electic bike in halfords and bike hut

[jac]

hi i read about the carrera ebike on this site so decided to have a look i was quite impressed by the look and lightness of this bike it uses the sram spark system also the price at £700 is a huge drop from the dahon rooel which sold for about £1200 i will hopfully try one out to see how it goes or maybe someone has already tried it maybe they could tell us about it. it is also nice to see bike shops beginning to stock electric bikes as some shops in europe seam to stock a few different types

jim

 

[flecc]

Rooel in this forum likes the Sparc motor in the Dahon, and it seems to be a reasonably good hill climber. There's a Dahon/Sparc review by Rooster on this site which you can read on this page.
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[rooel]

Jac, I have not been able to find any photos or details of the Carrera ebike on the internet either at Halfords or Bikehut, but if it does use the Sram Sparc system it will, I think, be the only other electric folder available which uses a five speed hub rather than a derailleur, an attractive feature for use in heavy, stop start traffic, as the gear ratio can be changed while stationary.

A further advantage of the system is that the two 100 watt motors and their electronic regulators are all contained inside the rear hub, with no external pedelec set-up, or throttle, only a "controller" on the handle bars which can be used to switch the power on or off, or to "Econ" to limit the top speed under power to 11 mph (thus saving the battery as soon as the bike is being propelled by the pedals at a higher speed), or to "Full" which provides power up to 14/15mph.

As Dahon have discontinued the Roo El because of the high cost of sourcing the electrical parts from Sram Sparc, the Carrera manufacturers must of have done a great deal with Sram if they can produce the whole bike for around £700 retail, (which is the retail price of the Sram Sparc kit on its own!)

 

[flecc]

I also tried to find the Carrera online on Halfords pages and elsewhere, but drew a blank.

As Rooel says, the £700 is the price of the Sparc alone, which leads me to think that SRAM may possibly be discontinuing it and remaindering it in this way.

That would not be surprising as it's not sold well, blighted by the mistake of introducing a poor version first which was widely criticised. The revised model was very much better and answered all the criticisms, but the damage to the brand was done.
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[rooel]

The Sram Sparc system does seem to be used on a number of full size non-folders sold on the continent:

eg

EPPLE City Cat Sram Sparc 5-Gg bei Shopsmile.de
Bike Market: Elektroräder
Amazon.de: Bocas - Elektrorad ELX-1000: Sport & Freizeit

and generally speaking they are a lot cheaper than the Roo EL.

However, as the version for the 20 inch Roo El, was specially adapted for the smaller wheel diameter, it may be they are discontinuing that version now that Dahon no longer require it.

 

[nigel]

Nigel

I went back to halfords today to have a second look at the moment they dont have any specs on the bike i did notice it has no gears and there is a switch on the handlebars much like the giant twist with eco mode and normal mode it does look a smart bike and not to heavy

 

[jac]

it is a 5speed sram hubgear inside the motor i think, which should be adequate for most uses

jim

 

[flecc]

Yes that's right Jim, it has the SRAM P5 gear hub inside, the same 5 speed hub gear that's on the Giant Lafree Comfort model. Right hand twist grip operation.
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[rooel]

And is the motor drive (two 100 watt units) inside the same hub as the P5 hub gear? Another distinguishing feature of the Sram Sparc system is the distinctive battery box which clips to the front of the rear rack.

 

[flecc]

I've been trying the local Halfords in my southern London fringe, and they don't have this bike and know nothing of it, having received no information. One manager stuck to the line that they don't do e-bikes and obviously disbelieved me at first.

It seems increasingly like a limited clearance, given the very low price, only being in some branches and absolutely nothing online about it in their website.
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[alex]

The Carrera Sparc powered by Sram is being trialled by Halfords in 108 stores. I bought one a week ago & am very happy with it, I have posted a review if you are interested. I hope the Sram Sparc system is not being discontinued as it works well as a low powered pedal assist. I have clocked up 60 miles or so & climbed numerous Edinburgh hills in the last few days. I have ordered a 2nd battery from Fisher Outdoor Leisure Ltd. who sell all the Sram Sparc componants currently. I have a picture but no idea how to post it.

 

[flecc]

You need to post the photo online somewhere Alex, Flickr for example.

For photos, go to your web image, right click it and select Copy Image Location from the context menu. If that's not there, right click it and choose Properties, then copy the image location from the properties. Then return to the Reply box here, position the cursor below the text where you want the photo to appear and click the yellow mountain scene icon above. You'll get a box to paste in the link.

Then submit the reply.
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[rooel]

Alex, I would be interested to read your review of the Carrera Sparc but cannot find it on the site. As for posting photos, I have used the "manage attachments" box to link to images on my hard disk.

I do not think Sram Sparc are about to discontinue the system, as it is installed on numerous current models available on the continent. All of these are "full-sized" and I would be interested to know if your Carrera has 26" wheels. Dahon who installed the Sparc system on the Roo El have discontinued that model because, they say, it was too expensive to buy in the complete system from Sram. That leaves the question whether Fisher Outdoor Leisure will continue to stock spare batteries, cables etc. Even when the Roo El was still in their stock line it was very difficult to obtain spares from them.

I use the Sram sparc system on Dahon 20" folders and find I can climb all the hills on the south side of Edinburgh, but I have yet to try Dundas Street, and Dublin Street, north of Princes Street. Ring your bell if you pass me.

 

[flecc]

Alex, I would be interested to read your review of the Carrera Sparc but cannot find it on the site.

These are filtered through the site admin as a precaution before posting, hence some delay before they appear.
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[alex]

bike on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

here is a link to a picture

 

[alex]

With your help Flicc & a daughter the above picture is posted. It is nice to know of another Sram Sparcer on the streets of Edinburgh Rooel, I will certainly ring my bell if I see you, & stop for a blether. I am in Portobello (Edinburgh's seaside) so a trip into town is always uphill, either a steady 4 mile pull up London Rd., or my personal worst hill, my 'colis horribilus', through the Queen's Park past Duddingston Loch. The Sparc really helps even though it is a fairly gentle assist & you need to keep the pedals moving swiftly, I have yet to try Dundas St.. Pleasantly surprised at how suspension forks & seatpost help iron out the setts (square cobblestones). The bike keeps going long after the last of the 3 battery indicator lights has gone out, I have managed 21 miles on a charge the last 4-5 m. on empty.

 

[flecc]

Thanks Alex, that's a good range for such a small battery.

A pity they didn't combine the battery mounting into the front of a full size carrier, to enable small items or panniers to be carried though.
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[rooel]

Look here

EPPLE MAINAU ELEKTRORAD - SRAM Sparc- 5-Gang - NEU - eBay Fahrräder, Radsport, Sport (end time 19-Oct-07 17:24:37 BST)

for something similar to the Carrera Sparc, but note the full size rack and battery holder, compared with Halford's model.

As there are numerous versions of full-size Sram Sparc models available on the continent, it does not look like Halfords are doing an end-of-line sell-off. The only end-of-line would appear to be Dahon's Roo El, 20" inch folder. There could be a question therefore over the continuation of the 20" version of the system.

 

[alex]

I bought a basic rack by Bor Yueh from my local bike shop which fits perfectly, by tightening the radius of the clamps supplied & using a couple of 2mm thick rubber strips I attached the front of the rack to the back of the very sturdy battery carrier. A set of 3 elastic straps & I am ready to roll, it is rock solid, (8 big books no problem) & looks "meant", like a high end Dutch bike Gazelle Easy Glider or Koga Miyata. And the battery is still easily accessible. I also added mudguards, I suppose Halfords are struggling to keep the ticket price down so do not include these accessories

 

[Jimblob]

Evaluated!

I've had the opportunity to try and test the bike. It is impressively lightweight and the sparc system seems well designed. My reservations are with the battery, it is a 16v lump, not very well integrated into the bike design and it is not Lithium. Also there is no throttle control, although I understand the issue of throttle control is currently a grey area as we are not sure what impact european law will have on the legality of it.

I would say the Halfords bike is not bad, but it is not really up-to-date and the standard Powacycle Salisbury / Windsor models outperform it but cost £300 less. . . go figure!