Cowboy ebike Guardian review

[Raboa]

Hi, I read this today.

Cowboy ebike: ‘Smooth and innovative. It will soon win its spurs’ | Martin Love

An award-winning electric bike from Belgium that is set to take the grind out of your daily commute, says Martin Love

www.theguardian.com

Enjoy

 

[sjpt]

Interesting. One word missing from the review is 'hill'.

 

[Backpeddle]

Sorry lost me very quickly after a promising start, this is a design exercise its not very practical, appears to be only availaible in one size, the battery is fixed behind the seat post this effectively limits the size range of the bike. No attachment points for mudguards rack etc, only a 350 wh battery, no gears how does that work in a hilly area? Seems to be for persons of a particular size riding for up to twenty to twenty five miles or so in relatively flat terrain in dry weather.

Form over function not very versatile.

 

[flecc]

no gears how does that work in a hilly area? Seems to be for persons of a particular size riding for up to twenty to twenty five miles or so in relatively flat terrain in dry weather.

Designed in one of the low countries where they hardly have any hills. The Dutch Sparta company made the same mistake with their first e-bike, but when it was ridiculed here they quickly added a derailleur.
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[vfr400]

It's the same market as the Gtech. Why oh why didn't Gtech have a geared variant and a double-sized battery option? This cowboy at least has a bigger battery than the Gtech plus hydraulic brakes, but without gears, I'd be surprised if you could ride it far enough to deplete the battery.

 

[Deleted member 25121]

A stylish light weight bike designed for commuters doing shortish journeys in flat countries.

Not so useful off road, on hills or for long distances.

It's designed for a specific market and I imagine will sell well into it.

 

[Michael Price]

Does seem like a bit of a limited design. Having said which it would be fine round here - we don't seem to have any proper hills!

 

[WallyM]

It reads more like a company press release than an actual review. I wonder if the Author has ever driven that bike.

 

[vfr400]

It reads more like a company press release than an actual review. I wonder if the Author has ever driven that bike.

That's exactly what it is. Apart from that, you can never trust anything you read in the Guardian. Every article, whether social, political, commercial or arts is a result of a financial incentive for them. Everything is twisted from the truth.

 

[Old Fart At Play]

Apart from that, you can never trust anything you read in the Guardian. Everything is twisted from the truth.

Ouch! I've seen many helpful posts that you have made, so I'm sad to see this

 

[richtea99]

That's exactly what it is. Apart from that, you can never trust anything you read in the Guardian. Every article, whether social, political, commercial or arts is a result of a financial incentive for them. Everything is twisted from the truth.

The Guardian is one of the few world news sites without a multi-millionaire owner that has some ulterior agenda. You may not like the politics, but their investigative journalism is a refreshing alternative to Murdoch, et al.

However, in this particular case, I'd agree it's a poor article, and the author hasn't ridden the bike. But don't let that tarnish your view of the rest of the paper. I'd suggest they're more pro-cycling than the rest of the UK national press.

 

[mdepps]

Designed in one of the low countries where they hardly have any hills. The Dutch Sparta company made the same mistake with their first e-bike, but when it was ridiculed here they quickly added a derailleur.
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I live in Belgium and test rode it a couple of months back. Unfortunately I found the test conditions very unsatisfactory, as I did when I tested the VanMoof in London a few weeks ago. From a city centre store you don't get a good go of a hill. Stopping and starting at lights was fine, but my reason for wanting an ebike is to be able to commute 10km across hilly terrain - yes we do have hills btw, unlike in the Netherlands.

From other reviews I have seen it does seem viable to have an ebike without gears, while it is being powered. It's like riding in 7th out of 8 gears on a normal bike. If you have the assistance, you don't need the low gears. Problem is when you run out of juice and have to limp home.

 

[flecc]

From other reviews I have seen it does seem viable to have an ebike without gears, while it is being powered. It's like riding in 7th out of 8 gears on a normal bike. If you have the assistance, you don't need the low gears. Problem is when you run out of juice and have to limp home.

It depends on two things the steepness of the hills to be tackled and the motor torque. Sparta with the original gearless Ion model made the mistake of it's hub motor with only 20Nm torque. They added a derailleur but that alone wasn't enough, so later they upgraded the motor to 40Nm torque which is about average.

But when the gradients to be tackled include 20% and steeper, any pedelec can struggle, especially if the rider is less than fully cycling fit.
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