The Italian government has boosted bike sales in the country with a series of incentives, according to a recent report on Bike Europe. 

Following rumours last month, Italy’s Ministry for the Environment has confirmed that is offering a sweetener to prospective cycle consumers of up to 30 per cent off the retail price of a bicycle or electric bike. The reduction is capped at 700 euros for a bike costing a maximum of 2,330 euros and is to be available throughout 2009.

The government has set aside 8.75 million euros to encourage bicycle sales.

The reports comes a few days after what many in the cycling trade have regarded as a disappointing UK budget for the cycleing industry which has focused on assisting the ailing car trade.  Italy’s bicycle and motorbike bicycle trade body – ANCMA – said: “The decision of the Italian government to support cycling with incentives is something really new in Europe,” said the body’s spokesman Piero Nigrelli.

“Not only is this fantastic but more important is the fact that the incentives have been given based on the fact that the government wants to give a real push for the improvement of the air quality in particular in large urban areas.”

Whether the scheme will mirror the UK’s Cycle2Work scheme, which relies on the participation of employers, is currently unclear. 

 From The Herald in Scotland.

The effect is a bit like being on a horse when it breaks unexpectedly into a canter. In its “low mode”, the Wisper 705Se electric bike gives you the merest motorised assistance.

But switch it to “high” and suddenly you surge ahead at twice the speed, as if you’re on a tandem with Chris Hoy (shriek of surprise optional). Ease off the pedals or apply the brakes, and the motor cuts out, bringing you back to push bike mode.

For the full artical visit;

http://www.theherald.co.uk/politics/news/display.var.2503273.0.The_ebike_Like_riding_a_tandem_with_Chris_Hoy.php

I have just finalises a quick survey looking at several of the most popular electric bike battery capacities and ranges.  I felt it made very interesting reading!

Wisper 905se Li Po 37V 14A 518Wh 56 miles (90km)
Wisper 705se Li Po 37V 14A 518Wh 56 miles (90km)
Urban mover Li Po 26V 12A 306Wh 28 miles (45km)
Wisper 905eco Li Po 37V 8A 296Wh 29 miles (47km)
PowaCycle Li Ion 26V 10.5A 273Wh 27 miles (43km)
Kalkhoff Li Ion 26V 10A 260Wh 26 miles (42km)
Swiss Flyer Li Ion 24V 10A 240Wh 25 miles (40km)
Giant Twist Li Ion 26V 9A 234Wh 30 miles (48km)
Urban mover Li Ion 26V 9A 234Wh 21 miles (34km)
Wisper 806fe Li Ion 24V 9A 216Wh 24 miles (39km)
Izip Li Ion 24V 9A 216Wh 23 miles (37km)

We at Wisper have built a great reputation for listening to our customers and acting on their comments.  These news pages have been set up so we can keep you posted on changes and improvements to our range.  We, as always would be delighted to hear your comments either here or by private email, either way you will always get an answer!

Best rgards David Miall

A Wisper 905se has been chosen to undertake the Electric Bike World Tour.  Amongst steep competition the Wisper was finally chosen because of it’s strength, quality and massive range.

An experience never attempted before by one person on an electric bicycle – an alternative form of personal transportation highlighting the use of cleaner energy sources and living with less reliance on traditional combustion energy.

Touring the world in an eco-friendly way, to promote and encourage the development of a global culture of energy conservation and waste reduction.

A global adventure on an electric bicycle through 5 continents via two Olympic and a candidate city: Beijing, London and Madrid.

We will be keeping you informed of Guim’s progress over the next three years with links, images and reports.

Pedal Powering the Beat

PC Simon Anderson, the local NSO for Wrecclesham, The Bourne and Rowledge is clocking up the miles on his daily patrols thanks to his new power assisted electric bicycle.

The bicycle is like any normal pedal cycle with the addition of an electric motor which runs off a battery.

PC Anderson said: “After all these years of struggling up all the hills in the Bourne and Wrecclesham I finally have an electrically assisted bicycle. I still have to pedal but when I arrive at the bottom of a hill I can turn the power on and receive some very welcome assistance. It also means I will be more visible to local residents and I hope people will stop and chat to me as they see me out and about. 

“With the new bike I am now covering around 20 miles a day whereas before it was around 10 miles so it’s making a big difference and it’s environmentally friendly too.”

http://www.surrey.police.uk/area_item.asp?area=2&itemID=10781&division=

Just arrived back from a six day trip to China visiting the factories and making the last tweaks to the 2009 900, 700 and 800 series bikes which have now been placed on order.  The 2009 models will be in the shops in April and look and ride like a dream!

The Wisper trike was finished but still needs some tweaking so it looks as if we will not be launching until the middle of the year.  It looked superb and rode well with the 14a lithium battery instead of the old heavy lead acid that we originally intended to use. In my opinion the trike was slightly unstable, our engineers have come up with a superb solution and are working on instigating the changes now.  One of them thought it might be my Christmas induced 21 stone that was the problem!

The 906 rode very well indeed although I am still not certain that the torque sensor adds anything to the ride especially when compared to the 905 which uses a speed sensor that works in conjunction with the throttle.  The new Japanese motor was great but we discovered that many of the components were not RoHS compliant so we have asked the manufacturers to sort this out before we start marketing the bike, I beleive this will put it’s launch back at least six months and maybe into 2010.

Our December container has sold out of 905se Sport and City’s already, although there are some left with distributors so if any one needs one please let me know and I will put you in touch with your nearest stockist.

Regards David

I have received many requests to add spares and components to the Wisper Shop and will be doing so week commencing 12/01/09.

Thanks to all of you who have suggested this change to the web site!

Best regards David

We would like to welcome Norman Hopkinson to the Wisper Team.

Norman will be looking after servicing, spare parts and any technical issues with your Wisper bike.  You can find Norman’s details in the Service are of the Web Site under Contact us.

Norman Hopkinson
Tel: 07799794520
service@wisperbikes.com

Here we will be posting the latest news coming from Wisper, please pop back regularly to find out what’s going on!

Best regards David Miall