Bad experience with Kalkhoff Agattu XXL

[gordonmx]

Hi all. In 2012, I bought a Kalkhoff Agattu C8 XXL. It turned out to be probably the worst bicycle-owning experience I've ever had (I have owned several bikes, have two other bikes now and have never had as many problems with a bike). With the Agattu XXL, I had constant drive train problems. The rear hub was replaced at least twice, the motor was replaced twice, I, on at least two occasions suffered complete failures (I couldn't move the bike by pedalling) while pedalling in traffic, the chain tension could not be maintained (it was nearly impossible for me to properly tension the chain, so I gave up changing my own tyres), the wheel drifted off from where it had been set, screwing up the rear speed sensor (too far and too close) I had cracked parts in the rear hub/axle area, the Magura brakes needed to be replaced. There were constant clicking and thunking noises that would never go away despite repairs. I took that bike to the repair shop of the store where I bought it so often that I came to be on a first-name basis with the shop's staff. The bike was very frequently out of service for months at a time awaiting parts from Kalkhoff. One problem would solved; another would crop up, often on the way home.

Eventually, earlier this year, a couple of months before the end of the warranty, the head of the repair shop declared the bike non-reparable and the shop offered either to refund me or to replace the bike. Apparently, the rear wheel had been taken off the bike so often that the portion of the frame the wheel attaches to had worn, making it impossible to properly tighten.

The trouble is I don't know why I had all these problems. Kalkhoff told my dealer that it didn't find any problems with the bike's construction. The shop loaned me a Kalkhoff Agattu 2012 (non-XXL) to use while I awaited my replacement bike. That worked fine for several months, until a couple of weeks ago, when it, too, started making regular loud noises as I pedalled. The repair shop looked at it and declared that bike non-fixable, too, as they couldn't figure out why the noise continued after they'd adjusted everything - it was either from the hub or the motor, I was told..

I should point out that this repair shop is fairly limited in their technical ability: when a hub fails, they replace the whole rear wheel. When anything goes wrong with the motor, they ship the bike to Kalkhoff in Germany, which can take many months to fix it. They don't seem to know how to build wheels. They didn't propose I upgrade to a more rugged version of the Shimano Nexus hub - the red band version.

It has been suggested to me that my size could be the issue. I'm 6 foot 4 and weigh over 250 lbs. I tend to ride fairly fast. That's why I bought the XXL version, thinking that it could handle my weight and usage. (it can handle riders up to 350 lbs). I also use the bike fairly intensively: I ride the bike all year round, through winter except for when there's been s snowstorm. (Though it's stored indoors on both ends of my commute.)

I've read that the Shimano Nexus 8 speed hub gear used on the Agattus is prone to getting damaged when hill-climbing, or putting a lot of force on the pedals. I wonder whether this is a factor. Where I live, there are quite a lot of hills and with the electric assist, I could pedal hard to maintain my speed uphill. Unless you're lucky enough to have your destination along one of the level roads, you're often going up and down inclines here.

I'm wondering whether opting to replace my dysfunctional bike with the Impulse Ergo XXL, equipped with the NuVinci Harmony gear system, would give me a more reliable electric bike. Would the NuVinci hub make a difference in terms of durability and reliability, given my weight and the frequent hill-climbing?

Can anyone think of why I had such a bad experience with a bike that seems to get raves everyone online?

Given that I have to tell the dealer which bike I want - the new Agattu XXL Impulse 8R HS or the Impulse Ergo XXL - quite soon, I'd really appreciate any feedback.

 

[flecc]

Shimano know that their hub gear torque limits can be exceeded by the combination of rider and crank motor power and advise the makers accordingly. In your case, the combination of your weight, the hills, and the fact that you are a strong rider has meant some trouble was virtually certain with that combination of components. Hence the difference between your experience and that of most Agattu owners.

The NuVinci has the highest torque limits of any bicycle hub gear system so it is much more likely to be trouble free. The current Impulse unit bikes are equipped with a gear change power easing system which adds protection, but I don't know if that acts with the NuVinci's continuously variable change system, so that needs to be checked with Kalkhoff.

Based on my limited knowledge of these models, my recommendation is the Impulse Ergo with the NuVinci, and I'd strongly advise against going down the Shimano 8 speed route again with the 8R model. I think it could be asking for a repeat of the last experience.
.

 

[martin@onbike]

I think the safest option would be to go the derailleur route- much more easily/cheaply repaired should anything go wrong.

 

[Kudoscycles]

I would go hub drive plus dérailleur,you are a big powerful guy and combined with a powerful bike motor this will inevitably put a lot of load on the bike's gear system. With hub drive you have separated the motor power and the rider power,the dérailleur is only being asked to cope with the rider power, a la any non assisted bike.
The Bafang BPM motor is pretty bomb proof.
Also it makes everything so much simpler and if anything fails it is simple and cheap to fix....for example a fully laced BPM motor in the wheel is about £100 retail.
At times I do think we make these e-bikes too complex and with that complexity comes difficulty in finding the expertise to make repairs.
Hope that helps
KudosDave

 

[Deleted member 4366]

I'd keep clear of the Nuviinci Harmony. I think it's OK for light riders, but when I tied it, it wouldn't change gear. I have a manual Nuvinci, which needs a fair pull to change gear when you're going up hill. I guess the servo doesn't have enough oomph in that situation.

The impulse or Bosch crank drives don't suffer from that chain jumping/clonking that you get on the Panasonic, so that's one less thing to worry about.

That wheel locking arrangement on the Agattu IMHO is diabolical. I can't understand why they didn't use proper chain adjusters like you get on a motorbike. Maybe they wanted to make the wheel easier to remove, but the inconvenience of the wheel slipping is far worse.

I think derailleur gears are better for heavy riders.

 

[Linfitter]

I would go hub drive plus dérailleur,you are a big powerful guy and combined with a powerful bike motor this will inevitably put a lot of load on the bike's gear system. With hub drive you have separated the motor power and the rider power,the dérailleur is only being asked to cope with the rider power, a la any non assisted bike.
The Bafang BPM motor is pretty bomb proof.
Also it makes everything so much simpler and if anything fails it is simple and cheap to fix....for example a fully laced BPM motor in the wheel is about £100 retail.
At times I do think we make these e-bikes too complex and with that complexity comes difficulty in finding the expertise to make repairs.
Hope that helps
KudosDave

Was going to post this on a new thread .


One of the first posts I read on this site was from a ‘E’ bike (unfortunate terminology) purchaser complaining of the reliability of the product he had bought (must have been a heavy rider consistently riding in a hilly area) and the reply from the Dealer/Seller who basically said that the purchaser was putting the bike through conditions that it was not originally intended for and if he, the purchaser, had kept the bike to gently rolling countryside and Canal Towpaths and the like he would not have had any trouble from it or at least the components would have lasted for an age that would have given him no reason for complaint. I dismissed this post as it was not something that I wanted to hear, near to it was a report of an ‘E’ bike climbing hills of 14˚ without hardly any pedalling and pulling trailers that an Artic would have problems shifting- full of old Fridges and the like. That was more like what I was wanting to hear and so I painted all ‘E’ bikes with this picture and dismissed the previous post. Experience has since taught me that I was deluding myself and how I now applaud that Dealer/Seller for her (I think it was a her’s) honesty.

Now, having suffered component failure of the Suzhou Bafang Rear Hub Motor/Freewheel system on two occasions (the threaded boss coming loose in the motor casing side wall moulding making the bike inoperable) having pushed the bike to go up hills (eg 14˚) for which the motor unit was not designed to cope with (surmised) on a regular basis (done 5000 miles in two years under power) I am now left in a quandary. What do I do to get the £1000 cost bike back on the road (been riding my road bike and surprising myself for the last two months) Obviously replacing like for like without modification is not an option as failure of the replacement could happen in my terrain at any time. Kudos have not replied to my emails and I cannot blame them, what could they say. They could not say try one of our new motors with the low speed high torque mode as they know I would probably destroy one of those as well though it might last a bit longer. And according to the post by Flecc pointing to the troubles that ‘TREK’ were having with the BIONX motor in hilly Switzerland putting one of their motors in my bike wouldn’t be an option either. So what am I to do? Does anybody know of a EU compliant Rear Hub motor (I’ll stick with that) that is bomb proof and would guarantee it? A Crank Drive! I think not. I go through a drive train with the EPOCH Freewheel every nine months (yes the same one that D8veh endorses as being long lasting) , even with a religious fortnightly clean and lube regime, so how long would a crank system last? Not long I bet. Converting my bike to front wheel drive? (That was my original choice of drive system) but that would mean replacing both wheels and probable the forks as well. Putting an original wheel in the bike and selling it on to some unknowledgeable buyer? That is not an option; it might be to you but not for me. Up house and move somewhere flat? That is not an option either, so what do I do?

A simple bomb proof EU compliant rear hub replacement is what I would like but I am open to suggestions (but before the morons jump in -take a walk is not one of them).

If all else fails I shall see if I can get an original motor from Kudos and re-engineer it. It won’t break apart when I’ve fixed it but then again, I have no reason, quite the opposite, in following a design to fail stategy.

Addition.

Kudos Dave posted he would like to re-introduce the Kudos King back onto the market and if he could get Suzhou to castlelate the threaded boss flange before moulding thereby making it almost impossible to slip and sorted the problems with weld failures and broken frame lugs relating to the Rear Rack/Battery Carrier, put a sealed unit BB in place at manufacture, put Mudguards and Scud Guards on then I would fully endorse it. It is unfortunate about the Rear Hub/Motor failure but that could happen to any bike that uses that motor/hub system, the main thing is to take steps to see that the problem is rectified and hopefully this post will go some way to achieve that.


Yours sincerely

Linfitter

 

[wissy]

yes.

Without going into details I had terrible experiences with my KTM Macina. the dealer was absolutely fabulous. He went above and beyond what you would expect of a dealer but in the end it was dealer and me who were left with a KTm bike that seemed to fail all the time. Lights, head unit, motor, hub and on several ocassions. Always a warranty issue. onus on dealer and customer. not fair really. one of those really bad luck bikes which it sounds like you had.. It becomes so bad you think it must be you.. But it isn't!! I got a new replacement 2014 model at dealer's expense because the bike was such a liability and costing us both so mich in petrol, bus fares, paper-work, hours worked, phone calls, emails, packaging and postage on probably ten occassions,if not more.. Etc. Diddly squat from KTM.

 

[flecc]

The OP has posted this:

"Given that I have to tell the dealer which bike I want - the new Agattu XXL Impulse 8R HS or the Impulse Ergo XXL - quite soon, I'd really appreciate any feedback."

so my answer was based accordingly.
.

 

[JohnCade]

That wheel locking arrangement on the Agattu IMHO is diabolical. I can't understand why they didn't use proper chain adjusters like you get on a motorbike. Maybe they wanted to make the wheel easier to remove, but the inconvenience of the wheel slipping is far worse.

I think derailleur gears are better for heavy riders.

I agree it is not the best. I saw a thread here by Alex who had terrible problems keeping his chain adjustment. He did like his chain very tight it must be said, tighter than Kalkhoff recommended.

I had problems with the wheel pulling forward in the dropouts on my Agattu too at first even though I torqued it to the right tightness. I fixed it by mainly doing what the bike shop did with Alex's bike.

First I took the wheel out and carefully cleaned the inner dropout contact surfaces on the wheel spacer and frame. On the outside of the drive side dropout there was a circular ring of aluminum which had smeared off from the non rotation washer, which must have been over tightened by the bloke I bought the bike from. So I sanded that off and got a good surface, then I recut the castellations on the washer which had been worn down and tightened it up to one ft/Ib below the maximum recommended tightness and that worked. It's been fine since.

 

[Kudoscycles]

Was going to post this on a new thread .


One of the first posts I read on this site was from a ‘E’ bike (unfortunate terminology) purchaser complaining of the reliability of the product he had bought (must have been a heavy rider consistently riding in a hilly area) and the reply from the Dealer/Seller who basically said that the purchaser was putting the bike through conditions that it was not originally intended for and if he, the purchaser, had kept the bike to gently rolling countryside and Canal Towpaths and the like he would not have had any trouble from it or at least the components would have lasted for an age that would have given him no reason for complaint. I dismissed this post as it was not something that I wanted to hear, near to it was a report of an ‘E’ bike climbing hills of 14˚ without hardly any pedalling and pulling trailers that an Artic would have problems shifting- full of old Fridges and the like. That was more like what I was wanting to hear and so I painted all ‘E’ bikes with this picture and dismissed the previous post. Experience has since taught me that I was deluding myself and how I now applaud that Dealer/Seller for her (I think it was a her’s) honesty.

Now, having suffered component failure of the Suzhou Bafang Rear Hub Motor/Freewheel system on two occasions (the threaded boss coming loose in the motor casing side wall moulding making the bike inoperable) having pushed the bike to go up hills (eg 14˚) for which the motor unit was not designed to cope with (surmised) on a regular basis (done 5000 miles in two years under power) I am now left in a quandary. What do I do to get the £1000 cost bike back on the road (been riding my road bike and surprising myself for the last two months) Obviously replacing like for like without modification is not an option as failure of the replacement could happen in my terrain at any time. Kudos have not replied to my emails and I cannot blame them, what could they say. They could not say try one of our new motors with the low speed high torque mode as they know I would probably destroy one of those as well though it might last a bit longer. And according to the post by Flecc pointing to the troubles that ‘TREK’ were having with the BIONX motor in hilly Switzerland putting one of their motors in my bike wouldn’t be an option either. So what am I to do? Does anybody know of a EU compliant Rear Hub motor (I’ll stick with that) that is bomb proof and would guarantee it? A Crank Drive! I think not. I go through a drive train with the EPOCH Freewheel every nine months (yes the same one that D8veh endorses as being long lasting) , even with a religious fortnightly clean and lube regime, so how long would a crank system last? Not long I bet. Converting my bike to front wheel drive? (That was my original choice of drive system) but that would mean replacing both wheels and probable the forks as well. Putting an original wheel in the bike and selling it on to some unknowledgeable buyer? That is not an option; it might be to you but not for me. Up house and move somewhere flat? That is not an option either, so what do I do?

A simple bomb proof EU compliant rear hub replacement is what I would like but I am open to suggestions (but before the morons jump in -take a walk is not one of them).

If all else fails I shall see if I can get an original motor from Kudos and re-engineer it. It won’t break apart when I’ve fixed it but then again, I have no reason, quite the opposite, in following a design to fail stategy.

Addition.

Kudos Dave posted he would like to re-introduce the Kudos King back onto the market and if he could get Suzhou to castlelate the threaded boss flange before moulding thereby making it almost impossible to slip and sorted the problems with weld failures and broken frame lugs relating to the Rear Rack/Battery Carrier, put a sealed unit BB in place at manufacture, put Mudguards and Scud Guards on then I would fully endorse it. It is unfortunate about the Rear Hub/Motor failure but that could happen to any bike that uses that motor/hub system, the main thing is to take steps to see that the problem is rectified and hopefully this post will go some way to achieve that.


Yours sincerely

Linfitter

Linfitter,that is a very complex and wide ranging posting that you have just published. The bit I am shocked with is that Kudos did not reply to your emails,I thought my business was very quick to respond to emails and I know of no outstanding problem.
The Kudos King bike was a very successful bike and very robust,it is true that I would like to have continued production only that the likes of the Kudos Tornado with its BPM motor and downtube mounted battery were preferred by customers.
If your sale was through a Manchester dealer I do know that one of my guys is trying to get an original Bafang motor laced into a King wheel to satisfy that customer,I think that bike is out of warranty but we will still endeavour to find a repair.Unfortunately Bafang changed the motor plug arrangement so we need to specialy build a wheel to sort out that customer's problem. We have the earlier motor laced into. 700c wheel but that is obviously no use to that customer. If you are that customer the solution is in hand but it's taking time,for that I apologise.
You are honest that you pushed this bike hard,maybe too hard over 5000 miles,for that I am very respectful. If you make contact by telephone with Kudos next week I am sure that we can produce a solution,it does appear that you are a good engineer which obviously helps.
Shame it's Friday evening I cannot find out any more about this until Monday.
KudosDave

 

[Deleted member 4366]

Now, having suffered component failure of the Suzhou Bafang Rear Hub Motor/Freewheel system on two occasions (the threaded boss coming loose in the motor casing side wall moulding making the bike inoperable) having pushed the bike to go up hills (eg 14˚) for which the motor unit was not designed to cope with (surmised) on a regular basis (done 5000 miles in two years under power) I am now left in a quandary.

I go through a drive train with the EPOCH Freewheel every nine months (yes the same one that D8veh endorses as being long lasting)

Bafang motors only cost about £90 including shipping. 5000 miles for £90 is not bad. All rear motors are more or less a standard fitment, so if yo're not happy your one, you can change it for a different one with a more robust side-plate.

I don't think I've ever described DNP free-wheels as long lasting. On a non-electric bike, I've heard people report failures, but the stress is much less on an electric one with a hub motor. I have them on four of my bikes, and I recommend them for electric bikes because they have the higher gearing not for their long life, though I've never experienced any problems. If you're pedalling hard enough to loosen the threaded boss, I'm not surprised that you destroy free-wheels too. Maybe you should think about a cassette motor as a replacement..

The SWX motor won't take you up a 14% hill without pedalling. For that you need around 20 to 25 amps at 36v, which means something like a Bafang BPM, CST, Dapu or Ezee motor. A Xiongda motor will just do it in low gear at 15A with 100kg on board, but it's quite slow.

It would be better to define yourself and your type of riding, then people could help you choose a suitably robust and appropriate bike.

 

[KTM Bike Industries UK]

yes.

Without going into details I had terrible experiences with my KTM Macina. the dealer was absolutely fabulous. He went above and beyond what you would expect of a dealer but in the end it was dealer and me who were left with a KTm bike that seemed to fail all the time. Lights, head unit, motor, hub and on several ocassions. Always a warranty issue. onus on dealer and customer. not fair really. one of those really bad luck bikes which it sounds like you had.. It becomes so bad you think it must be you.. But it isn't!! I got a new replacement 2014 model at dealer's expense because the bike was such a liability and costing us both so mich in petrol, bus fares, paper-work, hours worked, phone calls, emails, packaging and postage on probably ten occassions,if not more.. Etc. Diddly squat from KTM.

Hi Wissy,

I've just direct messaged you so have our direct contact details if you need to complain, so we can work out if its possible to prevent the problems you've described happening again. However it appears the dealer has done their job and sorted things out for you in this case. We are however concerned that you have misunderstood how the systems work.

I would just like to point out that not once did the dealer feel the need to send the bike back to us, so we have not had to be involved at all - and were not asked to be. Lights, Bosch and the hub etc etc are all issues that are sorted out by the dealer, not us.

Our dealers are there to support the customers they supply, we only step in if there is a problem with the dealer, which in this case there doesn't appear to be.

If there is anything that happened in this case that you can suggest a different solution for, or way in which things could be handled differently we're always looking for ways to improve, and train our dealers. If you can suggest a solution you'd have liked, I can perhaps explain why it wasn't possible in your case. However obviously we didn't see the bike and weren't party to the conversations between you and the dealer, so any responses from are us are going to be a bit hypothetical, but might hopefully let you see why things happen the way they do.


Regards
Tom

 

[cwah]

I would go hub drive plus dérailleur,you are a big powerful guy and combined with a powerful bike motor this will inevitably put a lot of load on the bike's gear system. With hub drive you have separated the motor power and the rider power,the dérailleur is only being asked to cope with the rider power, a la any non assisted bike.
The Bafang BPM motor is pretty bomb proof.
Also it makes everything so much simpler and if anything fails it is simple and cheap to fix....for example a fully laced BPM motor in the wheel is about £100 retail.
At times I do think we make these e-bikes too complex and with that complexity comes difficulty in finding the expertise to make repairs.
Hope that helps
KudosDave

Where can I find a BPM laced in a wheel for £100?

 

[wissy]

I will let the dealer communicate with KTM on the finer details if he want to of course as he has much more detailed records than I do so that I do not digress from the OP who also seemed to suffer bike failure as I did. There is a limit to how much any manufacturer can expect a dealer to sort out infinite warranty issues I would have thought ...

Oh... And nope. no misunderstanding my end although KTm keep referencing that. You have misunderstood that I had any misunderstandings. I may DM you in a few weeks but I have no time nor inclination to go over the whole disaster zone that was my KTM Macina 2013 until after the school inspection. There are just so many instances of failure it would take time.

 

[cwah]

Bafang motors only cost about £90 including shipping. 5000 miles for £90 is not bad. .

On bmsbattery, it cost about £200 shipped. And potentially more depending on custom's mood:

Where can I find it for £90 shipped?

 

[Deleted member 4366]

Have a look on Aliexpress. I'm talking about SWX type motors, not BPM. I got one for £90 including delivery to repair a bike for Halfords.

SWX for £89 inc shipping:
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/ebike-Bafang-SWXH-rear-wheel-disc-brake-motor-36V-185R-250W/499911143.html

BPM for £118 inc shipping:
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/e-bike-Bafang-BPM-front-wheel-motor-36V-185R-250W/468678268.html

 

[gordonmx]

Thanks for all of your (on-topic) replies!

@flecc Thanks for your reply and recommendation. That confirms what I've read elsewhere: that the NuVinci has higher durability than the Shimano Nexus 8-speed - I've heard its design allows larger, more durable components. My main non-electric bike, a Workcycles Secret Service (used for the same trips) has a Shimano Nexus 8-speed and it's never been a problem - though I go up hills much more slowly, with less force on the pedals. That's partly why at first I had no idea there could be an issue with that hub on an e-bike. It must be the extra force of the motor pushing the hardware too hard, plus the extra force I can bring to bear by leveraging that assistance, and possibly the extra weight of transporting my one-year-old child in a child seat. It's strange that Kalkhoff markets their XXL bikes as being able to carry a 350lb rider without using a stronger hub solution. (Though I concede that using the non-XXL replacement Kalkhoff at my weight and using it as a child-carrier probably put the bike way beyond its designed stress capacity.)

While Nuvinci might be more rugged for my purposes, has anyone had experience with these Red Band Nexus (SG-8R35) systems? From what I read, they're meant to be more ruggedly built. Are there any other more rugged hubs that my bike repair facility could have recommended as an upgrade?

I should mention that at one point, I was offered a complete refund. I didn't take that because I really want an e-bike for commuting and general transport purposes (given all the hills), and I thought that it would get me back on the road faster if I got a replacement (this may not turn out to be the case) and because I suppose I'm still thinking that all of the very positive experiences everyone has reported with the Agattu must be possible for me. Perhaps I'm just outside the tolerances.

@d8veh Just to clarify, the 2012 Kalkhoff Agattu C8 XXL was equipped with the Impulse 1.0 drive system. I never had much trouble with chain jumping, though gear changing and starting up after down-shifting resulted in a loud "click"/"thunk" sound. Both of the bikes I'm being offered (basically the entire XXL range offered by Kalkhoff), come with the Impulse 2.0 drive system that comes with that gear-change power interruption system (but not on the NuVinci-equipped automatic-shifting bikes). Also, the Nuvinci Harmony is supposed to be an automatic shifting system (unless you change it to manual mode) - did you test that or a version that requires you to change gears? I would be interested if I heard reports that the Harmony system can't handle hills, but it seems based on what I've read to be able to do so. I'm glad to hear I'm not alone in finding the Agattu rear-wheel fixation system a real hassle.

@martin@onbike @Kudoscycles I really don't like derailleur systems (having used them extensively in an earlier period of my life): too dirty, basically, too much splatter, not really compatible with commuting to work, an obstacle to having a full chain guard and requiring constant maintenance since they're exposed to the elements.

@JohnCade I can only wish I had access to a mechanic who could undertake such advanced work. Doing that myself is way beyond my skill-set. What would you say to the mechanic who pulled my bike out of service because the frame had worn down at where the wheels is attached (a long patch on the stay where it was worn down to bear aluminium)? Could you have proposed a resolution?

I suppose I'd be willing to leave Kalkhoff behind, but I'm not sure which e-bike manufacturer can offer me quality, more durability (given my size, etc.) and a commuting-appropriate spec (non-derailleur, chain guard, mud guards, relatively upright riding position).

 

[flecc]

Since the NuVinci equipped model does not have any gear change easement facility, maybe the stronger 8 speed option with that Impulse 2 benefit would be more reliable, but there is an element of risk still, given your strength, weight and the Impulse power. Perhaps opting for that and getting used to putting in a bit less effort to climb hills fast would make enough difference to bring high reliability.

There's little information available on the strength of the current reasonably priced alternative hub gears. The Sunrace Sturmey 8 speed one is unsuitable for use on a crank drive motor system anyway, due to it's special chainwheel needs, and the SRAM current production new models are as yet untried to any extent.

That leaves the Rohloff 14 speed internal hub gear which has an enviable reputation for strength, but it's little tried with crank motor drives and at circa £1000 plus wheel build and fitting it's difficult to justify.
.

 

[Cyclezee]

An eZee Torq Mk3 with front hub motor would be a solution, bullet proof frame, torquey eZee V2 motor, 700c wheels and no gearing problems.

We recently sold one to a guy who is a similar build and commutes from Watford to London.

The rear motor Forza Mk2, again with the V2 motor works for the heavier rider, we have customer who is 150Kg and hasn't broken it even though the recommended weight limit is 120Kg.

 

[cwah]

Have a look on Aliexpress. I'm talking about SWX type motors, not BPM. I got one for £90 including delivery to repair a bike for Halfords.

SWX for £89 inc shipping:
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/ebike-Bafang-SWXH-rear-wheel-disc-brake-motor-36V-185R-250W/499911143.html

BPM for £118 inc shipping:
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/e-bike-Bafang-BPM-front-wheel-motor-36V-185R-250W/468678268.html

The price are about the same as BMSBattery.

Problem is that by the time you order from them the complete wheel the shipping cost + custom increases to reach £200+

Or if you order the motor only and have it laced here you can expect to add about £100 too. If you lace it yourself price would decrease, but not by much.


So a complete motorised wheel is still circa £200