Carrera Crossfire E in the rain

[IanNo]

I am looking at purchasing the Crossfire E and need some advice please. Where I work the bikes are locked up outside. Firstly, is it safe to leave in the rain, if not, what can I do to protect the electrics?

Thanks

 

[Nealh]

Crossfire has cut out issues not the best buy out there to be honest, Halfruads won't tell you or admit to this but be warned.

Any bike should be capable of riding/commuting in the rain, leaving a bike out standing in rain for hours on end is asking for trouble especially with the battery and lcd/display. Use a motorbike/scooter waterproof cover to stop water penetration and rust forming or a waterproof cover of some kind.

If locking up outside is it safe to do so with out public access, other wise thieves may be interested in your bike seeing it sat somewhere routinely.
Use a pair of good locks to secure both wheels to the bike frame and bike stand.

 

[IanNo]

Crossfire has cut out issues not the best buy out there to be honest, Halfruads won't tell you or admit to this but be warned.

Any bike should be capable of riding/commuting in the rain, leaving a bike out standing in rain for hours on end is asking for trouble especially with the battery and lcd/display. Use a motorbike/scooter waterproof cover to stop water penetration and rust forming or a waterproof cover of some kind.

If locking up outside is it safe to do so with out public access, other wise thieves may be interested in your bike seeing it sat somewhere routinely.
Use a pair of good locks to secure both wheels to the bike frame and bike stand.

Thanks for the reply. I'm looking at others, just trying to find something in the same price range. It's a university campus and I have no worries about leaving it outside. I will take a look at covers, think that would be perfect.

 

[egroover]

The display is removable, as is the battery, take both with you (will also act as a theft deterrent). Put some silicon grease on the battery contacts in cradle and the connecting pins on the display/holder. The rest should be fine. I have ridden the bike in 4hrs of continuous rain once, and regular get caught in heavy rain on the daily commute, no issues

 

[MikeS]

As Neal says there are seemingly unsolvable problems with the crossfire e. If you still want to use Halfords then consider stretching another £300 to their Crossfuse. I haven’t left my Crossfuse standing in the rain but have ridden in torrential downpours with no problems
Mike

 

[Andy McNish]

As Neal says there are seemingly unsolvable problems with the crossfire e. If you still want to use Halfords then consider stretching another £300 to their Crossfuse. I haven’t left my Crossfuse standing in the rain but have ridden in torrential downpours with no problems
Mike

The Crossfuse is currently £1600 though. For that, if you shop around, you could get a Haibike or Cube - which are bikes with superior build quality IMHO.

For example I just bought a 2019 Cube Hybrid One Tourer 500 from a specialist bike shop for less than that. And that comes with a semi-integrated 500 Wh battery (so 20% more range), integrated lights, mudguards and rear rack - all of which are extras on the Crossfuse.

In general, I'd suggest that the jump from £1000 to around £1600 is the biggest jump in terms of quality and reliability you see in the e-bike market. That £600 gets you into the range of Bosch and Yamaha central motors rather than more erratic rear hub ones, nice design and German levels of build quality.

 

[MikeS]

The Crossfuse is currently £1600 though. For that, if you shop around, you could get a Haibike or Cube - which are bikes with superior build quality IMHO.

For example I just bought a 2019 Cube Hybrid One Tourer 500 from a specialist bike shop for less than that. And that comes with a semi-integrated 500 Wh battery (so 20% more range), integrated lights, mudguards and rear rack - all of which are extras on the Crossfuse.

In general, I'd suggest that the jump from £1000 to around £1600 is the biggest jump in terms of quality and reliability you see in the e-bike market. That £600 gets you into the range of Bosch and Yamaha central motors rather than more erratic rear hub ones, nice design and German levels of build quality.

You may be right Andy, but the Crossfuse is high enough quality for me and in effect cost me £1400 with the discount Halfords give. The 500 battery would have been nice though - and the integrated lights. I wanted my own choice of mudguards and rack though.
My Crossfuse seems to be one of those pieces of kit that hangs together so well it's a real pleasure to get on it every time.
Mike

 

[Andy McNish]

You may be right Andy, but the Crossfuse is high enough quality for me and in effect cost me £1400 with the discount Halfords give. The 500 battery would have been nice though - and the integrated lights. I wanted my own choice of mudguards and rack though.
My Crossfuse seems to be one of those pieces of kit that hangs together so well it's a real pleasure to get on it every time.
Mike

Oh sure - the Crossfuse is a huge jump up from the Crossfire, given the latter's reliability issues. Any bike running the 3rd gen Bosch Active Line Plus for £1400 is a good deal, as that is probably the best motor on the market for a non-MTB at the moment - and as its range is so good even with the 400Wh battery, the extra 20% for the 500Wh isn't quite as critical as it might be in other scenarios. But I just like the smoother lines of the Cube Tourer and for an extra £170 (Black Friday deal at £1570 - RRP is £1800) it gets a lot of extras that were worth it for me (also it may be snobbery but I just assumed that German build quality and support from a specialist bike shop might be better than Halfords offerings).

 

[MikeS]

Oh sure - the Crossfuse is a huge jump up from the Crossfire, given the latter's reliability issues. Any bike running the 3rd gen Bosch Active Line Plus for £1400 is a good deal, as that is probably the best motor on the market for a non-MTB at the moment - and as its range is so good even with the 400Wh battery, the extra 20% for the 500Wh isn't quite as critical as it might be in other scenarios. But I just like the smoother lines of the Cube Tourer and for an extra £170 (Black Friday deal at £1570 - RRP is £1800) it gets a lot of extras that were worth it for me (also it may be snobbery but I just assumed that German build quality and support from a specialist bike shop might be better than Halfords offerings).

Can they really build that bike in Germany for that price? I went for Halfords because specialist bike shops near me are selling ebikes starting at £1000 more or are going bust. No guarantee Halfords won't of course.
Mike

 

[Andy McNish]

Can they really build that bike in Germany for that price? I went for Halfords because specialist bike shops near me are selling ebikes starting at £1000 more or are going bust. No guarantee Halfords won't of course.
Mike

My impression is that the e-bike market for commuting/tourers/city bikes in places like German and Holland is massive compared to the UK (their cities are so much greener/cycle friendly), so it makes sense that the most experienced and best-selling ebike manufacturers will be based there.

And the Germans aren't exactly known for shoddy manufacturing.

https://singletrackworld.com/2016/08/factory-tour-cube-bikes-new-german-factory/

Also even if a local shop goes bust it's not going to be hard finding someone who can service/work on a Cube or Haibike.

Mind you, if the £ tanks much further against the Euro (or we have a hard Brexit) that might push German bike prices up in the future, so now seems a good time to buy...

 

[unzippy]

I have a Crossfire E and my Wife has the "lady" version. Neither of us have suffered cutouts, I'm up to 2000km and her 1800km.
We've both ridden in the rain - no issues.
Not sure I'd leave it locked up in the rain without a cover...