Managed to grab a ride on it today. Overall I was impressed, particularly
with the driveline, which because of the electric transmission produced
smooth yet powerful acceleration, and smooth presumably regenerative
braking - even if the body style doesn't go forward, this IMO should. The
platform was in use, but few people seemed to be using it, though I made
sure I did for old time's sake. It didn't seem to be being overpoliced. I
noticed a crack in the platform door, perhaps too much distortion?

The interior is quite true to the original though using modern materials,
and the seats are quite comfortable, though they don't provide enough thigh
support for tall people. There were a few rattles, which in such a premium
product, but these could be sorted out with more padding I guess.

I noticed that the LED lighting (which looked quite cheap, bet the LEDs
don't last long) was cool white, perhaps it would be better to switch to
warm white to give the nice welcoming feel of the tungsten lighting in the
unrefurbished original?

Surprised double glazing was not chosen, to reduce rattles, avoid steaming
up (though the air con should help here and is most welcome so long as it
is reliable) and for greater structural integrity.

But overall, a good job.

Neil
--
Neil Williams in Milton Keynes, UK. Put first name before the at to reply.

On Jun 6, 9:02*pm, Neil Williams
wrote:
Managed to grab a ride on it today. *Overall I was impressed, particularly
with the driveline, which because of the electric transmission produced
smooth yet powerful acceleration, and smooth presumably regenerative
braking - even if the body style doesn't go forward, this IMO should. *The
platform was in use, but few people seemed to be using it, though I made
sure I did for old time's sake. *It didn't seem to be being overpoliced.. *I
noticed a crack in the platform door, perhaps too much distortion?

The interior is quite true to the original though using modern materials,
and the seats are quite comfortable, though they don't provide enough thigh
support for tall people. *There were a few rattles, which in such a premium
product, but these could be sorted out with more padding I guess.

I noticed that the LED lighting (which looked quite cheap, bet the LEDs
don't last long) was cool white, perhaps it would be better to switch to
warm white to give the nice welcoming feel of the tungsten lighting in the
unrefurbished original?

Surprised double glazing was not chosen, to reduce rattles, avoid steaming
up (though the air con should help here and is most welcome so long as it
is reliable) and for greater structural integrity.

But overall, a good job.

Neil
--
Neil Williams in Milton Keynes, UK. *Put first name before the at to reply.

The old ones always steamed up. Do they have the wooden slatted floors
and the smell of what I always though was damp, stale tobacco when ypu
put you face on the windows as a child?

Neill

neill wrote:

The old ones always steamed up. Do they have the wooden slatted floors
and the smell of what I always though was damp, stale tobacco when ypu
put you face on the windows as a child?

They smell of new cars, well, new buses. But the slatted floor, albeit
probably a composite version of it, is indeed present.

One other thing I thought of, and I know many would disagree, but I still
think TfL should go for LED destination blinds, and there should be one
above the rear platform as on the original. The choice of white blinds is
interesting, clearer than yellow I guess, but because we are so used to
yellow they look strangely faded.

Neil
--
Neil Williams in Milton Keynes, UK. Put first name before the at to reply.

Paul Corfield wrote:

Where did you sit? Upstairs the seats and legroom are far better than
downstairs IME.

Upstairs at the front. Legroom there was about spot on for me.

Slightly surprised by the rattles - perhaps things
are working loose after a few months in service?

It was mainly the destination blind inside cover, which is a big piece of
plastic. Perhaps it needs more locks. There was also something rattling
at the back.

I noticed that the LED lighting (which looked quite cheap, bet the LEDs
don't last long) was cool white, perhaps it would be better to switch to
warm white to give the nice welcoming feel of the tungsten lighting in the
unrefurbished original?

I doubt that will change.

Shame. I just bought a job lot of Philips 35W equivalent LED GU10s from
Tesco for my house, just under a tenner a pop. These, while expensive,
produce an excellent quality of light which is pretty much
indistinguishable from a tungsten lamp but without also acting as a heater,
so use about a tenth of the electricity. A couple of runs of a low voltage
version of this would be perfect rather than the cheap looking star
formations of LEDs used.

I thought it was OK but more work is needed to fix the niggles as well
as the more substantive issues like it being so heavy it can't carry
87 passengers (the capacity TfL require on all other deckers).

Good point. Perhaps that is one reason double glazing was not used. Is
the weight caused by the driveline and batteries?

Neil
--
Neil Williams in Milton Keynes, UK. Put first name before the at to reply.

On 06/06/2012 23:47, Paul Corfield wrote:
On 6 Jun 2012 20:02:50 GMT, Neil Williams
wrote:

Managed to grab a ride on it today. Overall I was impressed, particularly
with the driveline, which because of the electric transmission produced
smooth yet powerful acceleration, and smooth presumably regenerative
braking - even if the body style doesn't go forward, this IMO should. The
platform was in use, but few people seemed to be using it, though I made
sure I did for old time's sake. It didn't seem to be being overpoliced. I
noticed a crack in the platform door, perhaps too much distortion?

Yes it does give a pretty smooth ride. Last time I used one I did
leap on at the back as I'd missed it at the stop but it got stopped by
traffic lights. It felt slightly "odd" to get on a bus that way.

The interior is quite true to the original though using modern materials,
and the seats are quite comfortable, though they don't provide enough thigh
support for tall people. There were a few rattles, which in such a premium
product, but these could be sorted out with more padding I guess.

Where did you sit? Upstairs the seats and legroom are far better than
downstairs IME. Slightly surprised by the rattles - perhaps things
are working loose after a few months in service?

I noticed that the LED lighting (which looked quite cheap, bet the LEDs
don't last long) was cool white, perhaps it would be better to switch to
warm white to give the nice welcoming feel of the tungsten lighting in the
unrefurbished original?

I doubt that will change.

Surprised double glazing was not chosen, to reduce rattles, avoid steaming
up (though the air con should help here and is most welcome so long as it
is reliable) and for greater structural integrity.

Apparently the bus struggled somewhat in the recent very warm weather.
I've read several reports of it being very hot upstairs. Hopefully
that will get fixed.

I also noticed how how it was upstairs on the couple of times that I
used the Borismasters.

AIUI, those busses are prototypes that are on trial for a while? What
has been the result of those trials and when can we expect to see more
Borismasters around town?

On Wed, Jun 06, 2012 at 09:55:46PM +0000, Neil Williams wrote:

One other thing I thought of, and I know many would disagree, but I still
think TfL should go for LED destination blinds

There are some eye conditions which make point light sources with high
contrast (such as in an array of LEDs) impossible to see clearly,
whereas the more diffuse light from a translucent blind is easier to read.

and there should be one
above the rear platform as on the original.

Agreed.

--
David Cantrell | Godless Liberal Elitist

Human Rights left unattended may be removed,
destroyed, or damaged by the security services.