April 22, 201214 yr I am thinking of changing my bike but I don't think the bike I want exists, here's what's on my shopping list Motor: Quiet and robust so preferably direct drive, sensorless, brushless front hub motor, but would consider geared if its quiet and has freewheel. Power: Upper end of what is legal i.e. more Ezee/heinzmann power and less powacycle/Tonxin Gears: Hub gears for less maintenance, minimum 6 gears Suspension (there are some very rough roads on my route to work) Crossbar / Gents bike Long range so must have high capacity battery, either single battery of at least 15 Ah/36v or preferably two batteries, would prefer LiFePO4 Any-one know of a bike that ticks all (or most) of the boxes? Ken
April 22, 201214 yr I got most of that in my 906. The suspension came with the big apple tyres but it took a fair bit of modifying for them to fit. It's not what you would call stealthy though.
April 23, 201214 yr Hi Ken, What you are looking for is coming soon. With the exception of direct drive, one of the new upgraded range of eZee bikes would tick all those boxes. Incidentally, I rode a Heinzmann for the first time on Saturday and in comparison to an eZee the motor it is quite agricultural.
April 23, 201214 yr The go swiss drive motor is supposed to be as quiet as a crank drive, fitted to Storke, cube and green mover bikes among others, tends to be fitted to rear but maybe front compatible, but if as powerful as they say probably better at back...would rather have this with XT gearing personally Google Translate Edited April 23, 201214 yr by eddieo
April 23, 201214 yr The go swiss drive motor is supposed to be as quiet as a crank drive, fitted to Storke, cube and green mover bikes among others, tends to be fitted to rear but maybe front compatible, but if as powerful as they say probably better at back...would rather have this with XT gearing personally Google Translate Interesting bikes Eddie and they're not ugly. I like the innovative battery arrangement which adds a "stealth" dimension if you ignore the rather large diameter rear hub. I don't expect to see one of those on roads near me any time soon though! Indalo
April 23, 201214 yr Hi Ken For good suspension, quiet motor, power and cross-bar then have a look at our new Merlin bike. Rider reviews are due in soon. Your feedback would be appreciated.
April 23, 201214 yr Interesting bikes Eddie and they're not ugly. I like the innovative battery arrangement which adds a "stealth" dimension if you ignore the rather large diameter rear hub. I don't expect to see one of those on roads near me any time soon though! Indalo well the Storke and the Cube bikes are available here...... I think the rear motor looks fine, the one I like is the Bulls green mover which i posted about on here before. Choice of batteries up to 20 something Ah. but would not entertain one unless a dealer takes them on here as they have reliability issues, but what new bike doesn't Edited April 23, 201214 yr by eddieo
April 23, 201214 yr Author Hi Ken For good suspension, quiet motor, power and cross-bar then have a look at our new Merlin bike. Rider reviews are due in soon. Your feedback would be appreciated. Hi Bob, Will Juicybike be at the east of england electric bike rally in May? I notice that the merlin has a rear motor, does it have derailleur or hub gears? Edited April 23, 201214 yr by 7cfm
April 23, 201214 yr Hi Ken No plans to go so far I'm afraid, plenty to do up here. If you want to try Merlin in the south, unless you can wrestle a review bike from either John Sweeney in Richmond or Paul Blezzard in Sheen, then E-Motion in Swindon have one (and lots of other electric bikes). E-Bikes in Battersea are thinking about stocking... (I wish they'd make their mind up!) We use derailleur gears on all our bikes, for ease of maintenance. Derailleurs are actually quite easy to keep in good order if limited to a reasonable number of gears: you actually need very few gears on an assisted bike. We use 6, which makes adjustment quite easy. Also, by using stainless steel chains (as all our bikes have) then very little oil is needed to lubricate, and so very little grit and dirt is picked up by the chain. So the derailleur is kept cleaner, suffering much less wear. Unique to Merlin, and on your requirements list, are RST NEON suspension forks: hydraulic, adjustable and with remote adjustable lockout, operated at the handlebars. Ideal for saving energy on tarmac. Hope this helps.
April 23, 201213 yr I don't understand how you can claim derailleur gears are the easy maintenance option. I've had both and hub gears are by far the easiest to look after. I've never heard of stainless steel chains lasting longer than mild steel, everything I've read so far says they just look better as they don't rust. I'm happy to be proved otherwise. I also disagree with the theory that 6 gears is enough for any electric bike, that's making a lot of assumptions about your customers. A rear derailleur has a poor gear range and is why most bikes have front mechs as well, a six speed freewheel just seems to be the cheap option.
April 23, 201213 yr Interesting bikes Eddie and they're not ugly. I like the innovative battery arrangement which adds a "stealth" dimension if you ignore the rather large diameter rear hub. I don't expect to see one of those on roads near me any time soon though! Indalo Though as some have found before the odd shaped batteries can be almost impossible to replace in later years.
April 24, 201213 yr Interesting bikes Eddie and they're not ugly. I like the innovative battery arrangement which adds a "stealth" dimension if you ignore the rather large diameter rear hub. I don't expect to see one of those on roads near me any time soon though! Indalo I should have included a link..... Google Translate
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