We rented a couple of C9's for the afternoon from Rent a Bike at Noiraigue railway station, Switzerland. Normal cost is about £20 a day and there are several other stations (mostly in German-speaking Switzerland) where these bikes can be hired. Noiraigue is in a river valley in the Jura mountains, so the terrain other than in the valley is challenging. I'm posting here rather than in the review section as an afternoon's use is only enough to provide broad impressions.
Strengths:
Easy to use
Built like a tank
Crank-assistance from the Panasonic motor worked very well up steep hills
High quality spec (Shimano Alfine gears, Magura HS33 hydraulic brakes)
Very well equipped with accessories (integral LED lights, very noticeable even in broad daylight, heavy duty rack and even a lever to provide motorised assistance when walking the bike up a hill)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Weaknesses:
Heavy – I wouldn’t want to try to heave this on to a car roof rack.
Gears occasionally didn’t mesh very accurately
26" wheels a little lacking in stability
25km/h assistance limit seems slow and the 8th gear feels too low on the flat
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Summary:
Cycled 20km up to the Creux du Van viewpoint (700m vertical climb) and back again along the river, just to try these bikes out. We had two batteries apiece and the first one ran out towards the top. The second one was still on three LED’s when we returned to base, but then we hardly needed to pedal at all on the way down (and the smooth Magura brakes had plenty of use). We mostly cycled up the steep road on the highest of the three assistance settings, overtaking several sweating mountain bikers on the way up. Only rarely did we need to drop as low as 2nd gear and 5th to 8th were the most used except on the steepest parts of the ride.
Flyers are not cheap (about £2,200 for this version in Switzerland) but look like they will last forever. Second hand bikes hold their value well.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Overall Rating (out of 10) : 8.5
Strengths:
Easy to use
Built like a tank
Crank-assistance from the Panasonic motor worked very well up steep hills
High quality spec (Shimano Alfine gears, Magura HS33 hydraulic brakes)
Very well equipped with accessories (integral LED lights, very noticeable even in broad daylight, heavy duty rack and even a lever to provide motorised assistance when walking the bike up a hill)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Weaknesses:
Heavy – I wouldn’t want to try to heave this on to a car roof rack.
Gears occasionally didn’t mesh very accurately
26" wheels a little lacking in stability
25km/h assistance limit seems slow and the 8th gear feels too low on the flat
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Summary:
Cycled 20km up to the Creux du Van viewpoint (700m vertical climb) and back again along the river, just to try these bikes out. We had two batteries apiece and the first one ran out towards the top. The second one was still on three LED’s when we returned to base, but then we hardly needed to pedal at all on the way down (and the smooth Magura brakes had plenty of use). We mostly cycled up the steep road on the highest of the three assistance settings, overtaking several sweating mountain bikers on the way up. Only rarely did we need to drop as low as 2nd gear and 5th to 8th were the most used except on the steepest parts of the ride.
Flyers are not cheap (about £2,200 for this version in Switzerland) but look like they will last forever. Second hand bikes hold their value well.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Overall Rating (out of 10) : 8.5
