Any info on the B'Twin BeBike 900

[Paul J]

I came across this bike, it is sold in the UK by Decathlon, it looks a very good spec with Shimano Nexus gears, and at under £1k it must be worth considering. Has anyone here got one? Any info would be great.
Thanks.

 

[RobF]

Fairly standard Chinese step through.

Decathlon bikes have a good name, but don't expect the shop to be ebike experts.

You would get more grunt and a bigger battery with a woosh Big Bear.

A bit less coin for a similar quality bike, although you don't get hub gears.

http://www.btwin.com/en/city-bikes/electric-bikes/18064-bebike-900-electric-bike-grey-green.html

http://www.wooshbikes.co.uk/?bigbear-ls

 

[Paul J]

Thanks, at the moment the Woosh Big Bear is my first choice. Is the motor more powerful on the Big Bear than the BTwin 9000?

 

[flecc]

Thanks, at the moment the Woosh Big Bear is my first choice. Is the motor more powerful on the Big Bear than the BTwin 9000?

Yes, very much so. The BTwin has an average front hub motor, while the Big Bear has the powerful high torque BPM motor.

Subjectively you'd notice a big difference, especially in hill climbing.
.

 

[Paul J]

Thanks, that's all I needed to know. Just wish that Woosh were nearer.

 

[trex]

just curious, Paul, would you pay £70 more for the Big Bear if woosh was nearer? I was told that's the average cost to woosh on each bike to open local shops.

 

[Paul J]

From what I have seen in the local bike shop I would say yes. Reading a number of threads on this forum it is clear that £1000 is a bench mark figure, the cheapest bike in my area is a Volt pulse at £1399, quite a nice bike but still £400 over budget. Hmm perhaps I could be Woosh Dorset branch?? I honestly think local dealers are missing the point that a high proportion of e-bikers are 50+ and don't all want state of the art machines. They are missing out on the sub-£1000 market. Add £70 to a Big Bear and it is still in the magic sub £1000 bracket. So a very big yes to that.
Cheers

 

[Kudoscycles]

From what I have seen in the local bike shop I would say yes. Reading a number of threads on this forum it is clear that £1000 is a bench mark figure, the cheapest bike in my area is a Volt pulse at £1399, quite a nice bike but still £400 over budget. Hmm perhaps I could be Woosh Dorset branch?? I honestly think local dealers are missing the point that a high proportion of e-bikers are 50+ and don't all want state of the art machines. They are missing out on the sub-£1000 market. Add £70 to a Big Bear and it is still in the magic sub £1000 bracket. So a very big yes to that.
Cheers

Paul....Kudos realise what you are saying,but no local dealer could work on £70 profit per bike.....the UK market is not large and the cost of overheads on a retailer are very high these days.
The original bike you asked about is a standard spec Chinese bike....my Kudos Cobra or Liberty are similar specification,about £800.00.If you are seeking strong hill climbing ability you need to upgrade to the BPM motor,which has considerable torque at low speed . The BPM is fitted to Oxygen,Woosh Big Bear,Kudos Arriba,Tornado,Sonata and Rapide.
If you want BPM motor the cheapest bike is the Woosh....if you want BPM plus local dealer support I think my Kudos Tornado is nearest at £1095.00,it is not possible to sell such a bike at less than £1000.00 if you want a local dealer....I think my nearest dealer is at Weston Super Mare or Hampshire.
We are aware that £1000.00 is an important threshold point I have many bikes on my website at less than that price.
We have the very high spec Kudos Sonata on offer,ex demo bike at £1033.00, has been used only lightly at a couple of shows....very high spec...BPM motor,hydraulic brakes,30 speed Shimano Deore gears,smart looking bike.
Hope that helps.
KudosDave

 

[trex]

...but no local dealer could work on £70 profit per bike.....

I don't think Hatti could operate on £70 per bike, it's likely that the figure of £70 is arrived at assuming the same net profit after costs on each bike.

 

[Kudoscycles]

just curious, Paul, would you pay £70 more for the Big Bear if woosh was nearer? I was told that's the average cost to woosh on each bike to open local shops.

Trex .....how much do you think are the annual overheads on even the smallest shop on our high street,that is excluding wages? That is rent,business rates,insurance etc.

 

[trex]

I think it depends on the business model you want to run. Hatti had the experience of running a showroom in Cambridge for 3 years. I think a low cost model more appropriate to e-bikes would be just a showroom, with two part-timers so you are not stuck. Those two part-timers should be able to set up the bikes and sort out the electrics.
The running cost is about £50,000 a year, roughly 15% of the turnover.

 

[flecc]

I honestly think local dealers are missing the point that a high proportion of e-bikers are 50+ and don't all want state of the art machines. They are missing out on the sub-£1000 market.

As an ex trade man, I know that what Kudos Dave has posted about margins is very true, no independent dealer could stock and sell at such a low margin as £70.

The only way that's possible is if the importer sets up their own shops as 50cycles have done for example. That way the importer doesn't have to get any additional profit from the shops and can just regard them as a break even service for customers.
.

 

[Kudoscycles]

Trex....I am the landlord of a number of retail premises across the UK,so I am very aware of the overheads of my tenants. Even a modest shop,say 1500 sq foot costs £30k per annum,£20k wages is not exactly greedy,so the total is about £50k.
To cover £50k,you have to sell a lot of of e-bikes.....which is why e-bike retailers are happier trading higher value bikes,with a bigger margin per sale,hence the reason why bikes are often not sold at the magic £1000.00 threshold.
Most e-bike shops are in tandem with other businesses,to balance the overheads. Bike sales are very seasonal,not many customers September to December so you need to fast during that period.
Your bike shop is happier selling an £8k Bianchi ,with fabulous margin and less PDI than a £1k e-bike. My London dealer is next door to Sigma Sport they opened the bubbly the other day,celebrating the sale of their first £20k Pinarello!!!
KudosDave

 

[trex]

I think it depends on the context. Most e-bike shops I have visited are not particularly busy, except on Saturdays. There is a lot of over provision there. If you look at the way argos work on the other hand, there is no fat. If an e-bike shop is set up to sell £2000 bikes, it has to look right to inspire confidence. You then talk about £150k a year to run. In the woosh case, these places are just showrooms for their 15 bikes.

 

[RobF]

I am the landlord of a number of retail premises across the UK

No wonder his yacht is bigger than Alan Sugar's.

 

[flecc]

I am the landlord of a number of retail premises across the UK,

.

 

[trex]

No wonder his yacht is bigger than Alan Sugar's.

I wonder if KD owns this place too:

 

[Kudoscycles]

What needs to happen is that someone like Evans Cycles needs to start selling electric bikes at all price levels,with some representative stock in each showroom,that would make e-bikes more available in more locations to more people but they need a reason to do so.
KudosDave

 

[trex]

better still, you have a number of members running e-bike clinics, demo and hire from their homes. They only need a bit of space to keep a portacabin office in their garden. For income, the importers pay them a commision, a percentage on the ensuing sales. 50Cycles run a similar scheme but without portacabins.

 

[anotherkiwi]

The Decathlon bikes are overpriced for what you get. I got a friend to buy one because the sale price was 699€ instead of 999€ and at that price I thought it was an honest price for a brand new bike of that quality.