London only?

Nope, been all over the place.
My daughter did a semester in Glasgow and I was picking her up from there, so we have been:
Scotland: Glasgow, St Andrew’s, Edinburgh
Ireland: Dublin
Northern Ireland: Ballyclare, Giants Causeway, Belfast
England: London
France: Paris
Switzerland: Lausanne (on way to Zurich on train now but just for 5hrs or so)
Germany: Munch, Frankfurt (next four days)

Home to New Zealand next Wednesday ….

 

[Jay Kay]

Hey @Stefan Mikes

Great read of your time in London - I visited many of those places too.

We have Lime e-bikes in NZ but I never rode one before as I’ve got my own ones to ride. They are clunky but got me on a bike and having fun.

We do ride on left hand side in NZ so it was very intuitive for me. We are only starting
To have dual direction cycle lanes on the same side of the road in NZ - I’m not a fan of biking “the wrong way” in a cycle lane… will take some getting used to but I can see how it’s far more efficient to build a single cycle line on one side of the road that is bidirectional.

I didn’t see any premium e-bikes - as your write up said mostly being ridden by food couriers / delivery guys. Cheap and often retro wheel hub conversion kits.

Quite different in Lausanne where I’ve seen a bunch of R&M (including someone wheeling one onto the train this morning) and all I’ve seen a lot of cargo bikes here.

Lastly; Lausanne has by far had the most e-bikes set up to carry young kids on the back - made by heart sing to see parents here riding around with their kids!

Hi Sam,

looks like a great trip. Isn’t Switzerland crazy expensive!

We were there in June (30 deg sunny days In afraid), as well as Amsterdam, and if you haven’t been in a city FULL of cyclists that makes your heart sing you must try and get there sometime. We were having pre dinner drinks and these haut culture women were rocking up in heels on their bikes, sometimes on their friend’s handlebars. Just amazing!

 

[sammcneill]

Hi Sam,

looks like a great trip. Isn’t Switzerland crazy expensive!

We were there in June (30 deg sunny days In afraid), as well as Amsterdam, and if you haven’t been in a city FULL of cyclists that makes your heart sing you must try and get there sometime. We were having pre dinner drinks and these haut culture women were rocking up in heels on their bikes, sometimes on their friend’s handlebars. Just amazing!

Yes, Switzerland is tough on our exchange rate - in Zurich 2x Japanese bento lunchboxes and 2x drink = NZD$114 !

Lausanne, 3x vegetarian taco & 1x quesadilla & 2x soft drinks = NZD$85

Munich proving a bit cheaper.

Didn’t manage to get to Amsterdam this time - keen to return for that though

 

[Art Deco]

Nope, been all over the place.
My daughter did a semester in Glasgow and I was picking her up from there, so we have been:
Scotland: Glasgow, St Andrew’s, Edinburgh
Ireland: Dublin
Northern Ireland: Ballyclare, Giants Causeway, Belfast
England: London
France: Paris
Switzerland: Lausanne (on way to Zurich on train now but just for 5hrs or so)
Germany: Munch, Frankfurt (next four days)

Home to New Zealand next Wednesday ….

What a great trip!

 

[Gaylween]

I’m on holiday and in Lausanne today (a long way from New Zealand!) and I’ve been impressed with the number of e-bikes kitted out for carrying young kids around.

I saw this one today - I don’t even recognise the model?!

View attachment 169002

I’m enjoying Lausanne - looking out over Lake Geneva this morning and the first real sun I’ve seen in nearly 20 days in Europe.

View attachment 169003

I did miss riding my bike so much in London i couldn’t resist hiring a Lime eBike and going to check out Westminster Abbey - the cycle lanes in London were impressive!

View attachment 169005

I also saw this beast in London - loved the belt drive!

View attachment 169006

Wishing everyone a happy new year

Sam

I’m a little bit late but I hope you enjoyed your stay in Switzerland and Lausanne.

I’m from Switzerland and I work in Lausanne. I travelled three times in New Zealand and I love it. Each time it was time to flight back in Switzerland I cried.

I suspect that the old R&M is a 2016’s Roadster

 

[sammcneill]

I’m a little bit late but I hope you enjoyed your stay in Switzerland and Lausanne.

I’m from Switzerland and I work in Lausanne. I travelled three times in New Zealand and I love it. Each time it was time to flight back in Switzerland I cried.

I suspect that the old R&M is a 2016’s Roadster

Thanks @Gaylween - I had an amazing time in Lausanne on my wider trip - there are a few photos here if you're interested (I'm sure you'll recognise a few places):

Favourites (adobe.com)

2016 Roadster hey! Positively vintage!

I was impressed that Switzerland and Germany had so many bikes configured for taking their kids with them - definitely more prevalent than what I saw in UK/Ireland/France.

Lausanne was steep (the MRT was helpful!) so having an eBike on those streets would make a heap of sense.

 

[Gaylween]

Lausanne want to be a big bike friendly city and a lot of things are made to promote the bike itself : Help with the purchase, make the city center less attractive for cars and the government that promotes soft mobility.

Parents understood that they could save a lot of time by bringing their children to school with their e-bike and in the same time it’s better for the Planet.

The topology of this city is the ideal playground for electric assistance.

Nice shots ! And yes I recognized some places like one of the most steepest street in the city just in front of the train station called “Rue du Petit Chêne”

 

[sammcneill]

Nice shots ! And yes I recognized some places like one of the most steepest street in the city just in front of the train station called “Rue du Petit Chêne”

yes, I had to walk up there with my suitcase to our hotel! glad we got the free transport ticket from the hotel so we could ride the MRT up and down the hill to the waterfront each day. Beautiful city.