e bike newbie Cyclamatic or Woosh?

[xeikon]

Hi Im new to this electric bike thing and was hoping someone could give help or an opinion on my questions. Im sure some answers could be found via the search function but sadly my phone is very slow and keeps crashing on this site, Im unsure if its the graphics or formatting but it does not like it.

I used to be a keen cyclist years ago, 70 to 100 miles a day were common. but havent been on a bike in near 20 years until recently. Im now in my late 50s and overweight and I usually travel via motorcycle but my new job is only 3 miles away so tried some cycling after refurbing my old trusty Giant. I find it only takes 18 minutes which aint bad considering how unfit I am. Its a mix of gradiant roads, cycle paths and a small amount of muddy track. Nothing to bad even for me. Taking into consideration the time it takes to get my motorcycle ready, 10-15 minutes, the ride to work 7 minutes and the change of gear at work 10-15 minutes, the MTB is actually quicker in time, and somewhat easier stepping out of jogging pants than leather gear.

Sadly I find my legs and stamina have gone the way of the DoDo and getting to work sweating aint really the thing, hence my interest.

I have a limited budget and guess its down to two bikes, the first on ebay is the Cyclamatic Power Plus and the second slightly more expensive is the Woosh Sirocco. Im guessing they are both adequate for my needs being only a three mile journey but which is the best and how do they compare? I am leaning towards the Woosh at the minute.

Are the batteries quick release and what precautions are best when parking up? Im thinking of exposed electrical parts, theft of parts.

6 or 7 gears dont seem a lot, are they expandable by fitting different cassettes etc? Just how do you change gear? seems weird to me as you instinctivly know when to change while riding a normal MTB. Im imagining lots of gear crunching noises if you dont get it right.

How are these bikes in wind? as some of the area im riding is across open ground where winds blast through on certain days. (why is it always a head wind going and returning?) would this affect battery charge?

A couple of areas I use have gates but are uphill after the gates, is it easy to pedal on when pushing off uphill?

Are the lights good on the Woosh and do they eat your battery?

Is it a matter of just changing seat posts in a standard size if I dont get on with the seat?

Any decent vids out there showing the Woosh Sirrocco in action? The only one I found was the owner showing a problem with the bike. Not good.

any help please.

 

[D8ve]

Don't worry about wind or hills
Electric bikes trundle along at 14mph up hill and into wind. The gear range is small but you don't need the granny gear. On the other hand I'm 50 and would out run a legal bike on the flat on my bent. The top speed is very limited on electric bikes. They are designed to give the old and infirm(like what I was) a boost to archive a steady training speed like performance.
Your 3 miles to work will not be a workout at all just a quick on over and off again.
Enjoy

 

[Nealh]

Hello Xeikon,
There is a small vid on the woosh site, I think it is the sirrocco CD. Most batteries are removeable. My BBS diy jobbie has a 9 gear cassette and CD pas you soon know when to change up or down no major crunching of gears here, on the flat about can do 27mph with throttle assist. Generally I only use the 4 low gears. As for theft I think most ebikes are a target as 1. they look expensive and 2. lcd screen etc look nickable to any toerag, get your self 2 very good locks. If worried about rain use a bike cover or cover the important parts with abag or shower cap etc.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

Both those bikes are OK. The Woosh has a 36v system instead of the CYclamatic's 24v one, so it has a bit more power. Also, you buy the Woosh from real people that know their product and they can help you after you've bought it. The Cyclamatic is a catalogue item. I'm not sure what happens if you get a duff one. Mine had a couple of minor defects, which I was able to fix myself, but I guess many people (if they were able to recognise the defects) would have the inconvenience of sending it back.

The Cyclamatic has one advantage: You can swap the battery for a 36v one to make it go very fast if that's the sort of thing you want.

 

[jcubbin]

Hi Xeikon,

I've had a look in your profile but can't see what area you are from.

I have a cyclamatic that's about 4 years old and my missus is insisting i get rid of it before i get another electric bike (which I'm planning on getting very soon, hopefully a Haibike or KTM for off-roading).

If you are anywhere near Liverpool you would be welcome to come and have a look at it and I'd probably be prepared to sell it for less than £150 as it possibly needs a new set of forks. They are locked out at the moment so no front suspension but the bike is still OK to ride and would easily do your 6 mile return journey.

I was doing a 14 mile round journey last year and the only reason i stopped using it is because i changed jobs and need the car to get to work. I have charged the battery every two months so should still be OK and the only reason i haven't used that bike for anything since is because I've also got a converted specialized rockhopper which is suitable for riding gentle trails etc.

 

[derf]

Hi Xeikon,

I've had a look in your profile but can't see what area you are from.

I have a cyclamatic that's about 4 years old and my missus is insisting i get rid of it before i get another electric bike (which I'm planning on getting very soon, hopefully a Haibike or KTM for off-roading).

If you are anywhere near Liverpool you would be welcome to come and have a look at it and I'd probably be prepared to sell it for less than £150 as it possibly needs a new set of forks. They are locked out at the moment so no front suspension but the bike is still OK to ride and would easily do your 6 mile return journey.

I was doing a 14 mile round journey last year and the only reason i stopped using it is because i changed jobs and need the car to get to work. I have charged the battery every two months so should still be OK and the only reason i haven't used that bike for anything since is because I've also got a converted specialized rockhopper which is suitable for riding gentle trails etc.

if i had a hill-less 3 mile commute 9sadly mine is a very hilly twenty five mile hilly one), i'd go for this option and keep it simple..

 

[xeikon]

Hi, thanks all for your input, sorry couldnt answer sooner as my phone as mentioned above does not like this site so had to wait until I could use my laptop.

Sorry jcubbin, I live in the North East so nowhere near Liverpool. A good price though and would have been worth a shot and give me a cheaper look into this market.

It looks that I will get a bike maybe Friday but still undecided which one.. Some questions answered but I would like my other specific questions answered if possible. I do like the idea of a bigger battery not so much for overall speed but maybe for better torque uphill if thats what the battery will do, whats involved, just a battery change or electrickery magic? Someone here must have bought one of these bikes, surely?

Again, any help by Friday if possible.

 

[xeikon]

Well a small update. It looks like its a Woosh as Cyclamatic have bunged another £50 on their price. Cyclamatic lose..

 

[derf]

Hi, thanks all for your input, sorry couldnt answer sooner as my phone as mentioned above does not like this site so had to wait until I could use my laptop.

Sorry jcubbin, I live in the North East so nowhere near Liverpool. A good price though and would have been worth a shot and give me a cheaper look into this market.

It looks that I will get a bike maybe Friday but still undecided which one.. Some questions answered but I would like my other specific questions answered if possible. I do like the idea of a bigger battery not so much for overall speed but maybe for better torque uphill if thats what the battery will do, whats involved, just a battery change or electrickery magic? Someone here must have bought one of these bikes, surely?

Again, any help by Friday if possible.

it's highly subjective (we all weigh differetly, cycle diferently, have diferent luck), but i bought a woosh an had trouble (lots, mainly with the bike, not electrics), as opposed to a kalkhof that's been completely reliable. in my humble opinion on gets to a degree what one pays for - if i could do it all over and be in you shoes i'd go for the cyclamatic if i had your commute

 

[trex]

what kind of trouble with your bike derf?

 

[Deleted member 4366]

if i could do it all over and be in you shoes i'd go for the cyclamatic if i had your commute

Have you ridden a Cyclamatic or sampled its quality in any way?

 

[derf]

Hi, thanks all for your input, sorry couldnt answer sooner as my phone as mentioned above does not like this site so had to wait until I could use my laptop.

Sorry jcubbin, I live in the North East so nowhere near Liverpool. A good price though and would have been worth a shot and give me a cheaper look into this market.

It looks that I will get a bike maybe Friday but still undecided which one.. Some questions answered but I would like my other specific questions answered if possible. I do like the idea of a bigger battery not so much for overall speed but maybe for better torque uphill if thats what the battery will do, whats involved, just a battery change or electrickery magic? Someone here must have bought one of these bikes, surely?

Again, any help by Friday if possible.

you will find quite a bit of astroturfing on this forum (maybe even in this thread), that was my opinion, take it for what its worth, go for test rides, realise that that's quite different from owning a bike (a mechanical disc brake that works well on a test ride, may well not work at all a month later and be unrepairable). good luck

 

[trex]

so you are still hung up about that zoom disc brake? I thought you have replaced it with a hydraulic one?

 

[JohnCade]

it's highly subjective (we all weigh differetly, cycle diferently, have diferent luck), but i bought a woosh an had trouble (lots, mainly with the bike, not electrics), as opposed to a kalkhof that's been completely reliable. in my humble opinion on gets to a degree what one pays for - if i could do it all over and be in you shoes i'd go for the cyclamatic if i had your commute

I don't think it's so much to a degree you get what you pay for. You do. So comparing the cycle parts of a Woosh to those of a bike costing over three times as much isn't really fair. Woosh and the other budget bikes like it are basically £175 or so bikes after you take the electrics out and have components to match. Cyclamatic is the same or has maybe even cheaper parts. While the Kalkhoff has the cycle parts of a £900 or so bike and is obviously much better as you would expect.

So why would you expect a Woosh to have as good components as a Kalkhoff? If it did why would anyone pay extra for the higher end bikes like it and others at all? Anyway it's fairly simple and cheap to change a couple of the more price sensitive components on the Woosh if you want. Which I think you did.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

you will find quite a bit of astroturfing on this forum (maybe even in this thread), that was my opinion, take it for what its worth, go for test rides, realise that that's quite different from owning a bike (a mechanical disc brake that works well on a test ride, may well not work at all a month later and be unrepairable). good luck

That reminds me, the Cyclamatic brakes aren't very good. The back servo brake is better than the front. Different pads might improve the front one, but as the forks are very clattery, you could consider changing them to some used disc brake ones. It wouldn't cost too much.

 

[Cyclezee]

Hi Xeikon,

Just to let you know of another bike worthy of consideration, for £795 you could have an eZee Sprint Primo GTS.



The full specification is here http://www.cyclezee.com/ezee-sprint-primo.html

 

[Woosh]

Hi Xeikon,

Just to let you know of another bike worthy of consideration, for £795 you could have an eZee Sprint Primo GTS.
View attachment 9634


The full specification is here http://www.cyclezee.com/ezee-sprint-primo.html

Xeicon

THeir bikes are very nice. Very good specs and quality Just to add to your predicament!
Best of luck with whatever you choose, I'm sure you will enjoy it.
Hatti

 

[RobF]

THeir bikes are very nice. Very good specs and quality i

I think there's something going on here.

 

[Woosh]

I think there's something going on here.

Nahh..

Just e bike trade mates. We're both too busy for anything else!

 

[Cyclezee]

I think there's something going on here.

Don't know what you are suggesting, but unfortunately not