Beat Bike Toba - any thoughts?

[jeffkwells]

My wife and and I live in Suffolk, are 71 and have orthodox bikes which we don’t use as often as we would like because (like many people, I suspect) we can’t stand climbing hills! (Or riding into wind). Even when we were younger and fitter we hated hills, so we choose only flat routes (10 miles max at average speed 8mph) and now we have run out of routes! In all of the discussions about e-bikes online nobody seems to answer our questions We don’t wear lycra and don’t ride to work because we’re retired. People like us, who live in beautiful country with quiet roads and for whom exercise is not the main consideration don’t seem to figure in the discussions. What we want is to be able to ride much further with minimum (and I mean minimum!) effort. We’re looking at the Beat Bike Toba which has a 17ah battery. Will this let us ride, say, 50 miles of all (English) terrain and completely flatten the hills? We love pedalling on the flat (no pedalling downhill) and would switch off the motor on a genuinely flat road but we want the hills to also feel just like flat roads. Will something like a Toba do this for a reasonable distance without exhausting the battery? Obviously, it is quite important to know this before spending £2K apiece.

Thanks

 

[D8ve]

Go test ride some bikes. 36volt 17ah batteries are about as big as you get, so that is most likely to give you the range, and keeping the speed down to 8 mph will help too.

 

[RobF]

Well, someone's got to be the first...

The Beat Bike is a rebadged Kalkhoff which ordinarily would be a good choice.

However, there have been too many reported problems with its motor to recommend it.

There are plenty of good quality bikes for about £2K which have the usually reliable Bosch or Yamaha motor.

Some Bosch bikes come with a 500wh battery, worth having over the Yamaha's 400wh.

 

[Nealh]

Wisper from Amps both highly regarded esp David's hands on approach when or if things need sorting.
Kalkhoff's with Debry motor are having reports of reliability issues on here with so any bike with that line of motor is probably best avoided. Test ride a few is best but no harm in trying all recommended on here.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

17Ah batteries are relatively heavy. Some people ( I hate to be sexist, but often female), can be a bit intimidated by heavy bikes.

It's pretty flat around Suffolk. You should be able to get about 40 miles out of a 10Ah battery, and unless you're particularly heavy, just about any motor type should do the job. Even the cheap bikes are OK. Try a few different ones and see what you like, and try not to be taken in by the salesmen telling you why their bike is the best. They all sound so plausible.

 

[Crockers]

At your price point there's some lovely bikes out there. Go ride a few. Then report back....love to hear people's views and experiences.

 

[Danidl]

Hi my situation is similar to yours I am retired and only 5 years younger than you and prefer to cycle than walk, the scenery changes more quickly. I am enamoured with the Bosch system on my new Raliegh Motus and can recommend it. (See other posts in this forum.). While it only has a 400watt hr battery, compared to those others, I would find it very suitable for a two or three hour leisurely cycle. Your budget would stretch to it. Or perhaps s even specify the 500Whr as an option.
On windless days , on flat ground or gently rolling hills, one can get by with minimal assist, and there is the option of high assist on those steeper hills. The trick in cycling seems to try and avoid having to use the brakes. I you don't need to brake then what's lost in energy going up the hill is regained on the downside.
The Motus is very comfortable, but could not be described as a fast bike. The upright seating posture means high wind resistance above about 17 miles per hour 28 km/ hr

 

[jeffkwells]

Well, someone's got to be the first...

The Beat Bike is a rebadged Kalkhoff which ordinarily would be a good choice.

However, there have been too many reported problems with its motor to recommend it.

There are plenty of good quality bikes for about £2K which have the usually reliable Bosch or Yamaha motor.

Some Bosch bikes come with a 500wh battery, worth having over the Yamaha's 400wh.

Thanks a lot - very useful info

 

[Ted B.]

The Beat Bike is a rebadged Kalkhoff which ordinarily would be a good choice.

However, there have been too many reported problems with its motor to recommend it.

It's to wonder why 50 Cycles, apparently using their years of experience on electric bikes, would release their own brand using the Impulse 2 motor known for failures and breakdowns, or even continue selling Kalkhoff bikes with the Impulse II motors...

What are they trying to achieve (apart from hiding the Kalkhoff name, which now has a bad reputation)?

 

[jeffkwells]

It's to wonder why 50 Cycles, apparently using their years of experience on electric bikes, would release their own brand using the Impulse 2 motor known for failures and breakdowns, or even continue selling Kalkhoff bikes with the Impulse II motors...

What are they trying to achieve (apart from hiding the Kalkhoff name, which now has a bad reputation)?

Thanks for the advice - I've abandoned the Beat Bike Idea!

 

[RobF]

It's to wonder why 50 Cycles, apparently using their years of experience on electric bikes, would release their own brand using the Impulse 2 motor known for failures and breakdowns, or even continue selling Kalkhoff bikes with the Impulse II motors...

What are they trying to achieve (apart from hiding the Kalkhoff name, which now has a bad reputation)?

We shouldn't over-estimate the extent of people's knowledge of the Impulse motor's failures.

I bumped into someone yesterday who had a new Kalkhoff bike.

He was full of it - and himself - clearly knowing more about ebikes and crank drives than I do.

One of his gems was that the battery is 'guaranteed' to last for 110 miles.

I didn't say anything to him, I just wanted to get away from the tiresome git, but my point is that as a know-all who had clearly done lots of research there is no way he'd have bought a Kalkhoff had he known of the problems with the Impulse motors.

 

[Trevormonty]

My wife and and I live in Suffolk, are 71 and have orthodox bikes which we don’t use as often as we would like because (like many people, I suspect) we can’t stand climbing hills! (Or riding into wind). Even when we were younger and fitter we hated hills, so we choose only flat routes (10 miles max at average speed 8mph) and now we have run out of routes! In all of the discussions about e-bikes online nobody seems to answer our questions We don’t wear lycra and don’t ride to work because we’re retired. People like us, who live in beautiful country with quiet roads and for whom exercise is not the main consideration don’t seem to figure in the discussions. What we want is to be able to ride much further with minimum (and I mean minimum!) effort. We’re looking at the Beat Bike Toba which has a 17ah battery. Will this let us ride, say, 50 miles of all (English) terrain and completely flatten the hills? We love pedalling on the flat (no pedalling downhill) and would switch off the motor on a genuinely flat road but we want the hills to also feel just like flat roads. Will something like a Toba do this for a reasonable distance without exhausting the battery? Obviously, it is quite important to know this before spending £2K apiece.

Thanks

Unless your routes include a lot of hills, mid drive, likes of Bosch, Yamaha, Shimano should give you 40-50 miles on 400wh battery, at 8-10m/hr in eco mode. A 1hour charge while having lunch in cafe will add another 30-50%.

There is also option of buying 1 extra battery give the pair of you another 50% extra range.

The issue with bigger batteries is extra weight, not a problem underway but is when manhandling stationary bikes.

 

[Perseus]

I bought one as it was affordable and no other bikes competed (by a long way from a local shop). However, after 200 miles the hub gears are being a bit of a problem. Log: http://www.pedelecs.co.uk/forum/threads/beat-bike-toba-crossbar-bike-log.27632/#post-374805

Range is good. See Log.

 

[Perseus]

http://www.pedelecs.co.uk/forum/threads/beat-bike-toba-crossbar-bike-log.27632/