Bosch trekking / touring bikes?

[wissy]

So.... I have the KTM Macina Dual HS with 400 battery and loads of gears with derailleur etc to get me up steep hills .. And it does the job well.

Bearing in mind it took me months of research (or hassling on here!) to get to that point.... I am now planning ahead for Pedelec no2.

My options?? Still a Bosch for hills although am flummoxed with the two dofferent motors put now / soon..

1. KTM again.

So.. What is the present .. Or 2015 KTM equivalent of my Dual HS? Or better even?

2. haibike...

My original achoice but they were not available in UK at the time... More expensive than KTM?

3. Other Bosch pedelec??


Suggestions?

Diolchsky

 

[Jonah]

This looks pretty good value if you're sold on a Bosch powered bike. http://www.50cycles.com/electric-bikes/proconnect-commuter/pro_connect_b10_lx.html
Of course KTM and Haibike are also great but a bit more pricey.
If money is no object Grace and Reiss & Muller have a few different options.

 

[wissy]

Thanks jonah... Not keen on the kalkhoff other than their BS ones (eek).. Heard too many bad things about their customer service... That one only has 10 gears though....

 

[Jonah]

I find I only ever use 3 or 4 out of the gears I have however many are available, especially with a motor to assist uphill.

 

[wissy]

I use most of mine each day due to the ever changing terrain

 

[trex]

if you need to change gear often, you should look at one with the NuVinci hub gear.
Shame that you don't like the Kalkhoffs, they have excellent track record for reliability though.

 

[Electrifying Cycles]

Wissy,

If you want the same gear ratio or more really your choice is between a bike with DualDrive or Rolhoff the later is normally an add on or on some of the R&M bikes but very expensive Croxden has one with it and they are renowned for being virtually bullet proof. Any of the NuVinci options have only 360% versus about 600% for the Dual Drive.

In terms of Haibike the Trekking is a similar spec to the KTM but more money. Although the Habike are good quality machines.

The difference between the two new motors is you get more torque (60nm versus 48nm) with the performance line and up to 275% assistance (versus 225%). All the bikes I have seen with DualDrive have active line system (i.e. less powerful) or the 2013 system (now referred to as Classic line). Although Eurobike is coming in August and that is when most companies launch their 2015 models.

All the best
David

 

[Tim]

Sorry to hear that Wissy, but you should give us a go. The Pro Connect B10 is undoubtedly the best-priced Bosch Performance-equipped bike on the market.

However, a Kalkhoff Impulse 2.0 bike will out-perform any Bosch-powered bike. Here's a short post on how they compare: http://www.50cycles.com/blog/bosch-vs-impulse-2-0-electric-bike-system/

Most of our customers love their bikes and have only good things to say about us!

Don't believe everything you read on here, it's a far from impartial forum.

 

[Electrifying Cycles]

Be aware of terms re battery lifetime if you read the terms you will see the guarantee only covers you down to 60% . Other than that both have a two year gurantee so lifetime wise there is little to choose between either. Charge cycles mean little without a clear definition for two different systems as they might measure them differently. Other than battery size there is little difference.

Plus Bosch Nyon is coming later this year
http://www.bosch-ebike.de/en/produkte_neu/nyon/nyon__portal_und_apps.php

I advise all to be aware what happens if there is a problem ask key questions when buying from distance e.g. do I have to pay for returns, do I have to find my own box etc. The bike above does not have the same gear ratio as the Dual Drive.

http://www.50cycles.com/terms-and-conditions.html

If we can not provide what you require I would be happy to recommend other suppliers who I trust and have no commercial connection with. I would not want you to be let down if something happened.

It is not a suprise to hear somone who sells mainly Impulse bikes to say it is better but unlike some I readily admit to liking many brands including those we do not stock. Anyone can make claims like that.

We have also improved a loan scheme so people get a bike more similar to their original. Plus we are a full UK service centre for Bosch with trained people, required tools/diagnostic kit in stock plus spare parts.

There is a reason Bosch have about 70% of the market in Europe! According to German pedelec forum it is more reliable than Impulse system (feel free to check this out).

All the best
David

 

[Artstu]

The Sram Dual drive is certainly interesting and rare, however I would question the need for that many gears on an e-bike. My Nexus 8 covers all my needs from the steepest hills to 36 mph flat road riding. Although my steepest hills would be hard work without full assistance.

Adverts these days don't seem to give enough information on the gear inches of the gear ratios the bike has.

 

[Electrifying Cycles]

Nice feedback. I can only talk from mine and other customers feedback. One of the reasons I like the KTM panasonic hub drive is the ability for a front chain ring and thus larger gear ratio I find the Nexus and NuVinci do not have gear ratio I need. However for alot of customers an 8 speed Nexus or NuVinci would be more than enough!

 

[Tim]

Doesn't stop the Impulse system picking up stacks of ExtraEnergy and ElektroRad Awards, year after year

Focus Thron
Agattu
Endeavour S11
Tasman Classic
Sahel Compact

All the above picked up either 'Category Winner' or 'Very Good' awards in this year's tests.

Then there was A to B magazine's recent test of the Kalkhoff Pro Connect i8 "The BMW of electric bikes... ‘Is this the best way of getting from A to B?’, the answer is likely to be ‘yes’ for many people and many journeys".

The Bosch system is very, very good, no doubt about it, but it falls short of what the Impulse 2.0 can offer and is just not as good value, even bearing in mind we sell the least expensive Bosch Performance bike on the market, the Pro Connect B10 - though we sell many, many times the number of Impulse bikes.

 

[Electrifying Cycles]

Likewise plenty of awards for Bosch plus about 70% of all ebike sales including in Germany. That is about 300,000 Bosch ebikes sold last year in Germany. Do not think that many Germans could be wrong! Speaks volumes.

 

[Tim]

Likewise plenty of awards for Bosch plus about 70% of all ebike sales including in Germany. That is about 300,000 Bosch ebikes sold last year in Germany. Do not think that many Germans could be wrong! Speaks volumes.

One of the 50cycles team works in Vienna - he's just told me he sees many more Kalkhoff whizzing around in the city centre than KTMs, for example.

They're still the market-leading brand in Germany, so I wonder what percentage of those Bosch-powered bikes in Germany are Kalkhoff?

 

[Electrifying Cycles]

A smaller percentage given the size of the range compared to other brands

 

[flecc]

Now then you two!

We get quite enough propaganda on Russia versus Ukraine without having to suffer Tim versus David.

Anyway Big Tim, if you know your bible you'll know that picking a fight with someone called David could be a problem.
.

 

[trex]

Derby Cycles produced 104,000 e-bikes last year, my guess Kalkhoff accounts for about half that production (50,000) so its market share in Germany is about 5-7% of the 400,000. Although tiny production figure in bicycles, Kalkhoff is still the most known brand in the e-bike world. In the UK, I reckon Kalhoff sell about 1,000 a year, accounting for 3% of market share.

 

[KTM Bike Industries UK]

One of the 50cycles team works in Vienna - he's just told me he sees many more Kalkhoff whizzing around in the city centre than KTMs, for example.

haha, great science / research that....

 

[wissy]

I am planning for the 2015 models..... Later in the new year. I know that my KTM macina dual hs is spot on what I wanted and want from a bike. With my dodgy knees I find i really do need really gears big time to get me up steepest hills. What was the other bike Tim. The courtesy one?. An AVE and not a Bosch was it.. That was sooo different to what I was used to and found the reduced number of gears impossible to cope with. i think males with strong knees and backs can cope with less gears but those females (and maybe some males) just could not manage up steepest hills.

I also like derailleurs for some daft reason.

 

[wissy]

haha, great science / research that....

What would you say is the Macina dual hs equivalent now KTM?? or for 2015??