Disappointed with a Pendleton e-bike

I bought a Pendleton on offer from Halfords as my first e-bike. I wanted a ladies step through to use for improving fitness.

I cycle 5 days a week, about 25 miles each time. But I live in a hilly area hence wanting an Ebike.

After cycling 400 miles, I’m quite disappointed. After 200 miles a spoke sheared off on the back wheel and buckled the wheel. I haven’t knowingly hit a pothole or anything.

The bike is v rattley and the brakes squeal most of the time.

But the main problem is the battery/power, Going up our local hills zaps the battery, you can hear it struggling even if I am pedalling hard.

Unfortunately this bike is not suitable for purpose, even though I explained my needs carefully.

If you cycle on flat roads then it is a good bike.

What recommendations do you have for me as I definitely need another e-bike

Definitely looks a bit space age!

https://www.trefectamobility.com/

Which Pendleton bike do you have? I've just looked at the Somerby which has a similar spec and battery (8.8ah) to my folding bike to compare the two. I'm female, 53kg, unfit, live in a hilly area and cover about 25 miles daily so am possibly in a similar scenario to yourself.

 

Locally, my steepest hill is heading up Symonds Yat Rock with a gradient of 20-22% over about 2-3 miles and on either my folder or larger full-size Oxygen bike both of which have rear hub motors, I would hear the motor whine and strain while climbing this long hill while also depleting the battery. However, once at the top, the battery partially recovers.

 

If you're heavy or carrying a heavy load then this will also add to the strain of tackling hills.

 

I'm wondering if you're simply expecting too much from the bike?

 

As for the rattles, possibly Halfords could check the bike over incase anything is loose or needs adjusting. Re the squealing brakes, they might just need cleaning.

How much do you want to spend as the Pendleton is really just a pootling a round town errand bike and no more. Primarily it is a functional bike for lighter female riders.

Edited August 6, 20187 yr by Nealh

I bought a Pendleton on offer from Halfords as my first e-bike. I wanted a ladies step through to use for improving fitness.

I cycle 5 days a week, about 25 miles each time. But I live in a hilly area hence wanting an Ebike.

After cycling 400 miles, I’m quite disappointed. After 200 miles a spoke sheared off on the back wheel and buckled the wheel. I haven’t knowingly hit a pothole or anything.

The bike is v rattley and the brakes squeal most of the time.

But the main problem is the battery/power, Going up our local hills zaps the battery, you can hear it struggling even if I am pedalling hard.

Unfortunately this bike is not suitable for purpose, even though I explained my needs carefully.

If you cycle on flat roads then it is a good bike.

What recommendations do you have for me as I definitely need another e-bike

 

The Pendleton battery is 8.8ah @ 36v =320w approx and is probably on the small size for 25 miles (especially with hills), so if you replace the bike, go for something with a larger battery.

 

I have nearly 5000 miles clocked up on my Pendleton and I have replaced 4 rear broken spokes and have tightened all the rear spokes about 6 times so far.

 

The bike has steel mudguards and my front tends to rattle against the fork and sometimes resonates with the motor.

 

I have found the bike ok for hills with grades up to 5% (for a sometimes lazy cyclist like myself) and perhaps even a bit better depending on how hard you can pedal. I would definitely think (say) 10% hills are too steep for the bike unless you are a fairly fit cyclist.

Thank you for all the comments. The bike is a somerby and I think you are all right in that I am probably expecting a bit much from it.

My budget is £2000 max for a new bike and the key requirement is a battery that will cope with hills without draining

Have a look at Woosh Big Bear. Much bigger battery, prodigious hill climber and well within your budget. My wife has the LS, 25 miles easy. Basic chinese bike, I needed to upgrade the brake cables after about 18 months, and tighten the motor wheel spokes once. The rear caliper brake has been upgraded, simply because I got sick of adjusting it (it's a bit of a thing with caliper brakes - they rarely seem to release evenly). Apart from putting a decent bell on it, that's it, 2000 miles and going strong.

the Big Bear LS has now hydraulic brakes:

 

http://wooshbikes.co.uk/?bigbear-ls

 

next batch of Big Bear will have hydraulic brakes too.

No more faffing about with the brakes.

 

http://wooshbikes.co.uk/2018/bigbear-ls-hdb/bigbear-ls5-800.jpg

Wisper 705T is step thru with Akiema XS128 high torque rear hub, 700wh/19.5ah battery £1600.

If you want a slightly cheaper go for the 575wh/16ah battery,

Or

a Woosh Santana two versions should do the trick Bafang rear hub or mid drive with the extra gears.

Both a bit cheaper with the 522wh/14.5ah battery.

 

The Big Bear is BPM front hub massively powerful but not for a light rider or slippy roads if you have a lot loose gravel or debris where you ride esp on inclines.

Great, thanks, much appreciated

The Wisper you may be able to test ride if you have a dealer within range, the Woosh bikes you can't as they are mail order unless you visit Southend.

Both will give excellent CS.

the Big Bear LS has now hydraulic brakes:

 

http://wooshbikes.co.uk/?bigbear-ls

 

next batch of Big Bear will have hydraulic brakes too.

No more faffing about with the brakes.

 

http://wooshbikes.co.uk/2018/bigbear-ls-hdb/bigbear-ls5-800.jpg

 

Is that a prototype ? can't you get a torque arm onto the bottom caliper mount if a seperate lug on the fork is out of the budget?

Oldmasons,

 

take a look at the new Santana 3: it's a step through but has a Bafang SWX02 rear hub motor with winding code 9, good for commuting (maximum power and efficiency at 15mph), strong, quiet, easy to fix punctures (front wheel has quick release, rear wheel has simple V-brakes) and good range too.

 

http://wooshbikes.co.uk/?santana3

 

http://wooshbikes.co.uk/2018/santana3/santana3c.jpg

Is that a prototype ? can't you get a torque arm onto the bottom caliper mount if a seperate lug on the fork is out of the budget?

it's a tried and tested solution. If you need to take the wheel out, it's obvious the way it works, only one extra step: to undo the 12mm nut and bolt to separate the small arm from the rest of the assembly.

Our Kudos Sonata is perfect for your needs. It has the high torque BPM motor,which will give you much more power up the hills,it has strong hydraulic brakes front and rear,our top spec bike.

We currently have a special offer of 2 bikes for total £1695.00 delivered,perhaps you can find a friend who wants an e-bike.

Prices will be held on all Kudos bikes until the anti-dumping duty becomes effective.

Good luck.

KudosDave

You've had one unreliable hub motor Chinese ebike.

 

Buying another Chinese ebike could be seen as the triumph of hope over expectation.

 

You will get more grunt from the bikes recommended, but more grunt means more stress on spokes, and you know what happens to those.

 

Your budget will get you a crank drive ebike from a quality European brand such as Cube.

 

Halfords might be off your Christmas card list, but they do a Carrera ebike with the latest Bosch crank motor for about £1,600.

I’d look at the Cube and Kalkhoff (with the Bosch motor) step through’s.

Oldmasons,

 

There is plenty of choice in your price bracket, such as the Oxygen S-Cross Step Through, various FreeGo, Wisper and Woosh bikes etc.

Do make sure to specify the highest ah battery available.

You've had one unreliable hub motor Chinese ebike.

 

Buying another Chinese ebike could be seen as the triumph of hope over expectation.

 

You will get more grunt from the bikes recommended, but more grunt means more stress on spokes, and you know what happens to those.

 

Your budget will get you a crank drive ebike from a quality European brand such as Cube.

.

Seems to me to be an unfair attack on Chinese bikes.

I have had two for 7 years or so and they have been excellent.

I am not sure that your comment re stress on spokes holds up to scrutiny. Hub drive or crank drive, the power is transmitted to the rim by the spokes, so can you explain the difference?

Rob is always biased to crank drive, buy a decent hub brand and they give very good service. My hubs give me little issues a part from the odd bearing that needs replacing if things get noisy and a bit of grease.. At least with hub bearings they are easier to repair then Bosch etc.

Hub bearing can be sorted and bike back on the road in about half an hour or so.

Deny it all you like, but the Somerby is a pile of cack compared to a decent quality ebike.

 

Hub motors snap loads more spokes then crank drives ever do.

 

Again, deny it all you like.

 

I am biased towards decent quality bicycles, which in ebike terms are usually crank drives.

 

It should be possible to make a quality hub drive bike, but for whatever reason no one does.

 

The Panasonic hub motor fitted to some KTMs looked promising, but vanished without trace a couple of years ago.

 

The Xion (?) motor was fitted to a good quality Kalkhoff trekking bike, but that's another which has vanished.

 

As I've said before, I would consider a hub bike if I thought it matched my needs.

As I've said before, I would consider a hub bike if I thought it matched my needs.

I nearly took it as a challenge...

I can see both sides of the argument. Git-r reported after 4,500 miles LBS replaced spoke 3 times then swapped the wheel on his Cube Reaction Hybrid Pro, while andy bluenoes did a similar number of miles on the Oxygen with one broken freehub, so the rear motor wheels have got better and fewer broken spokes over recent years.

so the rear motor wheels have got better and fewer broken spokes over recent years.

 

Pleased to hear it, although for anyone other than a featherweight I reckon a front hub motor is less risky.